Panda-Audio MidiBeam: any loss of firmware?

Hardware
#1

As it was adviced several time in the community forum I bought MidiBeam V1 wireless MIDI transmitter. No question, it has the best specs of the market and especially a very low latency (0,38ms).

But I took the risk to buy a used ā€œdamagedā€ unit from Reverb for 15ā‚¬ :grimacing:

Panda-Audio adviced to reflash the units with the V2 arguing in ā€œmost cases it solves the problemā€, which worked perfectly and I now own a fully functional MidiBeam :partying_face:

Now my question is, do you experienced any loss of firmware that necessitated to reflash the units? (It would be too bad to have this issue just before a gigā€¦)

#2

Thereā€™s always an even worse scenario - this happen DURING your gig :slight_smile:

1 Like
#3

:grimacing: Very bad trip! :grimacing:
This is the best way to look like a dork with your keytar! :flushed:

1 Like
#4

Even when no sound comes out - it looks good :wink:

#5

So you wouldnā€™t take the opportunity to smash it into the speakers? Light it on fire? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

#6

Thanks for your help guys, I think I will start to learn the moonwalk in case it happens. At least I could leave the stage with style :stuck_out_tongue:

3 Likes
#7

Iā€™m using a Panda MidiBeam v1 with my Roland AX-Synth as controller.
The os are updated to the last versions and the connector is replaced by a Neutrik metal style. For me a hf power of -6 dBm ist working best.
Had no problems until now, but it is always a good idea to check every point of the stage for good connection to the receiver before the gig begins.

2 Likes
#8

Loss of firmware: Not at all!

Like Stoffel mentioned, a good suggestion would be to check the connectors. Is maybe a little cheap.
I think itā€™s a really good nice little device which does exactly what it should.
And in case not: combining smashing it, as @Rank13 suggested, while moonwalking across stage would certainly redirect attention :sunglasses:

#9

It is not a matter of pricing and quality.
In the EU the allowed transmission power is very limited and you can only use a few frequencies. So Panda decided to use the WLAN 2.4 GHz as allowed frequency with the max. allowed power - which sadly is not much.
Iā€™m living in germany, so I have the above mentioned restrictions.
Therfore I always check the points on stage were I will go to for radio contact (metal parts might be a problem) and place the receiver in a way that there is never anything between transmitter and receiver.
Doing so I never had dropouts or hanging notes.
As being an electronics technician I can say that the loss of firmware in the built in processor is nearly impossible.
Hope this helps.

#10

Well I bought a used device from a guy who couldnā€™t make it work. The answer from Panda Audio to help me to solve the issue was something like Ā« most of time refreshing the firmware of the device solve the problem Ā» I got scared from the Ā« most of time Ā» which could indicate that it is not the first time that it happens.

Regarding the location of the receiver, I connect it using a 2m USB cable to be able to install it in LOS condition regarding the sender. But, from the feedback I have the units are supposed to be very reliable.

#11

I think this only means that this device can get defective like anything else in this world.
No manufacturer likes to admit this.

Again: The chance that the microcontroller loses its firmware is nearly zero!

Btw:
I also have bought a used v1 midibeam and there was a broken soldered joint within the midi connector. Because of this I exchanged the whole connector by a much better Neutrik metal DIN.