Bc2000 (for the BCF2000 & BCR2000)

--- In bc2000@yahoogroups.com, "islandgroove2002"
<islandgroove2002@...> wrote:
> If all else fails, uninstall the USB Behringer drivers and get 
> yourself another midi interface to plug the Behringer into. I never 
> had any luck with the Behringer drivers.

Since so many people (including myself!) have had all kinds of
problems concerning the USB drivers for the BCx2000, I've been
planning to publish a BCx2000 USB guide (containing a feature
comparison, installation procedures, troubleshooting etc.), but I
don't know if and when I'll be able to finish that document, so until
then I'll just mention a few of the most relevant points:

If you CAN get the "latest" Behringer driver, vs. 1.2.1.3, to work, I
recommend using it, because it has several advantages to the standard
Windows "USB Audio Device" and the earlier Behringer USB driver versions:

- "USB Audio Device" is "single-client", i.e. any of its MIDI input or
output devices can only be connected to ONE computer program at any
moment in time. By contrast, the Behringer USB drivers (all versions)
support a virtually unlimited number of simultaneous connections.
(Depending on my computer setup, I've managed to run 60 to 90 clients
simultaneously!) So for instance if you're using BC Manager to define
a preset for connecting your BCx2000 to a sequencer program, you don't
have to quit BC Manager before starting the sequencer program: you can
simply keep BC Manager running.

- "USB Audio Device" has very confusing input/output device names.
This becomes especially relevant if you have more than one BCx2000.

- In operation mode "U-4", the older Behringer USB devices (1.1.1.0
and 1.1.1.1) produce the wrong name for MIDI output port B, specifying
"A" instead of "B". So e.g. in U-4 the device "BCR2000 [01] OUT A* is
ACTUALLY linked to MIDI output port B on the BCR.

By the way: it IS possible to install any Behringer USB driver under
Windows Vista: if you try to run any Behringer USB driver's installer
(e.g. bcr2000-driver-setup.exe for vs. 1.2.1.3) NORMALLY, the
installer fails with the message "invalid OS version" (or so), but
these installers DO run if you first set their "Compatibility mode" to
"Windows XP (+SP2)" on the "Compatibility" tab in the file properties
dialog box.

> As far as Midi Yoke is concerned, I don't really see why you would 
> need to uninstall it. I have used Midi Yoke extensively with lots of 
> mixed midi gear and have never had a problem.Midi yoke etc gives lots 
> of options for midi routing that you would never get to use otherwise.

One word of warning concerning MIDI Yoke: any ENABLED Yoke input or
output device causes a delay of about a quarter of a second during
termination of BC Manager. (I SUSPECT this delay is simply a feature
of MIDI Yoke.) So if you have enabled all 16 MIDI Yoke input and
output ports in BC Manager, you get something like a 2 x 16 x 250 msec
= 8 sec delay, which isn't nice.

I haven't tested yet if this delay also occurs in other music software
(Sonar, Ableton Live or whatever) if you enable the MIDI Yoke ports in
these programs; my suspicion is that the same thing happens (if not,
it might be BC Manager's fault after all...).

Anyway, the moral is this: if you're using MIDI Yoke and BC Manager
together, you should disable as many MIDI Yoke ports in BC Manager's
"MIDI devices" dialog box as possible. Basically you should disable
ALL MIDI Yoke ports, except possible one or two you're specifically
using in BC Manager itself. (Note that you can of course still use
these MIDI Yoke ports in other programs.)

Mark.