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Need a MIDI - USB adapter suggestion.


Moogle!
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I've had success with this interface, though the install was a little weird with my Audigy 2 ZS Notebook card I have. It wouldn't complete its install while the sound card was plugged into the laptop. Removing the card fixed that issue. It's virtually lag free when I use it with my Korg X5DR synth. As soon as I hit a key on my controller, the Korg plays the note instantly. I've had no issues using the Uno during recording or playback.

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How is there going to be lag with USB? MIDI data is more than 20 years old now, and really isn't data-intensive at all by modern standards. Even USB1 is more than adequate for whatever MIDI requires. I'm very happy with my MIDISport 2x2 by the way! Any lag would be, in all probability, the MIDI cables, rather than the USB.

There's always going to be a little lag, but my audio card's latency is set at like 5 ms which is not even noticeable. Also, many audio cards, like my Emu 1212, have MIDI built in. I would look into something like that instead of just buying a MIDI interface. You can probably get an entry-level card like an EMU 0404 for around 80 bucks, which is what I paid for my Midisport 2x2 many years ago [lol kind of a ripoff but I've had it so long that I think it's paid off], and an Audiophile 192 for not much more. Both have MIDI in/out.

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Sorry, I should have expanded on what I was saying. Direct midi-usb converters, not interfaces, will have lag. Interfaces are programmed to work with your DAW to reduce lag. Midi is a little faster than USB simply because of how many paths there are. USB has 4 connectors, only two used for data (one up, one down), where Midi has 5 and only goes one way. Finally, USB will always be slower than Firewire which will always be slower than PCI cards.

This (http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOAP2496) will always be faster than this (http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOUNO).

But, I take back any indication that I may have made that the second option won't work for you, it just won't work as well as the first.

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Midi is a little faster than USB simply because of how many paths there are. USB has 4 connectors, only two used for data (one up, one down), where Midi has 5 and only goes one way.

You do realize only 2 of those 5 connectors are used for MIDI, right?

Finally, USB will always be slower than Firewire which will always be slower than PCI cards.

And control voltage / gate signals will always be faster than MIDI. But does it matter?

USB works just fine for MIDI. If the you're experiencing noticeable lag then you have driver problems, latency problems with your audio device, or too many USB devices on a single bus, or some kind of compatibility issue with your DAW.. etc.

cheers.

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