Don't know if this will work for you and don't know why it works, but this seems to work for me. I installed MidiYoke, which gives you several virtual MIDI ports. If I'm using a software synth (DXi or VSTi), I never select the default Microsoft synth, but instead select the MidiYoke port, and then assign the DXi or VSTi. ASIO4ALL is set to the laptop's soundcard (or I select the M-Audio ASIO driver when using my FastTrack Pro). I've not had problems with stutter since I started doing that. Just something to think about. And there are no conflicts between MIDI ports and Microsoft's handling of audio. Just a thought. May not work for you but works for me.

Using MIDI yoke also lets me connect standalone softsynth interfaces by selecting a MIDIYoke output on the application and the same MIDIYoke input in the softsynch interface.

YMMV.


John

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