M O T U FASTLANE-USB
A modest MIDI interface with a reasonable price tag.

By Geary Yelton
  If you purchased a new computer—whether Mac or PC—in the past few years, chances are good it has a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port or two. Because you’re reading this, chances are also good you have at least one MIDI device you’d like to connect to your computer. To make that connection, you need a MIDI interface.

The FastLane-USB is a 2-In/2-Out MIDI interface from Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU). It is the successor to the original FastLane, a 16-channel serial interface with one MIDI In and three MIDI Outs designed for the pre-USB Mac. The FastLane-USB has two distinct signal paths, so it’s capable of handling 32 channels of MIDI data. It requires no external power other than what the USB cable supplies directly (a 2-meter USB cable is included). The unit’s exterior is rigid plastic and comes in black, as well as a variety of colors to match the Apple iMac.

If your computer has a USB port and your MIDI needs are modest, MOTU’s FastLane-USB will get you into the game (click for image).
Basic and Beyond
The FastLane-USB offers basic features with a minimum of bells and whistles. It has no SMPTE or MIDI Time Code synchronization capabilities, but it does support MOTU’s new hardware-based MIDI Time Stamping (MTS). MOTU claims this provides timing accuracy of 1 ms or better when used with Digital Performer 2.7. With MOTU’s more expensive rack-mountable interfaces, such as the MIDI Express-USB and MIDI Timepiece AV, MTS increases timing accuracy to 0.33 ms.

The interface features a Thru button to let MIDI data pass through the unit when there is no USB connection. The button allows you to play MIDI devices from your controller without rerouting MIDI cables, even when your computer is turned off. However, each input (labeled A and B) is matched to a specific output (A or B). And if you choose to use one instrument to play another without going through the computer, they must be connected to corresponding ports on the interface.

There is no way to reroute data from input A to output B or vice versa. The Thru button is never mentioned in the QuickStart Guide, which is the only documentation that is included with the FastLane-USB. Four LEDs on the FastLane-USB monitor MIDI activity. Two red LEDs flash when data passes through the MIDI In ports, and two green LEDs flash when data passes through the MIDI Out ports. A glance at those LEDs will tell you if you have an incorrect connection or a dead MIDI cable. When the Thru button is depressed, however, the LEDs stop working because the interface gets its power from the USB, and pressing the button disconnects the interface from the bus. The LEDs also go unmentioned in the documentation.



Reprinted with permission from Magazine, March, 2001
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved


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