Thank you! - Not an Issue

[Audiojunkie]

This is not an issue, but I couldn't find a way to leave you a message. This is such an essential and wonderful tool!!! Thank you so much for creating it!! There are so many of us at LinuxMusicians.com that are planning to use this tool! Thank you for this gift!!!

[ripxorip]

Thank you very much for the kind words! Really appreciate it, it provides me with a strong signal that Im onto something and motivation to keep at it. I have used it to record our new 5 songs for my bands EP and it worked flawlessly.

[Audiojunkie]

You are absolutely onto something!!! PWAR is already well known on Reddit, KVRAudio, and LinuxMusicians. It is a real godsend!! A gift!! Many people are really excited about this, because the weakest point of Linux Pro Audio is that there is a shortage of plugins and tools that musicians don't want to be without. For example, high quality real instrument sample libraries. WINE just hasn't done well with Native Instrument's Native Access 2 software, which prevents access to that whole ecosystem of products. However, with a Windows VM and PWAR, that problem goes away completely. It's the same with many, many other plugins and tools as well. Also, yabridge and LinVST3 are both suffering from Wayland problems and not working correctly, and PWAR bypasses all of that. The only think that I think I could add at this point, would be a request for linux binaries, along with the windows binary. I understand that if dependencies are compiled from an old distro (such as a previous LTS version of Ubuntu or a previous Debian version), then it will work in most Linux distros, because the libraries are backwards compatible. It would be great if you could add that.

Thank you again so much for providing this awesome tool! And thank you for responding back! I'd love to hear your work, what's the URL to listen to your bands music?

Best wishes!

Sean Ercanbrack

[ripxorip]

Thank you very much Sean! I am working hard to complete the pull request for variable frame lengths. After that I will definitely look in to making it more user friendly by packaging it for various distros. I also have an idea how to further reduce jitter in VM setups. We are currently recording the vocals in the studio but will post our EP here once its finished! Once again, thank you for the kind words :)

[ripxorip]

@Audiojunkie I have now spent a whole lot of more time on the project and implemented loads of features, to name a few, GUI for ease of use, variable windows buffer sizes, variable linux frame sizes.... and a .deb as you requested. The release is in rc, see 0.2.0-rc1 for early testing. Cheers

[Audiojunkie]

This is awesome!!! The features you just added will definitely make it much easier for people!!! I also love that you created a binary! That's greatly appreciated!! is there any chance of making it an all-in-one solution by adding midi in and out as well? I know that is a big ask, but it is something that I'm really needing. My use case for this would be to be able to run Windows applications and plugins that WINE can't run. For example, deeply sampled real instrument libraries, like those that come in Kontakt format. There are many people watching this project with great interest--especially at the Linuxmusicians.com forums. :) You are providing a very valuable and extremely needed service!!! Thank you so much for what you are doing!!!!! :)

[ripxorip]

I would loke to add MIDI in and out. The only question is how to make it happen on the Windows side. Its outside of the scope of this project to write kernel level MIDI drivers in Windows, would you be up for utilizing some 3rd party lib? Do you know of any? I can add the functionality in to PWAR to send/receive but the Windows side needs to be dealt with in a clever way.

[Audiojunkie]

I'm not opposed to a third party open sourced library being used. However, I don't know programming and don't know of any cross platform libraries for midi. I know that Windows' latest version coming out is supposed to support netmidi 2.0. Perhaps only the receiving side (Linux) will need to have this support added. I did a quick AI search and found the following:

You're asking specifically for cross-platform, open-source libraries or frameworks that support MIDI 2.0 over networks (i.e., NetMIDI 2.0). Here's what’s available right now:

---

Leading Open-Source Solutions

1. libremidi

• Description: A modern, cross-platform C++20 library enabling real-time MIDI 1.0 & 2.0 I/O, file handling, and network transport using OSC, including Universal MIDI Packets (UMPs) that support MIDI 2.0. Offers backends for Windows, macOS, Linux, WebMIDI, PipeWire, JACK, and more oai_citation:0‡GitHub.
• Network Capability: Includes a general-purpose network backend capable of sending both MIDI 1.0 and 2.0 (UMP) packets over OSC, making it a suitable transport method for NetMIDI 2.0-like applications oai_citation:1‡GitHub.
• Usage Summary: Arguably the most comprehensive and actively maintained solution currently available.

---

RTP‑MIDI / Network MIDI Implementations

2. RTP‑MIDI by bbouchez

• A cross‑platform C++ implementation (Linux, Windows, macOS) of RTP‑MIDI session management—initiator/listener functionality—but oriented towards MIDI 1.0 protocol (Apple’s RTP‑MIDI), without built‑in MIDI 2.0 UMP support oai_citation:2‡GitHub.

3. rtpmidid (davidmoreno)

• A Linux daemon exposing ALSA sequencer ports over the network using RTP‑MIDI. Again, primarily focused on standard MIDI 1.0 over network, not including MIDI 2.0 features oai_citation:3‡GitHub.

4. libRtpMidi (Tobias Erichsen)

• Portable C/C++ SDK supporting Apple’s RTP‑MIDI protocol across platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and embedded systems. However, it doesn’t appear to support MIDI 2.0 UMP packets—it is focused on legacy (MIDI 1.0) network MIDI support oai_citation:4‡Tobias Erichsen.

---

Additional Tools & Projects

MIDIMonster

• A universal protocol translation tool for entertainment setups—supports RTP‑MIDI (MIDI 1.0 over network), along with OSC, DMX, lighting, and more. However, does not yet support MIDI 2.0 UMP transport over the network oai_citation:5‡MIDIMonster.

Other Notable Mentions from Research

• Projects such as McLaren Labs’ rtpmidi, Ravelox MIDI (PiMIDI), or the Arduino AppleMIDI Library exist and are sometimes referenced as partially supporting network MIDI, including recovery journal features. Their focus remains on MIDI 1.0 over RTP/MIDI; none currently support full MIDI 2.0 Universal Packet transport in a standardized way oai_citation:6‡McLaren Labs.

---

Summary Table

Library / Framework	Language	Cross-Platform	Network MIDI 2.0 (UMP) Support
libremidi	C++20	Yes	Yes (via OSC network backend)
bbouchez RTP‑MIDI	C++	Yes	No (MIDI 1.0 only)
rtpmidid (davidmoreno)	C	Linux only	No (MIDI 1.0 only)
libRtpMidi (Erichsen)	C/C++	Yes	No (MIDI 1.0 only)
MIDIMonster	C++/Python	Yes	No (MIDI 1.0 only)

---

Recommendation

If your goal is to transmit MIDI 2.0 data (Universal MIDI Packets) over a network, libremidi is currently the best open-source, cross-platform solution—it supports universal packets and includes a network backend (OSC) that accommodates MIDI 2.0 transport oai_citation:7‡GitHub.

---

Perhaps one of these could be useful?

[Audiojunkie]

The support for the windows side should be available very soon:

You’re asking when Windows MIDI Services—the new MIDI stack that supports MIDI 2.0 (UMP), enhanced USB drivers, app-to-app transports, and more—will be generally available for all Windows users.

⸻

What’s Coming & When

1. Current Status
   • Public preview of Windows MIDI Services, including MIDI 2.0 support, is available now—but only in Windows Insider Canary builds (e.g., build 27788 released in February 2025)   .

2. Expected Rollout Timeline
   • According to Microsoft’s developer blog (October 2024), Windows MIDI Services began rolling out through Insider builds starting November 2024, targeting Intel/AMD and Arm64 devices, with broader availability coming later  .
   • The GitHub milestone for version 1.1, focusing on backward compatibility and updates, is projected for release by October 1, 2025 (about 70% complete) .
   • The GitHub project page also notes: “we expect to have a first version of the full Windows MIDI Services stack out later this year (2024)”, initially on Windows 11 and—with USB stack updates—eventually on Windows 10 .

⸻

Summary Table

Stage Description Timing
Insider Preview Windows MIDI Services with MIDI 2.0 support, only on Canary builds Available (e.g., build 27788, Feb 2025)
First Full Release Expected in-box rollout to Windows 11 users (via updates/servicing) Probably late 2025, following testing
Version 1.1 Minor update with enhanced backward compatibility Targeted by Oct 1, 2025

⸻

Bottom Line
• Insider Canary users already have access to Windows MIDI Services and MIDI 2.0 features in preview.
• General Windows 11 users should expect the first full, in-box release sometime later in 2025, likely following extensive testing and compatibility work.
• Version 1.1, including additional updates and backward compatibility improvements, is tentatively scheduled for October 1, 2025.

---

With this latest Windows release, with Netmidi 2.0, the problem on the Windows side may already be solved and just needs to be integrated?