In the meantime I am using WinGroove but I would appreciate if someone could shed some light on Microsoft's Software Synth.
Using:
XP,
MOTU 828 MKII,
motherboard=P4P800 SE with onboard SoundMAX Integrated Audio.
See the image below for my Sound and Audio Devices Properties.
mp3 playback works. MIDI does not. If i change the Sound playback from 'MOTU Main Out 1-2' to 'SoundMAX Digital Audio' I can hear the MIDI.
It's as if Microsoft's SW Synth is ignoring the output device (see About window) and sending it to SoundMAX.
I tried updating all the drivers involved (MOTU, Motherboard (+Audio).
I also uninstalled the SoundMAX drivers and disabled it in Device Manager. When I did this, the Microsoft SW Synth disappeared from the 'MIDI music playback' list. Why ??
My understanding is it's a piece of software provided by Microsoft and should not be removed when you uninstall soundcard drivers.
Using WinGroove is OK but I want to get to the bottom of this!
Wal