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Resolved 3.3V vs 5V and what resistors to use?

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  1. Alex
    Alex
  3. MIDI Connections
  4. Wednesday, 24 August 2016
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I'm developing a project on a board that uses 3.3V. And there has to be just one MIDI out. I tried connecting ground, vcc and data pins to a midi jack and it works fine with Kemper profiling amp. I tried it without any resistors as well as 220 ohm and 100 ohm on the 3.3V power pin (vcc) and there was no difference.
Is it better to use 5V than 3.3V?
What resistors are needed for each case and why?

Thank you!
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Clemens Ladisch
Clemens Ladisch
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The Electrical Specification Update (PDF) shows what resistors to use if the output is powered with 3.3 V.

MIDI requires a current of at least (and not much larger than) 5 mA. Resistors of 10 Ω and 33 Ω are recommended to achieve this with 3.3 V; your device might work with other values, but there is no guarantee that this works with other devices.
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  1. more than a month ago
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  3. # 1
Alex
Alex
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Clemens Ladisch wrote:

The Electrical Specification Update (PDF) shows what resistors to use if the output is powered with 3.3 V.

MIDI requires a current of at least (and not much larger than) 5 mA. Resistors of 10 Ω and 33 Ω are recommended to achieve this with 3.3 V; your device might work with other values, but there is no guarantee that this works with other devices.


Thanks! If the current should be around 5mA, why is it not 660 ohms (3.3/0.005 according to ohms law)? 3.3/10 gives 330 mA and 3.3/33 gives 100 mA.
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  3. # 2
Alex
Alex
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Clemens Ladisch wrote:

The Electrical Specification Update (PDF) shows what resistors to use if the output is powered with 3.3 V.

MIDI requires a current of at least (and not much larger than) 5 mA. Resistors of 10 Ω and 33 Ω are recommended to achieve this with 3.3 V; your device might work with other values, but there is no guarantee that this works with other devices.


Thanks! If the current should be around 5mA, why is it not 660 ohms (3.3/0.005 according to ohms law)? 3.3/10 gives 330 mA and 3.3/33 gives 100 mA.
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  1. more than a month ago
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  3. # 3
Clemens Ladisch
Clemens Ladisch
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This is not the correct way to compute the current; you have to add up the voltage drops of all three resistors (the output's two, and the receiver's 220 Ω one) and the optocoupler's LED. (See the specification.)
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  1. more than a month ago
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  3. # 4
Alex
Alex
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Clemens Ladisch wrote:

This is not the correct way to compute the current; you have to add up the voltage drops of all three resistors (the output's two, and the receiver's 220 Ω one) and the optocoupler's LED. (See the specification.)

Thank you, found it in the specification :)
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  1. more than a month ago
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  3. # 5
tim
tim
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What happens if a 5V midi device is connected to a 3.3 volt midi device?
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  3. # 6
tim
tim
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I am expecting to measure 5mA of current drawn between two devices, however it is much less than that, about 0.1 mA. But things seem to be working ok. I have the current meter in series with the 5 volt line, and later in series with the MIDI data, but there is much less than 5mA. Is that correct?
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  1. more than a month ago
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  3. # 7
Clemens Ladisch
Clemens Ladisch
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A MIDI line is idle most of the time, so the average current is not 2.5 mA, but approximately zero.

To measure the current during a zero bit, you need a faster device, such as an oscilloscope.
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  3. # 8
Roberto
Roberto
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Clemens Ladisch wrote:

This is not the correct way to compute the current; you have to add up the voltage drops of all three resistors (the output's two, and the receiver's 220 Ω one) and the optocoupler's LED. (See the specification.)

Thank you, found it in the specification :)


Hello
I have same problem...connecting midi device to 3.3v (Arduino MKR 1010).
What is the correct schematic for this connection ?
All the schematic I've found says only 220ohm resistors...but output signal is unable to talk to some devices..
Please help
Roberto
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  3. # 9
Clemens Ladisch
Clemens Ladisch
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Are you using a MIDI output, or a MIDI input, or both?

A 3.3 V MIDI output must use different resistors (see the Electrical Specification linked above). A 3.3 V MIDI input does not need to change anything.
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