MIDI Solutions R8 8-Output MIDI Controlled Relay Array (Standard)

I bought this R8 specifically for the purpose of running the video game Rock Band with my MIDI drums, though you could use it for whatever your imagination can fathom. My MIDI drum to Rock Band mod works beautifully and I couldn't have done it so easily without the R8.The R8 is extremely easy to program. It doesn't require any power other than the MIDI connection, which saves you from having to fit another wall wart in to your power strip.At 1st, I was apprehensive about the price, but now I don't regret it at all. It's so nice to finally buy something that easily does exactly what you want it to do with rock solid performance.The R8 has 8 relays that can be programmed to open or close in response to pretty much any MIDI signal. You can also program it to close for an adjustable period of time and then open (or vice versa) in response to a single MIDI message. I use it to close the relays for 40 ms and then open when it receives the Note On messages that correspond with my MIDI drum heads.The R8 can only be programmed via it's MIDI interface, but chances are, if you are looking in to getting one of these, you probably already have some form of PC to MIDI connector. I personally use M-Audio's MIDISport Uno.The only problem I had while programming this unit was my own fault. I didn't know the note numbers for my drum heads, so I used a program that monitors MIDI messages to capture the note numbers as I hit the drum heads. Well, MIDI messages are always displayed in hexadecimal and the menus for the program that configures the R8 requests the note numbers in decimal. I didn't think to convert the note numbers from hexadecimal to decimal, so, as you can imagine, things did not work at 1st. Just make sure to remember that when you are reading hexadecimal, you are reading hexadecimal (for example 20 = 32).