The Yamaha AN1x Synthesizer mailing list

Jon,

>On the plus side, I've been able to swap a generic USB adapter card
>between Mac and Win machines and a pair of Lexmark printers too! For
>common place peripherals USB seems to be delivering - it's the MIDI
>peripherals that seem to take more effort in regards to the drivers :-(

Absolutely true.  PCI video cards have also done well bridging the 
gap.  What kind of frosts me is that all of the music hardware companies -- 
Opcode, MOTU, MIDIMan, etc. -- advertise "PC requirements/Mac requirements" 
in their USB interface literature, when they don't really have the 
technical chops to deliver well on more than one of the options.  I don't 
think a USB MIDI driver is any harder than, say, a USB scanner 
driver.  Scanner companies, though, seem to plan for the necessary effort, 
while music manufacturers seem to say, "Hey, we've already got the Mac (or 
PC) driver.  How hard can it be to port it to the other side?"

USB makes interfacing easier, but it doesn't make life a breeze.  While a 
Mac USB driver and a PC USB driver look just about the same at a high level 
view, they both have their idiosyncrasies and limitations.  As a musician, 
I recognize that my experience with pop, rock, and R&B music would make it 
possible to transition to another genre, but I don't expect to become a 
jazz, classical, or techno musician overnight.  Why should software 
development be any different?

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™
www.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group moderator
978.386.7389  voice
978.964.0547 fax
bruce@...