LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter

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groove
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2012/08/20 13:29:53 (permalink)

LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter

Does anyone know of a good modern solution to this dilemma?  I have many devices I need to connect(>16) and cannot seem to find a modern interface that will give me a decent port count.  I have an Edirol UM-880 which I believe has great timing and low jitter, but has only 8 ports and is discontinued.  I'm surprised to find nobody has made either a solid 16 port interface or an 8 port interface that has good timing(the MOTU stuff is around and is 8x8 but is said to have somewhat poor timing consistency/jitter specs).

Does anyone know of a good interface that will likely have support for Win7/Win8 ?

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    Bonzos Ghost
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/21 18:46:56 (permalink)
    M-Audio has up to 4x4 these days.
    MIDI Solutions has a few variations as well.
    The choices are not what they used to be for multi-port MIDI interfaces, that's for sure.

    I use a lot of outboard midi as well, but I manage with a combination of midi ports off my interface card + a 2X2 USB interface + a couple of old Roland midi input/output selector rack units + a midi merge box + a bit of daisy-chaining. Yup, it's a rat's nest, but everything is plugged in (no patching required) and it always works just fine, so I'm content.  



    #2
    rtucker55
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/21 20:47:58 (permalink)
    I also have an Edirol UM-880 and I dread the day it decides to bite the dust. I have looked around and it seems about the only multi-port interfaces are Motu...

    Motu makes good stuff but their 64 bit driver support sucks. Same way with M-audio units.

    I don't believe I have ever seen any 16 port devices. Please let us know what you end up getting.

    Kind regards,
    Rick

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    Cactus Music
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/21 22:09:04 (permalink)
    The death toll for MIDI as we knew it. It's all about supply and demand. As the majority of people have switched 100% to soft synth's, the market for any MIDI devices has almost disappeared. Hang on to any older multi MIDI port hardware as it will become as hard to find as a dot matrix printer.

    Johnny V  
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    timidi
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/21 22:26:08 (permalink)
    Cactus Music


    The death toll for MIDI as we knew it. It's all about supply and demand. As the majority of people have switched 100% to soft synth's, the market for any MIDI devices has almost disappeared. Hang on to any older multi MIDI port hardware as it will become as hard to find as a dot matrix printer.




    I find more and more I go to my hardware synths instead of soft synths. Soft synths may sound great but I just can't get the same sensitivity out of them as the hardware. Just sayin.

    ASUS P8P67, i7-2600K, CORSAIR 16GB, HIS 5450, 3 Samsung SSD 850, Win7 64, RME AIO.
     
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    jeffb63
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/22 06:40:30 (permalink)
    Motu makes good stuff but their 64 bit driver support sucks.



    That's news to me!


    I'm using a MOTU PCI-424 with a 1296 and two 2408 MkIIIs with two Micro Express MIDI interfaces under Win7 x64.


    Not a single problem here.

    Studio:
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    #6
    bitflipper
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/22 13:28:52 (permalink)
    The good news is there are some great bargains on ebay and craigslist for MIDI multiplexers because so few people want them nowadays. It would probably be worth posting a "want to buy" ad on craigslist, and to pick up a second UM-880 or similar unit.

    I'm in a similar boat. I use an ancient 16-port MIDI switcher/multiplexer/combiner that was given to me by a generous forum member years ago. It's the centerpiece of my MIDI setup and I'd be lost if it stopped working. But back when I was initially searching for an affordable solution I ran across a surprising number of used MOTU MIDI Express units for sale on craigslist, so it's reassuring to know that a replacement would not be impossible to find.


    All else is in doubt, so this is the truth I cling to. 

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    Goddard
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    Re:LOTS of MIDI ports with low latency/jitter 2012/08/23 05:28:47 (permalink)

    No 16x16 MIDI interfaces I'm aware of, but there's the already-mentioned Edirol UM-880 and as you know MOTU do currently offer several USB 8x8 MIDI interfaces (ime both Roland/Edirol's and MOTU's MIDI gear has always been very good and well supported driver-wise).

    Dunno how many MIDI devices you need to use all at once, but you might be able to get by with a single 8x8 interface along with a pair (or more) of 8x8 switchers/patchbays like the Yamaha MJC-8, with patches set up for different routing arrangements. Might be a mess of cabling on a desktop, but could be made somewhat neater in a rack.

    Then there's always the old fallback of daisy-chaining via MIDI THRUs, which might save on the number of MIDI ports required. 

    I'd venture the decline in MIDI interface offerings is due in part to the fact that a lot of current MIDI gear now uses USB for interfacing to computers, just like most current MIDI interfaces do, obviating the need for a dedicated MIDI interface.

    Edit: Almost forgot, there's also the M-Audio Midisport 8x8 which although no longer in production is still supported afaik. Was M-Audio's top of the line interface, competing with MOTU's MIDI Timepiece offering, That said, haven't used any recent M-Audio interfaces (not since the old Midiman Portmans) so dunno.
    post edited by Goddard - 2012/08/23 05:50:19
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