Midi soundblaster direct connect? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

28 May 2004

to add my comments, if you are concerned about compatibility,
you are probably listening to a saleman that wants to sell you
a USB to MIDI adapter. I walked into a music store a few months
back and was asking about such things. The salesman proceeded
to tell me that computers don't have midi interfaces anymore
and that I would need to buy something from him.

I have put together many systems over the years and I had yet
to hear of a MPU401 problem and I had thought they had basically
become standard because of the Creative Labs SoundBlaster. I
have a ASUS 4C800 MB (800mhz FSB, 1.8G cpu, sound, & ethernet
on board). I went home, checked the ASUS site and all I needed
to get was a game port adapter for it to bring the midi out.
That cost me around $12 on eBay, I installed it, pulled out my
handy game port to midi cable adapter (same one you can get on
eBay for around $18), connected up my Panasonic keyboard, and
ran the software that I had bought called ("Instant Play Piano"
at Costco. Everything worked perfectly...

best regards, Steve Thatcher

...
 --- Original Message ---
From: "R. D. Davis" &lt;rdd(a)rddavis.org&gt;
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
&lt;cctalk(a)classiccmp.org&gt;
Date: 5/28/04 7:15:01 PM
 Quothe Tony Duell, from writings of Fri, May 28, 2004 at 11:20:52PM
+0100:
...
 > It's not exactly complicated, the only thing
you'd need would be a spec 
...
   of what the
Soundblaster was expecting. 
Somewhere, I read that some of the newer sound cards don't match the
...
 original Soundblaster spec properly and some of the
older MIDI adapter
...
 circuits won't work... a current related issue,
IIRC.  Can anyone
comment on this?

> Raid one from an old SMPSU (they're often used in the voltage regulation 
...
   feebcak
circuit)?  
Those old PSUs are a source of many useful parts. :-)  4N35s appeared
...
 to be rather inexpensive, so I ordered ten of them and
am going to
...
 have a go at building a couple of circuits around them
for Mac and PC
...
 MIDI interfaces. 

> It may not apply here, but I've seen cheap cables and adapters that are 
...
 > so poorly soldered that you have to completely
rebuild them. In which 
...
 > case it's probably less hassle to make it
yourself in the first place.
...

Besides, one can modify one's circuitry at a later point in time for
...
 whatever reason, more easily than hacking on one of
those cables.

> > Besides, by the time you add in mounting and housing, the cost for the
...
 > > homebrew has probably at least doubled, in
money and time both.
...

 I used to estimate {Cost of main components} * 3.  
All Electronics sells some inexpensive cases and connectors.  Mouser
...
 stocks much nicer connectors, but not perf board (darn
that's become
...
 expensive!) and inexpensive cases.

> Anyway, if you just want a quick-n-dirty hack why bother to house it? 
...
   Mount the
board ont he DA15 plug or something. 
That's good for uses when cabling isn't going to get disturbed much,
...
 but in cases where it will, I'd go with a cheap
project box,
connectors, etc.   

-- 
Copyright (C) 2004 R. D. Davis The difference between humans & other animals: 
...
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...
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...
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