Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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There have been some questions about connecting WARBL to iOS by Bluetooth, and several people have used the PUC+ successfully for this. I came across the Yamaha UD-BT01, which is smaller and less expensive, but doesn't contain its own power supply, and I thought I'd try it.

Out of the box it works flawlessly, with no noticeable latency, and is very easy to connect to iOS. To use it with Celtic Sounds or the WARBL app, you currently have to connect in another app like GarageBand first. Then when you open any other MIDI app it should connect automatically, and you can then close GarageBand, etc.

I initially was using it with a power bank, but I wanted to see if it would be possible to power it with a smaller, lighter option so the whole thing could just hang on the end of WARBL. I ended up making a modification that would let it run on any battery between 1 and 4 volts, and I connected it to a small lithium drone battery. It works great like this, and though not beautiful, it can hang on the end of WARBL without me being too worried about damaging the USB jack. It only weighs 15 grams. The Yamaha draws 50 mA when running at 3.7V, so combined with WARBL draws 80 mA (again, this is at 3.7V, WARBL draws 20 at 5V). This little battery is rated at 160 mA, so in theory you'd get 2 hours of playing time. You can get batteries that are only slightly larger that have 2-3 times the capacity.

When I find a bit of time I'll do a writeup of how I made the modification, in case anyone wants to try it. You need a couple other small parts. In the meantime, here are a few photos.

It probably goes without saying, but modifying something like this voids the Yamaha warranty and most likely voids the FCC certification :roll:
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Andrew Mowry
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

Post by gerard »

We talked about this some time ago, bluetooth is the future and I use the puc + whic works flawlessly, most app now support bluetooth, upiper, thumbjamb, thor, synthone, garageband, etc, if using the puc+ you can use their app to connect to anything.

and size was always a challenge, not having a wire at the bottom would also be a big plus.

I thought having an extension that plugged into your usb port, like a long chanter bell or like the susato whistle head, which housed the battery, switch and electronics.

A big Plus one here if you can figure it out.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

Post by 2Dog »

The ideal solution would be an extension with usb rechargeable battery and BTLE in the same diameter tube with a bell sensor plug. Or make a longer WARBLe version and Apple would most likely sell this for you.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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Okay, thanks for the feedback, guys! I agree that a small rechargeable adapter the same size as the tube or a bit bigger so it fits over the tube would be ideal. It could probably have the bell sensor built into it.

It's not a small project to design something like that because it's a USB host device in addition to the Bluetooth transmitter (and both chips need software to talk to eachother, and WARBL, and the iOS device), but I'm going to research it some. In theory I think you could have something about 3" long and the same diameter as WARBL that would give you a few hours' charge.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

Post by Phil53 »

For a future device you have at least 2" to play with at the top-end and still be 'D-whistle sized'. That may give options for the balance of the extra weight. As it is I guess you would need an external cable to the foot. Not sure how keen I would be on drone battery at that end, by my face, though.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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I've spent quite a bit of time in the past week researching the possibility of adding Bluetooth, and while it's very feasible technically, the licensing fee structure for Bluetooth unfortunately puts it out of reach at the moment. When you add in the various certifications you're looking at a minimum of 15-20k to market a Bluetooth product, so I'm afraid it's on hold for now. The licensing is the same no matter how many devices you sell, so it makes it a bit tough for small developers. That's probably the main reason some other devices use a "proprietary" wireless protocol that requires a separate receiver instead of connecting directly to iOS. There's also some latency with Bluetooth (a absolute minimum of 7.5 mS, and probably in the range of 20 on an iPad). I'm not sure I can detect it in normal playing, but it's a consideration, as pipers in particular need very low latency for a satisfactory experience.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

Post by 2Dog »

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-MIDI-In ... way&sr=8-6I have used mi.1 on an EWI500 and WX7 wind controllers for bluetooth le midi. Those instruments had internal power source and powered (3.5 to 5v) 5 pin midi out. I actually cut the receiver part off and just used the transmitter end and it worked fine. The transmitter is very small and if you could figure out a lightweight power solution and a interface from the WARBL this maybe a solution. I am thinking of a tube that would house the interface and battery with a 5 pin din plug in the end to plug the transmitter in. If you wanted to have a interface for the bell sensor then make the housing with a larger diameter than the WARBL. i have one or two not being used (transmitters only) and I could donate one to the cause. Maybe just sell the adapter as an accessory? The days of the 5 pin out are over so maybe QUICCO SOUND might be convinced of just selling the transmitter only with usb.
Last edited by 2Dog on Thu Jun 20, 2019 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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Thanks, that's a possibility. We have the Yamaha version on our keyboard, and I've wondered if the transmitter would still work if you cut it in half. Do you happen to know if yours will run on 3.3V? If I had had the foresight I could have made the bell sensor jack configurable so it could output MIDI and also be a power in source, but I couldn't do that the way the hardware currently is. Instead I'd have to use the USB, so we'd still be looking at a USB host interface and another chip to recode the MIDI, along with the power supply. I'll ponder this. Thanks for the suggestion!
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

Post by 2Dog »

https://www.akaipro.com/kb/akai-profess ... /#wireless What is the maximum continuous operation time when the unit is fully charged?

The EWI 5000's 3.7V Lithium Ion battery can last up to thirteen hours when using Line Out, and over six hours when using it wirelessly." (it has a proprietary wireless internal audio transmitter and external receiver for transmission of the onboard synth sounds)

My guess is that the midi out is powered at something less than 3.7v. The WX5 had 6 SUM-4(1.5V) batteries I also used it with a BT7 battery interface with a WX11. i think that had 6 batteries of the same size. Didn't like the yamaha bluetooth solution as it was too long and stuck out too much on the wind controllers. Don't know if anybody cut the receiver part off as the people that used it just rubber-banded it to the wind-controller to keep it from dangling.
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Re: Playing with the Yamaha UD-BT01 Bluetooth adapter

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I'll do some experimenting. There's a chance that I might be able to use the bell sensor jack to output MIDI and input power with the current configuration (just a software update). Then, if the Bluetooth adapter would run on 3.7V from a lithium battery, all we'd need would be the battery, charging circuit, a few resistors, and the adapter. The added benefit of using the bell sensor jack would be that WARBL would use about 1/3 less power if it's not using USB.
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