Windows 7 MIDI output device selection

Anonymous
2009-11-19T06:27:30+00:00

I am an active musician who has recently made the switch from XP to Windows 7, skipping Vista.  I connected my Edirol UM-1, and the drivers installed successfully.  The interface works fine within my DAW software, but I also like to have WMP use the UM-1 as the default MIDI output device.  When I went to the control panel to make that selection, I discovered that the MIDI device section was missing completely.  

There are several threads on this topic in the Vista forums, but I haven't found much discussion about this topic in the Windows 7 forum.  The fact that this problem remains from Vista to Windows 7 does not give me much hope that a solution will come from Microsoft.

My questions:  Is there a solution to this problem that doesn't involve registry hacks or questionable downloads? And/or has anyone had any success in Windows 7 using registry hacks or software patches.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2012-06-10T17:51:15+00:00

Hi again Don well I've found where you are making your mistake! You are not editing the registry in the right place. You must go to the DEFAULT MIDI DEVICE folder or directory. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum{4EFE2452-168A-11D1-BC76-00C04FB9453B}\Default MidiOut Device   

You are going to the directory in the same 4EFE2452-168A-11D1-BC76-00C04FB9453B but you are editing Tascam US122mk2 and the Microsoft Wavetable synth directories DO NOT EDIT THESE FOLDERS. You MUST GO TO THE DEFAULT MIDI DEVICE DIRECTORY! You must also re edit the two device Tascam and MS WAvetable directories back to the original zero for Wavetable and 1 for tascam. Then edit the DEFAULT MIDI DEVICE directory to either zero for onboard or 1 for USB. A simple mistake that's cost you a few folicles ;-)  Terry

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Anonymous
2011-01-04T15:43:26+00:00

Mike,

Its actually all to do with the drivers, not the OS.

I have an Edirol PCM30 keyboard and a Edirol SD20, bioth of which work perfectly under W7 Pro as Edirol has written W7 specific drivers for these products. I can also use the keyboard through a Presonus FS26x26 as it also has W7 specific drivers.

If your midi devicde manufacturer has not written W7 specific drivers then you'll have to try using Vista drivers (install in compatibility mode), but there are no guarantee they work.

UM1 drivers are here :

http://www.rolandus.com/products/productdetails.php?ProductId=498#

Emu beta drivers are available here (scroll down) :

http://connect.creativelabs.com/emu/default.aspx

Cheers,

jerry

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-06-29T00:11:49+00:00

    Not the answer... I can't run my controller and an audio prgram at the same time. I used to be able to do it in XP via the mixer panel. Win 7 doesn't have this. I can do this on the Mac...Fix it!

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-03-20T21:56:35+00:00

    Mike

    I've had success hacking the registry.  You're welcome to try this, but beware that it comes with the usual caveats about backing up the registry first to avoid trashing your system.

    The jist of it is you create a VBS file - these files hold commands that Windows can carry out - then run it to choose the midi mapper that you want.

    To create the VBS file, you first create a text file by right-clicking your desktop and selecting New - Text Document.  When you name the document make sure it finishes with '.vbs' and not the usual '.txt'.

    Now open the new file in Notepad by right-clicking the file and selecting 'Edit'.  Paste the following code into it:

    //Code START

    prompt = "0. GS Wavetable" & vbCrLf & "1. Roland RD300SX" & vbCrLf & "2. Roland SoundCanvas Out A" & vbCrLf & "3. Roland SoundCanvas Out B"

    i = InputBox(prompt, "Map to a MIDI device")

    Select Case i

        Case 0

            i = -1

        Case 1, 2, 3

        Case Else

            i = 1

    End Select

    Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")

    path = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum{4EFE2452-168A-11D1-BC76-00C04FB9453B}\Default MidiOut Device\MidiOutId"

    WshShell.RegWrite path, i, "REG_DWORD"

    // Code END

    (note that the line start 'path = ' above may get wrapped in this forum because of the page layout - that particular line starts 'path =' and finishes with '\MidiOutId'.)

    You'll see that I'm the owner of Roland equipment, hence the wording in the code.  Save the VBS file then double-click the file to run it.  If you choose 0 then you'll stay with the default Windows MIDI sounds.  Windows then allocates 1, 2, 3 etc to any other installed MIDI devices.

    Best of luck

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-03-13T18:18:43+00:00

    Hi Jerry,

    I'm using the latest Windows 7 64-bit drivers for my MIDI interface and it doesn't show up as an option for Windows Media Player.  So my question is are you using your MIDI device with WMP or only your DAW software?  The keyboard works fine with Cakewalk Sonar.  But I have to hack the registry for WMP to play MIDI through my keyboard.

    My MIDI interface does have an icon in the control panel.  When opening the Sound controls there is no way to switch between MIDI devices, such as between the built in Windows soft synth and my keyboard.  Only settings for wav and MP3 style audio.  That's what Wilderness is complaining about

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