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 Forum index » Instruments and Equipment » General Discussion
ESI miditerminal M8U - the worst device ever ?
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Nodular



Joined: May 05, 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Milano
G2 patch files: 7

PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 5:00 am    Post subject: ESI miditerminal M8U - the worst device ever ? Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I know I should have listen to MOSC's advice about midi patch bays, but you know... Unitor MK2 is a 700 € m**********r, so I've tried a used ESI M8U (150 €) before going for the big thing.
I'm totally disappointed!
I knew it's not a real patch-bay, as it has no patch presets to use it without a PC, but...
I'm using it with ableton LIVE 4 (demo) hooked up on an iMac G5.
It goes badly out of sync !
I use a Nord Modular G2x as midi clock source.
After I push start on the G2x, as soon as I play on the keyboard, something happens and ABLETON shows fluctuations in the tempo.
This makes other keybords and equipment go out of sync in a matter of a few (3 or 4) measures.
If I don't play G2x keyboard, the sync is good.
It seems as if ESI M8U can't deal with heavy (?!?) midi data streams.
Am I forgetting something important ?
...
Too much issues.
I'd rather play bass as I've always done...
No buttons, no faders, no sync, no power adapters...
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elektro80
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Joined: Mar 25, 2003
Posts: 21959
Location: Norway
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 5:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Trivia: Turnkey in London is selling out the last batch of Emac interfaces now.. for approx the same price as the ESI. You know.. turnkey.. they always have ads and stuff in Sound On Sound magazine. You are inside the EU, so I guess getting ot from Turnkey won´t be that expensive.

In general, people are REALLY complaining about the ESI drivers for mac.. and the ESI gear in general. I haven´t used any ESI stuff so I have no opinion. I use the Steinberg Midex 8.. pretty decent.. I have never had any probs with that one.



Link to the Emagic Unitor - http://www.turnkey.co.uk/tkweb/stockdetail.jsp?sku=EMAG-UNITOR82&context=CLEARANCE

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seraph
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 1:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

M-Audio has plenty of USB>MIDI interfaces (from 1 In, 1 Out to many more inputs and outputs). I use a Emagic MT4 (2 Ins, 4 Outs) that works flawlessly (most of the time Confused )
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elektro80
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

The unitor is probably supported very well in OS X still, so I guess that one at that price is perfect?
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mosc
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Sorry to hear you are having problems, Nodular. I don't know anything about this particular MIDI device you have. I'm surprised you are having such problems. Maybe there is some kind of MIDI loop, like the G2X is getting notes back and resending them or something. Sometimes that can happen. If you have some kind of MIDI monitor on your computer, maybe you could look at the MIDI stream asnd see. I use MIDIOX on the PC. There is probably a similar application on OSX, I don't know.
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Nodular



Joined: May 05, 2005
Posts: 80
Location: Milano
G2 patch files: 7

PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

thanks I feel gratitude for your help.
Well, yes... there could be some kind of midi-loop issue in my config.
I'll try to figure it out this evening.
Even if I'm inclined to think about an ESI-M8U limitation.
In fact, it's told nowhere that M8U is capable of syncing midi data by itself.
There's only that crappy "MIDI-Through extensive option".
Nothing else than a distributed midi-out (IN1 -> OUT1~OUT8) function...
definitely not the right choice !
The good news is that I might have found an UNITOR for less then I feared. party!
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