Network MIDI 2.0 Setup connects this PC to MIDI devices over your local network, with no traditional MIDI cables between them. If you have an interface, a synth, or another computer that speaks Network MIDI 2.0 over Ethernet or WiFi, this is where you set up the connection.
Once a connection is made, the device appears in Windows like any other MIDI device, so your DAW and other MIDI software can use it straight away.
There are two pages, each with a different but related function:
Devices that advertise themselves on your network appear on the Network devices page on their own. There’s nothing to scan or search: as long as the device is switched on and on the same network (and same subnet), it shows up within a few seconds.
Each device shows its name, where it is on the network, and whether you’re connected to it.
To connect, select Connect. You’ll be asked what to call the MIDI Endpoint for this device in Windows.
Leave the box empty and Windows uses whatever name the device reports for itself. Fill it in and that name is what you’ll see everywhere in Windows, including in your DAW’s device list. This is worth doing if you have several similar units, or if the device’s own name is cryptic.
This is the step that catches people out. Connecting is a conversation between two devices, and plenty of devices will not simply accept an incoming connection. On the other end, something may be waiting for you to approve it:
If the connection sits at Connecting and doesn’t complete, that’s the first thing to check. Go and look at the device, its front panel, or its configuration page, and see whether it’s asking you a question. Windows will keep trying, so once you allow it on the other side the connection completes on its own.
Devices that let anything connect will simply connect straight away.
Once connected, each device shows a graph of round trip time, which is how long a message takes to get to the device and back.
The graph scrolls from right to left, with the newest measurement on the right, and covers roughly the last few minutes. Underneath it you’ll see the current round trip, how many network packets have gone each way, and how many had to be resent.
The vertical axis is logarithmic and re-scales itself to whatever the largest value in view is, which is noted above the graph. That sounds fussy, but it’s what lets you see a steady sub-millisecond connection and an occasional large spike in the same picture.
A flat, low trace is what a healthy wired connection looks like. Regular tall spikes usually mean the device is on Wi-Fi and its radio is going to sleep between messages; the first message after a quiet moment then has to wait for it to wake up. That’s normal for Wi-Fi, but it’s the reason a wired connection is worth having for anything timing-critical.
For MIDI, you normally want a situation where the round-trip latency is under 5 milliseconds. In general, the lower the better. Most wired networks will get you under a millisecond round trip latency.
If all your connections show high round-trip network latency, it’s worth looking at your network usage, and if you are saturating the same network with other audio or video. Most wired networks have plenty of bandwidth though, so the most common cause of high latency is using a WiFi connection instead of Wired. You may also find you have gaming-focused network accelerator software running, which may actually cause worse performance.
Select Disconnect to end a connection. The device stays in the list and can be reconnected whenever you like. Disconnecting doesn’t block anything.
Select Details under a device for the identifying information.
Product Instance Id is the device’s own serial-number-like identity. Addresses is where it is on the network. MIDI Endpoint is the Windows device id, which is what other MIDI tools and DAWs want when they ask you to identify a device. The small copy button on the right puts it on the clipboard.
Some devices don’t announce themselves on the network, or are on a part of the network where those announcements don’t reach. You can still connect by typing the address in.
Enter the host name or IP address and the port, and optionally the two names: Name that device will see is how this PC introduces itself, and Name to show in Windows is what you’ll call the device here.
Windows keeps the entry and keeps trying, so if the device isn’t switched on yet it will connect later when it appears.
Connecting to devices by using mDNS / advertising is more efficient than by IP. When you connect by IP address or name, Windows must keep checking for a response at that address. But if the device advertizes using mDNS, we can simply wait until the ad appears on the network.
The This PC page is the other direction: making this computer something other devices can connect to. To do that, this PC needs a host.
Most people need only one host, and it stays there once created.
Select Create host.
Name other devices will see is how this PC appears in the device list on your synth, laptop, or phone. The Network service name is the technical name used to announce this PC on the network, and it has to be different from every other host on this PC.
When a device asks to connect is the one worth thinking about:
On a home studio network, letting any device connect is convenient. Anywhere you don’t control who’s on the network, ask first.
Advertise this host on the network is what makes this PC appear in other devices’ lists. Switch it off and devices can still connect, but they’ll need the address typed in by hand.
Also create MIDI 1.0 ports for connected devices makes connected devices usable from older software that doesn’t understand the new combined MIDI 1.0/MIDI 2.0 API. Most apps today will fall under that category.
If you chose Ask me first, a prompt appears at the top of the window whenever a device wants to connect. It shows the device’s name and where it’s connecting from, and it’s visible on both pages so you won’t miss it.
You have four answers:
Each host lists the devices currently connected to it, with the same round trip graph you get on the Network devices page.
Disconnect ends the connection but doesn’t stop the device reconnecting. Block ends it and refuses that device in future.
Remembered decisions appears when you’ve used Always allow or Block, and lets you undo those choices. If a device is being turned away and you can’t work out why, look here first.
Stop takes a host off the network without deleting it, and Delete removes it entirely.
The gear button in the title bar opens the settings.
Theme and Window background control how the app looks. Mica and Acrylic pick up colors from your desktop; Acrylic lets what’s behind the window show through. Tick Use a custom background color to choose your own.
Refresh connection details every (seconds) sets how often the app asks the MIDI service for connection state, round trip times, and packet counts. Three to five seconds suits most people. A shorter interval gives a more detailed graph at the cost of asking the service more often. The polling only happens while this app is running.
The pin button next to the minimize button keeps the window above your other windows, which is handy while you’re setting a device up.
A few things to check, roughly in order:
Look at the other device. As above, it may be waiting for you to allow the connection there.
Check they’re on the same network and same subnet. Devices are found by announcing themselves locally, and those announcements don’t usually cross between separate networks, or between a guest network and your main one. Usually the product manual for the other device will have information about how to ensure the subnet is the same, or how to set the IP address so it matches the network your PC is on.
Try connecting by address. If the device works when you type its address but never appears in the list, the announcements aren’t reaching this PC even though the network path is fine.
Check whether it’s blocked. If you selected Block at some point, the device is refused silently. Look under Remembered decisions on the host.
If Network MIDI 2.0 isn’t installed or isn’t enabled on this PC, the app tells you so when it starts and the rest of the window stays empty. Nothing here will work until that’s sorted out.
Windows MIDI Services is an open source project with all source available on GitHub. We have a great community on Discord as well. Between GitHub and Discord, you should find the information you are looking for.
