Best MIDI Cables
USB IN-OUT MIDI Cable Converter PC to Music Keyboard Adapter Cord. Open your music software program, e.g. Cubase, Sonar, MIDI Connections, etc. To save potential problems, it is recommended that this interface is always connected to the same USB as it was originally installed on to prevent multiple installations of the driver. Start by connecting an electronic musical instrument to your computer with the provided USB MIDI cable. Within minutes you'll be able to play songs while they are being recorded on your PC. With appropriate software, you can overdub additional instruments, then edit, mix and even print sheet music of your final compositions.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Note: The midis cables have always been connected in the opposite way, so the Out -> In .... and the In -> Out ... is not a cable fault, this is how the system works mostly on old keyboards."
"HOWEVER, this product fit like charm with regards to both connections, and even though I did not have to contact the company, they were concerned about my satisfaction with the product and if it worked as described."
"This company has an outstanding customer service policy of working with you on any issues and from the first, I've been very impressed. The new one works perfectly, I can see the files and perform the functions I need to with my keyboard so I'm changing my rating, happily to 5 stars, not only for the product but for the very excellent customer service this company provides."
"Also, using alsa tools/aconnect with my Raspberry PI it wouldn't act as a connector between my USB Alesis DM6 and the Rockband midi pro adapter for Xbox 360 even though the more expensive Midisport Uno does just fine."
"When using a CC knob on my controller, the interface will send rapid-fire note data to the program, sounding a bit like an old-time rotary doorbell. THAT SAID, I'm going to give this 4 stars because for the insanely low price, it does work well for connecting a keyboard and playing it. --ORIGINAL REVIEW--. It does connect a MIDI device via USB, but the unit I got drops data. As long as you play one note at a time, all is well, but when playing chords, it only passes a "note off" message for one of the notes, leaving the others playing until you retrigger and release each note individually."
"Excellent product so far, the MIDI interface works with Ubuntu flawlessly for a program called piano-booster."
"So basically I'm out $13 plus shipping and I have a useless cable that might actually work if I go ahead and get Windows XP installed."
Plug & Play MIDI Cable Amosic In-Out USB MIDI cable with mufti-layer protection design achieves fast and stable MIDI data transmission. Start by connecting an electronic musical instrument to your computer with the supplied USB MIDI cable. Plug midi cable lebeled "IN" into midi device (as E-keyboard) midi port lebeled "OUT", plug MIDI cable lebeld "OUT" into midi device lebeled "IN".
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It sounds wrong, but actually it isn't That setup is required so that the keyboard and the computer can talk to each other."
"The "installation" is super-easy and everything works reliably, so I have no criticism left ... Only the price is not the cheapest among the MIDI interfaces .., but worth the not too high "excess amount" here."
"I'm only an amateur musician..... so I've not tried anything clever with it.... but I've tested it on linux and android (Lollipop+) and after simple config in the DAW's, it works fine!"
"Works well."
"just what I needed to use my old keyboard for a Garageband controller."
"Was able to dump SysEx data from my vintage 80's synthesizers onto my Mac, no driver required."
"I like this product."
"wasn't compatible with keyboard and Mac."
The HDE USB 1X1 MIDI Interface is a complete USB-to-MIDI solution, equipped with a USB connection to your computer and a 1-in/1-out 16-channel MIDI connection to your MIDI devices. 1 in + 1 out MIDI interface; 16 MIDI input channels & 16 MIDI output channels.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A quick look at Winamp help told me I needed to open preferences, locate the Nullsoft MIDI Player and configure it to play to the USB 2.0 MIDI device."
"So I purchased this to attach to my old keyboard so I could do the piano lessons and it's working out great!"
"Just click on the link for more sellers on the right under the "add to cart" and "other sellers" box. I got it in 5 days for $8. This midi interface is core midi class compliant, so if you have a Mac or iPad with camera connection kit, it just works. UPDATE: I am having some issues with midi clock synchronization."
"Out of curiosity, I also tested the other direction of communication on the midi cable, using the keyboard to play midi signals sent from the computer, and that worked great too."
"It works."
"Works for a little while, but then it starts screwing your MIDI data up."
"I wanted to see if I could move away form my older USB 1.1 MIDI interface from Yamaha which is a little clunky. Anyhow, while they will transmit note on and note off, anything more than a simple sequence with continuous controllers goes into seriously wrong MIDI handling situation - even basic mod wheel work gets munged up on the way from the MIDI source to the USB input. If they worked, the price is great and they would be very handy - but they don't so you'll likely waste a day figuring out the interface is bad when trying to record something."
"MIDI notes get stuck on constantly, especially if you are running at faster tempos."
Best MIDI
Band-in-a-Box 2017, RealBand 2017, Over 1,800 RealTracks, Over 150 MIDI SuperTracks, Over 2,000 MIDI Styles, Over 300 MIDI Soloists, Over 200 MIDI Melodists, 21 Nature Sounds and Percussion Loops,98 Artist Performances, 1000 Dubstep, Modern and Top 40 Loops.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is what you see and hear in the videos!"
"Been a fan of this product for years."
Best Computer Recording MIDI Controllers
It features 25 velocity-sensitive synth-action keys, a 4-way thumbstick for dynamic pitch and modulation manipulation, 8 backlit velocity-sensitive MPC-style pads, and 8 assignable Q-Link knobs. Plus, two banks expand the number of MPC-style pads to 16 for extended creative capabilities. Features a 4-way Pitch Bend and Modulation joystick . Features a Noterepeat and Full-level button option. You can watch step-by-step tutorials in the Related Video Shorts below or visit akaipro.com/kb/search/MPK_Mini for more detailed FAQs. Note Keys : (25) velocity-sensitive mini keys Pads : (8) assignable backlit pads, velocity- and pressure-sensitive Pad Banks : (2) banks Knobs : (8) assignable 270º knobs X-Y Controller : (1) configurable thumbstick with 3 modes Octaves : 10-octave range with octave up/down buttons Arpeggiator : adjustable resolution, range, and modes Additional Controls : Note Repeat button Full Level button Tap Tempo button. Power : USB power via full-size USB jack; no power adapter required Dimensions (width x depth x height): Product: 12.5” x 7.13” x 1.75” Shipping: 14.3” x 8.64” x 2.9”. MPK mini USB Cable MPK mini Editor ( download ) Software Download Card User Guide Safety & Warranty Manual. Includes VIP3.0 - the ground-breaking, award-winning music software platform that provides musicians and composers with a powerful hands-on control solution for their virtual instrument and virtual effect collection.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Unlike a synthesizer, MIDI controllers do not produce sound without software. So after you've downloaded the software and plug it in, you will still not have any sound generated until you've set everything up properly and loaded sounds onto the pads. It would be nice for them to take the time to make more tutorials. Everything I found just had to do with setting up the software, nothing really about HOW to actually use it. I am still learning to use this but it has gotten significantly funner to use as I have learned more about it and found sounds I like."
"A unique feature is the 4 way joystick for modulation and pitch control. It really helps keep the size of the keyboard down since you don't have to include those bulkier pitch and modulation wheels. Of course this is not the manufacturer's fault, they list "mini keys" in the first description of the product so I am not going to knock any stars for that. But the upside is that it makes the overall footprint very small, smaller than my computer keyboard infact. I think would be really neat if they made this same controller with normal sized keys. They make one similar (Akai Professional MPK25 25-Key USB MIDI Keyboard Controller with MPC Pads) but it has a lot more going on and is $80 more."
Best Computer Recording MIDI Interfaces
Low-profile, 25-key USB-MIDI keyboard, ideal for use with laptop and netbook computers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"An amazing instrument, especially for the price."
"Just kind of "Meh" for me."
"This turned out to be far more useful that I thought it would have been."
"I bought this nanoKontrol to use it with Ableton Live 9, I use different tracks, midis and audio, so I needed something to help me control the DAW, this is an amazing controller, everything is very helpful, and it works as a native controller with Live 9, but you can also assign every function as you want."
"The downloadable editor software is pretty easy to use( as far as the basics go) but the documentation is a bit confusing, so a lot of discovery through experimentation is needed, but that is normal in the world of digital audio. But there are also some preset scales that you can choose from including major, minor, etc. The default scale setup is whole tones from left to right in each row with the top and bottom rows separated by a semitone, giving it a transposing arrangement by a shift of the hand(as long as you don't shift off the edge!)."
"I had to set everything one octave higher to play correct sounds."
"I work for our church (watermark.org), and when we needed a simple and affordable lighting controller for a kids space, I decided on the freeware DMX software QLC+ in Kiosk mode. The nanoKONTROL2 works seamlessly with this software, giving our volunteers simple fader control over lighting in the small space and allowing us to recycle outdated Mac's and PC's as lighting controllers. From there, pro lighting wings will start in the low thousands, many without motorized faders."