Nektar’s new wireless MIDI products offer a cable-less way of hooking things up
The Widiflex and Widiflex USB can automatically connect to almost any MIDI device and may initiate the start of a wireless future for MIDI.
Image: Nektar
Nektar’s new wireless MIDI solutions, the Widiflex and the Widiflex USB, are primed to let music-makers take a wireless approach to connecting their setups.
Named the Widiflex and Widiflex USB, Nektar’s new products let you connect MIDI hardware wirelessly with the claim of delivering transmission four times faster than other Bluetooth versions on the market.
Widiflex is the first of the two products launching, and is bus-powered with a pair of five-pin MIDI Din plugs to connect to the input and output sockets of an instrument, controller or other gear.
For those seeking a USB-compliant unit, the Widiflex USB makes it easier to add Bluetooth BLE MIDI to your Windows or Mac system – no custom drivers needed.
Running using Bluetooth 5, both new developments ensure users get a secure connection, improved speed, wider ranger and lower latency – that last point is especially important for ensuring an instrument not only sounds, but ‘feels’ right.
And you can create ‘fixed’ connections too – for hardware you tend to always pair at the start of a session – which can be operated as groups from your phone.
Customising things is handled through the free companion WIDI App – available on iOS and Android – which lets users take control and more easily manage their setups.
Wireless MIDI is certainly a more recent development in the production world that’s gaining traction; Singapore-based CME launched its own WIDI Master jack in 2020 and the Swidi controller earlier this year.
Back in 2020, Genki Instruments showed off how its Wave controller – a ring that transmits turns different hand gestures into MIDI data – could be played with wireless MIDI.
Currently, the Widiflex is available for £42, while the USB model is priced at £50. You can get both models now on Nektar.
