Analog Devices A2B Adopted by Roland Guitar Synthesizer Group

Analog Devices continues to expand its A2B digital audio connectivity technology with new transceiver devices and updating the specification that enables powerful multichannel audio applications. Originally developed by Analog Devices for audio data transmission in automotive applications, A2B has been adopted also as a new data transmission technology for professional audio by multiple brands. And it has now been commercially adopted even in synthesizers.

The MIDI Association, a nonprofit trade organization dedicated to expanding, promoting and protecting MIDI technology for the benefit of artists and musicians around the world, has named Tim Carroll, Focusrite Group CEO, as its new president. He will serve a two-year term. The decision was made via an election by the association’s executive board.

Cubase is one of the original DAW solutions, developed in 1989 by Steinberg, originally as a MIDI sequencer for Atari computers. As it gained audio recording and editing capabilities, the software became a favorite for music production. Now, with Steinberg close to celebrating 20 years since it was acquired by Yamaha Corporation, the German software specialist releases the latest version of Cubase with significant user interface redesigns, new features and workflow enhancements for composing, producing, and mixing.

The Association of Musical Electronics Industries (AMEI), the organization that oversees the MIDI specification in Japan, has committed to funding the development of an open-source USB MIDI 2.0 Host Driver for Windows Operating Systems under a memorandum of understanding between AMEI, AmeNote Inc, and Microsoft. While Apple and Google already support MIDI 2.0, Microsoft has now agreed to start development of a Windows standard open-source MIDI 2.0 API.

The MIDI Association has released details of the ongoing, industry-wide initiative by over 50 MIDI Association companies to develop MIDI 2.0 products and services. Despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, MIDI Association members persevered, and have addressed these challenges through global collaboration and cooperation. Following the demonstrations promoted by the MIDI Association at NAMM 2022, work on the latest USB MIDI 2.0 digital interface prototyping and testing tools continues.

The MIDI Association announced the addition of MIDI 2.0 capabilities to the Automotive Audio Bus (A2B) technology from Analog Devices, Inc. The technology will be showcased at the MIDI Association during the NAMM show in Anaheim, California on June 3-5, 2022, with a demonstration of a USB to A2B bridge, based on AmeNote's ProtoZOA prototyping board for MIDI 2.0. using open source firmware for developers to use in their own hardware and software products.

Steinberg released the company's newest iteration of the Virtual Studio Technology (VST) Software Developer Kit (SDK), offering new capabilities to developers of host applications, audio plug-ins and virtual instruments. VST 3.7 introduces several enhancements of the SDK interface that allow new levels of integrations between VST 3 hosts and plug-ins, including the new VST 3 Project Generator, improved documentation as well as support for MIDI 2.0 and the development of plug-ins compatible with the new ARM-based Apple Silicon chips.

The support organization for the advancement and adoption of USB technology, USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), announced an updated USB Device Class Definition for MIDI Devices, Version 2.0 in support of MIDI 2.0 devices. The standard represents an industry-wide effort by the USB-IF, MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA), and Association of Musical Electronics Industry (AMEI) to provide MIDI users with an expanded MIDI environment connected by USB.

MIDI 2.0, the next-generation music and arts specification that enhances virtually all aspects of 1983’s original MIDI 1.0 spec, made its worldwide debut at the 2020 Winter NAMM show. Current MIDI users wanted more nuanced expressiveness, higher resolution, and increased ease of use, but also demanded backward compatibility with the billions of existing MIDI 1.0 devices. The suite of MIDI 2.0 specifications adopted at the Winter NAMM 2020 meeting of the MIDI Manufacturers Association delivers on those promises.