Conductive Labs MRCC User manual

CONDUCYIVE LABS
Electronic Music Instruments
MIDI ROUTER CONTROL CENTER
User Manual as of FW v1.1.020
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Specifications are Subject to Change:
The information contained in this manual is believed to be correct at the time of printing. However,
Conductive Labs LLC reserves the right to change or modify any of the specifications without notice or
obligation to update the hardware that has been purchased.
Warning:
The product may be able to produce sound levels that could cause permanent hearing loss when used in
combination with synthesizers, headphones and/or speakers. It may be able to produce sound levels
that could cause permanent hearing loss. DO NOT operate at high volume levels.
Please Note:
Conductive Labs LLC is not responsible for, and is not covered by, the manufacturer’s warranty. Any fees
incurred due to a lack of knowledge relating to how a function or feature works are therefore the
owner's responsibility. Please read this manual completely before requesting service.
Precautions, not limited to:
1. Read and follow all instructions.
2. Unplug before cleaning and only use only a soft dry cloth. Do not use any cleaners.
3. Do not use the instrument near water or moisture, such as a bathtub, sink, swimming pool or
similar place.
4. Do not expose the instrument to hot sunlight.
5. Do not spill any kind of liquid onto the instrument.
6. Do not place the instrument in an unstable position where it might accidentally fall. Do not
place heavy objects on the instrument.
7. Do not open or insert anything into the instrument that may cause a fire or electrical shock.
8. Always contact Conductive Labs LLC if you have an issue. You will invalidate your warranty if
you open and remove the cover.
9. Do not use the instrument when there is a gas leak nearby.
10. Conductive Labs LLC is not responsible for any damage or data loss caused by improper
operation of the instrument.
11. Do not TAUNT The MRCC!
Not following the above Precautions will void the manufacturer’s warranty.

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Special Thanks
To the Kickstarter project supporters –we would have never continued without you!
To the friends and family for enduring countless hours of insanely boring details
of The MRCC’s trials and tribulations.
To the Team:
Darryl McGee - The MRCC Design, PCB Layout and Hardware Design, Procurement, and Web Site Dev
Steve Barile - The MRCC Design, Firmware and Hardware Design, Video Production, Graphic Design, and
Manual
Jesse Johannesen –Customer Support & Product Testing
Volunteer Consultants…
Paul Bergmann - The MRCC Circuit Design and Review
Blake Bender - Software Dev and Dev Environment Guru
Ben Fleskes - Mechanical Design
Nick Oakley - Graphics / Product Design
Kelly McKiernan - Enclosure Prototype Extraordinaire
Shashi Jain - 3D printing and laser cutting ruler of the world
Lisa Scarpelli - Manual Proofing
and The MRCC Beta Testers!
To the McGee family…
for their generous use of their spacious and temperature-controlled basement
also known as “The Lab”
And to our significant others for their support and understanding!

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COPYRIGHT @ CONDUCTIVE LABS LLC 2021. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
All documentation, images, software, firmware, user interface, industrial design and hardware design is
protected by copyright law and international treaties. The firmware is licensed (not sold), and its use is
subject to a License Agreement. Unauthorized use, copying or distribution of any of the above material
or any of its components may result in severe criminal or civil penalties, and will be prosecuted to the
maximum extent under the law.
All trademarks and registered trademarks used in this documentation are the property of their owners.
Our lawyers are now ecstatic, try to have a nice day. 

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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 8
Quick Start .............................................................................................................................................. 9
Product Features...................................................................................................................................... 10
Things you should know about MIDI….................................................................................................. 11
MIDI over USB cables............................................................................................................................ 11
THE BASICS - PORT ROUTING.................................................................................................................... 13
5 Pin Port Routing ................................................................................................................................. 13
USB Port Routing .................................................................................................................................. 13
Remote Routing.................................................................................................................................... 14
MIDI Routing Cache .............................................................................................................................. 15
MIDI Merging –it just happens… but be advised! ................................................................................ 15
THE MRCC BUTTONS................................................................................................................................. 18
Routing Buttons .................................................................................................................................... 18
Menu & Navigation Buttons ................................................................................................................. 18
Encoder Button..................................................................................................................................... 18
Shift Button........................................................................................................................................... 19
Stand-By Button.................................................................................................................................... 19
MRCC Remote Routing Button “Y”........................................................................................................ 19
MRCC SIDE PANEL BUTTONS..................................................................................................................... 20
Power Switch ........................................................................................................................................ 20
Firmware (FW) Button .......................................................................................................................... 20
USB HOST AND PC PORT STATUS LEDS ..................................................................................................... 21
USB Type B PC Port ............................................................................................................................... 21
USB Type A Host Ports .......................................................................................................................... 21
MRCC Screen Pages .................................................................................................................................. 22
The Screen Page Overview.................................................................................................................... 22
The Activity Screen Page....................................................................................................................... 23
The Routing Screen Page ...................................................................................................................... 25
Port Filters Screen Page ........................................................................................................................ 28
Modifiers (MODS) Screen Page............................................................................................................. 29
Channel Map (Chan Map) [Ch1-6] Sub-Page......................................................................................... 29
Velocity Scaling [Vel1-6] Sub-Page........................................................................................................ 30

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CC Scaling and Mapping [CC1-6] Sub-Page ........................................................................................... 31
Channel Layers (Splits and Layers) [Lyr1-6] Sub-Page........................................................................... 32
Alter [Alt1-6] Sub-Page ......................................................................................................................... 33
Transpose [TP1-6] Sub-Page ................................................................................................................. 34
Note Map [NMp] Sub Page ................................................................................................................... 34
Channel to Port Mapping [C-P1] Sub Page............................................................................................ 34
Extras Screen Page................................................................................................................................ 36
MRCC Clock Sub-Page........................................................................................................................... 36
Program Change Sub-Page.................................................................................................................... 37
MRCC Arpeggiator Sub-Page................................................................................................................. 37
Tools Screen Page ................................................................................................................................. 39
Load/Save Sub-Page.............................................................................................................................. 39
Assign Labels Sub-Page ......................................................................................................................... 39
Edit Labels Sub-Page ............................................................................................................................. 40
MIDI Monitor Sub-Page ........................................................................................................................ 42
Play Notes Sub-Page ............................................................................................................................. 43
Gear Search Sub-Page........................................................................................................................... 43
Settings Screen Page............................................................................................................................. 44
MRCC Setup Examples ............................................................................................................................. 47
Hardware Connections ......................................................................................................................... 47
Tips and Tricks.......................................................................................................................................... 48
Appendix .................................................................................................................................................. 49
A. Optional MIDI Remote Devices (THIS IS NOT ETHERNET!) ............................................................ 49
B. MIDI Implementation: CC (Control Change) & Program Change................................................... 51
C. MIDI Message Filtering Details...................................................................................................... 52
D. MRCC Specifications...................................................................................................................... 53

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Thank you for purchasing the MRCC from Conductive Labs!
Introduction
With your MRCC from Conductive Labs you can route your controllers to your synths with a touch of a
button; the MRCC never needs to be connected to a PC for configuration. The four USB host ports enable
you to use all those cool USB only (USB MIDI Class Compliant) MIDI controllers that previously needed to
be plugged into a PC to work. Imagine triggering your favorite drum machines with button pads or
tweaking synth parameters from the knobs on your keyboard controllers with no PC in sight!
On the following pages are all the nuts and bolts of the MRCC. In addition to the simple button press
routing there is USB virtual cable routing and some extras and tools that will be explained in this manual.
For support please use our forum at: https://www.conductivelabs.com/forum.
The MRCC (MIDI Router Control Center) is a front panel configurable MIDI router which means no PC is
required to configure the routings, message filters, or message modifiers.
The MRCC can be used in a variety of ways. For example:
•Connection between MIDI controllers and synths.
•A complex studio setup with MRCC as the hub, routing MIDI messages to several synths while
transposing inbound keyboard notes, and driven by multiple MIDI controllers.
•With the “MRCC Remote 7” accessory, 5 MIDI out ports can be accessed via a single CAT5 shielded
cable of up to 50’ away.

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Quick Start
1. Attach the power adapter plug prongs for your country. Plug your MRCC power adapter into an
electrical socket. Plug the USB-C end of the power supply cable into the MRCC USB-C socket on
the side of the unit. Turn on the MRCC. The OLED splash screen should show and the LEDs
should light with a brief prismatic light show.
2. Plug your MIDI controller into any of the in-ports and press the button for that in-port. It should
light green. If you are plugging it into a USB Host port be sure that the virtual in-port cable is set
to #1:
a. You should see the MIDI out-port 1 light green
b. Hold down the USB Host in-port button to see out-ports 2-4 light a dim white. When you
release the in-port button the in-port LED should remain lit green and out-ports 1-4
should not be lit.
3. Plug your synth into any of the out-ports and press the button for that out-port. It lights blue
when selected, and becomes dimmer when it is routed and another output is selected.
If the out-port is the USB PC port be sure that the virtual out-port cable is set to #1 (see step 2).
4. The route is made. Make sure your controller and synth are set to the same MIDI channel. The
ROUTING screen will show you the inbound MIDI messages and channel if you’re not sure. Of
course, you can map the channel but you’ll need to read a bit more to learn how to do that! ☺
Happy ROUTING!!!

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Product Features
•Desktop or 2U rack configurations
•11 in x 17 out physical routable ports (39 in x 34 out total ports)
•Front panel button-per-port routing (no PC required)
•USB host ports x4, USB device port x1, MIDI 5-Pin and MIDI 3.5mm A and B ports (MIDI 1.0 spec
5V outputs)
•Virtual-cable ports on USB Host (In x4) and USB Device (In x12 & Out x12)
•USB class compliant MIDI interface
•Automatic port splitting and merging based on routings
•OLED Display shows MIDI message monitoring and easy menu system
•Port and/or routing filters (Clock, Note, CC, Prog Change, Stop/Start/Continue)
•Six routing modifier types (Channel, Velocity, CC, KB Range, Random & Transpose)
•Extras: MRCC Clock, and Arpeggiators
•Routing Presets (128), Extras Presets (30), & Sys Settings Presets (5)
•Firmware updates via USB

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USEFUL MIDI BACKGROUND
MIDI was mostly invented by a guy named Dave
Smith who is famous for making the Prophet line of
synthesizers, the first with digital controls that were
polyphonic and had presets.
One of the original goals of MIDI was to have a
keyboard on one synthesizer play the sound engine of a second synthesizer. Of course, once this was
done the flood gates were opened for new ideas and innovative use cases. The inception of MIDI
controllers with keyboard, button, knobs and sliders and MIDI sound modules exploded. A bit later,
software applications for patch librarians, sequencing and controlling slowly emerged as connectivity to
computers happened.
It was around 1983, when you listened to music on vinyl and cassette tapes in your car. VCRs were not
too common yet, and half the people were still watching TV with antennas. A personal computer cost
two to three times the price of a beater car and so did synthesizers!
Processing power of your smart-watch is about a zillion times more powerful than the processors used
in synthesizers back then. So the goal was to make the MIDI communication protocol as lightweight as
possible. Which means it’s pretty dumb.
Things you should know about MIDI…
MIDI 1.0 is a one-way communication standard, aka half-duplex. Which means each cable only carries
messages from one machine to the other, and not back the other way. What this means is, if you send a
MIDI message to your synth, you have no idea if it got there or if the message action was carried out.
Things changed a little bit when computers got cheaper and USB was invented. The companies that
were making software for MIDI started to send MIDI messages over USB cables.
USB cables are a lot different than 5-Pin MIDI cables. For one, USB cables carry all kinds of simultaneous
messages, from devices such as mice, keyboards, printers, scanners, external hard drives, memory
sticks, cell phones, 3D printers and on and on and on. Messages can be sent in both directions too.
MIDI over USB cables
Even though USB (and other cables/protocols) were now being used to send MIDI messages, the MIDI
specification wasn’t changed. So when you send a MIDI message the device is not required to send a
response even though the USB cable can do this. Of course, there are some exceptions where some
DAWs and quasi proprietary controllers do bi-directional (aka full-duplex) communication.
Also, USB has an egalitarian nature. This means that there is always a HOST and a DEVICE. Recall USB
was invented for personal computers. So the HOST would be the PC and the DEVICE would typically be
the mouse, keyboard or printer. So just like you can’t plug a QWERTY keyboard into a printer, you can’t
just plug a MIDI controller into a synthesizer. One of them must be the HOST and one of them has to be
the DEVICE.

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Intel had a couple of goals in mind when they invented USB. The first was to make the PC the center of
the universe. The second goal was to make adding USB compatibility to simple inexpensive peripherals
(think mouse) as cost effectively as possible. Thus, a DEVICE is cheap and simple and the HOST is not! As
a result, there aren’t very many USB HOSTs in the music world. The MRCC solves many of these issues.
With all that said the MRCC treats 5-Pin cables a bit differently than USB cables. Notably, the USB cable
is treated as both an in-port and an out-port, you can see each port has two physical buttons. Secondly,
multiple “virtual“ MIDI cables can be on one physical USB cable. More on this later.

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THE BASICS - PORT ROUTING
5 Pin Port Routing
The most fundamental use of the MRCC is to route in-ports to out-ports. This is simply done by
choosing any in-port and then routing it by selecting one or more out-ports. When choosing an in-port
the LED will shine green, out-ports shine blue. Notice when making routings using in-port and out-port
buttons the Routing screen page info will follow and match, more on that later.
Example: route in-port 3 to out-port 5. Choose in-port 3 by pressing MIDI IN button #3 (LED
lights green) and select out-port 5 by pressing MIDI OUT button #5 (LED lights bright blue).
Example continued: to route in-port 3 to additional out-ports just press any unlit MIDI OUT
button (LED lights bright blue). To add out-port 7 press MIDI OUT button #7. Now three LEDs
should shine, in-port 3 (green), out-port 5 (dim Blue), and out-port 7 (bright blue). Bright blue
LEDs indicates the selected out-port.
To remove any out-port from the routing it first must be the selected out-port (bright blue LED). If not
already lit brightly, press any dimly lit blue LED out-port button to turn it bright. Press it a second time
and it will go dark and be un-routed from that chosen in-port.
USB Port Routing
Notice that each USB Port has two buttons and two LEDs. This is because USB ports are bi-directional,
meaning they are both an in-port and an out-port. This is different from 5 Pin ports which can only send
or receive information in one direction. For each USB port the button and LED on the left are the in-port
controls and the button and LED on the right are the out-port controls.
USB ports can also support multiple “virtual cables”, which
means that a single physical USB cable can be several virtual
cables. This can be most easily seen from a PC. When you
plug in the MRCC to the PC the PC shows MRCC 1-12 as
available ports.
All the MRCC’s USB HOST ports (A, B, C & D) each support
four inbound “virtual cables” and one outbound. The MRCC’s
USB DEVICE port (aka PC) supports 12 inbound “virtual
cables” and 12 outbound “virtual cables”.
Why the complexity? Some modern sequencers support
“virtual cables” over a single physical USB cable (like the
Conductive Labs NDLR). The MRCC can route each “virtual cable” independently. Another example is
standalone app “soft-synths” on a PC. Often each soft-synth requires its own “virtual cable” as an in-
port. Another example is assigning DAW tracks to separate “virtual cables”.

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The MRCC can route and filter MIDI messages from any in-port to any out-port regardless of the port
type; 5-Pin, USB HOST, or USB DEVICE over any “virtual cable”. We know this adds a little complexity
but it is what makes the MRCC free from requiring a PC to make routings.
Here are a few examples on how to route the USB ports including the “virtual cables”. Hopefully it’s
easier to do than to read! An alternative is to check out our YouTube channel!
Example: Route in-port A1 (USB HOST A - virtual cable 1) to out-port 5. Choose in-port A1 by
pressing MIDI IN/OUT left-button A. Notice if you hold the left-button A the first four (1-4) MIDI
OUT LEDs light. Yep, the out-port LEDs are being used to show the in-port virtual cables. MIDI
OUT LED 1 bright green (selected) and MIDI OUT LEDs 2-4 are dim white. These four help remind
you that there are 4 virtual cables and enable you to choose a virtual cable, the default is #1.
Make sure to release the left-button A. Next select out-port 5 by pressing MIDI OUT button #5.
Two LEDs shine, in-port A (green) and out-port 5 (bright Blue).
Add another routing in-port A3 (virtual cable 3) to out-port 11
Example continued: Choose inbound port A3 by pressing and holding MIDI IN/OUT left-button
A. The first four (1-4) MIDI OUT LEDs light, select “virtual cable” 3 by pressing MIDI OUT button
#3. MIDI OUT LED 3 shines bright green, LEDs 1, 2 & 4 are dim white. Make sure to release the
left-button A, and select outbound port 11 by pressing MIDI OUT button #11. Two LEDs shine,
in-port A (green) and out-port 11 (bright Blue).
Routing the USB Device Port (PC) and its “virtual cables” is very similar to the routing the USB host ports.
Example: Route in-port 5 to out-port PC9 (virtual cable 9). Choose inbound port 5 by pressing
MIDI IN button #5. Select outbound port PC by pressing and holding MIDI IN/OUT right-button
PC, all 12 (1-12) MIDI OUT LEDs light dim white. Select “virtual cable” 9 by pressing MIDI OUT
button #9. MIDI OUT LED 9 shines bright blue, all the other LEDs are dim white.
Add another outbound PC out-port routing.
Example continued: Add routing in-port 5 to out-port PC4. With in-port 5 chosen (lit green)
press and hold MIDI IN/OUT right-button PC. Now MIDI OUT LED 9 is lit bright blue (because it
was routed in previous example) and all the other MIDI OUT LEDs are lit dim white. Select
“virtual cable” 4 by pressing MIDI OUT button #4. MIDI OUT LED 4 now shines bright blue, MIDI
OUT LED 9 shines dim blue, and all the other LEDs are dim white.
Add another outbound out-port 8 routing.
Example continued: add routing in-port 5 to out-port 8. With in-port 5 still chosen (lit green)
press MIDI OUT button #8. Now three LEDs should shine, in-port 5 (green), out-port PC (dim
Blue), and out-port 8 (bright Blue).
Remote Routing (as of FW 1.1.020)
If there is a MRCC Remote7 connected or there are two MRCC’s connected together routings can be
made by first choosing the in-port (as before) then press and hold the “Y” button to select a remote out-
port. The remote out-ports will light yellow (not blue). See Appendix A for more details.

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MIDI Routing Cache
Inadvertently removing a routing that has filters and modifiers can be “un-done” simply by making the
same routing again. All the filter and modifier parameters are cached for the last 30 routings. To clear
all the filter and modifier parameters for a routing press Shift+Enter button when on the routing screen.
MIDI Merging –it just happens… but be advised!
The MRCC implicitly merges when more than one in-port is routed to the same out-port, it just happens
automatically.
Example: If in-port 3 and in-port 6 are both routed to out-port 9 then in-ports 3 and 6 are
“merged” to out-port 9. Also note that in-port 3 and in-port 6 can also be routed to other out-
port(s) at the same time.
Cautionary note: the MRCC will merge any number of in-ports to a single out-port, but it cannot
magically overcome the upper “speed limits” of MIDI message traffic. If too many MIDI messages are
simultaneously merged to a given out-port, messages can be delayed or even lost. This is particularly an
issue with MIDI Clock messages.

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THE MRCC BUTTONS
Routing Buttons
The routing buttons are used to select/unselect port routings. There are 6 in-port buttons, 12 out-port
buttons, and 10 USB port buttons for 5 physical USB ports. For each button pair, the USB port buttons
on the left are in-port buttons and on the right out-port buttons. Read the section on port routing.
Menu & Navigation Buttons
There are two menu levels on the MRCC. A row of circles shown across the top of the screen for the top
level menu, like this: “”. A second row of circles are shown on the title banner of
each screen page for the second level menu. Not all screen pages have a second level. A filled circle
shows your current location.
Pressing the Up/Down buttons, to the right of the OLED display, moves you from the top to second level
menu circles and then through the tab-stops for that specific page. When you get to a tab-stop you’d
like to change, rotate the Encoder knob to change the value. To move through values faster hold the
blue Shift button and rotate. For Yes/No or On/Off settings the black Enter button, between the Up/Dn
buttons, can also toggle the setting.
The Down button will eventually wraparound to the top of the screen, to the main navigation circles.
The Up button will do the opposite.
Some screens have on screen buttons as tab-stops. Press the black Enter button to “press”the selected
on screen button. For critical decisions you’ll need to use the blue Shift button while pressing the black
Enter button.
!!! USEFUL FOR NAVIGATION !!!
Holding the Up button while rotating the Encoder knob quickly cycles you through the tab-stops on any
page.
Encoder Button
!!! USEFUL FOR NAVIGATION !!!
Pressing the Encoder button has two “fast navigation”functions. The first cycles you through 3
(optionally 4) display screens.
UP
ENTER
DOWN
Encoder
With Button

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1st press displays Activity screen
2nd press displays the Routing screen
3rd press (optionally –set in settings) displays the MIDI MON screen
4th press brings you back to the screen you were on.
The second “fast navigation”function for pressing the Encoder button is for the modifiers. If you are on
the Router screen and the tab-stop is on one of the MOD (modifier) boxes, pressing the Encoder button
will jump you to the MOD (modifier) screen for editing. Press again and it returns you to the Router
screen.
Shift Button
Here is a list of the Shift button functions:
!!! USEFUL FOR NAVIGATION !!!
Shift + Encoder rotate –speeds up the inc/dec of the tab-stop value
Shift + Encoder button press –PANIC, sends MIDI Note-off messages to routed out-Ports.
Shift + Encoder (long) button press –BIG PANIC, sends MIDI Note-off messages to all out-Ports.
Shift + in-port or out-port button press –shows that port’s label name on the Routing screen banner
without making any routing selection changes.
Shift + “Y” button press –toggles on/off the LED light show
Shift + Enter button press (Routing Page only) –clears all filters and modifier boxes
Stand-By Button
Holding the green Stand-by button for ~2 sec will put the MRCC in Stand-by mode. This mode turns off
the LEDs, the OLED screen, MRCC Clock and Arps, stops all MIDI message traffic, and optionally (menu
setting) powers down all USB devices plugged into the HOST ports. To resume, press the green Stand-by
button again.
Briefly pressing the Stand-by button will move the tab-stop to the top level button menu.
Holding the Stand-by button while booting (hold until you see the boot menu) will reset the MRCC
settings and erases all the Preset files on the SD Card.
MRCC Remote Routing Button “Y”
The “Y” button enables routing to MRCC Remote products or to a second MRCC*. In order to route to a
remote device press and hold the “Y” button while selecting a remote out-port.
*More on the MRCC Remote”X” Devices in Appendix A

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MRCC SIDE PANEL BUTTONS
Power Switch
Slide up to turn on power.
Firmware (FW) Button
Get MRCC firmware updates from ConductiveLabs.com. Instructions on how to load the firmware is on
the Downloads page. Firmware update software must be run from a computer (Windows, Mac or Linux).
The MRCC must be connected to the computer with a USB cable connected to the PC port.
Summary:
•Download and install the firmware loader (1st time only).
•Download the .HEX.zip (firmware) file.
•Unzip the .HEX.zip (firmware) file.
•In the loader app click File and open the .HEX file.
•In the loader app click on the Auto button (1st time only).
•On The MRCC, use a toothpick or pen to briefly press the recessed FW button (located on the
right-side panel).