Midi woes. Computers Suck with hardware. A grim Tale.

February 16th, 2010 by Hexfix93

logic8sucksmidi
The above image is logic’s midi not lining up when tracking in sequences. For a while I have been struggling with midi. I started using hardware synths and drum machines ages ago in tandem with my Atari ST computer. The atari ST had built in midi ports. With notator or cubase software on the atari, you could get midi jitter down to about 1 to 3 ms. This is just right and sounds super tight. Even with one midi out daisy chaining through all the midi throughs of my synths, the songs I made had this syncopated musical sound that I just do not feel and hear today. I started on the atari, so I was spoiled by that timing, and came close to cubase on the PC with a serial port interface before USB took over. That still did not match the swing and tight feel of the atari. I have been struggling with this since I left the atari for the pc back in 1997. The Atari ST was a computer, so why was it so much better at midi? Well for starters the midi on the computer was built in and had DMA access, so the cpu could interface directly with it via memory instead of through a bus. The graphics were in monochrome, so the computer was not doing much. When you load a program on the atari, there is no multitasking apps. So the only thing running was the midi program and nothing else. The machine was dedicated to performing that task with exact timing and response, and listening to midi for notes. I could play anything in to the metronome and it would sync up so tight and play exactly what I played in. On a modern PC with USB midi, this is not the case at all on logic or cubase or any of the applications I have tried. Modern PCS boast millions of colors on the screen, background multitasking for printers, mice, ethernet, networks, file indexing, and all kinds of malware on the pc. the computer is task switching, which makes perfect timing impossible. This is why audio sounds bad in the box as well when compared to high en outboard gear. Task switching never will give you real time accurate audio and midi. Multitasking OS systems are your enemy when it comes to midi and audio. DONE IT ALL, TWEAKED ALL THE OS SETTINGS. TRIED ALMOST EVERY MIDI INTERFACE. Followed all the advice on cubase and logic. No Bueno. Nothing I have done on a pc or mac has made the midi rock solid like an atari or a hardware seq. NOTHING. Dedicated hardware is better always.
atari_st_cubase
Granted, If you sequence with software synths and software drum machines, you will have sample accurate timing and that is great. My problem is that software sounds thin, empty, colorless and boring, it doesn’t punch or have character like hardware does. Even if I use color and warming vst plugins, it doesn’t even come close to how my hardware sounds. I love my hardware, I love the way my emu samplers and roland samplers sound over any software based sampler. I like how my korg trinities sound over any pcm sample based playback workstation plugin vst. I like my virus A, and an1x, Jp8080 and nord rack 2 way more than any VA software synths in the box. I like how juno 106, mks50s, and mophos sound over anything in the box. I prefer my hardware reverbs and built in fx on my synths to any FX that are in the box. You get the point. Dedicated gear sounds better than software. This still doesn’t even address the JAM. I mean when you are jamming on your gear and it is responsive and tight, and the midi is as well. Having to stop and edit can really get you out of the spirit of jamming. I was testing logic all this week, and would play in stuff, and it would put the drums in the wrong place with or without quantizing. It would drive me nuts, this has been the case on all my MAC and PC midi applications. The atari was rock solid. Modern PCs are not at all. So I now reject all DAWS(I think this is why modern music sucks, too much DAW sound and bad timing mixed together).
m3
So I ditched my DAWs and went into the world of workstations. I bought the Korg M3, because I saw some cool videos on the touch interface and the new update with the sequencer enhancements to make it more computer like. Got it home, plugged in my trinity rack to it and started sequencing the trinity in loop mode. OMG this was super tight and musical and machine like, how I remember the atari. Then the real test, write more drums with internal m3 sounds, and then add a lot of fx. Yes, now the timing gets bad, once the workstation has to start thinking and using a lot of processing for the audio engine. Now its true multitasking colors show their spots. WOW. I payed 1500 for the m3, not only do the sounds completely suck and have this harsh annoying mid range, sound super vanilla and like elevator music. The fx were tamed down from the triton and trinity as well. I remember back in the day the trinity was the same way, tight if the sequence was working alone with no sounds and fx on the trinity running, sloppy once you put a system load on it. So back to the store went the M3.

mpc1000_top_med

Enter the Mpc-1000. Yes, I got this a while back, and it and the M3 both suffer from BLAND SOUND SYNDROME, sounds more like a PC than old hardware. The biggest sin on the mpc is that if you cut the samples perfect on the pc, like a 909 kick, play it back on the MPC 1000 and the initial click of the transient on the sound is gone! no matter what I tried, all fx off, attack to 0 on the env. NO GO. Even with the JJOS this was a problem. The sequencer on the mpc 1000 is Tight. I mean like atari ST Cubase Tight! So that was a plus, had a lot of good editing features as well. Still the swing is not as good as the mpc 60. I sold it for this flaw. I wasn’t about to pay 1200 for a sequencer with a small screen and bad sound.
E6400-Ultra-large

So I then tried my E6400’s Sequencer. WOW this is super tight, holy shit. But, the ability to edit the recorded midi is a nightmare, limited, no step seq, its terrible. But man is it tight, depressing.
notator1
Back to the atari? I don’t have the space, I don’t want to deal with hard drives and big monitors. Not to mention that I need more ins and outs midi wise. I have been trying for years to find a used Atari ST with a hard drive, and midex for cubase with no luck, and notator withe the unitor is hard to find too. I did not like notator at all, its tighter than cubase, but I don’t like pattern based sequencing really. Not into score writing either so this is a big NO for me. Another thing I hated about ataris is the finicky floppy drives, like your ST will read and write disks it can read fine, but try and put those disks in another Atari ST, LOL half the time it wont even work. I have the old programs on floppy disks still, but i doubt they will even work. Watch the below clip.


The mpc60. Roger linn, the timing freak, yes he made the lindrum and the os in the mpc60 and mpc3000. They swing, record perfectly what you play, play it back perfect. Watch the above demo, and you see the tight seq I am talking about, how easy it is to get a beat up and going, how tight it plays it back, and how perfectly it records the jam. This is what computers FAIL at. They never record it quite right. This is what I want. I don’t like the akai samplers, their mpcs, and what not, I like roland and emus sound much better. So what am I to do?
100_05363
Enter the Akai ASQ-10 hardware midi sequencer, with 2 midi ins, and 4 midi outs, no sound engine, no multitasking. Same Roger Linn os as the mpc60. I just won this on EBAY, I hope it works, I read that the screen was a bit dim but readable, so I decided to order a back light that I found for it on ebay. So hope all goes well. If it is anything like the video above, I will be in heaven. No joke. That is what I want, tight midi, tight grooves, tight seqs. If you want to hear an example of tight midi on a VAC track, go listen to “HELL 2″ on BTE vol 2.

This is tight, listen to the drum rolls at 2:34 in the video above, I have not been able to get crisp drum rolls like that since the atari ST. This is the Atari ST with cubase into my DR 660 drum machine. So fucking tight(granted the sound quality blows, mackie 1604 into an adat, into a mackie 1604 again, into a sony walkman dat player, LOL). The arps are tight as hell as well. This is why and how VAC lost a lot of its edge and aggressive sound. The timing is crucial for stuff like this. Wish me luck, I really hope this Akai ASQ-10 is the answer to my timing and recording sessions. The korg M3 was tight, as long as I didn’t use anything else but the sequencer on it. The mpc 1000 was, but it played my samples back with cut off transients. This is just the sequencer, so now I am hoping I am finally in the tight world of Roger Linn after this. I will have to get used to some of the limitations of hardware sequencers. I don’t care. I need 4 outs, and the atari wont give me that. I need rock solid midi recording and timing. I think I might actually get my wish now.

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Category: 09-ProAudio Reviews | 40 Comments »


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40 Responses

  1. Bruticus Says:

    I have no idea if this is a viable option — have you considered using an Atari ST emulator?

    http://www.discogs.com/groups/topic/130336

  2. Hexfix93 Says:

    emulator? talk about midi lag, LOL yeah ive tried this as well dude.

  3. Nath Null Object Says:

    Hey your not alone in this mate – I feel the same.

    So do this mob and they have figured out rock solid timming with their Sync Lock.

    Have a good read as they do some pretty good testing on midi speeds on various gear.

    http://www.innerclocksystems.com/

  4. Sean Shea Says:

    I have been saying for over a decade that i got better MIDI timing on my MAC SE/30 running Vision 1.0 with a serial Opcode interface than i have ever gotten on my current Quadcore PC or on my Dual processor MacMini.

    I have had everyone from my fellow co-workers when i was working for the Akai company to professors at Emerson and Brown university tell me that i was insane when i told them that the MIDI timing on USB interfaces was absolute crap.

    Thank you Thank you. For backing me up. I currently use an MPC500 and MPC1000 w/ JJOS to sequence and don’t mind the sample issue.

    But i went through a lot of gear to get here. I tried upping my computers, switching to a serial interface, using the Kurzweil K250 and k2000 sequencers, the Yamaha QX1, the Roland PMA5, and also a MPC2000 classic to try to return back to the accurate timing i once had. All with poor to fair results.

    I have dreamed of getting an Akai ASQ-10 since it seems to be the only 4+ midi out sequencer that can read standard midi files. I sure wish they made something in the 21st century to match it. I even tried to pitch such a device while i was working for Akai but they were more interested in copying their past products than giving their customers useful tools.

    BTW – While I was at Akai we ran a midi timing test between all the MPC’s that were out at that point. We compared the MPC60mkII, MPC3000, mpc2000, MPC2000XL(se), MPC4000, and the MPC1000 w/ Akai OS one.

    Oddly to our surprise, the Classic (non-XL) MPC2000 was the winner with the tightest timing. None of us in the company had a good explination as to why this was.

  5. ale Says:

    all this for a drum roll??? oh my god

  6. dead Says:

    hell two drums do hit hard.
    have fun with your newly won toy!

  7. Hexfix93 Says:

    Wow, such an interesting response to my post. I also bought an atari ST again to see if that is the way i want to work again, asq10 or atari.

    i used to get buy with one midi out, i would thru to all my gear and put the drum stuff at the 1st position and got great results.

    I wish someone would make tight midi on a sequencer again, not a computer, but hardware will never die, software is a fad that will, it will never match hardware, never, and that is why it pisses me off to no end that they dont give a fuck and move on to software.

  8. magenticka Says:

    Please do a shoot out between the asq10 and the atari, I am seriously considering going down the hardware route for sequencing. I almost bought the Akai yesterday, there was one on ebay but I lost it.

  9. robert Says:

    Hi,
    I felt the same and got an atari back again,
    You can get midex midi expanders from this dude
    http://www.keychange.co.uk/
    you can also get a monitor adapter lead so u can run ST with LCD, mine works fine and also a mouse adapter so u can use a pc mouse instead of ST one, all good
    another thing i havnt tried yet is composing on the MAC or pc and then when youre done exporting the MIDI to the ST or an mpc.
    Its easy to do with a yamaha rs7000 sequencer as it has midi import and a cardflash port, i havnt measured the timing on the RS yet but it sounds good.

  10. Skyshooter Says:

    Love your sound! I too use a DAW and am not happy with its timing, I still have my 1040ST best ever MIDI set-up, I use a JL COoper MSB+ for more outputs and inputs, have not measured the latency yet, as I just started putting a new home studio together after 15 years. My Atari and many EFXs units and synths are still in storage. Gotta also agree with you on the EMU samplers I love them myself and have many (7 or 8 of them), my newest one is my favorite one the EIII good GOD what sounds! I could never afford one back when they were new.

  11. Hexfix93 Says:

    How pickey is the adapter, i can only get them from the UK and i am in america, it would take a long time to get here, that sucks.

    There is one from this american company but the literature is confusing.

    http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/cables.htm

  12. Hexfix93 Says:

    My problem is the recording, when i am playing riffs or beats, the mac and pc just do not capture what i am doing correctly. its irritating.

  13. initself Says:

    You might want to look into an RME Fireface UC. The USB drivers are tailored for the particular USB implementation on the hardware (meaning that it is optimized one way for PC and another way for Mac or Linux). Timur reports < 1 ms MIDI latency and .3 ms jitter here:

    http://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-computers/426582-rme-fireface-uc.html

    The downside: it is expensive.

    http://www.rme-audio.de/en_products_fireface_uc.php

    Good luck! Enjoyed your article!

  14. Hexfix93 Says:

    I had both and RME hd96, and a Fireface 800, both had bad midi timing with logic and cubase.

    The problem is logic and cubase on pc and mac.

  15. juno6 Says:

    Hexfix93: I¥ve a perfect solution for you… I run, alongside and sync¥ed to my main PC DAW, a smal old notebook (Pentium 2) running DOS and a sequencer called “Sequencer Plus Gold”, by Voyetra. Not only it have perfect timing via an external Opcode MIDI interface, but it also has a nice UI (better than any hardware sequencer anyway) and really advanced editing functions. DOS is a truly light OS, and the drivers are written by the software manufacturer specially for that program, so the soft talks to the MIDI interface on a low level, so you have the best of both worlds: a small package and perfect timing with the convenience of a nice screen and UI and keyboard.

    Sequencer Plus is so efficiently written that it can run on an XT (8086/8088) pc (that was before 286s!), with 512kb of ram, and even without a hard drive. So imagine how confortable it runs on a Pll 266mhz notebook! The manual makes various recommendations for better MIDI timming, which means they were paying atention to timming, but most recommendations are unnecesary with 286 pcs onwards.

    Sequencer Plus Gold have various MIDI analyzers, a synth librarian, various sync options, you can even play your synths with the qwerty keyboard! It also have markers, different time signatures on different tracks, individual loop for each track, near 50 advanced editing functions (called Xforms) like Super Quantize, various random functions (to velocity, note, etc), harmonic transpose, etc. Also it has a DDL calculator, a full screen bar/measure and smpte mode, a notepad, a jukebox mode, tap tempo, non destructive quantize/transpose/offset/volume/pan for each track, tempo tracks, track grouping, MIDI test diagnostic, punch in/out, Piano Roll (this is the first sequencer to implement it), reads/writes MIDI files, have online help, etc.

    If that¥s not enough it has various step recording modes, great for analogue-style step sequences! You can, for example, play the same note to make the rhythmic pattern, and then modify each note in a non-real time mode in which each note you play on your MIDI controller sets the note for each of the notes you played on your pattern, so on each new note the sequencer jumps to the next and set the new pitch, and so on. This is excellent.

    You don¥t need a mouse, all shortcuts are visible on a bar at the bottom of the screen, so you can be really fast with it. You want to edit, just press E, you want to go to the “View” page, press V, etc.

    It was used by Kraftwerk, Royksopp, Information Society, Propaganda, etc…

    All this is free from the Voyetra website.

    http://www.voyetra.com

    You have to get a pc and a MIDI interface, I got my notebook for free, and the MIDI interfaces are worth almost nothing.

    You can check my setup here…

    http://www.flickr.com

    Cheers!

    JZ:

  16. juno6 Says:

    The correct link is:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/valenuni/sets/72157616310004117/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/valenuni/2643474046/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/valenuni/2510963857/

    And the voyetra link is:

    http://turtlebeach.com/support/index.php?View=files&CategoryID=84

    Sorry. Cheers.

  17. Porkspam Says:

    Don’t those old floppies deteriorate though? And are VERY suseptible to the weather and where you put them (watch out for magnets and speakers, don’t even try to bring a floppy on an airplane anymore)

    as far as newer pc and mac programs seems the saying jack of all trades master of none really applies.

    it just sucks to have to either decide to sacrifice space for all the good equipment or get a computer and have a worse sounding song

  18. Hexfix93 Says:

    Where do i get a pc, where do i get the midi interface, how many ins and outs?

  19. tsun Says:

    you can pick up a pc laptop for nothing on ebay, like a 486 or something will do the job, and a serial-port midi interface should work. you can get an 8-output MOTU timepiece serial version on ebay for like $25 and a 486 for another ten.

    i’m in the process of switching from hardware sequencers to a computer setup so i can get more into the guts of my tracks (mmt-8 just doesn’t do what i want). I used to have an STe with notator but i sold it years ago before i started using midi gear and have been kicking myself ever since. my new computer setup is an amiga 500 with texture 2.4 (lol) and a powerbook 1400 with opcode vision and that akai MESA program to slice samples.

    you can actually get opcode vision pro for free now too, you might consider that route since it’s a bit more full-featured than sequencer plus and the cost of getting a powerbook capable of running it + a mac serial midi interface is pretty much the same as getting the pc + interface. this japanese site has it for download: http://www.office-saya.com/vision/vision.html

  20. tsun Says:

    also if you’re going to stick with the atari you could do what i’ve done, which is to buy a midi-thru patchbay. i got an old yamaha mjc-8 off ebay for $25, it stores something like 60 routing patches and it’s got 8-ins + 8-thrus. perfect for hardware sequencing because you can do a track on one synth while recording to a sequencer, then tap the thru-put for that synth over to the sequencer and go on to record the next synth bit. kawai made one that’s just sliders and i think roland had one too, they’re all easy to get for under $50, and they all come from that better time in the late 80’s when people gave a shit about things like this.

  21. Hexfix93 Says:

    “Its drawbacks include no Undo/Redo, no graphic controller editing, and no source code. However, it is now being given away by Voyetra.”

    no thanks, need undo and redo, esp while in loop record.

  22. decaegis Says:

    yeah. that hardware sound is really something else compared to software synths. severely disappoints me

  23. juno6 Says:

    You can get pcs everywere… ebay. I met a guy who bought 5 o 6 for next to nothing.
    Same with the midi interface, you can get a list of compatible midi interfaces on the Voyetra website.
    Up to 8 midi outs, depending on the midi interface you get. I have a 2in 2out,and it´s fine. I use midi thru boxes, no problem.

    It have controller editing, you can´t draw it with a mouse, but you can do things like insert controllers rhythmically very easily, and its very like editing steps on an analogue step sequencer. You can manipulate controllers with Xforms, like compress, scale, whatever.
    No source code… what for?
    Undo… no undo, like most hardware sequencers, but you can duplicate a track in a second and work on that, if you don´t like you go back to the original track. No problem.
    Floppy… you don´t need them, how many hardware sequencers come with hard drive? You have almost infinity capacity. Each song can have 500.000 notes, or more depending on memory and configuration… how many hardware sequencers have that capacity?

    I don´t want to convince you, but you really should give it a try, there´s no perfect solution, but this is as close as it gets. Trust me.

  24. Hexfix93 Says:

    I have an akai ASQ-10 coming to me now. I also have an atari STE 4mb on its way :)

    So i think i will use those, if i don’t like it, i’ll go pc, i still have cubase 2.8 for windows 95, i remember the timing on that being good with my motu via printer port.

  25. Hexfix93 Says:

    I think i will sell the asq10. Keep the atari around for retro gaming, buy a pentium 1 with windows 3.11, and run cubase 2.8 with a good serial midi interface. I remember this working well, my motu and cubase 2.8. Any idea where to get a good condition old laptop with OS?

  26. tsun Says:

    having looked it over when i was making those posts above, ebay’s a lot different now than i remember as far as old pcs go. six or seven years ago it was like i was tripping over old 486 laptops, people were just throwing them at me (even had an ex girlfriend just ask me to hang on to one because it had her ss# somewhere on it and i had storage space), now it looks like they’re harder to get for a reasonable price (i.e. free). you should still be able to pick one up on there for something close to reasonable but people just aren’t putting them up for actual auction so you see a bunch of blanked $25 BINs instead of ‘boots to win 3.1′ for a buck like it used to be.

    man what i wouldn’t give to have that STE back. q_qing irl.

  27. Hexfix93 Says:

    I bought an ste, need a monitor for it now :( need to find something cheap. i got some big analog ones downstairs hahaah.

    i have a pentium 2 laptop on the way as well.

    spent all day messing around with reaper, cause its supposed to be good at midi. AHAHHAHAAHAH what a fucking joke, no its not, it records really bad. I have this feeling that the asq10 will win out. not on editing, but ease of use and recording.

    the trinity had quirks, like cc messages that would mess up my outboard gear.

    I also read that if you daisy chain more than 3 devices through the thrus on your synths, you get timing errors and dropped notes and all kinds of things on the past the 3rd unit :( I cannot find any midi interfaces for cubase on the atari or i would get one.

    i’m going to try cubase 2.8 with serial amt8. and maybe an old motu and see how that is. man usb midi is so bad, so so so so so bad. windows xp is so bad at midi as is OSX. its so pathetic.

  28. juno6 Says:

    Try to avoid all kinds of Windows. I could never get good timming out of MOTU MTP, on OS9, OSX, Windows, etc.
    If you don´t want the DOS route, try to find an Atari notebook, how were they called? Stacy, or something…
    Still, the PC/DOS route will be cheaper, most small PC repair stores have old notebook around. It could be more dificult to find a midi interface… I use Opcode (or Music Quest) 2port/SE on the notebook, and MQX32 on a desktop (don´t use that). There´s one 2port /se on ebay right now, item 170413701317, but it´s a little expensive…

  29. Hexfix93 Says:

    I bought a pentium 2 laptop. with win 98, a dell. Going to try cubase 2.8, i remember it being good. I will run tests when i get it.

    I will also try the atari and the asq10 when they get here.

  30. Hexfix93 Says:

    Seriously though, i remember cubase 2.8 recording midi well and playing it back well with a motu micro express out via the printer port.

    It was the only time I was happy on windows, i think i was using windows 3.11 and or win 95 then, haven’t tried it on 98. I have never gotten good midi on windows XP, never, and i tried every midi app and every midi interface, even the rme everyone raves about.

  31. Bee Says:

    What the Logic screen grab shows is audio, presumably a recording of the MIDI-triggered event.

    Are you sure that the MIDI event was tight, but the *audio* is placed with jitter onto the arrange page? This is a bit of an issue with Logic, in the the recorded audio is often a bit randomly placed according to buffer jitter.

  32. Hexfix93 Says:

    Trying to get one thing to do it all is what makes bad things happen.

    give up a midi and audio recorder, it wont suffice in a pro manner.

    a dedicated old midi machine will, as will tape machines and digital audio recorders with out midi.

  33. juno6 Says:

    I´d like to know your conclutions about Win3.1 or 95 timming, I remember it being really bad, even though I was a kid and didn´t paid too much attention to those things, but at that time it really annoyed me and so I stayed on dos.
    You can use SPG with any mpu or sound blaster compatible midi interface (maybe included as a joystick port on your new laptop), so you can try it with that and it you like it you can buy a better midi interface.

  34. Hexfix93 Says:

    With win 95, you had to put the color mode to 256 colors, you had to disable everything in the os you could, and tune the system for cubase, and with my motu micro express via the printer port, i was able to get decent midi timing, it would record my midi ok as well, it was not as good as the atari though.

    The asq10 that i have now used for 2 days is proving to be the end all be all, it lacks in visual editing, but man is it magical, its tight, but it swings in this way that i have never heard a seq swing, so for dance and head bopping beats, nothing touches this, nothing, i cannot recommend it enough, mpc 60 or asq10. this is bad ass.

  35. db Says:

    juno6, how can I get hold of you? I also use SPGGold.

  36. juno6 Says:

    DB: zubibaja at yahoo dot com dot ar

  37. saulot Says:

    Hi, i don’t believe that ataris are so hard to find in your area. Check out ebay. If you’re seeking hard drive for st, there is two SD card reader(hot swappable): http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/UltraSatan-SD-card-reader-for-Atari-ST-TT_W0QQitemZ250587686364QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_VintageComputing_RL?hash=item3a5830a5dc
    But if you want to get one then better be quick, because once sold out none of them will be ever produced. SD cards can be dual formatted for atari/pc and read on both systems. I’ve got one already and it’s best hd replacement to date.
    If you are seeking atari stuff check out atari.org and http://www.dhs.nu buy/sell/swap sections.

  38. saulot Says:

    If you don’t like floppies in ST then there is something like this: http://hxc2001.free.fr/floppy_drive_emulator/index.html

  39. carsonduke Says:

    I have to say, this is probably the best VAC I have heard in a while I love your new approach to sequencing. I myself am going back down this trail again. I just picked up a FutureRetro Revolution R2, a Prophet T8, and I am currently looking at some Jomox or Elektron drum machines. I may take the ASQ10 in to consideration. You and I spoke a bout convertors a while ago, thanks for your insight. this is a very valuable website.
    Carson

  40. Anonymous Says:

    try a 16 bit sequencer in win 3.1,win95 or 98. i use sweet sixteen in 98se,with an old ISA MPU-401 compatible.as tight as anything i have used,bar none(or nun ha ha) get hold of 98 lite if you can,to strip down the installation,16 bit sequencers use ‘unthunked’ dos layer which is great, and british.

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