KVR Audio

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 11:02 pm

Hey folks!

This has prolly been done to death so please forgive me bringing it up again

Ive FINALLY got some space and have all my kit together so I now find myself in need of an 8x8 (at least) usb midi interface to run everything from me puter...

The Motu boxes are nice anyone have any ideas on either/both please? Why would I need to spent the extra cash on the XT usb???

Im planning to run 5/6 synths and a C64/NES and sync a Roland VS2000cd... would I need the SMPTE features of the more costly unit???

Thanks for all help and ideas - Im delighted to be in this situation as Im finally nearer having all my gear talking to eachother

Dave

lordvader48 · Post by **lordvader48** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 11:14 pm

If MIDI timing is important to you, try to avoid USB MIDI interfaces. Most of them don't work very well. If you're on a PC, you'll get a lot better performance with a PCI or parallel MIDI interface, even an old one.

I had a talk with a tech guy at "a major music manufacturer" today and he agreed with my conclusions. Apparently it is theoretically possible to make a good USB MIDI interface, but most if not all makers of these interfaces have taken shortcuts in the implementation of their drivers that result in poor performance. MOTU is among the best of the USB MIDI interface vendors, but they are all pretty bad. Ideally, try to go for something like a Frontier Design Dakota + Sierra. That will produce the best possible MIDI timing that can be had from the technology.

If you don't care about timing, USB MIDI interfaces are just fine.

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 11:36 pm

mckenic wrote:Hey folks!

This has prolly been done to death so please forgive me bringing it up again

Ive FINALLY got some space and have all my kit together so I now find myself in need of an 8x8 (at least) usb midi interface to run everything from me puter...

I love my Edirol UM-880 just to pieces. It's super easy to switch between use as a PC MIDI I/O and a patch switcher for live play. I have 4 hardware synths that I want on their own interfaces (because I like to use various things to program them as well as play them), and I have two or three controllers (depending on my mood) that I want always available for playing. I aggregate and split ports/channels with midi-ox/midi-yoke.

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 12:45 am

Thanks for the thoughts thus far guys!

Of course I had completely forgotten about pci midi... Ive had a laptop for ages which just died, so now Im desktop pci becomes an option again.

The Edirol looks the job indeed but it comes in at something like E350 where as the motu 128 is on ebay at the moment for E195... if its a case of you get what you py for, I guess I'll pay. I had hoped twould be cheap enough but however...

Midi timing is indeed important - need stuff to start in sync and stay that way, but Im working with audio latency set to about 20ms so its not uber important, just regular important

So I guess pci recommendations would be my next request please

I have audio covered with Kore/Line6 Ux2 so no audio but lots of midi

Thanks again for the tips! This is a delightfully new situation for me and Im lost

Dave

PinothyJ · Post by **PinothyJ** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:41 pm

wow, I thought 'A LOT' would have refered to about twenty-four or so in/outs, not just eight

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BertKoor · Post by **BertKoor** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 2:55 pm

lordvader48 wrote:If you don't care about timing, USB MIDI interfaces are just fine.

If you don't care about timing you could as well chain all the synths (connect Thru port to Input of the next, etc) and assign them to different midi channels...

Oh, ESI has the M4U and M8U usb products:
http://www.esi-pro.com/listProduct.php?ctgr=11

And ofcourse there are M-Audio's midisports in several in/out versions:
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=pro ... interfaces

Can't find any PCI midi card at the shops here...

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Fri Mar 09, 2007 4:25 pm

PinothyJ wrote:wow, I thought 'A LOT' would have refered to about twenty-four or so in/outs, not just eight …

I have an upper budget of around E300 ish... trynna finalize my set-up with midi conectivity and a turntable/mixer set for around the E500 mark...

Of course if you could point out some monster midi gear Id be delighted - I have a nanoloop sync box, Electribe, sidstation etc... love to have ALL my gear hooked up!

Dave

james0tucson · Post by **james0tucson** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 6:47 am

There's something else I've thought of. The need for MIDI ports tends to be asymmetric. For a given situation, you either need a lot of inputs (because you have all different controllers) or you need a lot of outputs (because you are orchestrating many instruments). Obviously you need both sometimes, but I imagine it is not uncommon to have asymmetric requirements.

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:02 pm

Absolutely!

ATM my need is 6+ outputs... with a PC sequencer I cant see the need for 6+ ins myself as I hope to do all automation etc on the computer.

I imagine a manufacturer could do just one or the other to keep costs down but saying that even 8+ in and out seems to be a specialist thing... Now I have been looking VERY closely at the Dopfer midi kits so I could see a future situation where more inputs would be needed

Dave

chimpuat · Post by **chimpuat** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 5:03 pm

i'll throw my 2 cents in, hopefully adding something helpful. for my pc interface, i got an emu-0404 pci soundcard as a present (they retail around US$100). the midi in/out from that is connected to a digital music corp mx-8 hardware midi patch bay (8 ins/8 outs), and all my other outboard gear is connected through that. for me, this method offered the most flexibility for some major affordability (got the mx-8 for like US$25 on ebay).

i love my pc, but i still try to do as much with 'traditional' hardware as i can. if i had more space (and a much more understanding wife, heh), i'd have a rack of gear as tall as i am.

Mikelo · Post by **Mikelo** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 9:10 pm

I use a Motu Midi Express 128. At first I had nothing but trouble running its drivers through my pc. Now, strangely enough it works fine, well most of the time. For some reason, like 1 out 10 times I open Cubase, the midi ports don't show up so I have to either restart cubase or restart the pc! Sometimes the usb has to be unplugged and then replugged to 'cycle power'.
I don't think the drivers are that great and I think its been sometime since they updated any software. I tried contacting Motu 's tech advisors. I got more information from my teddy bear! lol!
Seriously though, I still wouldnt swap it though cause when it does work (most of the time), it works fine.

Need a LOT of midi in/outs... MOTU Express 128 or XT USB