Behringer Flow 8 Mixer and BandHelper MIDI

[Turnaround]

I am considering purchase of the Behringer Flow 8 mixer.  I would sure like to be able to control the mixer from within BandHelper.  My hope is to be able to send presets to the mixer when I select a song and to do it wirelessly.  Since the mixer will respond to midi messages, it seems that this is an obvious way to do this.

But though the mixer will respond to midi signals through its USB port, it does not recognize midi over bluetooth, only its own app over bluetooth.

To overcome this issue I am hoping to use a bluetooth dongle in the the USB port of the Flow 8 rather than a USB cable from my iPad.  BandHelper will send the midi commands over bluetooth from the iPad to the dongle in the mixer's USB port.  I'm not sure this will work.  Has anyone tried it?

[arlo]

Hopefully someone has first-hand experience with this. Otherwise, my guess is that this would work if the Bluetooth dongle is a MIDI interface, like this:

https://www.cme-pro.com/product/widi-bud-pro/

But not if it's a generic Bluetooth dongle like this:

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Bluetooth-Receiver-Controllers-UB400/

You could contact CME and Behringer to get their advice.

[Turnaround]

I'm not sure why I would need a specialized bluetooth dongle for midi.  The Behringer accepts a midi connection through its USB port using a USB B-type cable.  Wouldn't a standard USB dongle with a type A to B adapter be the wireless equivalent?

[Turnaround]

Apparently the Flow 8 does not support a USB dongle on the USB port.  It doesn't have the necessary communication protocol.

[arlo]

If the Behringer app can respond to incoming MIDI on a virtual port and forward it to the mixer over Bluetooth, then you could send the MIDI messages from BandHelper and they would go through the Behringer app and on to the mixer. BandHelper sends to all ports by default, so the Behringer app could listen on its own virtual port or on the network session.

[Turnaround]

There doesn't seem to be a way to talk to the app.  But in looking further I am wondering about CME's WIDI Uhost.  It seems to be a bluetooth midi interface and USB host. I am not clear about the USB host feature, but perhaps it overcomes the problem of interfacing with the USB port on the Flow 8.  Apparently the Flow 8 doesn't have the ability to act as a USB host.  To quote Behringer Support

"The mixer operating system has to know how to communicate with a USB Bluetooth dongle. It doesn't.It isn't a host."

I've asked the same question of CME, but have not had a response yet.  This will be powerful if we can get it working.

https://www.cme-pro.com/widi-uhost/

[Turnaround]

Arlo,

I have opened a ticket with both CME and Behringer concerning the use of the WIDI Uhost, and with Behringer about inter-app communication.  If we can work it out I will be ordering a Flow 8 mixer and would be happy to post my experiences with it.  And if it won't work I will post that info too for your clients' edification - and yours.

Richard

[arlo]

Cool, thanks.

[Turnaround]

Response from CME:

I could not find any information about whether The Flow 8 is compatible with Bluetooth MIDI standard. Please check with Behringer support and ask if it is compatible. If yes, then you can WIDI Uhost to connect it via Bluetooth and transmit MIDI messages wirelessly.

And from Behringer:

Thank you for reaching out to us. Please be advised that I have to confirm the details from the relevant team and I will get back to you as soon as I have an update.


So it's in Behringer's court for now.

[arlo]

I think CME is commenting on the ability of the Behringer mixer to connect to the Uhost via Bluetooth, but you were looking for something that you could connect to the Behringer mixer's USB port that would add Bluetooth capabilities to the Behringer. But I guess that's a question for Behringer either way.

[Turnaround]

Sent a note to CME restating that I want to connect the Uhost to the mixer to act as a Bluetooth receiver only, receiving Bluetooth signals from my iPad and that the mixer does not send midi messages, only receives them.

Hoping for the best

[Turnaround]

The latest from CME:

"Yes, you can connect the WIDI Uhost to the USB B port of Flow 8 mixer via a USB OTG cable. If the Flow 8 is USB MIDI class compliant, the WIDI Uhost will be able to forward the received MIDI messages via Bluetooth to the mixer through USB."

Everything I have read or seen about the Flow 8 indicates that it is USB midi compliant - the manual even has the midi codes that map onto mixer functions.

I have ordered both the mixer and the WIDI Uhost.  Thr mixer won't arrive until March though so it will be a while before I can try it all out.  I will report back.

[Turnaround]

And the definitive answer from MusicTribe (Behringer):

"The FLOW MIX app is not receiving any MIDI—it is only connected to the FLOW 8 mixer app and nothing else.

Regarding the CME WIDI Uhost, we would assume it will work if it is a USB host device, but we haven't tested this ourselves. If you proceed with this setup, you'll need their OTG cable set (USB-C to USB Type B) to connect it to the FLOW 8.

The FLOW 8 is designed to connect to a USB host that sends and receives MIDI. It will not be aware that the commands are being sent via Bluetooth—it would simply process the MIDI data as if it were coming directly from a USB-connected device.

Unfortunately, the FLOW MIX app cannot act as a MIDI intermediary or forward MIDI commands from external apps like BandHelper to the FLOW 8."

Looks like it's a go.  I will report back once I have all the gear and tested it.

[arlo]

Nice!