Understanding Hypno's Interfacing with Audio & MIDI

Hypno
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Hi.
New to cv and video synthesis.
I’m looking for best ways to convert audio and midi to cv so I can make hypno as accessible as possible to everything in my set up as I dont have any eurorack.
I do have cv outs on the hydrasynth but I would like if my digital synths/drum machines/sequencers, microphone, acoustic and electric instruments could speak with hypno. So I guess I need a few modules to convert audio and midi into cv. I’m new to the world of voltage controlled devices so I’d appreciate any help.

For audio in, Ron has suggested the befaco i4. I will definitely be getting this. So that means I can convert any audio source like mic, line or instrument to cv for hypno.
sidenote does befaco i4 take stereo signal?
Does anyone know of any different types of audio to cv devices? I am also looking at the befaco muxlicer with the hope of splitting audio into to different frequency ranges and then into cv for hypno. Would this work? Overkill?

Midi (front usb). Digitakt is the main sequencer in my setup. I was planning to use this with the roland UM one midi to usb cable and send midi to hypno. So am I correct in thinking I can sequence the hypno on digitakts sequencer with midi cc? Seems like theres lots that can be done with that alone tbh but I still want to complicate the situation.
sidenote Since midi is accessed through the front usb, does this mean I can only use either midi, ndi or video input at a time?

Midi to cv to hypno…
Is it possible to send midi as cv via a midi interface to hypno’s cv inputs?
For example can I send midi from machinedrum (or any midi device) into a midi interface and convert midi cc to cv out to cv ins in hypno?
If so does this mean I can take midi out from all my midi machines into a midi thru box then a single midi cable into the midi interface then cv to hypno? Does it even work this way??

In summary I would simply like to trigger hypno with anything i already have in my set up. For this I will have to dip my toe into eurorack which was only a matter of time anyway. So I will make a case purely for integrating hypno into my setup. A patch bay of sorts for midi and audio.

Suggestions and criticisms would be appreciated.

Thanks

James

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James,

Wow. A lot of questions here. My first suggestion is to start small. Learn Hypno, and then experiment with each method of controlling the Hypno one by one – first with the Hypno alone, then with MIDI, then CV and then audio. Learn each method until you feel like you have a good grasp, and then focus further on your favorite method(s), investing in more gear only when absolutely needed. I say this because you will learn very little from my answers as compared to hands-on experience.

Crucially, in the future, I believe you will have much more success posting-in or creating individual topics to get the answers you need. You are asking a lot of the community to answer all of these questions in one place. Posting specific, individual, concise topics is beneficial because the topic titles will attract those most qualified to discuss the topic at hand. Many of us are specialists, not generalists. More importantly, none of us have the time to give such a massive answer (I am making my one and only exception with this post; I will never post this long of an answer again). With a lengthy monolithic post like yours, you are just scaring people away.

MIDI

After you feel like you have a good grasp on the Hypno and all of its functions (see the manual) MIDI may be a good next step. If the Digitakt is already your main sequencer, connect the Digitakt USB to the Hypno’s front USB port using one of these adaptors (or similar). If you would rather not use the Digitakt USB, then the Roland UM One may work (although I have not tested it myself). If using the Roland adaptor, you will likely only need to connect one of the MIDI DINs to the Digitakt MIDI out port, as there will be no need for the Digitakt to receive MIDI from the Hypno (as far as I understand). Once connected, look up tutorials online about Digitakt MIDI configuration/sequencing and reference the Hypno manual for MIDI CCs. Once you get comfortable with the Hypno and the Digitakt, I would recommend ditching the MIDI to CV idea and just connecting all of your MIDI devices to the Hypno itself using MIDI mergers (a thru box is a splitter, which is the opposite of what you need) and either the Roland UM One or some other device that can pass MIDI DIN input over USB (maybe the Digitakt or some other synth can do this? Not sure…). I am not 100% positive that this will work as I do not have the gear to test it, but IMHO it makes more sense than turning MIDI into CV. MIDI gives way more control and the Hypno already accepts it anyway. If you would still prefer to not use Hypno’s front USB port for MIDI, read on. If you have any more questions about MIDI and Hypno, please create a new topic specifically focusing on that very subject.

CV

Before investing in audio to CV and MIDI to CV hardware, I highly encourage you to plug your Hydrasynth into your Hypno and get used to CV modulation with the Hypno. You may like it, you may not. It is important that you experiment and decide this before exploring the more advanced options like audio to CV interfacing and MIDI to CV interfacing.

Audio to CV

The Befaco i4 is mono input. You could theoretically sum a stereo signal into a mono signal before piping it into the i4 but that is outside of the scope of this discussion. The i4 is a good option, and other options are discussed in this topic, where I encourage you to join the conversation.

MIDI to CV

As you correctly mention, the Hypno’s front USB port can only really be used for one thing at a time (MIDI or NDI output or video input). If you would rather not use up the Hypno’s front USB port for MIDI, there are many devices available in Eurorack that turn MIDI into CV. Once again, you would want to use a MIDI merger to combine your devices’ MIDI signals before turning them into CV. I encourage you to create a new topic if you would like to discuss the specifics of MIDI to CV to Hypno further.

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Hey Brian. Forgive me, I thought the volume of that post was a bit much but I was directed here and asked to explain my set up and I was getting the hint i should elaborate. Im not forcing people to read it haha it is just one of many topics that people can scope out as they choose. Saying that, if this post is muddling the sleepy waters, I can delete it and break it down into different more specific posts? I didnt expect that one person would answer all of it at once but thanks for taking the time to respond. I have a better understanding now. Nice one

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Ah, fair enough! All of your details do in fact help me understand what you are tying to achieve. As I was writing my response I was reflecting on forum posts I have made in the past of similar length and complexity to yours, so I have been in your shoes. Now as a moderator I see the other-side too. I am starting to learn what makes forums effective and it wasn’t until your post that I truly started to think about and understand the benefit of having focused individual topics (so you actually taught me something today!). Sorry if it came off as harsh or aggressive. You didn’t do anything wrong.

No need to delete the post, but you have inspired me to make a few new topics in the future. I will link to those later after I make them.

I totally understand that you were’t forcing anyone to read or even respond, but we start to feel a responsibility to jump in and support our community members if no one else joins the conversation after a couple of days. I hope my responses were helpful and I am happy to keep this going and answer any other questions that may have come up.

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I can see you guys are really busy, so again fairplay for tackling my post I do appreciate it!
what you say about keeping posts in specific categories makes loads of sense. Thanks again for your help!
It’s been a tough wait but It just arrived.
As the hackers used to say “I’m in”

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