Oberheim OBX is not only an excellent polyphonic vintage synthesizer (1979) but it was also the culprit of the origin of the English manufacturer Kenton. In 1986 the British musician John Price founded Kenton with the aim of creating a complete MIDI interface for his favorite synthesizer.
Thirty years later, MIDI is still an essential tool in any serious study despite the fact that the technology allows the use of other digital media for the management of this protocol, such as USB. Thus, Kenton continues to produce tools that in one way or another are based on the communication languages CV and MIDI.
Merge-8 is a MIDI signal management unit capable of processing information from up to eight independent sources to combine them into two outputs. It is a very useful tool for studies or real directives where it is necessary to connect several devices to one or two MIDI IN ports. It also has a system to enhance input signals that may have been degraded along the path of the MIDI cable.
Merge-8 offers two configurations that are stored by your EPROM. In one, eight inputs are joined and transmitted by the two MIDI outputs identically, and the second, works as a Split (2xMerge-4 in a single terminal), the inputs from 1 to 4 are combined to exit through OUT1 and the inputs from 5 to 8 are added to exit through OUT2.
It is a useful and compact unit as Kenton products are usually characterized, although this time it is lighter and not as robust as any of its previous products.