Connecting Older MIDI keyboard to newer low-profile PC

General Questions
#1

This deals with a musical instrument so maybe it’d do better over at Cafe Society, but since it’s mostly a technical question I figure I’ll ask it here.

I’ve got an older (I think maybe late-80’s) Roland keyboard that has the big round MIDI connectors on the back. In the past, I used a cable that went from those connectors to a gameport, but I just got a new HP slimline which has no gameport and only two “low profile” PCI slots that my old soundcard won’t fit in.

So what do I need to do to get this thing connected? I would just get a new sound card, but as near as I can tell none of the ones that will fit in the little slots have gameports. Googling, I’ve seen some adapters that go from gameport to USB-- is this all I need?

#2

Is this or this what you need?

#3

Well, I’m hoping all I need is something like this: http://www.directron.com/gm168199.html?gsear=1

Or I see in terms of direct midi-to-usb cables there are ones that are $60 (like that one), but there’s also ones that are only a few bucks like this one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/MIDI-Cable-Converter-Music-Keyboar/dp/B001LJUVO4

Is this just a matter of audiophiles being suckers for expensive cables, or is there actually some major functional difference in the $6 one versus the $60? Are the $6 ones just cable adapters that lack some sort of gizmo included in the $60 ones that I’ll need to make this work?

#4

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these devices.

That being said, I would purchase the direct midi-USB cable and get rid of the game port connector completely. yes the cheaper one.

It’s virtually impossible to get a PC with a gameport nowadays, its obsolete. So the few products still supporting it seem to be selling at a premium. Can’t imagine how the $60 cable is superior in anyway to the $6 cable, and it adds the extra inconvenience of a go between port format.

#5

I have an old roland keyboard, and I also have the cheap cable in your last link.

Works just fine.

When I first played using it, the latency was quite high but this is more to do with software, sound card issues etc (which were correctable in my case), than the interface.

#6

First up, a USB game port adapter will not work - Creative started using unassigned pins on the game port to semi-expose the midi interface (to save space) and some other manufacturers followed suit, but a USB game port adapter will not include the midi interface hardware that a sound card might.

You need a USB-Midi interface, and given that a midi interface is just a specific sort of serial interface with opto-isolation, the cheap one should work just as well as the expensive one.

Si