Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite?

Author
elsongs
Max Output Level: -84 dBFS
  • Total Posts : 306
  • Joined: 2010/03/02 16:16:02
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
  • Status: offline
2016/11/30 22:09:17 (permalink)

Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite?

My trusty MIDI interface (an M-Audio (MIDIman era) Midisport 4x4) of almost 15 years died on me this week.
Someone on the local Craigslist is selling one for cheap, I was wondering if I should replace it with that or get a new MOTU Microlite 5x5 interface? I don't really need more ports, but the Midisport, though trusty, has had some minor issues over the years, especially taking a few minutes to be recognized by Windows (Win 7 at the time, Win 10 seemed to fix that). Also, I wonder if the MOTU might be a tad bit faster? It will cost over 3x buying a used replacement Midisport does. What should I do?
 

Elson Trinidad Los Angeles, CA, USA
Web: www.elsongs.com
Twitter: twitter.com/elsongs

DAWs: Cakewalk by Bandlab, Cakewalk Sonar Platinum x64, Propellerhead Reason 9, Presonus Studio One v3
OS: Windows 10 Professional 
CPU: Intel i7 3820 3.6MHz 
MB: ASRock X79 Xtreme4
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
Audio: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Generation
MIDI: MOTU Microlite & Novation Impulse 61
#1

17 Replies Related Threads

    SuperG
    Max Output Level: -63 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 1371
    • Joined: 2012/10/19 16:09:18
    • Location: Edgewood, NM
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/02 03:53:24 (permalink)
    I use the Microlite and am happy with it. I picked it up used on ebay.

    laudem Deo
    #2
    Jesse G
    Max Output Level: -32.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 4282
    • Joined: 2004/04/14 01:43:43
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/02 14:32:34 (permalink)
    I have the Motu Micro lite and have had it for several years now.  I can connect up to 5 midi devices for both in and out use. 
     
    Keep in mind that it only supports USB 2.0, not USB 3.0.
     
    Current price seems to be $139.00 US.

    Peace,
    Jesse G. A fisher of men  <><
    ==============================
    Cakewalk and I are going places together!

    Cakewalk By Bandlab, Windows 10 Pro- 64 bit, Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI, Intel Core i5-4460 Haswell Processor, Crucial Ballistix 32 GB Ram, PNY GeForce GTX 750, Roland Octa-Capture, Mackie Big Knob, Mackie Universal Controller (MCU), KRK V4's, KRK Rockit 6, Korg TR-61 Workstation, M-Audio Code 49 MIDI keyboard controller.[/
    #3
    elsongs
    Max Output Level: -84 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 306
    • Joined: 2010/03/02 16:16:02
    • Location: Los Angeles, CA
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/03 03:05:43 (permalink)
    Jesse G
    I have the Motu Micro lite and have had it for several years now.  I can connect up to 5 midi devices for both in and out use. 
     
    Keep in mind that it only supports USB 2.0, not USB 3.0.
     
    Current price seems to be $139.00 US.




     
    ????
    http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technotes/usb3

    Elson Trinidad Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Web: www.elsongs.com
    Twitter: twitter.com/elsongs

    DAWs: Cakewalk by Bandlab, Cakewalk Sonar Platinum x64, Propellerhead Reason 9, Presonus Studio One v3
    OS: Windows 10 Professional 
    CPU: Intel i7 3820 3.6MHz 
    MB: ASRock X79 Xtreme4
    RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
    Audio: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Generation
    MIDI: MOTU Microlite & Novation Impulse 61
    #4
    BRainbow
    Max Output Level: -83 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 399
    • Joined: 2004/03/14 01:39:12
    • Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/03 03:49:54 (permalink)
    I have both a MOTU Microlite and MIDI Express 128 (same driver, different DAWs). They both work great but I have had intermittent but solvable problems in the past when they were plugged into a USB 3 port -- mainly an occasional hang on boot (just unplugged it momentarily) and occasional disconnections/USB Device not found type errors (just reinstalled driver). This was with Win7. Because of this, I have just kept them plugged into a USB 2 port, even after upgrading to Win10 in June 2016.  I see the link above where MOTU says USB 3 is not necessarily a problem but I don't see a date or a reference to a specific driver version.  The latest seems to be "v4.0.5.7483 | May. 1, 2013" which is what I have been using.
     
    Otherwise I recommend both as reliable and trouble free.

    Cakewalk (forever), Two WIN10 64-bit DAWs: home-brew ASRock x299 Taichi / i7 7820x w/ 64GB RAM and ASUS X99A-II / i7-5820K w/ 32GB RAM, ZOOM UAC 8, Mackie ONYX 1640i FW Mixer/Interface, Mackie ONYX 1200F, Avalon U5 PreAmp, NI Komplete 11 Ultimate, EastWest Composer CloudX, Yamaha MOTIF XS8, Ensoniq SD-1 and ESQ-1, Korg M1rEX, Yamaha TX-81Z, Roland D110, Line6 HELIX Rack and Native, POD HD-Pro, POD Farm 2.5, Yamaha NS-10 and Presonus Eris E8 monitors, Yamaha Disklavier Upright Piano, mics, guitars, basses, and the cutest little tambourine.
    #5
    elsongs
    Max Output Level: -84 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 306
    • Joined: 2010/03/02 16:16:02
    • Location: Los Angeles, CA
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/05 22:59:18 (permalink)
    Thanks, folks. Just got a Microlite, and it's now hooked up into my MIDI system. Only complaint is the little MIDI port indicator light isn't as bright as the Midisport, but I guess I'll adjust.
     
    Funeral arrangements for the Midisport are pending. 
     

    Elson Trinidad Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Web: www.elsongs.com
    Twitter: twitter.com/elsongs

    DAWs: Cakewalk by Bandlab, Cakewalk Sonar Platinum x64, Propellerhead Reason 9, Presonus Studio One v3
    OS: Windows 10 Professional 
    CPU: Intel i7 3820 3.6MHz 
    MB: ASRock X79 Xtreme4
    RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
    Audio: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Generation
    MIDI: MOTU Microlite & Novation Impulse 61
    #6
    soens
    Max Output Level: -23.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 5154
    • Joined: 2005/09/16 03:19:55
    • Location: Location: Location
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/06 04:14:35 (permalink)
    Microlite will only connect your midi gear, it won't do internal routing. That can be done by software tho. I use midi patchbay.
    #7
    elsongs
    Max Output Level: -84 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 306
    • Joined: 2010/03/02 16:16:02
    • Location: Los Angeles, CA
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/07 00:50:53 (permalink)
    soens
    Microlite will only connect your midi gear, it won't do internal routing. That can be done by software tho. I use midi patchbay.



    That's fine, I already have a JL Cooper box that lets me do that.

    Elson Trinidad Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Web: www.elsongs.com
    Twitter: twitter.com/elsongs

    DAWs: Cakewalk by Bandlab, Cakewalk Sonar Platinum x64, Propellerhead Reason 9, Presonus Studio One v3
    OS: Windows 10 Professional 
    CPU: Intel i7 3820 3.6MHz 
    MB: ASRock X79 Xtreme4
    RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
    Audio: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Generation
    MIDI: MOTU Microlite & Novation Impulse 61
    #8
    Jesse G
    Max Output Level: -32.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 4282
    • Joined: 2004/04/14 01:43:43
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/07 18:13:19 (permalink)
    elsongs,
     
    Were you able to connect the Micro Lite to USB 3.0 or were you limited to using USB 2.0?
     
    Just curious.

    Peace,
    Jesse G. A fisher of men  <><
    ==============================
    Cakewalk and I are going places together!

    Cakewalk By Bandlab, Windows 10 Pro- 64 bit, Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI, Intel Core i5-4460 Haswell Processor, Crucial Ballistix 32 GB Ram, PNY GeForce GTX 750, Roland Octa-Capture, Mackie Big Knob, Mackie Universal Controller (MCU), KRK V4's, KRK Rockit 6, Korg TR-61 Workstation, M-Audio Code 49 MIDI keyboard controller.[/
    #9
    Fleer
    Max Output Level: 0 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 8715
    • Joined: 2014/08/29 10:17:45
    • Location: Boston/Cambridge
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/07 19:18:01 (permalink)
    New MOTU 624 coming up.

    "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl" (Wish You Were Here)
    #10
    tlw
    Max Output Level: -49.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 2567
    • Joined: 2008/10/11 22:06:32
    • Location: West Midlands, UK
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/08 18:18:41 (permalink)
    My Microlite works fine on USB3 sockets on PC (Windows 8.1) and Mac (Sierra).

    Sonar Platinum 64bit, Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit, I7 3770K Ivybridge, 16GB Ram, Gigabyte Z77-D3H m/board,
    ATI 7750 graphics+ 1GB RAM, 2xIntel 520 series 220GB SSDs, 1 TB Samsung F3 + 1 TB WD HDDs, Seasonic fanless 460W psu, RME Fireface UFX, Focusrite Octopre.
    Assorted real synths, guitars, mandolins, diatonic accordions, percussion, fx and other stuff.
    #11
    elsongs
    Max Output Level: -84 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 306
    • Joined: 2010/03/02 16:16:02
    • Location: Los Angeles, CA
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2016/12/09 01:20:18 (permalink)
    Jesse G
    elsongs,
     
    Were you able to connect the Micro Lite to USB 3.0 or were you limited to using USB 2.0?
     
    Just curious.




    I ended up plugging it into a 2.0 jack on my tower PC just to be on the safe side. I still have a few free 3.0 and 2.0 jacks anyway so it really didn't matter. 
     
    I also have a Mac Book Pro that only has 3.0, but I'm most likely not going to use the Microlite with it (I only really use plugins via Mainstage or Reason on it anyway).
     
    I have 3 DAWs, but Sonar is the most hardware-friendly so this is the one I use when sequencing/recording my hardware synths, hence the need for the interface.

    Elson Trinidad Los Angeles, CA, USA
    Web: www.elsongs.com
    Twitter: twitter.com/elsongs

    DAWs: Cakewalk by Bandlab, Cakewalk Sonar Platinum x64, Propellerhead Reason 9, Presonus Studio One v3
    OS: Windows 10 Professional 
    CPU: Intel i7 3820 3.6MHz 
    MB: ASRock X79 Xtreme4
    RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3
    Audio: Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 2nd Generation
    MIDI: MOTU Microlite & Novation Impulse 61
    #12
    Joe_A
    Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 458
    • Joined: 2008/07/06 23:16:14
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/11 16:43:53 (permalink)
    I'm looking at MOTU 624..
    More comments??

    jambrose@cfl.rr.com  Sonar Plat. Lifetime. Started in Sonar 4, each through 8.5.3PE.
    Scarlett 18i202nd gen., Edirol FA-101, M-Audio Firewire 410, AMD Phenom II 1045T six core processor, 8GB DDR3, AMD Radeon HD 6450, dual displays, 1.5 TB SATA HD, USB 2, Firewire 1394A, 1394B, 18/22 mixer, EV Q-66, Yamaha HS50M monitors, few guitars, Fender Cybertwin SE, Fender Cyber foot controller, Boss RC20-XL, misc pedals, etc. Win Home Prem 64 bit.
    #13
    Joe_A
    Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 458
    • Joined: 2008/07/06 23:16:14
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/11 16:44:27 (permalink)
    Maybe pulling the trigger for the 624 today.

    jambrose@cfl.rr.com  Sonar Plat. Lifetime. Started in Sonar 4, each through 8.5.3PE.
    Scarlett 18i202nd gen., Edirol FA-101, M-Audio Firewire 410, AMD Phenom II 1045T six core processor, 8GB DDR3, AMD Radeon HD 6450, dual displays, 1.5 TB SATA HD, USB 2, Firewire 1394A, 1394B, 18/22 mixer, EV Q-66, Yamaha HS50M monitors, few guitars, Fender Cybertwin SE, Fender Cyber foot controller, Boss RC20-XL, misc pedals, etc. Win Home Prem 64 bit.
    #14
    scottfa
    Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 453
    • Joined: 2005/04/23 06:25:47
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/11 18:18:09 (permalink)
    Hmmmmm...RME Babyface Pro about the same price but had two headphone outs and Midi IO. Not half rack though..... 
    Is the 624 superior in some way?

    Intel I7 2600K (OCed to 4.0)
    Gigabyte Ga-Z68X-UD3H-B3
    16G Corsair 1600  Memory 4 sticks
    1 SSD, 1WD 650 SATA and 1 Samsung 1G SATA    
    Steinberg MR816X 
    Mackie R800 Adat to the Steinberg
    Windows 10 64 bit     
    Sonar Platinum Lifetime
    UAD-2  Solo
    #15
    Joe_A
    Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 458
    • Joined: 2008/07/06 23:16:14
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/12 15:47:05 (permalink)
    The 624 has some features for my intention to see if it's a good fit for portable live use yet give me the tracks to later with with in SPLAT.

    jambrose@cfl.rr.com  Sonar Plat. Lifetime. Started in Sonar 4, each through 8.5.3PE.
    Scarlett 18i202nd gen., Edirol FA-101, M-Audio Firewire 410, AMD Phenom II 1045T six core processor, 8GB DDR3, AMD Radeon HD 6450, dual displays, 1.5 TB SATA HD, USB 2, Firewire 1394A, 1394B, 18/22 mixer, EV Q-66, Yamaha HS50M monitors, few guitars, Fender Cybertwin SE, Fender Cyber foot controller, Boss RC20-XL, misc pedals, etc. Win Home Prem 64 bit.
    #16
    scottfa
    Max Output Level: -81 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 453
    • Joined: 2005/04/23 06:25:47
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/12 18:45:23 (permalink)
    Seems like the same spot as the Babyface is aiming to hit. I believe that the RME does not need a power source for the USB 2 connection. No Thunderbolt however. Still wondering about the 624 advsntages though.

    Intel I7 2600K (OCed to 4.0)
    Gigabyte Ga-Z68X-UD3H-B3
    16G Corsair 1600  Memory 4 sticks
    1 SSD, 1WD 650 SATA and 1 Samsung 1G SATA    
    Steinberg MR816X 
    Mackie R800 Adat to the Steinberg
    Windows 10 64 bit     
    Sonar Platinum Lifetime
    UAD-2  Solo
    #17
    abacab
    Max Output Level: -30.5 dBFS
    • Total Posts : 4464
    • Joined: 2014/12/31 19:34:07
    • Status: offline
    Re: Need a new MIDI Interface - M-Audio Midisport 4x4 or MOTU Microlite? 2017/03/14 00:13:18 (permalink)
    MOTU 624 is audio only.  This thread is about MIDI interface.

    DAW: CbB; Sonar Platinum, and others ... 
    #18
    Jump to:
    © 2024 APG vNext Commercial Version 5.1