MIDI: is built-in better than USB?

[tcovem]

Is there any reason not to use a USB MIDI IO box, vs. built-in MIDI ports e.g. on a sound card? Salesman seemed to indicate it's better to not use the USB, but I wasn't sure why, and it's certainly easier/cheaper...

Thanks!
TCOVEM

[soxfanben]

if you can avoid a USB connection for your MIDI you will get less latency.

ben

[csduke]

if you can avoid a USB connection for your MIDI you will get less latency.

ben
Is this true for USB 2.0?

[tcovem]

Ah, well, that's a good reason then! I never think of MIDI having latency, just audio...
I'm interested in whether USB2.0 doesn't have this issue, but supposing it does, what's a good way of adding MIDI without USB, short of changing my audio card (which is currently a frontier wavecenter with which I'm quite happy)?

[Bruce A. Richardson]

Some USB MIDI devices have really horrendous latency. Some of the M-Audio Midisport devices in particular are just devastatingly slow.

It's something to be careful about, and certainly ask the questions about any device which interests you.

[kbaccki]

Plus, you're dependent on efficiency or inefficiency of yet another hardware device -- one that potentially steals bus cycles from more important devices like your sound card, depending on the mobo and driver implementation. If you're like me, you turn off as many devices as possible in the BIOS to avoid potential conflicts and unnecessary bus chatter.

- Keith

[Bruce A. Richardson]

Right on.

[csduke]

Plus, you're dependent on efficiency or inefficiency of yet another hardware device -- one that potentially steals bus cycles from more important devices like your sound card, depending on the mobo and driver implementation. If you're like me, you turn off as many devices as possible in the BIOS to avoid potential conflicts and unnecessary bus chatter.

- Keith
USB midi could eliminate a Midi card though, which would make it a wash - well not even that since USBs interface with the motherboard not the PCI bus. I still wonder why a USB 2.0 interface, as fast as it is, can't handle midi well. Is it a polled rather than in interrupt driven interface? Like you said though, it is a smart thing to disable USB and other nonessential drivers on your PC.

[kitekrazy]

Is there any reason not to use a USB MIDI IO box, vs. built-in MIDI ports e.g. on a sound card? Salesman seemed to indicate it's better to not use the USB, but I wasn't sure why, and it's certainly easier/cheaper...

Thanks!
TCOVEM

I only use USB with USB powered midi controllers only because finding room to plug in an adapter to a power strip can be a hassle.

[fisheye]

USB giving much latency is outdated; they used to, but don't anymore. My midisport 2x2 isn't giving any problems. I never notice any latency. Just make sure you have a quality chipset that manages all the traffic well.

[kbaccki]

USB midi could eliminate a Midi card though, which would make it a wash - well not even that since USBs interface with the motherboard not the PCI bus.

Good point, but when I think I know enough about how computers work I come across stuff like this:

A couple of years ago I upgraded to the latest and greatest drivers for my ATI Radeon 8500 -- resulted in a noticable zipper-type chatter when moving windows around or opening the start menu, etc. Rolled back to an older driver version, problem solved. Why would the video card cause noticable chatter through the audio interface -- the video card sits in it's own bus, namely AGP?

At this point, I just try to "play it safe" whenever possible, even if doing so seems to defy common sense. :p

- Keith

[Disko300]

USB giving much latency is outdated; they used to, but don't anymore. My midisport 2x2 isn't giving any problems. I never notice any latency. Just make sure you have a quality chipset that manages all the traffic well.

not true, usb boxes have very different latencies. the best is serial port (1/10th latency of usb) but this dosent allows much traffic.