“My question relates to ‘to host’ cables used to connect a computer (in my case a PC) to a piece of MIDI gear (an O1V digital desk). I do have MIDI I/O already via a Pulsar sound card, however I use this to connect to my XP-80 keyboard.

“Now, I also want the O1V and PC to ‘talk MIDI’ without having to always unplug from the keyboard and repatch to the O1V.

“The ‘to host’ cable connects from the O1V to a serial port on the PC (apparently anyway, I haven’t actually got it yet). My question is how do I get my sequencer software to recognize that there is MIDI info coming in to the serial connection? Do I need some type of driver? In short I guess I’m asking, how do “to host” cables work at the PC end of things?”

In short, the answer is yes. A driver is needed to make your computer talk to any device through its serial port. There is also some question as to whether your system will be able to receive information from the MIDI card and that serial port simultaneously. Another method that may make more sense if you plan to grow your system is to invest in a good multi-port MIDI interface. You can spend $200 – $400 and get an excellent interface that will support 4 to 8 discrete cables or devices.