Jesse G
 I am using the Motu Micro lite with 5X5 midi ports with Windows 10 Pro. The only down fall is that it must use USB 2.0 not USB 3.0
 

 
I wouldn't say that's a downfall.... midi data is glacial in speed compared to audio data. It barely taxes USB 2.0 at all.

I have an ancient MOTU MIDI Express XT (parallel port) interface that now can only be used as a standalone router since parallel ports disappeared from computers many years ago.  My thought was to replace it with a (slightly) newer USB version...but then a new player recently showed up.
 
Has anyone had any experience with iConnectivity's mio10?  I'm interested to know how it fares with driver stability and MIDI jitter and latency.
 

 

I have an old MIDISport 2x2 that's built like a tank and works when others don't.  Has drivers for Win10.
 
New 2x2 and 4x4 units are still being sold, drivers support older models as well if you find a used one.  They used to make an 8x8, IIRC
 
 

When i replaced my Audio interface last year, I accidentally bought the Scarlett 2i2 instead of the 2i4.  The difference being MIDI...
I bought one of these and have been very happy with it:  http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UMOneMk2
 

Jesse G
 I am using the Motu Micro lite with 5X5 midi ports with Windows 10 Pro. The only down fall is that it must use USB 2.0 not USB 3.0
 
See the  ~~~>  MOTU Micro Lite

Incorrect. Mine works fine on a USB3 port in Win8.1 and OS X.
http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technotes/usb3

I'll take it that no one else has taken interest in new multiport MIDI interfaces...based on the lack of response to my earlier post...
 
(...on the iConnectivity mio10)

I just ordered a mio10.  Have not received it yet but will report back. What seems extremely appealing to me is that you can route multiple USB devices through it using a USB hub.

Jeff Evans
I have been through this process and there are not many to choose from. MOTU Midi Express XT is the one to get and it was re released in 2011 by the way so your assertion that it has not been changed since 2003 is incorrect. They have improved it and added an extra SMPTE time code feature.  Anyway even it has not been changed since 2003 if it works, it works.

 
I've now got one of the MIDI Express XT units and I'm in the process of doing some tests ... see below :-(
  

Jeff Evans
 
Timing is everything and it is important to get that midi interface running well in terms of midi latency and also how accurate the start of midi notes are in relation to audio and the metronome.
 
[...]
 
I am getting sub second mS timing down to 0.2 mS and in many cases 0.1 mS. Sometimes it varies by a mS or so and this may be due to midi jitter but on my system the midi note start is always early to the audio by the same time (approx 0.2 mS) and does not seem to jitter around.
 
[...]
 
It is good to do some tests and see how the midi side of your setup is running and how accurate it is.  It is also good to test the latency of your synths one by one.  eg Compare the start of the midi note to when the audio first appears.  It is nice to be able to adjust midi tracks timing wise in your DAW and get them to play early by the synth latency times putting the audio more where it should be. 
 
[...]
 
The Express XT is an obvious choice for me too if I have to go to Win 10.  I have heard they are very reliable and having an internal power supply is a nice plus too.
 

 
Inspired by this I embarked on a test of a brand new MIDI Express XT unit. I simply added a single MIDI note in Sonar, send it out thru one MIDI port and back in by another MIDI port (i.e. short connection with a cable, no processing done externally) and record it.
 
The offset (between the note played back and the note recorded) is disappointingly big - too big for my liking - at a tempo of 240 BPM I get an offset of 22 to 37 ticks (!!!), which translates to 5.7 ms to 9.6 ms MIDI signal roundtrip.
 
Even worse, the offset varies in this range when doing a loop recording of this single MIDI note (nothing else going on in the project). So the MIDI note jitters around by above numbers ... and the time variance is very much in the range of subtle timing adjustments often required when tightening up a groove.
 
Turning the MIDI routing / filtering off gets it down a bit, but not a lot (but greatly reduces functionality of one of the most expensive MIDI only interfaces around). (could not be reproduced at later testes)
 
One the contrary, the 20EUR MIDIMATE passes the test at 7 - 12 ticks (~3 ms MIDI roundtrip) and much less jitter.
 
So, the question now is whether there is something to improve the MOTU MIDI performance or if I should send it straight back to the vendor.
 
 
@Jeff: I assume your reported 0.1ms MIDI timing is measured on the Steinberg unit, isn't it?
 
EDIT: minor update of numbers after a more systematic test ... 
 

I took the time to compare the MOTU MIDI Express XT to all other interfaces I have available and it came out with the worst specs ... hmmm, none of the clocking settings could help, either, and the manual is one of the worst of the zillion I read in my life time.
 
I have contacted vendor and MOTU regarding these observations. Let's see if there will be a response ...
 
more at http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3462210

Still no repsonse from MOTU or vendor ...
 
Does anyone with a MOTU MIDI interface (especially the Express XT) feel like repeating/confirming my measurements for MIDI Latency and jitter? It takes only about 5 minutes to set up and would indicate whether this is by design or if there could be something wrong with my unit.
 
Likewise anyone with a mio10 (which is one of the few remaining competitors for multi MIDI port devices) could try this as I would suspect this unit to suffer from something similar as they offer even more routing/filtering options which may potentially induce latency ...