Old MIDI Instruments Don't Like Modern MIDI. What's to Be Done?

https://hackaday.com/2026/07/05/old-midi-instruments-dont-like-modern-midi-whats-to-be-done/

by halfradaition • 16 days ago

11 5 16 days ago

hulitu• 16 days ago

Notthing. Greed and planed obsolescence are here to stay.

MisterTea2• 16 days ago

The 8-bit microprocessor on a 1983 synth has problems keeping up with the rapid-fire data that spews relentlessly from the supercomputer-grade machine controlling it, and bad things happen as a result.

Whats to be done? Patch the software to rate limit the transmission of midi frames. This is a giant nothing burger.

brudgers2• 15 days ago

Whats to be done?

Complying with the Midi 1.0 standard is an obvious option. Old instruments are designed to handle 31,250 baud because that is the standard.

If a new device does not transmit at exactly that rate, it is sending a different protocol, not Midi 1.0 (and the Midi 2.0 requires implementations to be backward compatible).

transmission of midi frames

Midi 1.0 is based on bytes not frames. If you are sending frames, you are sending a different protocol, not Midi 1.0.

MisterTea2• 15 days ago

Whole lot of pedantry which says the same thing I said - fix the code.

Old MIDI Instruments Don't Like Modern MIDI. What's to Be Done?

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