Legacy Pixels' MIDI Interface Adds Low-Latency MIDI Ports to Your MiSTer Emulation Station

Ohio-based vintage computing specialist Legacy Pixels has launched a slick add-on which offers a true hardware MIDI interface for MiSTer FPGA-based emulation systems, compatible with a selection of cores and hardware.

"[This is a] hardware MIDI interface for your MiSTer setup," the company writes of its creation, which comes housed in a neat 3D-printed casing exposing a micro-USB port at the rear and a pair of MIDI DIN connectors at the frotn. "[It] plugs into the I/O Board User Port and provides a direct interface to the FPGA core. The ultimate in low-latency MIDI connectivity!"

Launched by Alexey “Sorgelig” Melnikov in 2017 as a port of the MiST Atari ST emulator project to the low-cost Terasic DE10-Nano FPGA development board, the MiSTer project uses the flexibility of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to emulate a range of vintage games consoles and computers — and has spawned an ecosystem of add-ons and accessories designed to enhance the experience, into which Legacy Pixels launches its MIDI accessory.

Designed for use with the MiSTer I/O Board v5.5 or Digital I/O Board v1.2 or newer, the compact box has been tested with cores designed to emulate the Atari ST, the Commodore Amiga, the Sharp X68000, and IBM Compatibles using the ao486 core. On the MIDI side, the box has been tested outputting to Roland MT-32 and SC-50 synths and as an input for an M-Audio KeyStation — and even interfacing with a real Atari MegaSTe to play Midi-Maze II, a first-person shooter which (ab)uses the machine's MIDI connectors for local area networking.

"Note that there are some poorly built I/O boards on the market that are missing components," Legacy Pixels warns anyone interested in picking the add-on up for their own MiSTer. "The P7 header must be populated for your USER port to be functional."

The MIDI interface is now available on the Legaxy Pixels Tindie store at $32, including 3D-printed case and USB cable.