Let me preface this one by saying that the blame for this is entirely on me and my carelessness when shopping online. I did not get scammed. I was just being stupid.
Several times.
So I recently bought a synthesizer to connect to my MIDI controller (an 88 key keyboard with some knobs and blinking lights and shit).
I saw that this new device has a 3.5mm MIDI port while I only had the classic 5-pin kind. No problem, I’ll buy an adapter.
The adapter arrives, and I discover that the one I bought has the female 5-pin connector and won’t plug into the keyboard. Well, crap.
Buy another adapter. Made sure the 5-pin side was male.
Oops. Turns out that the 3.5mm MIDI cables come in type A or type B, and I chose poorly.
So I search for “midi type a to b converter” and without thinking at all, I bought a converter that has two female connectors. Fuck me.
At this point, a sane person would’ve just cut the first two adapters and soldered the correct ends together, but fuck it, I’m in too deep now. I gotta get a 3.5mm MIDI cable with two male ends to complete this daisy-chain of madness and find out how long it takes for me to get bored and find another hobby.
With adapters you’re just going to have connection/communication problems with midi. Just return the products and get the correct stuff. You should have a 2-4 week return window like with anything online.