iConnectivity mioXM vs Roland UM-ONE Mk2

The iConnectivity mioXM is a routing hub for a studio, not an interface for one synth. 4 in / 4 out of 5-pin DIN pairs with 4 USB-MIDI host ports and an Ethernet RTP-MIDI network port, so DIN gear, USB gear and networked computers all land in the same box.

The Ethernet MIDI networking is the real feature: 12 virtual network ports can be assigned across the DIN, USB and networked connections, which gets around the USB cable-length and port-count limits that force smaller interfaces to sit right next to the computer. A capacitive touch panel stores up to four user-definable presets, and class-compliant USB devices need no drivers.

None of that is free. At roughly five times the budget pick's price and 3.4 pounds in a full-size box, it is built for a rig with real routing to do, not a single keyboard. Buying it for one synth means paying for ports that never get used.

The Roland UM-ONE Mk2 is the one-cable answer to a simple problem: one piece of 5-pin MIDI hardware talking to a computer. Roland has made a version of this same one-cable interface for years, and this is that idea shrunk down to 1 in / 1 out and nothing else.

FPT processing, Roland's low-latency circuitry, keeps clock timing tight enough for a drum machine or arpeggiator locked to a DAW. It runs on USB bus power with no separate adapter, works with Mac, Windows and iPad via Apple's Camera Connection Kit, and the USB and MIDI cables are built into the unit rather than sold apart.

The tradeoff is in the name: one port each way, no merge, no thru, nothing to configure because there is nothing to configure. For a single synth it is the right amount of interface. For a rig with three or four pieces of MIDI gear, it is the first cable you outgrow.