Midi Interface Recommendation Please

[Larry Negro]

Hi

I have a new GS160 rig (P4, lots of RAM, fast HDs etc. and Intel chipset) and I could use some help as well as a recommendation with a MIDI interface. Since GS160 has 4 MIDI ports, does that mean....

I should have a 4 in and 4 out Midi interface (like the Roland UM550 for example) to make use of its full potential?

Should it be PCI or USB (is there a USB 2.0 out yet), and is there any problems with the USB variety?

What are your recommended models (stable, fast, good price)?

Thanks for your help

Larry

[Yves]

Larry...

I\'m using the egosys wamirack 24 which has 4 midi inputs so I can handle the 64 channels of gigastudio 160. It\'s also an audio card with 8 audio outs plus S/PDIF and timecode ins and outs.
I had a MOTU midi express USB interface before but i noticed a 4 to 5 ms of extra latency .
I\'m using XP pro with an ECS mobo and P3 1.2ghz
CPU. The wamirack has very acceptable latency.

peace

Yves

[Larry Negro]

Yves

Thanks for the recommendation. A couple of questions. Other than using a controller to drive synths, I was never a big MIDI guy.

What is the purpose of 4 midi ports in GS? Do the 64 channels operate independantly in groups of 16? Does it mean that you can have more instruments playing simultaneously?

Thanks again for the help

Larry

[maestro]

I use Motu MTV AV over my parallel printer port. It has 8 MIDI ins and 8 MIDI outs. Each port can handle 16 MIDI channels.

It works very good, no latency at all and nice flexibilty.

My current settings are:

Port 1 IN : #1 Studiologic Keyboard 880 Midi Channel 1,2.3,4 (selctor switches on keyboard)
Port 2 IN : #2 Studiologic Keyboard 880 Midi Channel 1,2,3,4 (selctor switches on keyboard)
Port 3 IN: Digital Church Organ (2 Manuals and Pedal IN) Midi Channels 1,3 and 7
Port 4 IN: MIDI Controller (49 keys in a drawer under the computer for fast entry of notes in
notation program (finale 2003).

Port 5 IN: Roland PK-5 MIDI controller.

Port 3 OUT: Digital Church Organ

Using several ports gives you much more flexibility. I sometimes play on the organ, sometimes use the Studiologics and PK3 and sometimes I\'m just sitting in the computer and enter music with my mouse or MIDI keyboard.

I do a lot of live improvisations and compositions with my setup. I use a 12 channel audio system which is all around me.

Overall I\'m very pleased with the technical setup. No problems at all!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VAIO 2,2 GHz 512 RDRAM 800
Layla 24
2 Monitors on GForce 440
Motu MTV AV
Gigastudio 160
5 Digital Reverb Units
2 31 Band equalizers
12 Audio Channels (including 6 from the digital organ).
OS Windows XP home

[Larry Negro]

Thanks Maestro. Nice setup. Mine is not that complicated, but some good tips there to remember

Larry

[Yves]

larry,

As you can tell, having 4 independent midi ports give you access to the 64 channels of Gigastudio\'s midi information simultaneously.
It\'s very practical if you want to keep your tracks virtual . I prefer that to render them as audio because I can always go back and modify the parts easily . I render to audio in the final phase of production.peace

yves

[Jan]

I use M-Audio\'s Midisport 4X4, connected through USB. So far I have no complaints, it is stable, fast and I got it for a very resonable price (125 Euro).