On Fri, 2004-02-13 at 06:33, Clemens Ladisch wrote: > Florin Andrei wrote: > > Soon i'll have to connect 3 MIDI devices to a Linux system (and also > > send MIDI between the devices themselves, not only device<-->computer): > > two hardware synths (keyboards) and an effects box. Possibly another > > device later, but we'll see. > > What MIDI box do you recommend in this case? > > ESI Miditerminal M4U: http://www.esi-pro.com/viewProduct.php?pid=19 > Edirol UM-4: http://www.edirol.com/products/info/archive/um4.html Well, the first one is made by a company who doesn't have as a distributor any of the major on-line music stores that i know (they seem to be a small company anyway). The second one seems to be discontinued. > or UM-550: http://www.edirol.com/products/info/um550.html > Only the UM-550 can do routing in hardware. (Usually, only 8x8 > interfaces can do routing.) > I don't know if it's possible to control the UM-550 by software (try > asking Edirol), but it has a sixth port (labeled "Control" in the > Windows driver), so it may be possible to do something with SysEx's. That one looks interesting. Kind of on the expensive side ($200) but appears to be a good piece of hardware. I understand the concept of routing in hardware, and i see the advantages, but wouldn't that prevent aconnect/kacconect to do their normal job? I mean, can i override with acconect whatever settings are made in hardware? (i assume UM-550 can be configured via its buttons or something) In general, is there any way to control this interface in software under Linux? (hope i'm making sense) > > On the ALSA website, next to the 4x4 it says "Firmware driver coming > > soon" - what does that mean? > > That means that the website is out of date. Ok, so since you're the maintainer of the Midisport firmware loader, i figured you should know the answer: how stable are these cards (the ones that require your loader) under Linux? If i do the firmware loading correctly, they will work as expected, right? Do you see any problems in the future, like - your loader not working anymore under future versions of the Linux kernel, etc. I guess what i'm asking is, if i buy a 4x4 now, i'd like to make sure i'm going to be able to use it successfully under Linux, for years to come. If these cards work fine under Linux, i have no issues with using your loader. It's just one more step in the boot-up sequence, one script to add to /etc/init.d before ALSA kicks in (or maybe modify the ALSA script). In fact, the 4x4 seems to be exactly what i need, in terms of price and features. -- Florin Andrei http://florin.myip.org/
