Members Logicat Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Hi people, i always had bad problems with synths and USB ports on my PC. I'm fullfilled with USB hubs : 2 2x2 Emu usb interfaces, 1 M-Audio 4x4 and 1 2x2, and a Steinberg midiex 8. All nicely () connected to a couple of weak USB hubs, and further pc-embedded ports. My PC's USB band is quite narrow now... As you can easily imagine, this net of USB gears brings in a lot of MIDI issues, expecially with sync operations. So i was wondering how those of you who are loaded with MIDI-equipped synths do face the problem of connecting them all to your happy PC. Do MACs have more stable or more wide USB band ? Or did you find a special hardware solution ? I see your studio gears pics, and i ask myself how can your pc/mac manage (and sync) all that immense amount of stuff. You must know some kind of magic, so please share your tricks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members xmlguy Posted March 27, 2009 Members Share Posted March 27, 2009 Use one USB device per USB host controller for anything that requires high bandwidth or low latency. The problem is that you're using a hub and treating all USB ports as if they're equal. Find out how many USB controllers are on your motherboard. Find out which ports are on which controller. Use only one port per controller. Add a PCI USB host card to add host controllers. A PC can easily support as many USB controllers as you care to add. That way each USB device has it's own dedicated channel at the maximum speed it supports. Only share a USB controller and use a hub for low speed devices that have no problem sharing the bandwidth, like a mouse and keyboard. USB-midi should have dedicated controllers because of latency, not because of bandwidth. USB flash and harddrives should also be dedicated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members soundwave106 Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 So i was wondering how those of you who are loaded with MIDI-equipped synths do face the problem of connecting them all to your happy PC.Do MACs have more stable or more wide USB band ?Or did you find a special hardware solution ? MIDI's really not a problem with USB, even in multi-hub type configurations. You can quibble over slight timing slop ("latency") versus PCB or direct, but comparing hub MIDI to non-hub MIDI, I really experienced no noticeable difference in playing. Audio latency is a *much* bigger deal than MIDI latency -- the amount of MIDI latency in my opinion is withing the "compensatable" range. Therefore, in my setup, the hubs handle a lot of the USB-MIDI stuff. Audio is a *lot* more sensitive -- use the mobo USB ports if you can. Better yet, hook the audio up to Firewire. Firewire's got a lot more bandwidth to use for the type of transfers audio needs (continuous) anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadvolvo1 Posted March 28, 2009 Members Share Posted March 28, 2009 Steinberg Midex 8 for Cubase and Nuendo users in Windows. Onboard USB notoriously sucks on Nvidia motherboards. If your onboard USB is terrible, use one of those NEC host controllers on a PCI card, like the ones Belkin sells, and only one Midex 8 per USB port. Absolute rock solid MIDI timing. On the Mac side, the onboard USB is fine, and you can use just about any MIDI interface besides the Midiman / M-Audio ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 Steinberg Midex 8 for Cubase and Nuendo users in Windows. Onboard USB notoriously sucks on Nvidia motherboards. If your onboard USB is terrible, use one of those NEC host controllers on a PCI card, like the ones Belkin sells, and only one Midex 8 per USB port. Absolute rock solid MIDI timing. On the Mac side, the onboard USB is fine, and you can use just about any MIDI interface besides the Midiman / M-Audio ones. What about driver issues with the Midex's? I've heard that drivers can be a real PITA with these things - any truth to that? There's one for sale in my area, and I really need more MIDI outputs. Since I run Cubase it'd be perfect, but I'm not really known for being super patient with computer related problems.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Umbra Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 If your on a PC I'd get a midisport 8x8s. Never/ever had a problem with cubase or with the drivers. I've heard of a lot of people having usses with Midex. You may want to check what IRQ your usb host controllers are using and what else it's sharing that IRQ with. If it's a high use item like your sound card you may be seeing issues because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members carbon111 Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 A single 8x8 MIDI interface plus one each of these should handle everything: 8-input MIDI Merger - http://www.midisolutions.com/prodm8.htm 1-in 8-out MIDI Thru Box - http://www.midisolutions.com/prodt8.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LSTommy Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 I`m having problems with several controllers,keyboards USB connectors.They`ve been coming loose; any solutions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TropicThink Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 If your on a PC I'd get a midisport 8x8s. Never/ever had a problem with cubase or with the drivers. I've heard of a lot of people having usses with Midex. You may want to check what IRQ your usb host controllers are using and what else it's sharing that IRQ with. If it's a high use item like your sound card you may be seeing issues because of that. But aren't the Midisports processing things serially and known for not exactly performing stellarly when presented with lots of work at the same time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Umbra Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 But aren't the Midisports processing things serially and known for not exactly performing stellarly when presented with lots of work at the same time? Never had a problem, used one for about 5 years with 8 synths connected to it. You can get a used on for not much on ebay. BTW, all midi is technically serial regardless of the device since midi is a serial protocol. I'd stay away from the 1 to 8 or 8 to 1 that carbon is suggesting unless you specficially need one for some purpose. Reason being it's much easier to get various software editors to work well if you run your midi in a star configuration vs. using a single midi cable to carry data for more than one synth. The only reason I've ever found for a midi merge or through box was for chaining a poly evolver and an evolver and still getting the software editor to work. Either way usb is better. Another possible solution is sometimes power over usb can be a bit flakey when you have a lot chained. If your hubs can take line power plug them in, same with the devices your using. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poumtschak Posted April 20, 2009 Members Share Posted April 20, 2009 http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/146515-pc-midi-timing-better-mac.html When it comes to external MIDI, the simpler the better. Emagic AMT-8 = serial = nice. And you can stack up to 8 of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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