Sorry to hear of your problem. Seems like a lot of the SoundMax cards are having problems these days,
Your SoundMax, for all intents and purposes, is audio only and NOT able to do MIDI without some changes.
As a matter of fact after a bit of research I find that in most cases even SoundMax agrees. “"MIDI music playback" only.
http://forms.analog.com/Form_Pages/soundMAX/soundMAXSupportFAQ.html#audiojacks 33 Why doesn't my MIDI port work?
Musicians sometimes use the MIDI port connector on some computers to connect to an external musical instrument. SoundMAX does not support the MIDI port of computers.
In many cases, because the MIDI synthesizer runs on the computer's main processor, there can be a short delay between when a MIDI instrument (that is connected to the computer) plays a note and when that note plays out the speakers.
On some computers, SoundMAX includes a MIDI synthesizer (which simulates musical instruments) which can play MIDI files. Some games and web pages create audio sounds using the MIDI synthesizer. The key here is that the SoundMax allows playback of MIDI files featuring what they call “Down Loadable Sounds†Realize this is MIDI Music Synthesis via software instead of hardware.
I do not know how SoundMax implements their MIDI synthesis. I only know of one way to get some MIDI sound out of a chip that only shows MIDI Mapper [which as you already know will never play MIDI]. You will have to use a Soft Synth.
See how with Robomusic’s Tutorial on Soft Synths here
http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.asp?m=390443&key=Using%2Csoft%2Csynths If you want to play YOUR keyboard, the problem to be solved is how to connect the (music) keyboard to your computer, given that there are no existing MIDI cable connections via joystick port, etc.
Does your computer have a USB port available? You can buy hardware that acts as an interface to the MIDI keyboard, and plugs into the USB port. I haven't tried one, but I am told that they work just fine. [USB 2.0 at least]
Audio Problems also seem to plague this card, perhaps because many of them are implemented in Half-Duplex Mode – Music Creator requires Full-Duplex.
I suggest that if a SoundMax owner is still unconvinced that they contact SoundMax tech support directly.
http://forms.analog.com/Form_Pages/soundMAX/soundMAXSupport.asp and find out why their chip causes so many problems with Cakewalk products. They will probably blame Cakewalk – but this one isn’t Twelve Tones fault. They will also probably refer you to your computer manufacturer – as each manufacturer can implement the SoundMax in different ways. It’s the Tech Support world – too many keep blaming someone else until eventually it’s all Bill Gates’ fault.
The SoundMax is a variation of the AC97 onboard sound chip, a notoriously problem plagued device.
Sorry to say, that owners of SoundMax and AC97 onboard sound devices would save themselves a lot of frustration by simply purchasing an add-on sound card.
post edited by millerbill - May 16, 05 12:37 AM