Kenton MIDI Thru 5

Its small, its light, and functions well. Put MIDI in, get x5 MIDI out. Everything is clearly labeled, hard to see how you could go wrong really.

Although the case is not in any way flimsy, I wouldn't want to put it anywhere where it could get trodden on (e.g. on the floor). Plenty good enough for mounting inside a rack or under a pedalboard, though. Its also very light, so you can velco it somewhere safe.

One word of caution for Guitarists: The power connector on this unit is 9v Centre-Positive. Most guitar pedals are 9v Centre-Negative. If you intend to use this on a pedalboard, you need to be careful with your power cables.

I looked at other options on here but this seemed to be the best one at this price vs. the amount of thrus & it being powered etc.. Have it nearly a year now & I'm v.happy with my purchase. An uns3xy bit of studio kit, sure.. but these things are an essential tool once you start accumulating a few drum machines or synths.

TBH I look at reviews I normally scan them & look for the negative comments to get an idea of what the product is like. This is such a simple little gadget that it would be impossible to say anything negative about it. Its good quality & works.

Really good piece of kit. Its got the steel (?) / metal case.. so its as solid as you could expect. Using it is plug & play. Does exactly what you want it to do. This thing is a small, silent and unassuming workhorse that you'll end up taking totally for granted. 5* Recommended.

I have a Korg Kross 2 88 workstation keyboard that I use as a master keyboard in my studio. Korg has a combi mode that I can use to split and layer 16 different timbres from its internal sound and external module. I wanted to control my Arturia MicroFreak, volca sample 2, and some soft-synth in my laptop from combi mode.

Kenton MIDI Thru 5 does the job really well. From the workstation MIDI out, I can split the MIDI signal to those external devices and play it together in combi mode.

In summary, Kenton MIDI Thru 5 is highly recommended if you have multiple external MIDI devices (up to 5 devices) and you want to control it from a single source such as a workstation keyboard or DAW + Audio Interface with MIDI out capability.

i have been using this kenton box for over a year now. and love it and really could not live without it. as simple as that.

i suppose it would find its use in every studio with more than one device to sync or control. this is the kind of box you put somewhere and totally forget about. it just works. not a single problem since i started using it. not messages lost or such.

of course you must pay attention to what you send on the input. sending many midi notes and a midi sync might be a bit too much for just one midi lead to carry. but for controlling a few synths and sharing midi clock over many devices it is the best and yet affordable solution i have found !

For this kind of equipment, the fact that you completely forget about it after installing it the first time is a good indicator of its reliability.

Attached to my M-Audio MIDISport 2x2, it provides MIDI data feed (4 of the 5 ports are in constant use) to the numerous synths of my setup without any trouble whatsoever so far (I've been using it on a daily basis for more than 6 months at the time of this review).

This probably makes the difference with a passive thru box, I can't say for sure because I've never had one. But I can tell you that if you have an extra socket to spare, it might be worth it and you can buy this product with the confidence that MIDI chokes are a thing of the past.