At the 2015 NAMM Show, Starr Labs was previewing their AirPower 3 wireless MIDI interface.
The AirPower3 works with all class compliant USB MIDI devices, such as the Novation Launchpad, Ableton Push, Alesis Keyboards and hundreds of other instruments and devices.
It features include 16 selectable RF channels, dropout protection to prevent stuck notes and up to 200? of unobstructed range.
They stopped by the Roger Linn booth and Linn gave it a spin with the LinnStrument:
Viia Geert Bevin, who notes, “StarrLabs came by the LinnStrument booth with a prototype of their upcoming AirPower3. Wireless class compliant MIDI over USB with 36 hours of bus power built in. The latency is barely noticeable, I could only slightly feel it when playing rapid 64th notes. With that we instantly have a perfect wireless solution for using the LinnStrument on any stage..
See the Starr Labs site for details.
No DIN sockets? The old girl ain’t dead quite yet. To use this with classic gear you’d have to spring another $30 for a DIN to USB adapter.
And anyway (it just occurred to me now) that this isn’t so much a “wireless MIDI interface” as it is a wireless USB interface. It is not connecting MIDI to USB. The controller that it plugs into does that. This is taking the USB that would have been plugged into the computer, and is transmitting that USB (not MIDI, USB) signal over wireless. If this had five-pin DIN sockets it might be considered wireless MIDI, but I suspect this would wirelessly connect any USB device to a computer as long as that computer was already set up to use that device. Unless this wireless device can only transmit MIDI code, which seems a bit far fetched. That would be like having a radio that can only transmit French.
so audio usb would work?
Before being so negative, be aware that wireless MIDI using DIN has been around for a long time now. M-Audio midair is a decade old now and I’ve also seen a couple products that do the same. On the other hand, a lot of good electronic pianos use USB ports only. I’ve personally researched generic wireless USB solutions to wierelessly connect my piano, but none seemed reliable. There’s also been a kickstarter to do the same, but it was poorly pitched. So, honestly, I’m glad that some people finally realized there’s this “niche” need for musicians who happen to got stuck with wired USB devices. Can’t wait to buy it! 🙂