Midi Playback Problems, complex PC MIDI won't play on MAC Options

Hello and I hope I'm in the right forum for this one.
I've got a lot of semi-pro MIDI produced on PCs using Turtle Beach sound cards and QSE, Cakewalk and other sequencers. The more complex ones (with a lot of events and controls) always bog down and stop when I play them back on my eMac G4, 1 gig memory using the internal QuickTime synthesizer. Doesn't matter which software program I use to play the MIDI, I suppose it all uses the internal synth. What is the solution here? I want to be able to play and edit these MIDIs on the Mac. Thanks and regards!

After 14 views and no replies, maybe I'd better make it clear that I'm not a PC troll. If I could afford it, I'd like a dual G5 PowerMac with an Apple display and plenty of slots for the best available sound cards and plenty of power for Logic. But a reasonable number of suggestions for sound cards, interfaces and software usable on the eMac that will play a full-fisted MIDI would be helpful. If not, I'll research it some more myself and thanks for nothing.

[reddish]

hey Lamplighter... first off welcome to the forums lol

no one thinks that your a P.C. troll lol there appears to be a rigid screening process to prevent those types from posting or at least i thought (gazing over my win98 box screaming for help) whatever i am one of those 14.... and i must admit that I am ashamed for my lack of a responce (i pray that you will forgive me) i would have responded but I really have no idea where the hell turtle beach is and i am a newcomer as well (sort of) and i didn't want to steer you in the wrong directionthe only thing that i would feel confident about saying to you is what i use which has been very good to me so far though i must admit it has still to go through the ringer of serious music production "I am Lazy" but i am still trying to get my head around the software and what not LOGIC is a harsh mistress for newcomers... I wish i had more to tell ya i am not at all familiar with the E-Mac so the only thing that i could even say is tha I am on a ppc g5 Dual 2 GHz 5gigs of DDR SDRAM running tiger (10.4.1) and Logic Pro 7.0.1 along with live 4.0.1 and that pretty much takes care of everything that i want to do midi samples ear wax etc my M-audio 410 started out rocky driver problems etc but thier tiger driver update works like a champ though it's still in beta and i am looking forward to thier final relaese http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=suppor...download&ID=480 hmmmmmmm Well theres my decididly unprofessional opinion rambel rambel rambel as far as midi on a mac you cant get any better than logic there may also be some help for your bogged down g4 freezing tracks etc but like i said i am a newbie so take my poorly worded reply with the proverbial grain of salt.
well anyways..... don't get all worked up man there are loads of good people here and they'll get around to ya eventually lol take some reds smoke a joint and i am shure someone vastly more qualified than I will be right with you with some reall advice Directly.......

Welcome once again

Thanks, reddish, for your reply. I posted in the getting started forum as well which may be the best place for the post. I'm doing my own homework on this one. I'm pretty sure the eMac can handle the MIDI playback and that the problem is in QuickTime's synth. Just need something more powerful - so I'll find out what is available. Just in case you want to check out the files I'm talking about, truck to these links. I'd be curious how they play on your QuickTime synth vs. your other hardware.

http://www.geocities.com/lampbay/stomp.mid

http://www.geocities.com/lampbay/pfheaven.mid

Let me know the results.

Check that first link - it should be:

http://www.geocities.com/lampbay/stomp1.mid

[lepetitmartien]

Just a pick-a-boo, if people look on a thread and don't answer, usually it's because they don't have an intelligent (or very stupid) answer to give. (and please, no multiple post elsewhere)

Myself, I'm a bit confused on the issue…

Thanks, lepetitemartien, for your reply.
The issue, in the nutshell of your choice, is that the more complex a MIDI file is (more events such as notes, controllers, etc.) the less likely that it will playback without stopping on an average quality MIDi playback device. The QT synth, many on-mainboard sound chips on PCs and numerous PC soft synths simply will overload and stop when encountering too many MIDi instructions. A high quality soundcard, such the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz in my PC, can handle 16 tracks filled with notes, controllers and other events, with a faithful playback without a pause. Processor power could be a problem, not on the AMD PC, but I don't suspect that my 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 with 1GB DDR SDRAM would have any problem. If you can direct me to more tech specs on the Mac family - such as is there an onboard sound chip that handles the MIDI playback instead of a soft synth - I might be able to learn more about what I don't know about Macs. Thanks again.

[lepetitmartien]

If you want details, I think a tour on the ADC (Apple developer conference site, go apple.com) would help, as as far as I know, you're using this way only software in OS X. The QuickTime synth is a GM bank courte$y of Roland.

I think the problem is not the track number (16 is not a lot), it's you asking a lot from software only AND sample reading on the hard drive on an entry level computer. Remember the OS uses the drive too for the swap at the same time on the eMac which is not with a faster than fast HD. That's the only reasonable thing I can think of.

Thanks for your advice - been to ADC - lots of info there. I'm curious if an iMac G5 would play the same files using QuickTime. I doubt it because I think the limitations are in the QuickTime synth. If not, that means the limitation is in the G4, the I/O controller and the audio codec chip on the eMac. Anyone willing to test them on an iMac G5 and reply before I can take a disc to the store and do so would be appreciated. No doubt an external module would solve the problem and end the discussion. Thanks to all for what might seem to be an insignificant topic - except to me, of course!

[lepetitmartien]

Glad it helped

Now I'm playing Stomp right now in Quicktime, the average CPU is 10% on my mono G5 1.8. A peak at 2 places at 29 %. Maybe you kill the G4 What I don't understand is there are places where the sound stops, CPU is still high (29-31%)… I wonder if there's not something fishy in the file itself. And here there's CPU to spare, and a SATA drive… strange…

Does the midi file load correctly? Performer doesn't seem to like it.