Hi, im planning on purchasing my first analogue synth soon. Im still not sure which one exactly though!
Now, some synths have a keyboard and some dont, so is there just a plain CV keyboard to control the pitch?
Preferably under £120.
Thanks!
I don’t think there is in that price range. And there are not that many CV keyboards anyway. Newest entry in the market is Akai Max 49.
However, not too far from that price, you can get a Kenton midi-to-CV stand-alone unit. You will be able to control one more CV other than pitch with it.
Hope that helps.
ahh right ok, ive already got a keyrig 49 usb keyboard. So the midi to cv unit would be better.
I just found the doepfer dark link. I think this would allow me just to connect the keyrig via usb then out through the cv outputs
into the synth.
and Im also not sure whether the deopfer dark link’s usb connection can power the keyrig 49 as the
keyboard requires power from a usb source. jeez, what a dilema.
The new Keith McMillen QuNexus does CV, USB and MIDI for $150US.
http://www.keithmcmillen.com/qunexus/overview
Thanks, Doctor… problem is the Qnexus may or may not be available right now.
Yes the Dark Link is fine for what you want to. I mentioned the Kenton mostly for the fact that you mentioned pounds in your message and the Kenton is a british product. If I remember correctly, the Kenton has 1/4 inch jacks but the Doepfer has only 1/8 jacks, to be used with the european modular standard.
I do use the modular version of the Dark Link and it is very good.
But since you have an M-audio keyrig 49, you can power it without a computer attached PROBABLY. You see, USB-midi is a modern hardware version of Din-Midi. The USB-midi cable carries the midi signal, but also 500ma of 5v DC power. Many devices now are equipped with USB connector only, but they can be used without a computer attached.
M-audio sells a wall-wart with a USB source connector specifially for that purpose. Plug in a standard USB cable and your keyboard now has power.
(Look Ma!, No computer !!!) 
If you are a bit handy, you can also make your own DC adapter with a surplus 4.5-6v DC adapter and a spare USB cable. I know this work, that’s how I power my M-audio Midi-sport 4x4 , equipped only with a USB connector. Chances are it should work with the Keyrig too.
+1 On the Doepfer Dark Link!
MIDI-DIN or MIDI USB “in”, and 4 CV ports “out”.
It’s a very nice stand-alone MIDI-to-CV solution!!
However, like most MIDI-USB equipped devices, the Dark Link is NOT a USB “host”, so you would need a USB host device between the Dark Link and your USB keyboard:
If you want to link & mix MIDI USB / DIN gear without requiring a computer in the mix, you might want to take a look at the various “iConnect MIDI” host devices that are out.
They let you “mix and match” a pretty wide array of MIDI USB, DIN, and iOS devices, with or without a computer in the mix.
And, provided an iOS device is connected, you can setup a lot of custom MIDI routing and filtering, if needed, using a free app.
I have one of the original units that started shipping last year - they work great!!
Randy
Looking up the Keyrig manual, it seems it is a usb keyboard, with no din-midi.
Check out Stuka’s solutions. There must be something available that will work.
Thanks for replies guys, they’re really helpfull.
Looks like this is another problem 
. I looked at the Kenton USB Solo again but that get’s its power from the USB connection.
If only it had a seperate power supply and could receive the Midi data from the usb keyboard, then output from the gate and pitch CV
to the analogue synth.
Thats what I thought the Dark link could do, but if the keyboard hasnt got din-midi…well… .Im not sure but in the keyrig manual it says its class compliant, but I guess that has nothing to do with sending the right midi data to the Dark Link for conversion. Its just a driver thing.
“Class compliant” (at least for this discussion) just means the USB device shouldn’t require special drivers to work with a USB “host” device, such as a computer, iPad (with the camera connector kit), or some specialized host device such as the iConnect MIDI.
Most USB peripherals, including keyboards, MIDI controllers, sound modules, etc. are NOT built as USB “host” devices, and cannot be connected directly together. This applies to the Dark Link, the Kenton Solo, and probably 99% of the gear musician’s use, other than their iPads, laptops and other computers.
And iConnect MIDI, if you get one!! 
BTW -
You can plug a generic powered USB Hub into the iConnect MIDI, and it can then link and power several USB-MIDI devices simultaneously, as well as multiple other MIDI DIN, iOS, and computer hardware devices.
Pretty cool!!
So, it looks like the setup would be, USB keyboard to iconnect Midi to doepfer dark link then finally the synth.
and the iconnect midi is about £135 plus the Doepfer Dark link. hmmm.
I was thinking about just building my own basic CV keyboard with just gate and pitch CV.
FWIW : an el cheapo USB hub like this one sells for around $6 (4 pounds)
Any plans to use your computer with your synth gear?
That would be the cheapest solution for you, if your computer would be accessible -
Plug the keyboard and Dark Link into the computer via USB, and run a free MIDI router utility (like MIDI-OX for PC’s) to route the MIDI signals.
Then, down the road you can add DAW software, sequencer applications or plugins to trigger the Dark Link, etc., etc. … 
How about a new keyboard with traditional MIDI jacks, like the Alesis Q49 USB/MIDI Keyboard Controller, for under $100.
Then an Arduino-based MIDI to CV controller. You could build one yourself, or I have seen them on ebay for as little as $69.
Thats what I was thinking today actually. I use Reaper as my DAW. So would I go into my midi output in Reaper and select the Dark link. This will allow me to be able to control the gate and pitch for the synth.
Or, as you say I could use MIDI-OX if I dont use my DAW.