From: JROSSI@EAGLE.AAMRL.WPAFB.AF.MIL
Newsgroups: rec.music.synth
Subject: Re: MIDI under Windows 3.
Date: 15 Apr 92 17:59:00 GMT


I've seen thge Cakewakl Windows Beta and it is quite impressive.  It isn't
Performer, or even Creator/Notator, but it is definately a step in the right
direction.  Clearly, Twelve Tone deserves quite a bit of praise in this one.
Also, in keeping with the sensibiltites of the PC world these products
probably won't be copy protected.

Mac people will probably never fully appreciate the devide independence of
Windows drivers.  As far as I can tell (judging from what I see in the
availability of monitor, serial device, etc products) no similar device
independence is implemented in the Mac environment.  With the inclusion of
the multimedia section of Win 3.1, and the availability of device independent
MIDI drivers, I can't think that making anything (hardware) work from within
Windows will take any kind of time.  Almost all companies who thrive on the
PC marketplace and play toi the Windows environment are accustomed to writing
the necessary drivers to make their product work up front.  I don't see
MIDI port drivers being any different than, say, graphics device drivers.  So,
the limitations of stuff driven under windows will be the limits of the
ISA architecture.  Hopefully, Windows NT will provide a way around the
idiotic IRQ architecture of the hardware.  No doubt that is still about a
year down the road, but I still believe that the smart money is on Bill Gates
in this one.  His 'take no prisoners' view of TOTAL market domination is
the kind of thing which probably has ruined John Scully's sleeping patterns
for some time now.  Even though it may be hard for Mac people to believe,
Microsoft has convinced the world that the Mouse and GUI were invented in
Redmond, Washington, and that Cuppertino, CA involvement with the mouse is
more likely related to its proximity to Disneyland. [Now, I am not saying
that I believe that Windows is anywhere close to the Mac GUI, but the 
aggressive Microsoft marketing force seems to be convincing most of the world
that it is the leader in GUI designs].

So, Nick, in answer to your question.  3 Months, max.  

One more thing, I would like to set the record straight about my dissatisfactionwith my Mac purchase...  I'm not saying that the Mac is not a worthy platform.
I am not arguing that Performer (or maybe Vision) is the worlds best sequencer.
I am not suggesting that Nick Rothwell's productivity would be improved by
moving to a PC.  All I am saying is that, for me, the Mac does not provide
the kinds of bandwidth to which I have grown accustomed, and is not an
appropriate device for me to use in final production.  My comments were made
to advise the computer/sequencer contemplating readership that the availability
of 32 independent MIDI ports using MTPs, while convenient and probably as
good a patching system as one could expect, does not have the throughput
bandwidth to fully support 32 (or even 6) very dense MIDI streams.  In many
ways, I believe that MOTU's advertizing is a little deceptive about this
matter.  I also believe, that while it may be true that nobody would ever
need 32 saturrated MIDI streams of throughput, I need more than the Mac-->MTP
interface can provide.  I also believe that there may be others out there
who would find themselves in similarly compromised situations which didn't
meet their expectations which they based on listening to satisfied Mac users
and reading the MOTU and Opcode interface hype.  In fact Metlay, is one of
these people who had no idea that normal Mac interfaces are constrained by
35KHz bandwidth.  One final thing... While the Mac serial interface might
be capable of operating reliably at 1 MB/sec rates in synchronous mode, and
while it may be able to get over 200K in asynch mode, NO MIDI INTERFACES
support these high data rates, so even mentioning them is no more meaningful
than espousing the power of Nu-Bus, for which no MIDI interface capability
exists, either.  Granted, I was not aware that a Mac serial port could run
that fast (but then how could I have been expected to know that given the
paucity of information available through knowledgable sources), what is
needed in the Mac world if it seriously wants to compete with the new PC-
dominated world computer order is some kinds of devices which can capitalize
on high speed serial connections or on the Nu-bus.  It seems to me that
MOTU and Opcode are willing to re\isk resting on their collective laurels
in this matter.  The 'nobody seems to need it' attitude will eventually sink
the whole Mac MIDI market.  

John
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU