Midi Out - a couple of questions
My ancient 32-bit system is becoming slow and unreliable, so I've opted to use MIDI out (via an equally ancient Uno Midiman) rather than tax the CPU with handling soundfonts. So far things are working out, but I do have a couple of issues.
-
There appears to be no way to "toggle" between audio and midi output. Currently I have actually deleted the soundfonts from the synthesizer, which does the trick, but it means having to re-add them if I opt to use the internal audio again in the future.
-
The Master Gain slider does not seem to be functioning with MIDI out. The individual track sliders do, but it's a lot of wasted effort to adjust global levels one slider at a time.
Comments
I believe it's deliberate that master gain is for the internal synthesizer only - there is no corresponding thing for it to control in MIDI that I know of. But actually, that could be your solution to the first issue too - just turn the master down rather than delete the soundfonts.
In reply to I believe it's deliberate… by Marc Sabatella
Thanks, Marc. You may be right on the second point, but wouldn't the system be still trying to play the loaded soundfont, albeit silently? (I know that sounds like a non-sequitur, but it makes sense in my head.)
In reply to Thanks, Marc. You may be… by toffle
True, so if the issue is CPU cycle, that might not help.
In reply to True, so if the issue is CPU… by Marc Sabatella
Exactly.
I can imagine scenarios in which a user might wish to use some combination of MIDI and the onboard synth, or to use one or the other. It's easy enough to toggle MIDI on or off, though it means having to navigate to Edit>Preferences>I/O. It's not quite as easy to disable the onboard synth.
Interestingly enough, there used to be a prominent warning in the Preferences menu that any changes made on the I/O tab requires a restart of MS. It appears this is no longer necessary.
In reply to Exactly. I can imagine… by toffle
You wrote:
...there used to be a prominent warning in the Preferences menu that any changes made on the I/O tab requires a restart of MS. It appears this is no longer necessary.
You are correct.
The "Restart Audio and MIDI Devices" button in the Audio Engine section of the I/O tab in Preferences has made that warning obsolete.
In reply to You wrote: ...there used to… by Jm6stringer
Good to know, as this always made editing preferences a little more cumbersome than I liked.