MIDI Timing and PC soundcards

[David Lee]

Bill,

I use a soundblaster 16 sound card and an MQX32 for MIDI interfaces in my
current PC. The soundblaster "Gameport" MIDI interface seems to work well
on my PC which is running cakewalk. Infact, the SB16 will send MIDI data on
the gameport and Digital audio out the Audio output at the same time
without ever skiping a beat. I am running windows 95B on the Pentium 100 PC
and have never experienced any problems.

BILL WROTE
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What exactly is the issue here? How could anything as fast as even a
486DX33 be SLOW enough as to not keep up with the pace of MIDI data? Isn't
the processor magnatudes faster than the requirements of the MIDI data
stream?

If MIDI is all you need from the PC then a 386 SX20 with win3.1 will run
cakewalk and can provide access to as many MIDI interfaces as you have ISA
slots for. (Don't laugh I used a 386 with Cakewalk 1.3 for several years)

BILL WROTE
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I tend to want to use the soundcard, as it can supply power to the
QuickShot keyboard as well. The QuickShot is infact DESIGNED to be used
with a generic sound card as it's MIDI link...
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This shouldn't be a problem as long as the PC sound card is SB compatible.
Infact, you can run the sound card as your MIDI IN and the OUT from your
other MIDI card along with the SB's OUT to get a total of 32 MIDI output
channels.

BILL WROTE
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Would a "better"
sound card be of any help?
-------------------------

Ya I think it would help. Better sound cards like Turtle Beach and the SB
AWE type cards are fully MIDI compatible and can do digital audio at the
level we've come to expect from CD quality equipment. Unfortunately the
cheaper sound cards don't have the audio spec's the $60 to $100 ones do.
Also, with the TB and AWE cards you will get a "Sample Store" area of RAM
on these cards which is a virtual sampler that can be played as a MIDI
device. (AWE's come with upto 8MEG of RAM) 

I purchased a TB Daytona PCI for $65 and was worth every cent I spent. It
has a standard SB 15 pin gameport interface for MIDI and is windows directx
compatible.

PC's are you're best choice!
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A PC makes one of the best sequencers as they are powerful, expandible, and
are generaly easy to use. Also there is a large amount of inexpensive
software for the PC that will expand your ability to record and compose
music without cleaning out your bank account.

David Lee