For many, a $50-$60 midi splitter covers their needs with 100% certainty. It does not shock me that they don’t buy a more complex, capable, and possibly more expensive piece of gear with additional ports and features that will go unused.
If everyone’s needs were exactly like everyone else’s we would have only one type of synthesizer, one type of drum machine, one type of DAW, and so on.
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Yeah I use a midi express XT
An old one, no USB, cost me $40.
It has a preset called “Live Keyboards,” which is the basic starting point everyone with a bunch of midi gear is after.
I got tipped off to it from a guy on here when I was asking about Thru boxes 
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Thanks for the input!
I ended up ordering a Blokas Midihub.
I downloaded the PC application and I could set everything up the way I wanted.
It also has a Linux application which is greatly appreciated.
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Blokas midi hub is worth every cent.
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the motu midi express sounds right up my alley.
But how do you program it without usb?
Or is it just a 8in8 out trough box?
On the Motu website they are talking about usb the whole time.
Is its timing consistent with a daw
Atm I am using my RME Midi out to clock my gear from Ableton and it more or less works.
At least there is a constant latency
I don’t think you can. A program called Clockworks is used to program it. But once programmed you can use the unit without a computer.
Probably yes, but this needs some fine tuning. Jitter is caused by the computer when it has other tasks than being a DAW, latency in MIDI hardware and in case of recording audio form midi gear also the sound card may add latency. So…
Indeed, but start by searching tips how to compensate that. Clean up your computer and set it up solely for music, study the subject in the context of your specific DAW.
Why do you think the MOTU is right up your alley, if I may ask?
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I was more looking for motu specific answers…
But that is fine, may just order it on thomann and try it out…
Now I read the manual of the Midiexpress ( not entirely ofc)…
As long as it stores the settings it is fine.
So you don’t know?
The problems you describe are inherent to all digital signal processing.
For me it is just a question of how well the motu does, and if it is solid as a standalone piece
Why? If everything works and I can record and edit, it is fine.
No need to be on the grid in Ableton, just for the sake of it…
I just fuss with the timing when it is really necessary.
Because you can reroute without plugging cables.
And I like the rack
And what I hate about the Mio is that you have so many jacks in Front.
I rather have it 2HE and all the jacks in the back.
And for me there is no need to have so many usb hosts etc
Consider my reply as a more generic one. I (stupidly) assumed you were new to MIDI interfaces.
I owned a Midi Express in the past. Had no timing problems with it as far as I can remember.
Nowadays I use a Midihub. It’s very capable, fits my needs and takes much less space.
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Everyday you learn something, and cleaning the PC is something I really should do!
I love the idea of it, but it just looks so untidy…
Maybe I should just work in a DAW hating cables so much…
I feel your pain. But I work with a computer almost the entire day, so music hardware feels like an obvious choice (and still happy with that). But yeah, the cables 
Untidy? When changing configurations somewhat frequently the situation with midi connections on the back of a rack sounds equally awkward to me.
… and I do use a DAW sometimes
yeah it looks ok tucked away ! I just don’t get the design choice to scatter the In/Outs, just do a bigger box, the footprint increase with cables on all sides is gigantic!
I have to shout out the Roland A-880/Edirol UM-880. They’re a little hard to find now, but are 1u, 8in/8out MIDI router, merger, and thru boxes — all 100% controllable from easy to use buttons on the front panel.
A must-have for any DAWless setup with > 4 bits of MIDI kit, IMHO.
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I think they designed it with portability in mind, given they released lots of videos promoting its use in live settings. To be honest mine just sits under my computer much like in @cecil’s pic and I don’t fiddle with the box itself too much now that everything’s connected up (the midi processing does get fiddled with a bit via the software editor). On balance it seemed like the best balance of cost effective and functional for any set up that needs precise message filtering done and has MIDI loops that need managing, I’m a big fan.
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Mhm that sounds very good…maybe I have to work on my aesthetic expectations.
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Also a Blokas Midihub guy - I originally picked mine up to add additional flavour to a NDLR, but actually I find most of its functions more useful from a utility perspective - i.e. transposing instruments with odd octave ranges, and creating specific routes with filtered midi data.
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I had no intention of programing the XT, thats why I got one without USB.
The “Live Keyboards” preset does exactly what I need by letting all my gear communicate seamlessly. If I need a computer I just use a Mio Midi USB cable.
I understand the now, I read the manual on these motus. I need a micro express! Or a very cheap express…
Thee work perfectly as is you’ll LOVE IT
i would like to give another shout out to the iConnectivity brand. Active user support on their facebook page is great, my setup is getting crazy complex with help from community.