Parallel port alternatives on a PC: “I have a PC and have discovered that the Cubase and Waves dongles, when used together, interrupt the flow of MIDI data on my parallel port. I understand that the workaround is to add a second parallel port to the computer, or to purchase a MIDI interface that works off the USB, or serial port. What’s my best option?”
If your motherboard has an available ISA slot, and you already have a parallel port MIDI interface, you could purchase an inexpensive plug and play parallel port for about $15.00. We recommend you put the dongles on this port and use the built in parallel port for the MIDI interface. In experiments we have stacked 6 dongles on a port like this with no problems, but it’s sometimes problematic to get your MIDI interface to work correctly on these types of ports. One day soon when USB MIDI interfaces are a reality they will be a great alternative.