Using Xtouch with SawStudio

[Cary B. Cornett]

A while back a got a Behringer Xtouch. I hooked it up using the USB port, and it didn't work with Saw. I heard that the compatibility problem between the Xtouch and Ryzen processors (what my studio machine has) might be attributable to the way the motherboard chipset implements USB. I was advised to get a port card to bypass that problem, and I did so. No joy. I ended up using midi to connect the Xtouch, which worked fine.

Still, I didn't like giving up midi ports that way. Yesterday I came across another possible fix, which was to update the firmware in the Xtouch. This required using a computer with an Intel processor, but my laptop has that, so I did the update. Before and after the update, the USB connection of Xtouch worked just fine with my laptop. No joy with my main studio machine.

It may never be possible to use the USB connection on Xtouch with AMD processors, but I found another workaround: the Ethernet connection on Xtouch, working through a protocol called RTP midi. Doing this with a PC requires installing an RTP driver, which was developed by Tobias Erichsen.

It can be found at https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html

You have to jump through a few hoops to set this up, but it works. I can now use my Xtouch with SawStudio without having to give up midi ports. So far I am very pleased with the results.

[Kent F]

You have to jump through a few hoops to set this up, but it works. I can now use my Xtouch with SawStudio without having to give up midi ports. So far I am very pleased with the results.

Hi Cary. Thanks for this. I'm interested. I also have a AMD-based machine. When you have some time, could you elaborate on the "hoops" or give a play-by-play on getting the X-touch to work?

Thanks.
Kent

[Cary B. Cornett]

Hi Cary. Thanks for this. I'm interested. I also have a AMD-based machine. When you have some time, could you elaborate on the "hoops" or give a play-by-play on getting the X-touch to work?

Thanks.
Kent

The easiest way to get Xtouch to work with an AMD machine is to connect via midi ports, which is what I did for a while. All of its functions work fine this way.

If you don't want to use or don't have midi ports, then you need to use rtpMIDI. You will need to add a driver to Windows for this, which was developed by Tobias Erichsen. Go to the following page, read and follow directions. He includes all the information you need to get the driver working.

https://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html

Once the drive is installed, you need to set the Xtouch to network mode and hook it up to your local area network with an Ethernet cable. IIRC, I set my unit to Slave mode. There is an address that needs to be entered, but I have already forgotten whether I had to do this in Xtouch, the driver, or both. The good news is that if you make a mistake, you won't damage anything, just have to try something else.

Another thing about rtpMIDI is that you can use it to carry midi between different computers on the network.