Transfer MIDI to Audio, Or just leave them alone?

[Bandwidtrh]

Should I transfer my midi tracks to audio files or just leave them as midi?

I am using nuendo with soft synths. I composed a piece using 13 midi tracks and now am wondering if I should route the output of the midi synth to an input on an open track so I have a duplicate copy as an audio file. Or should I just leave my files as midi. The benefit i'll get from copying them as audio filis is to further process the tracks using plugins and such.

Are there any other benfits?
Are there any dissavantages?

 

[Jeyan]

If you are planning to have the tracks in a audio CD, you have to run the midi and record audio. If you just want the song in midi , just leave it, it will play in any computer. Advantage of leaving as a midi - Very small file size, plays on any computer using the builtin synth. Disadvantages: Sounds aweful in some computers, it wont sound the same in all computers. The sound you used to create the midi may not be the same in all the other computers. So if you want others to hear what you think is good, better record it in audio wave and get the song in CD.

 

[AlChuck]

Advantage of leaving as a midi - Very small file size, plays on any computer using the builtin synth. Disadvantages: Sounds aweful in some computers, it wont sound the same in all computers.

You never mentioned the main advantage to keeping it as MIDI data.

The main advantage is that the MIDI data is essentially an electronic score. Too slow? Bump up the tempo (you can only successfully do this to a very small degreee with audio). Wrong key for your voice? Transpose it with a couple of clicks. Want the sax part to be played by a flute instead? Easy. Or do you want to print out lead sheets for people to read when you get them together to learn and play your tune? Again, all the information is there in the MIDI file. Once it's audio it's just sound, and all that useful information is gone.

But it's not like it's an either/or proposition. If it's already in MID form, great, just keep it that way forever, and when you need to mix to audio, you record the MIDI parts to fresh audio tracks and you're set.