From vance@netcom.comThu May 25 11:26:26 1995 Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 03:34:38 -0700 From: Vance Gloster To: map@cs.washington.edu Cc: electronica@andrew.cmu.edu Subject: Re: Roland MPU 401 and old software... > I saw a roland MPU401 box today. It had one midi in, two midi outs, and a > sync out plus a 25 female connector marked Computer. It also had two 1/4" > jacks for Tape (whatever that means) > it's a MIDI interface for an IBM compatible computer. MPU401 is pretty much the standard today in the PC world. i'd thought i'd heard that the original 401 also had a sync port on it. nice deal, to have your sync conversion built in if you're using a PC. the tape interface, like those on anything else like the 909, KMS-30, etc is for syncing to a recorded tape signal. I've got one of these right here. The actual reason why it has a 25-pin D connector is that it was not clear to Roland which one of the computer companies was going to win the computer wars of the 80s. You can get cards that will hook up to this box for IBMs, Apple ][, and even Amiga. The card is trivial (just passes some I/O ports), so if you have an oddball machine you want a MIDI interface for this might be a good place to start. The tape sync is great! Just remember to run some tape recording the sync before you start the sequencer. When syncing to it you will want to start your sequencer during this period. The tape sync has a greater resolution than MIDI clocks (48 clocks per quarter note versus 24 using MIDI clocks as I recall). -Vance Gloster vance@netcom.com