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From: cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Amiga and MIDI
Message-ID: <35179@sun.uucp>
Date: Tue, 1-Dec-87 14:50:35 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.35179
Posted: Tue Dec  1 14:50:35 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 5-Dec-87 00:35:43 EST
References: <447@nuchat.UUCP> <32160@auc.UUCP> <528@otto.COM> <4567@pyr.gatech.EDU> <1931@chinet.UUCP>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: cmcmanis@sun.UUCP (Chuck McManis)
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mountain View
Lines: 38
Keywords: MIDI Amiga Atari ST
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:11807 comp.sys.atari.st:6573

[I wish people wouldn't comment when they don't have the facts.]

In article <1931@chinet.UUCP> dag@chinet.UUCP (Daniel A. Glasser) writes:
>I'm not sure how the Amiga printer port is configured, and how the MIDI
>devices are accessed from the program, but there are MIDI interfaces on
>the market with different features, and this would seem to indicate that
>not all Amiga MIDI adaptors are created equal from a programming standpoint.

Every MIDI interface that I know of on the market for the Amiga uses 
the serial port. Some programs like SoundScape, provide their own device 
drivers to get the speed up, but the MIDI 'Interface' is nothing more than a
EIA <-> CurrentLoop converter circuit. All of the programs and their 
drivers talk to the serial port hardware which is in the same place, and
has the same flag bits as every other Amiga. Thus every MIDI 'Interface'
works with *every* MIDI capable program. There are conflicts when you 
multitask two MIDI programs but that is to be expected, one of them can't
get the serial port because the other one has it. This won't be a problem
for a while on the Mac or the ST (or even the IBM-PC for that matter.)

>Does the Amiga OS support MIDI devices?  The ST OS does.

The Amiga OS supports any device that has a device driver in
the DEVS: directory. Is there a standardized software layer interface
to a generic midi device (something the Amiga calls a handler), No.

>A question that must be asked before buying either machine to be part of
>a MIDI set-up:  Does the software that I want exist for this machine?
>If the answer is no, you need to look into whys and whens.  Don't let
>a bunch of people from either fan club badmouthing the other machine
>influence you too much.  In most cases, neither party knows of what they
>speak.

This is certainly a true statement, with an example no less!


--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.