M-Audio Portman 2x4 Manual - page 4
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Features
PORTMAN 2x4 has the following features:
• 2 completely independent MIDI Ins and 4 MIDI Outs.
• Extremely Portable. Works with laptops, and notebooks, as well as
desktops.
• No internal installation is required. Connects via standard Centronics-
compatible printer cable.
• Runs on any PC including XT/286/386/486 compatible computers — at
any speed.
• Compatible with any sequencer that supports the Windows Multimedia
Environment.
• Windows and Cakewalk DOS drivers included.
• Power adaptor and Centronics cable provided.
Hardware Installation
1. Make sure that you have turned off power to your computer.
2. If you have more than one parallel (printer) port installed in your com-
puter, choose one and connect PORTMAN to it via a standard (fully
Centronics-compatible) PC printer cable. There should be one included
in the PORTMAN box. Then plug one end of the power adaptor into
PORTMAN and the other into the AC power source. The computer is
now ready to be turned back on. Turn it on.
About the Parallel Cable
PORTMAN comes with a suitable parallel cable. However, if you need to
replace this cable or want a longer one there are certain requirements that
you should be aware of. The PORTMAN 2x4 appears to be able to work
with any printer cable. This unfortunately is not the case. A Centronics
cable that works with your printer won’t always work with the PORTMAN
2x4. There are two reasons for this:
1. The PORTMAN runs at a much higher data rate than a printer and
therefore often requires a shorter (6 feet or less) and higher quality cable
with all of its ground wires present.
2. PORTMAN uses some of the signals of the Centronics cable that are
unneeded by a printer. The PORTMAN therefore requires a cable that
has all 25 wires present and connected according to Centronics specifi-
cation.