[Steve0rama]

I read that BLE MIDI was supposed to be included in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update that was released yesterday. I couldn’t wait to install the update on my Surface Pro 4 and try it out. I was not able to get it to work, however. I tried to pair my Xkey Air in Windows’ Bluetooth settings but after it tries to pair for 30 seconds, it fails and says “That didn’t work. Try again…” just like it did before the anniversary update.

I am using the Xkey Air 37 running firmware 2.4 and Bluetooth firmware 1.4 with BLE Stack version 1.4.

Is there something else I need to do to get this to work?

Thanks,
Steve

[Zhao Yitian]

Hi Steve, I did some search on internet, below information shows that we still need to wait until DAW software implement this protocol.

Just a quote that Pete from Microsoft made on gearslutz that is interesting:

“Just a quick note, since some folks are discovering this in the latest insider build: we now have support for Bluetooth MIDI using the ratified MMA protocol (compatible with Apple’s implementation). It’s in the box in the insider build, and will be in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Redstone 1). You pair the device (or use the pairing API inside an app) and it shows up as just another MIDI endpoint.

The reason I haven’t said much about it here is that it doesn’t yet apply to DAWs you use. As the DAWs incorporate the new Windows 10 MIDI API (which also offers multi-client support), then you’ll be able to use it for bluetooth peripherals connected to Windows 10 devices (PCs, phone, Xbox, Raspberry Pi, etc.) Currently, the Windows 10 device cannot be the peripheral due to how our BTLE stack works. It’s on the backlog, though.

This was a while in coming. We voted to ratify Apple’s proposal last year, and then put it on our engineering list once the protocol was official. I’m happy to see it in there, because we’ll be able to use the new bluetooth peripherals that have been coming out this past year.”

Pete

[Steve0rama]

Hi Zhao,
I believe that information may be incorrect. Please look at this very recent information from the Microsoft guys at Windows.com

MIDI Enhancements in Windows 10

In here, they specifically state the following:
“When paired, the Bluetooth LE MIDI peripheral will show up as a MIDI device in the device explorer, and will be automatically included in the UWP MIDI device enumeration. This is completely transparent to your application.”

I believe the problem may just be that the Xkey Air is failing to pair with Windows. It looks like if the Xkey Air could successfully pair with Windows, it would just show up as an available midi controller in my Studio One DAW.

Possibly the Xkey’s Bluetooth firmware needs to be updated to have it successfully pair with the latest Windows 10?

Thanks,
Steve

[Jayflux]

@Steve0rama have you managed to sort this out?
I’ve just purchased an Xkey Air 37 using Windows 10 (latest update) and still having issues pairing.

Any solution?

Thanks
Jason

[SongHerz]

I encounter the same issue, my Windows 10 version is 1709 (Redstone 3 from wiki).

Any update on this issue?

Thanks

[Zhao Yitian]

Hi all, the Windows DAW softwares need to update their MIDI API to the new one for including Bluetooth MIDI protocol, without this support, it is not possible to use Bluetooth MIDI controller with them directly.

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