Review on Compact and Versatile M-Audio Midisport Uno USB MIDI 💻 Interface for Portable Music Production (16 x 16 MIDI Channels) by Lamont Manjrekar

- Simplicity: As a longtime user of MIDIMan/M-Audio MIDI interface gear, I had no hesitation in purchasing this item. I bought it to connect my old Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII to my Windows 10 machine so I can use it to listen to MIDI files instead of the crappy MS Wavetable synthesizer that comes with Windows or the bulky sounds -Fonts. For Windows 10 it was as easy as plugging it into a USB port and connecting MIDI in/out cables to my SC-55mkII. No additional drivers were needed. Setting up USB Uno MIDI in Windows 10: Changing the default MIDI device is what Microsoft apparently didn't want anyone to use the Home version! The MIDI mapping software that came with Windows is no longer available. To change the default MIDI device to USB Uno MIDI, I had to install a free little program called "CoolSoft VirtualMIDISynth". Using this application on the MIDI Mapper tab I was able to change the default device for Windows Media Player from "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth" to "USB Uno MIDI Interface". As soon as I clicked apply and everything was fine, MIDI files played in WMP started playing through my sound canvas. VirtualMIDISynth also lets you use Sound Font's MIDI output, but that's beyond the scope of this review! - Transferring audio from a MIDI device back to the computer. I ended up having to connect the outputs of my Sound Canvas to the input line of my built-in audio device and set Windows to use the input to "listen" incoming audio. The sound is then routed through the speaker to the audio device and to my speaker system. To do this, I used a 1/8" mini to 1/8" mini stereo jumper cable connected to the Sound Canvas headphone jack. A cable with 2 RCA connectors on one end and a 1/8" stereo connector on the other can also be used on devices like the Audio Canvas that have RCA outputs. mono outputs. This requires a cable with two 1/4" plugs on one end and a stereo 1/8" mini plug on the other end. Tips: - I'm sure the above methods will work for any external MIDI synthesis. - If you want to use the USB Uno MIDI to play on a MIDI keyboard and record notes in a sequencer on your computer (like FL Studio, Garage Band, Cakewalk, etc.), you need the ASIO driver package (ASIO4ALL is a pretty widespread standard for Windows users) - Unless there's something in Win10 that I don't know about, you'll need 3rd party software to change the MIDI output device. See my comments above. - Most integrated audio devices use the blue connector as a switchable line-out port (for 7.1 surround sound systems) or line-in port. You may need to open your audio device's settings and change them. Some audio driver packages will detect when a new cable is plugged into that port and ask what you want to use it for. In this case, simply select "Line In”. - After setting it as Line In, you can open "Recording Devices" (right click on the "Speakers" icon in the taskbar), select "Line In", click "Properties", go Go to the Listening tab and check the Listen to this device box. .- I don't know how backwards compatible this info is with Windows 7 and 8, but I hope and assume the process is similar. I hope this review helps you in your decision to buy and trust M. -Audio proprietary MIDI interface to help you set it up correctly on your Windows computer.