Modern MIDI, 2nd Edition

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MIDI Hardware

Figure 2.1Prophet 600 – The First MIDI Instrument

Making MIDI connections is deceptively simple. While most setups have benefited from the integration of USB as a MIDI carrier, there are six common ways to connect MIDI devices. Each method has similarities and differences, but none have been able to fully escape the low bandwidth of the original MIDI design. What this means is that you can’t look to a single format as being better than the rest and instead you have to look at each individual interface and workflow.

Connection Types

The six connection types are the 5-pin DIN MIDI cable, USB, FireWire, Ethernet, PCI cards, ...