MIDI utilities specialist Kenton is proud to announce availability of the THRU-25 —
an appropriately named new addition to its growing family of compact and sturdy
MIDI utility boxes that effectively allows up to 25 MIDI devices to be connected to
one MIDI output port and avoids all the usual problems associated with daisy
chaining multiple MIDI devices — as of September 29.
As implied by name, the THRU-25 boasts no fewer than 25 sequentially-numbered
MIDI Thru ports, each with separate drive circuits for optimum performance, plus
one opto-coupled MIDI IN (MIDI input) port — and all with an impressive latency of
less than one microsecond. Active circuitry helps restore the quality of signals
received at that MIDI input as they may have become degraded by losses incurred
in the MIDI cable connecting the keyboard, computer, or other “master’ MIDI device
to the THRU-25. In use, up to 25 “slave’ MIDI devices can be conveniently controlled
by simply connecting them to those multiple MIDI Thru ports — one MIDI device per
port.
Housed in a road-ready metal box attractively finished in brushed aluminium with
black screen print measuring merely 300mm (W) x 54mm (D) x 35mm (H) and
weighing in at a portable 460g (including the power supply), the THRU-25 is
powered by a plug-top, switch-mode power supply (supplied with the unit as one of
four types — Australia, EU, UK, or USA — appropriate to the delivery address). As
such, there is no need for periodic battery changes to keep the unit up and running.
Instead, the ACTIVE LED emits a steady green light to indicate when power is
connected and no MIDI data is being received at the MIDI IN port; in turn, that
green light flickers when MIDI data is being received — really helpful for trouble-
shooting at a glance.
“The THRU-25 is a larger version of our popular THRU-5,’ notes Kenton Director
John K. Price. “It is intended for use in recording studios and by users with a lot of
MIDI equipment. I had received numerous requests over time for a unit larger than
the THRU-5, so I made a prototype that I showed at The NAMM Show 2015 back in
January. The unit attracted a lot of attention, so we have now put it into
production.’
Proponents of high-count hardware MIDI rigs surely owe it to themselves and their
devices to invest in a THRU-25 and avoid all those problems associated with daisy-
chaining multiple MIDI devices once and for all.