Disklavier

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003, Leigh Whitley wrote:

> I have struck situations where the "simple pigtail" connector to the
> gameport would not reliably recognise all notes and signals especially
> with Yamaha equipment basically because the computer end is relying on
> "voltage" transition and MIDI is a function of "current". These
> situations could only be resolved with a proper interface.

I dont think those cables can claim to be proper MIDI cables - most decent
"joystick port" cables have the required 5mA current loop conversion and
isolator circuitry on them (I've taken quite a few apart over the years
when the cable has become damaged).

Apparently the MPU-401 interface design (which many cards implement) is
seriously flawed anyway and it is often difficult to get things to
synchronise accurately.

I would avoid USB devices on slow machines too. If your disklavier has a
"to-host" connector, it might be worth using that (simply connects to the
serial port and uses an easily obtainable driver), or buying a
parallel/serial port MIDI interface as others have suggested.

Regards,

James