Thanks again Derek,
I think you're right, a reputable interface is the way to go. Even if I found a Windows driver that can send the data 4 bytes at a time, there would still be the problem of data sent in the other direction, from the AN1x.
That Windows 7 bug you've discovered sounds frustrating, but also very clear-cut and easy to verify - have you tried reporting it to Microsoft?
Doug.
--- In AN1x-list@yahoogroups.com, "derek192603" <dacook.sa432bb@...> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> As well as your fourth and fifth bytes, you're also probably missing a lot more data!
>
> What you've reported fits in with my suspicion that some of these devices (but not all, as Jeff has one that works! :-) ) can have very small buffers which will easily overflow with SYSEX data. SYSEX data is the odd man out in the MIDI protocol in that (IIRC) all other messages are three bytes or less. But SYSEX messages are of variable length, but will never be less than four bytes!
>
> An AN1x voice bulk dump will provide nearly 800 bytes of data, which must be received continuously with no interruption or loss. Most MIDI interfaces will handle this case by having several buffers. One buffer will be filled and then dealt with, whilst the next one is received. But typically, such buffers are 256 bytes in length.
>
> I'd be very wary about trying to use a device with such a limited buffer size in any form of "kludge" mode, as you may risk data corruption.
>
> re the ability to fix a problem in Windows that is fixable in Linux, remember we are talking about Windows! :-)
>
> I actually think MIDI support in Windows is going backwards. See the following link for a post of a problem with the Yamaha EX5 and Windows 7, which doesn't occur with earlier versions of Windows!
>
> http://www.ex5tech.com/ex5ubb_cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=8&t=000491
>
> I think your best "fix" is to get a reputable MIDI interface. I used a low cost MIDISPORT 2x2 for a long time, and that was rock solid.
>
> http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MIDISPORT2x2.html
>
> My current studio and live setups use a combination of a MOTU MIDI Express 128, Focusrite Sapphire 6, EMU 1212M, and an Edirol interface. All of those have proven to be very good over time.