The MIDI Association Announces MIDI 2.0 Over A2B

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.

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.