Nice for basic routing with intuitive no-menu front panel controls. Anyway, which one of the above do you guys recommend and why? Thanks! I didn't include the Edirol UM-880 because it's too expensive. MOTU MIDI Timepiece AV - (The only one that interfaces with the DAW. Perhaps more than I need, but I've liked my Ultralite!) MOTU MIDI Express 128 ($200 new and interfaces with DAW. JL Cooper Nexus 3 (I see these often from $40-$250 and cheaper ones often missing the AC power unit for some reason) Digital Music Corp MX-8 (I see these often for about $100) Yamaha MJC8 (usually go for about $100)

Roland A880 (usually $150-200, have heard good things about these) Akai ME80P (haven't seen one of these on eBay in a while) Akai ME30P (see these often on eBay for $120-150) Kawai MAV-8 (a bit hard to come by - usually $150 used on eBay) The most important thing is I need something easy and hassle-free to work with since I will not be doing very complex routings, and MIDI mapping is my least favorite aspect of music production (I truly hate it).

I need at least 6 MIDI OUTs and at least 3 MIDI INs (4 is even better). So I don't need another interface to connect to my computer - although if it's able to, that's fine too (I'm on a Mac, btw). I already have a MOTU Ultralite mk3 with 1 MIDI I/O port which i can use to send and receive MIDI for my DAW to whatever MIDI patchbay I end up with.

I need a MIDI patchbay to connect my hardware synths and computer to.

Kawai midi patchbay mav 8