I'd like to have a cheap midi interface, that I can take along with my keyboard. Just something small, like the Midiman midisport 1x1 (or 2x2, price difference is too small to go for the smaller version, I guess...), that I can take along wherever I go, to just hook up my keyboard to any pc without too much installing to do.
(Just some drivers here...)
Are there any other options as those midisports? There are some serial and parallel port interfaces? But since they seem just as expensive as those fancy usb thingies...
Anyone got cheaper ideas? I gotta watch the cashflow these days...
Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) makes the FastLane USB (Windows and Mac) which sounds pretty comparable to the Midiman MIDISport 2x2, and about the same price -- but you get to choose between a few colors like blueberry, charcoal or graphite...
Yamaha also has something in the same price range -- the UX96 USB MIDI Interface (Windows and Mac).
The MIDIMan Portman might be a good choice and it's a touch cheaper... uses a parallel or serial port. If anything it will perform better than a USB model will.
The cheapest approach is to use the gameport adapter if the laptop has Sound Blaster-compatible harware on it...
Yamaha has a cheaper one too, the UX16, also comparable in price. And Edirol (Roland) has got some models too....
They are all comparable in price and specs...
I already have a midikeyboard (actually, I have a few), so I'm gonna buy a seperate interface. Don't want to get stuck with dragging the keyboard around if I can get buy with just dragging the USB-thingy...
Just checked the motu... Over here it's about 30 euro more then the other comparable models. Sucks, cause the midi thru feature (allowing to play thru it without having the pc powered on) is rather nice. Bah!
The midi adapter: I want to use it at my parents PC (onboard sound with no gameport) and on my own (soundblaster 'compatible' but I cannot get the midi to work...), so it needs to be external... I already thought about this...
