midiman midisport USB interface 4x4 and 2x2 - time to replace?

[thefruitfarmer]

Hello

I have a midiman midisport 4x4 and 2x2, pre 2000.

Will they work under Windows 10?

Their website doesn't list them as products being supported

https://m-audio.com/kb/article/1882

It leads you to this driver,

https://m-audio.com/support/download/drivers/midisport-windows-driver-v6.1.3

which is the one I have been using but it now has stopped working. It did work in Reaper despite showing error messages but since scan computers sent round an engineer to replace the mobo on my new PC Reaper cannot see the two midi interfaces at all. Annoyingly, the input lights show when sending midi out from a synth but the midi goes no further.....

It would appear from searching google that this driver is not going to work for these products under W10.

The workarounds include using the windows midi drivers or a search for "m-audio W10 drivers midiman 4x4" reveals third party drivers....

Is it worth persevering with this?

NOt sure I trust third party drivers....

Maybe I shoud just get a new one? Any recommendations for a good 4x4 MIDI interface?

Thanks

[Music Wolf]

I'm still using a 2x2 with W10. I'll have to dig around and see what driver I'm using.

[tonemangler]

Hi thefruitfarmer, I don't have an answer for you but the second link in your post shows that the v6.1.3 driver is compatible with Win 10, so technically it should work with your system. I use a midisport 2×2 under Win 7 and my new computer build will be Win 10, so I will be in a similar situation. I hope you can get them working.

[thefruitfarmer]

Hi thefruitfarmer, I don't have an answer for you but the second link in your post shows that the v6.1.3 driver is compatible with Win 10, so technically it should work with your system. I use a midisport 2×2 under Win 7 and my new computer build will be Win 10, so I will be in a similar situation. I hope you can get them working.

That v6.1.3 driver will only work for the "Anniversary Editions" in W10, not the original midiman interfaces.

[thefruitfarmer]

I'm still using a 2x2 with W10. I'll have to dig around and see what driver I'm using.

If you can find me a working driver that would be much appreciated !

[Music Wolf]

I just checked and my Midiman has stopped working with latest update (although it was working previously with W10). It looks as though I may also be in the market for a new interface.

[thefruitfarmer]

I just checked and my Midiman has stopped working with latest update (although it was working previously with W10). It looks as though I may also be in the market for a new interface.

Mine only stopped working within the last week so it could be a W10 update.

[tonemangler]

That v6.1.3 driver will only work for the "Anniversary Editions" in W10, not the original midiman interfaces.

That sucks. Out of curiosity did you try uninstalling the midiman driver and trying the generic windows 10 USB driver? The other option is to see if you can pick up an Anniversary Edition from somewhere. They still sell the 2×2 at the local music store here in Toronto for $79 Cdn, or maybe used? I will also be dealing with this issue once my new PC is built, so I would be interested if you find a solution. Good luck!

[thefruitfarmer]

That v6.1.3 driver will only work for the "Anniversary Editions" in W10, not the original midiman interfaces.

That sucks. Out of curiosity did you try uninstalling the midiman driver and trying the generic windows 10 USB driver? The other option is to see if you can pick up an Anniversary Edition from somewhere. They still sell the 2×2 at the local music store here in Toronto for $79 Cdn, or maybe used? I will also be dealing with this issue once my new PC is built, so I would be interested if you find a solution. Good luck!

I have not tried using the W10 generic driver yet but here is the link I found explaining how to do it:

https://getsatisfaction.com/m-audio/topics/midisport-2x2-and-4x4-not-detected-in-windows-10-preview-editions

To be honest I was hoping to find someone who has already done this so I am not walking untrodden ground but I may have a go over the weekend.

[thefruitfarmer]

I had a closer look at that thread

https://getsatisfaction.com/m-audio/topics/midisport-2x2-and-4x4-not-detected-in-windows-10-preview-editions

and it seems that the generic W10 drivers won't work with old midiman interfaces.

I have asked the question over there too but I will probably be ordering a new W10 class compliant MIDI interface over the next few days.

[Music Wolf]

I had been planning to get a new MIDI interface but, last night, I downloaded the W10 drivers for the anniversary edition of the 2x2 and my older, pre-anniversay, 2x2 is now working fine.

[scw]

Hi folks
Just thought I'd chime in as I was previously anxious about this. I bought the anniversary midiman in anticipation of needing it.

I updated to Win10 Pro from Win7 today in view of the fact that MS is dropping support early next year. To my surprise my old midiman midisport 2x2 is working absolutely fine. ho hum! I'm pleased anyway and the windows update was painless!!

Stewart

[Martin Walker]

I updated to Win10 Pro from Win7 today in view of the fact that MS is dropping support early next year. To my surprise my old midiman midisport 2x2 is working absolutely fine. ho hum! I'm pleased anyway and the windows update was painless!!

That's good news Stewart, although in these circumstances there are no guarantees that a future Windows 10 update won't clobber your good luck

Fingers crossed that your midisport carries on working perfectly for years to come

Martin

[ef37a]

"That's good news Stewart, although in these circumstances there are no guarantees that a future Windows 10 update won't clobber your good luck"

I am sure I read recently Martin that Ms have now made W10 updates optional and "harmless" or was that just a wishful dream?

Dave.

[Chromeman]

That v6.1.3 driver will only work for the "Anniversary Editions" in W10, not the original midiman interfaces.

My 2x2 original is working with this driver under W10 without any issues.

[thefruitfarmer]

That v6.1.3 driver will only work for the "Anniversary Editions" in W10, not the original midiman interfaces.

My 2x2 original is working with this driver under W10 without any issues.

That's good to hear. My testing was with the 4x4 rather than the 2x2.

[Music Wolf]

Have you tried the anniversary driver?

The Midiman website was somewhat vague and initially I read that the 2x2 drivers were only for the anniversary edition but, further down the page it seemed to suggest that they'd also work for the older units. I installed and everything is working ok.

[thefruitfarmer]

Have you tried the anniversary driver?
.

No, I couldn't find anyone saying they had done it and made it work so I chickened out.

From reading the replies it seemes like the 2x2 will probably work with the anniversary driver but the 4x4 may have issues.

[cosimo193]

I've got a 4x4 and get regular BSODs on Windows 10 with mine. I have it attached to an active USB extension, so I guess it's possible that might be making things a bit unhappy, but it worked perfectly for years like that on my old XP machine. I raised the issue here:

https://getsatisfaction.com/m-audio/top ... ows-10-x64

But never got anywhere.

John

[ef37a]

I've got a 4x4 and get regular BSODs on Windows 10 with mine. I have it attached to an active USB extension, so I guess it's possible that might be making things a bit unhappy, but it worked perfectly for years like that on my old XP machine. I raised the issue here:

https://getsatisfaction.com/m-audio/top ... ows-10-x64

But never got anywhere.

John

USB AI's can be picky about extensions. I have never tried an active USB cable but my NI KA6 is only claimed to work up to 3mtrs but it works fine on one brand of a 5mtr cable but not another.
The KA6, unusually for AIs, works fine on a powered hub.

Dave.

[cosimo193]

As the crow flies, my midisport is less than 2m away from my PC, but I'm not allowed to have the wire trailing across the middle of the room ), so it has to go round the outside and ends up around 8m. I've got a 5m active extension and a 3m A to B cable on the end of that. Maybe I'll invest in an 8 or 10m USB cable and see what happens before buying something else.

[ef37a]

As the crow flies, my midisport is less than 2m away from my PC, but I'm not allowed to have the wire trailing across the middle of the room ), so it has to go round the outside and ends up around 8m. I've got a 5m active extension and a 3m A to B cable on the end of that. Maybe I'll invest in an 8 or 10m USB cable and see what happens before buying something else.

cable.
You might consider extending the MIDI side rather than the USB?

Some years ago I was experimenting with MIDI and got it going reliably over 20mtrs of CAT 5e.

Dave.

[cosimo193]

How did you wire that up? Was there 1 x cat5e cable replacing each midi cable or multiple MIDI (e.g. both directions) on per cat5e? It's a 4 x 4 and all the devices would be the other side of the room from the PC, so would need 4 ins and 4 outs.

I considered using a raspberry pi with VirtualHere to try to access the 4x4 as a remote USB, but that would be a job to get the 4x4 running on Linux from what I can see.

[ef37a]

How did you wire that up? Was there 1 x cat5e cable replacing each midi cable or multiple MIDI (e.g. both directions) on per cat5e? It's a 4 x 4 and all the devices would be the other side of the room from the PC, so would need 4 ins and 4 outs.

I considered using a raspberry pi with VirtualHere to try to access the 4x4 as a remote USB, but that would be a job to get the 4x4 running on Linux from what I can see.

Ooo! Been a while. IIRC I just soldered a DIN plug* each end of a length of CAT (I had steady hands and 2 eyes then!) Plugged one end into an EKeys 49 controller and the other end into the DIN input of a 2496 and Cubase played out faultlessly.

But then I enjoyed cobbling such things together. Not everyone does.

*Pins 4&5 don't NEED a common screen but would be a good idea for a proper installation.

Dave.