HXW BM-A01 Wireless Bluetooth MIDI Adapter

I bought this because Simply Piano was sporadically missing notes. I plugged it into my old '00 Casio WK-1800. It didn't appear in the iPad BT device list (which is normal), so I consulted the app's FAQ. It suggested the MIDI Wrench app for troubleshooting, so I installed that. I found the adapter in the BT menu and connected. When I opened Simply Piano, a pop-up confirmed the MIDI connection, and the keyboard sounds played through the iPad. I did deduct one star for the slightly noticeable audio delay, and the fact that it does not reconnect automatically after a power down. You must repeat this process each time: Open MIDI Wrench, power on keyboard, connect in MIDI Wrench, open Simply Piano. Otherwise, I'm pleased! No dropouts at all and I'm now able to get 98-100% on my timing score@s!

My familiarity with MIDI begins and ends with pad or key controllers, either going to a DAW or to a sound module. So, most of my MIDI application has been fairly plug and play. If you are lazy like me, then this little gadget is likely to sit idly by while you merely theoretically ponder what it could do for you. In this way, having it in your hand is the same as having it on your desk, and I admit this is unfortunate if you find yourself in this way that I have. Prepare for a learning curve if you are not a somewhat fluent MIDI user.You could say this thing is very expensive for the frail bit of plastic you get, but as of right now this is the most ideal price and design for a bluetooth MIDI adaptor like this. I thought it was an ideal gift idea too, so I bought a second one for my brother and hopefully one of us will do something awesome with this soon. lol.

I finally tested the unit that I received after one week, and my two comments: 1] The midi connectors are offset (angled alignment compared to the back of the connector casing). Don't try to twist them to make them straight while connected. I almost did. I think that is why some are being broken in other reviews. 2] The output unit flashes a red LED if it has power. I use it with an Ipad and you need to turn BT ON in the settings, but the unit will not be "found" until you use an app that is compatible (within it's BT settings - the unit can be seen for "binding"). (Like Audiobus). At first, I could get only input (OUTPUT from the unit (in my music keyboard)) to work. But after playing with the settings on my (Casio and Korg) music keyboards, I was able to send Ipad (midi) output to my keyboards (INPUT from this unit). I was worried at first, and it took some work (almost too much work), but it is fully functioning now as advertised.

I was excited. LED lit up after plugging it in, it fit well, and so on. It would not connect to my windows 10 64bit version 2004. Latest update happened in August. My motherboard bluetooth did not find the product at all. After that I bought one bluetooth adapter on amazon and it found but could never connect to it. Kept saying try another time. So restarted, checked off the device manager, did every precaution possible but still could not connect. At that point I decided, I am not going to hassle with it more than the 4 hours research I had put in it. I learnt a lot online about bluetooth midi adapters but it seems that they are still in infant shoe and not at all developed to a consumer level. I hope that will change in the near future. It would not be a big deal to come up with the solution in this technical age.

I had a cord for a couple months to connect my Kawaii digital piano to my ipad. Then the end broke off. I don't keep my ipad connected 24/7, so it was always being connected and disconnected. This thing simplifies the process. There's usually no noticeable lag. I know many people comment that they use garage band to connect the bluetooth. I use Piano Marvel, and can connect directly through the app. However you CANNOT connect through bluetooth the typical way. Just an FYI.

I was hesitant to purchase this but very glad I did. I have a new 2018 MacBook. My old midiman midi sport will not work with the newer OS. I am on Catalina. I use Finale for music composition, and have been using midi for keyboard input in Finale for 20 years and was really unsure of what to do with all the cord/plug changes. I plugged this in, found the midi menu, which was tricky: open “audio MIDI setup” the click on “window” at the top of the screen and “Show MIDI Studio” and then configure device, which showed up from hitting the double side arrow, and open Bluetooth configuration, select this unit BMA01, and then open Finale or Garage band and it’s there, entering notes or playing for recording!

Bottom line is it works well as promised. I initially got one of the cheaper bluetooth MIDI dongles ~$29 but found that it while it connected there so much lag for that to have been useful. So I got this mid-grade alternative to the Yamaha. Not very cheap like the one I first got but also not the Yamaha. It’s somewhere in between. And I have absolutely no complaints about it. There is no discernable lag when connecting to my mac or the kids’ ipads. The best part? The kids now do their ipad piano lessons silently —- a few moments of bliss for me!

This device connected to my Ubuntu 18.04 Linux laptop bluetooth from a Yamaha MIDI keyboard right out of the box. However, the kernel driver was not present to allow software to use the wireless interface. This was easily cured by recompiling the bluez package with MIDI enabled. Google this for results that provide good tutorials. Using Rosegarden, there seems to be a slight lag that is of no consequence to my usage. I record performances on video and MIDI, then run the MIDI playback through better samplers and synthesizers, and sync that audio back to the video. It works perfectly. Even multi-tracked performances that rely on playback while recording have been in sync, so latency appears to be a non-issue.