MIDI Thru question

[quadutol]

Newbie MIDI question. If I set the MIDI to Thru does that give me something similar to two MIDI In ports? If so, something is not working (user error, of course). I have a PreenFM, a midi controller (midi out only) and an Electribe 2 (Midi In and Out). What i want to do is connect all three and use the PreenFM as my synth for the Electribe 2. Right now, I can do that with the E2's pad. But I want to control it with my Midi keyboard controller instead. How would I do this, if it is possible to do it all? Maybe I misunderstand Midi Thru and what it does though.

[lokki]

If I set the MIDI to Thru does that give me something similar to two MIDI In ports?

no! midi thru simply means, that midi messages are sent from the midi input to the midi out.  on the preenfm you have soft midi thru, which means that the midimessages are going "into" the synth and are sent out by the synth. this allows for some options to be set, check the manuak for that! on older gear you would sometimes see a dedicated midi thru socket, which would mirror the messages hardware wise.