[sdiy] USAMO

[rsdio at audiobanshee.com]

On Mar 26, 2015, at 8:15 AM, Nantonos <nantonos at epona.net> wrote:
> I occasionally wonder whether a MIDI over serial (but using something
> like single drop, full duplex RS485 at 1Mbit/s) would be a worthwhile
> improvement

Not a bad idea to wonder about. In fact, many such improvements have been implemented. The challenge is to come up with a standard that will be as pervasive as the original, 5-pin DIN current loop version.

The MOTU MIDI Time Piece has a RS422 (?) serial port running at something like 1 Mbaud to allow MIDI routing devices to send data between themselves much faster. Eventually, some MIDI instruments implemented the same standard, but it never really took hold on a large scale.

One company, Lone Wolf, was basically founded in an attempt to speed up MIDI. Again, the idea did not gain traction with enough of the industry.

http://davidwarman.net/forsale_miditaps.shtml

Yamaha dreamed up MIDI over FireWire and called it mLAN, but it only lived for about 8 years with support from a couple of companies.

And, as you're probably aware, USB is a serial interface running at 12 Mbit/s for Full Speed, but with a packet-based protocol that introduces latency and jitter.

Keep in mind that MIDI is not limited to the old 31.25 kbaud transport, although that's the only interface supported by instruments. It's quite common to send MIDI over ethernet or wireless.

Check the Wikipedia article on MIDI for more of the post-MIDI standards that have come out.

Brian Willoughby
Sound Consulting