Setting up PianoTeq8 ASIO Driver issues.

[Baldo]

So I bought Pianoteq 7 (now upgraded to 8) and I am having constant issues with sticking notes, repeated notes, notes not playing. I often have to unplug my usb to midi cable and plug it back in. Sometimes this solves the issues.

I have an ESI Juli@ sound card, so in the options I a using the ASIO 2.0 Juli@ driver. I also downloaded the ASIO4ALL 2.0 driver which is what the tech support from Pianoteq told me to do.

The problem is that I can't see the ESI Juli@ as one of the outputs from the ASIO4ALL control panel. I can see a load of other devices by not my ESI Juli@ card. so I get no sound output by using the ASIO4ALL driver.

I also have VoiceMeter banana and potatoe but when I route through this I get double notes played.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

[James Perrett]

The words "USB to MIDI cable" could be a clue. It is usually better to use a branded USB MIDI interface from someone like MOTU or M-Audio because the cheap unbranded ones have a poor reputation.

Have you tried using the MIDI interface on the Juli@ card?

[Johnsy]

ASIO4ALL is a wrapper around the Windows native audio driver (WDM/Kernel Streaming). It won't work with a native ASIO driver.

Assuming the ESI card has a native Windows driver, ASIO4ALL should work with that - though using ASIO4ALL in this situation is a bit of a retrograde step.

[ef37a]

Very surprised to hear of someone have difficulties with Pianoteq!
It is SO easy to setup and stable that over the years I have suggested the free demo to people on forums as a test platform for MIDI problems.

I bought the basic version years ago when my son was here and needed a 'piano'. That is setup on another computer I no longer have rigged but I keep the demo on this Lenovo laptop.
It took about 20 seconds to tell Pianoteq to play through my MOTU M4 and using the on screen keyboard, superb piano tones emerged. No trace of stuttering, delay or any other problem. I then played the blues MIDI demo track. Faultless music.

I had an ESI 1010e and the MIDI side of that was not too clever either! The aformentioned computer had an M-Audio 2496 card in it. Never a problem with MIDI. I am a bit known here for criticizing AI mnfctrs that don't fit MIDI ports. People say "but you can always get a USB to MIDI converter cable" I have seen numerous posts over the years about issues with such things.

Dave.

[James Perrett]

People say "but you can always get a USB to MIDI converter cable" I have seen numerous posts over the years about issues with such things.

What I've always said when you raise this issue is that you can always use a separate MIDI interface. That doesn't mean go out and buy the cheapest one you can find. As I said in my last post, MOTU and M-Audio (and probably others too that I haven't tried) make reliable USB MIDI interfaces which can easily be used to add extra MIDI ports to your system.

[ef37a]

I would add the Native Instruments KA6 to those two makes James. OP might find a pretty cheap Mk 1 on the Bay.

I did not try my Behry UMC204HD with a MIDI keyboard but I would think they would be quite good as there is an ASIO driver for them and I would hope they have learned lessons since the ill fated BCA2000?. Our good friend Tony has a Behringer interface, I wonder if he can comment on its MIDI performance?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

I'm not talking about audio interfaces Dave. ASIO also has absolutely nothing to do with MIDI. I'm talking about something like the MOTU Fastlane which has worked well for me here on Windows 10 or the M-Audio Midisport which I'm using on the XP machine in the studio but should also be fine under Windows 10 according to their website.

[ef37a]

I'm not talking about audio interfaces Dave. ASIO also has absolutely nothing to do with MIDI. I'm talking about something like the MOTU Fastlane which has worked well for me here on Windows 10 or the M-Audio Midisport which I'm using on the XP machine in the studio but should also be fine under Windows 10 according to their website.

Right, sorry, not come across those. I did not bring up the subject of ASIO James but it is pretty essential for low latency and surely if there is one thing you want from a MIDI instrument it is low latency?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

I did not bring up the subject of ASIO James but it is pretty essential for low latency and surely if there is one thing you want from a MIDI instrument it is low latency?

On Windows, MIDI interfaces use the standard Windows drivers which provide low enough latency without the need for any special drivers. ASIO is only needed for audio, not MIDI. There is a great deal of confusion about the relationship between MIDI drivers and audio drivers which is why I tend to comment on these posts.

Of course, if you are using a virtual instrument like PianoTeq then you will need low latency audio drivers but they are completely separate from the MIDI drivers. The only place that MIDI and audio meet is inside the virtual instrument.

You can have as many different MIDI interfaces as you like provided your software will support them (some software can't handle more than something like 16 devices but this is down to the software you are using rather than an operating system limit).

[ef37a]

Well yes! Of course..If you can't hear it, latency does not matter a fig!

Dave.

[Baldo]

Ok, So I bought another USB- Midi interface and that did not even work, let alone work badly.

I have also dug out my midi cables and ESI Juli@ midi interface connector and connected the midi cables directly into the ESI Juli@ card. And Nothing. Not a sound. So what on earth am I doing wrong here?

And before you ask, I also switched the midi In/Out around to make sure that I had them plugged in the right way. Both ways produced no sound at all.

How can I even test that I have connected the midi cables correctly? IS there some way in windows to see if W10 is getting Midi signals from my keyboard?

This is one of the reasons I was not a big fan of virtual instruments. I spend more time trying to get the dam thing to work than I do making actual music, or practicing the piano!!!

[Baldo]

I installed Midi OX and it says that there are no midi devices installed.

[Eddy Deegan]

I bought another USB- Midi interface and that did not even work, let alone work badly.

What make and model of MIDI interface did you buy?

[James Perrett]

Have you looked in Device Manager to see if there are any MIDI devices or any unknown USB devices? Not all USB MIDI interfaces are automatically recognised by the Windows class compliant driver (certainly our lad's Yamaha keyboard and my MOTU Fastlane interface weren't). You may need to install device specific driver software.

[Baldo]

James, I looked in Device Manager and did not see any Midi devices.

I can see them if I use the USB interface but not if I only use the midi cables connected to the ESI Juli@ directly.

I have installed Midi OX but I need to go through the manual to figure how to use it!!!

[James Perrett]

Have you installed the drivers for the MIDI interfaces?

[ef37a]

In Pianoteq when you go > File>Audio/MIDI Setup>Devices, what do you see?

Dave.

[Baldo]

Dave,

I see two se ct ions in Active MIDI inputs: Listen to MIDI inputs & USB 2.0-MIDI.
Both of these are ticked.

The Audio Device type is ASIO

and the device is ASIO 2.0 - ESI Juil@ with both 1/2L and 1/2R ticked as the output channels.

I get the thing working if I use the USB - MIDI interface but nothing when I use the Juli@ MIDI inputs.

[ef37a]

Dave,

I see two se ct ions in Active MIDI inputs: Listen to MIDI inputs & USB 2.0-MIDI.
Both of these are ticked.

The Audio Device type is ASIO

and the device is ASIO 2.0 - ESI Juil@ with both 1/2L and 1/2R ticked as the output channels.

I get the thing working if I use the USB - MIDI interface but nothing when I use the Juli@ MIDI inputs.

OK well, ESI are still around and the Julie@ card listed in archive products
https://www.esi-audio.com/products/julia/

I had driver problems with my 1010e (still got it under a bench!) and ESI were very helpful, give them a try?

Dave.

[James Perrett]

Sorry to sound like a broken record but have you installed the standard Windows drivers for the Juli@ or have you only installed the ASIO driver? I still think the Juli@ MIDI driver is missing because I would have thought that the MIDI device would have Juli@ in its name if it was present.

[Baldo]

James, I did just re install the Juli@ drivers. That seems to have reduced the issue with the USB - MIDI interface but not completely eliminated it.

I still can't seem to get anything from the midi connections into the Juli@.

Do I need to install specific Midi drivers for the Juli@?

Many thanks.

[James Perrett]

Having looked at the Juli@ manual, it says remarkably little about MIDI. I can't see any information on how the driver should appear in software or how to install it so I guess that it will be installed with the other drivers.

Are you using the latest drivers from 2021?

One other trick might be to delete all the MIDI devices in Device Manager and then try scanning for new hardware which will hopefully also find the best drivers for each device.

Otherwise I think you will just have to buy a new USB MIDI interface from a reputable manufacturer.

[Baldo]

Happy New Year everyone.

Just a quick update on this matter.

I seem to have fixed the issue by buying a new Midi to USB interface. I went for the one made by ESI. It looks the same as the other one I had but I suppose the electronics in it are more reliable and actually do what they are supposed to do. So, for now things seem to be working.

Thanks for all the help offered on this matter.

[Martin Walker]

Hooray, and thanks for reporting back Baldo, so that everyone can now sleep more soundly

The cheapest of cheap MIDI devices do have a long history of causing problems for musicians.