The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

From: "Elson Trinidad" <elson@...>


> jondl wrote:
>
> > Being a Mac user I've no hands on time with the type of joystick port
> > MIDI interface you speak of.  I do know that they are fairly common.
> > It's not a MIDI Port on a budget sound card is it?  I've heard those are
> > not very reliable.  C'mon PC users - speak up here!  How about some
> > guidance please?!
>
> If you're serious about making MIDI music on your computer, skip the
joystick
> port and use a real MIDI interface (check out interfaces by Midiman, Mark
of the
> Unicorn or a used Opcode). Joystick port interfaces are based on an
outdated
> MIDI port standard (MPU-401) which handles basic forms of MIDI data but
not all;
> things like SysEx messages (which the AN1x editor relies heavily on) or
MIDI
> clock or NRPN messages are usually ignored by these Playskool-type MIDI
jacks.

If I may add: if you have a PC, skip Mark of the Unicorn as well. They do
have Windows drivers, but they don't care at all.

> Remember...Joystick interfaces are for JOYSTICKS!

Oh well, I'm using mine SB16 with my EX5 and AN1x. It hasn't given me any
problems, not even with SysEx.

I should haste to add that playing audio at the same time as transmitting
MIDI is *not* a good idea: you'll lose bytes while getting others you didn't
want.

- Peter