Miditech MIDIface 4x4

I bought this interface to extend my available MIDI ports. The build quality is very good, it has aluminium housing, the connectors have a smooth connection and the unit has a rugged, solid feel. The led indicators are a great addition although the blue power on led's light is very strong which is a bit uncomfortable in a dark room. You can use some tape to dampen it or put something in front of it though.

You just have to plug it in, no setup is needed. Which on the one hand is a good thing but on the other hand it has its limitations. As the unit does not have it's own driver be prepared to experience problems when sending complex sysex messages, especially to and from vintage gear - it just won't work. The class compliant driver in Windows can't handle it as confirmed by customer support at Miditech. Although I found a workaround solution which makes it work perfectly with sysex. I told them about it so if you have problems just contact their support and they will help. You basically have to install a free MIDI utility and a virtual MIDI cable and make some easy settings, no black computer magic there indeed.

For other, basic MIDI tasks it's perfect, no problems with note, program and control change messages. I'm happy with it after all given the low price point but it would be much better to have a proper, dedicated driver for reliable sysex operation.