Buying MIDI interface suggestions, etc.

[digiman57]

Hi,
I am buying a G4 1.25 dual and have a TDM Mix system and will load ProTools 6.1 when i receive the Mac and ProTools upgrade software.
Are there any suggestions on which MIDI interface would be good for my situation. Guitar center is wanting me to try the Midi express....I didn't see it on the Compatibility docs. I have an old Motu A/V and am familiar with it. I only have 6 MIDI devices at the most, to hook up.
Thanks for any ideas.
Also, I am loosing my Lexiverb and Masterlist and could use some ideas here also. I wish I could run ProTools 5.5 on OS 9 on another Hard Drive and switch back and forth between OS X and PT 6.1.
Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. I haven't even gone to ProTools HD and I have dropped $3500 to get an upgrade to ProTools 6.1 (new computer, Waves upgrade, etc.) and I am trying to watch the dollars....smile (just bought a Motif 8 ES and my wife is still with me).
Any tips would be helpful....I have tried to go back and look through the forum for ideas.
Thanks,
Jeff L.

[Chris Lambrechts]

well to be honest I wouldn't consider anything else then the midi I/O from this company itself if you're going OSX. Especially if you have going to HD in mind. The midi timing in HD has improved realy realy well but you'll only enjoy it with a midi timestamping compatible device .... midi I/O

[Mark Reis]

The Midi Timepiece AV has time stamping.

[digiman57]

Thanks,

I will probably go with the MIDI Timepiece A/V.... I just hate to look at my bank account while updating my software and hardware....Guitar center mentioned that the Midi express would work with ProTools and wanted me to try it out. Hey, what is a savings of $250 when I am buying a new Mac, new Waves upgrade, new ProTools software upgrade, new IDE hard drives..memory....etc....oh yeah, and a new reverb drop-in or hardware piece to replace my Lexiverb....ok, I suddenly have become cheap. I will go ahead and jump on the Motu MT A/V and Ebay my old A/V.
Thanks for the opinions. Sorry for the therapy of listing out my expenses of wanting to update my ProTools software from 4.3 to 6.1...I will be better off a month from now when I am doing sessions faster and creating MIDI and Audio are seamless.
Thanks,
Jeff L.

[Alchemist]

I was just wondering the same thing.
Have you checked out the new -MOTU MIDI Express XT- ?
It supports Time Stamping. Gives you SMPTE in and out and looks pretty straight forward.
I'm just looking for a simple MIDI box with SMPTE and I was thinking of checking it out.

[Lee Blaske]

I will probably go with the MIDI Timepiece A/V....

Keep in mind that Digidesign and MOTU, both in the audio/MIDI hardware business, are STAUNCH competitors. Don't get caught in the crossfire. Just because it works today doesn't mean it'll work tomorrow after the next software revision.

If PT is your primary use for a MIDI interface, buy the Digidesign product. Period.

Lee Blaske

[Nick Batzdorf]

Well, I tried a lot of the multiport USB MIDI interfaces, and the two that work for me without going offline all the time are the Steinberg MIDEX-8 and Emagic AMT-8. But I haven't tried the Digidesign one, which came out later.

My hunch is that CoreMIDI isn't going to have problems with any of them, so while Lee's advice is good in principle, I'm not sure it's essential to use the Digidesign box.

[chuck.dallas]

I recently bought Digi's MIDI I/O over other options. Since PT is my main system to use for the interface, the MIDI I/O was a safer choice to me for compatibility purposes (especially for future PT releases). But another important consideration to me was Digi's tech support -- they have been excellent. That reason alone made the choice a no brainer.