Windows11 MIDI Update Adds 2.0, Multi-Clients

Microsoft has continued to work on integrating MIDI into the OS with a general implementation of MIDI Services for Windows 11. They've been heavilly  involved in the whole MIDI 2.0 project, which we realize appears to be moving somewhat glacially across the industry, but there's so much legacy MIDI hardware out there, that has to remain backwardly compatible.

That said, they have announced that the new Windows 11 Core Services now supports both MIDI 2.0 and MIDI 1.0 with translation and scaling so that devices can coexist in a setup.  Network MIDI 2.0 is also included which still supports RTP MIDI  This is now built into Windows 11.

Highlights

• True Multi-client support: Every MIDI 1.0 port and MIDI 2.0 endpoint is now multi-client, allowing multiple apps to access a single device simultaneously without the need for custom vendor drivers. 
• Endpoint Customization: Users can fix messy port names. You can preserve classic names for DAW project compatibility or assign custom names, images, and descriptions via the new MIDI Settings app. 
• Native Loopback & App-to-App: Built-in loopback endpoints allow internal routing between any apps (or WebMIDI) on x64 and Arm64 PCs. Apps can even act as full MIDI 2.0 devices, complete with protocol negotiation and discovery. 
•  Automatic Translation & Scaling: High-resolution MIDI 2.0 devices (like the Yamaha Montage M or Roland A88 mk2) plug directly into legacy 1.0 software, with the service handling protocol conversion and value scaling automatically. 
•  Microsecond Timing: The new timing engine offers accuracy under 1 microsecond (1/1,000,000 of a second) for incoming and outgoing messages, with support for precise message scheduling.
• New USB Class Driver: A new usbmidi2.sys driver, co-developed with AmeNote, offers faster communication and better power management, while the legacy usbaudio.sys driver remains for compatibility. 
• Scripting & Tools: MIDI services include PowerShell projections for scripting, alongside a suite of tools like MIDI Console for monitoring traffic and listing open ports.

This  outlines big change for the Windows music production environment. It effectively eliminates the reliance on third-party virtual MIDI cable software and specific vendor drivers (though we wont be retiring the excellent Bomes MIDI Translator) just to share between DAWs like Cubase and Ableton.

Of course, there's still the situation regarding  Windows 11 itself,  which although  Windows 10 still runs on many machines, does not support relatively recent hardware - eg: our office video editing station.

You still have the option to extend security updates for Windows 10 for ,  for a  $30 one-off payment if you aren't ready to ditch the old box. but then you wont get the new MIDI capabilities. Note the ESU (Extended Security Updates) program ends October 2026.

For the full details of the Windows MIDI services, check this post by Pete Brown

You can follow along with the progress on their Discord server and the public GitHub repo, where these features are all developed.