SeriesM-Audio Midisport

I paid $71 including tax at Guitar Center. I need midi inputs that were USB powered, because my sound card (Echo Mona) had no midi inputs. The unit is very cool. It has a slow pulsing light to tell you that its configured for USB correctly. Then it has lights that flash to tell you that your transmitting midi information from your keyboard. It has a very robust, light lime green midi box which will look cool around anyone's computer. Also, the unit supports two midi in/outs and midi thru. Installing the drivers under Windows XP was a very big pain. I finally downloaded the driver zip file from the Midiman site to a floppy, then read the installation instructions. It was all very bizarre and I was proud of myself, after 2 hours, that I got the installation correct. The construction and quality is top notch. Look no farther for a USB midi unit. The unit itself is great. The installation CD was of little or no help for Windows XP users, and the small manual that came with it didn't even refer to Windows XP. For some reason, Midiman products and Windows XP don't seem to agree. Usually the installation is an act of god if you can figure out how to get it installed. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

It should have been no big deal to manufacture this 100$ midi device with a couple of dip switches to hard configure the base settings, rather than forcing the user into endless searching for software to configure this device. All I needed was just midi in to midi thru, that's very basic. Why the manufacturer did not include the appropriate softwwre to configure this device is a mystery, in any case a bummer. As I do not use any computer / daw with my music instruments, this device is a big no. I just don't understand why the basic base config is not simply midi in to midi thru, just like all the cheaper similar products. I returned this device to the shop for a full refund. On ebay I found a 20$ midi in to midi thru spiltter that works perfectly without any software. I give one star for the functionality and an extra star for the build, total 2 stars.

The MIDISPORT can be purchased in the 2 in 2 out versions too. This is the 4 in 4 out version, it is small and compact. It can not be racked, but it will not take up much space on your desktop because it is not very good. It is also made well and won’t break easily, I have knocked mine off my desktop about 4 times, and my floor is made out of wood and it still didn’t break or crack. I take this MIDI device with me everywhere so I can also have all of my gear ready to go. UTILIZATION I mainly only used the MIDISPORT with my keyboards and a have a few rack modules that I use for sounds like the Motif XS rack and Fantom XR. I have them both going through this MIDISPORT and they work perfectly. It has only gave me some problems when I start switching out the MIDI chords to change out my gear or connections and then I will sometimes have to shut down my whole session and even computer sometimes to get the MIDISPORT to recognized the gear properly. I am not sure what causes this but my guess would be that you just can’t change stuff out on the fly like that. I have not received any driver updates, I am not sure if they have came out with any. OVERALL OPINION I am happy that I have purchased this MIDI device, I use to own the 2x2 version and needed an extra 2 ins and outs to I got this one. It will probably be the only one I will every need for home. But at the studio there are a bunch of devices like this one and they cost a lot more. I still think this one is just as good as any MIDI device that is out. No lag, no hassle; it just works. I recommend getting this if you have a few pieced of MIDI gear that you need to have synced.

The MIDI Sport Uno is a small plug and play MIDI device that is so simple to set up. You install the drivers then plug it in and you can use it right away. It does not require any power supply and it connects to your computer through USB. The problem that I had with it is that there was like a slight delay between sending out MIDI signals. Which really messed up my workflow a lot. I used it with my M-Audio MIDI controller when I was getting these issues. UTILIZATION The price of the Sport Uno is 40 dollars, you really can not beat that price but how long are you going to use this MIDI device? Do you plan on having more gear (MIDI)? That is where I had to get rid of it , this was the first MIDI device that I actually purchased and used it for about two months, then sold it and bought one with more inputs, the MIDISPORT 2 by 2, then I ended up selling that to get one with 5 inputs. So I wouldn’t waste your time buying this unless you only plan on keeping 1 MIDI connection. It would be better to just invest in a device that has enough MIDI for your growing set up over time. But if you don’t plan on growing and getting more MIDI gear then the Sport Uno will work great for you. OVERALL OPINION Setting it up was quick and using it is simple. Make sure if you are using it with a MAC that you have 10.1 OS or higher, anything lower than that it will not work. If you are on Windows you will need to download the proper driver especially if you are on a newer system like Windows 7 or even Vista 64 bit. This is a great MIDI device, but it will leave you needing to upgrade within a year.

The Midi Sport is a 1 x 1 midi device that really has a low latency, so low you really wont even notice is unless you have some issues with the speed of your pc or mac. The Midi Sport is a little more stylish then most other 1 x 1 midi devices that are compact and travel ready. To me style really doesn’t matter at all let alone on a device like this because no one is really going to see it any way. The only time you will use this is on the road, or unless your set up at home is very small and simple and you don’t have a audio interface with midi connections which most interfaces do have at least 2 midi connects built in. So you really wouldn’t need this Midi Sport unless your set up is really simple. UTILIZATION Installing this device was pretty easy didn’t take long at all. There really weren’t any complications or anything . I recommend this device to someone who just needs 1 midi hook up and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money, though this midi device does cost more than some of the other ones on the market but like I said you are mainly paying for the style and design of this midi device which doesn’t matter to me at all. OVERALL OPINION If you need a small midi device that is 1 x 1 look into some M audio’s other devices and Behringer makes some good cheap ones that cost less than 30 bucks and it will do the same as this one it just wont be as cool looking. But when it comes to looks on a 1 x 1 midi connector who really cares what it looks like in the first place. Cool look, but nothing special about the midi sport 1 x 1.