I don't own an 880, but I use it's little sister the UM-550 daily.
Personally, I have never used the USB option, I much prefer Yamaha's USB drivers, so I have my UW500 connected
to my modern PC, and I send it's MIDI output to my UM-550's input.

Use wise, I just push Patch, then push the input I want, then push the buttons for the outputs I want. If you don't understand the purpose of Merge, just forget about it. It's rather pointless for game use.

If your unit is acting funny, you probably just need to factory reset it. For game use, I recommend programming it to auto-factory reset on power-on. Otherwise it will save settings and this can cause weird issues at times.

SuperDeadite wrote:

If your unit is acting funny, you probably just need to factory reset it. For game use, I recommend programming it to auto-factory reset on power-on. Otherwise it will save settings and this can cause weird issues at times.

Thank you! I did the factory reset, and now it seems to work great! How often do you have to do a factory reset? You do it every time you turn on the UM-550/880?

SuperDeadite wrote:

Use wise, I just push Patch, then push the input I want, then push the buttons for the outputs I want. If you don't understand the purpose of Merge, just forget about it. It's rather pointless for game use.

Can you push "Patch" when you want only one module playing music at a time in a game, or do you only push that button when you want to have more than one module playing music at the same time in the same game? I pushed "MIDI INDI," then left it at that setting, and it seems to stay in that setting after I power the UM-880 off and on. So far I haven't tried to playing multiple modules at the same time in the same game. Is it better to use "Patch" instead of "MIDI INDI" for playing games?

SuperDeadite wrote:

I don't own an 880, but I use it's little sister the UM-550 daily.
Personally, I have never used the USB option, I much prefer Yamaha's USB drivers, so I have my UW500 connected
to my modern PC, and I send it's MIDI output to my UM-550's input.

Why do you prefer Yamaha's USB drivers? How do you send the Yamaha UW500's MIDI output to your UM-550? Do you just plug a MIDI cable into Input #1 on the UM-550? Does it matter which input on the UM-550/880 you choose to plug into from the UW500? Do you have to set up your UM-550 specially in order to use it in conjuction with the Yamaha UW500, or does it just work when you plug it in? Does having the MIDI data go through an additional unit degrade the quality of the eventual sound played at all?

Also, the other problem I was experiencing that I described in my original post (where the tempo of the MT-32 music sped up and slowed down at times) now seems to be fixed. I can't remember if I was having that problem when I was plugged into the UM-880 or if it was happening when I was connecting the MT-32 directly to my computer with the UM-ONE USB-MIDI cable, so I can't say whether the UM-ONE USB cable connection had been the problem or whether it was because I needed to factory reset the UM-880.

SORRY FOR ASKING SO MANY QUESTIONS! I am very curious about all of this. It's so pleasing to see things work now. This site is awesome. The only bad thing is that every time I visit here I see something else I need/want to buy. 😀 Now I'm wondering if I should get a Yamaha UW500 if it has better drivers. 😊

You can just use the Midi thru!
Connect one device to the working port and then connect the other device to the midi thru port of the already connected one.
Which is great because this way you just have to switch devices in the mixer during playing to hear the differences 😉

If your UM880 doesn't keep settings, check whether it has an internal coin cell battery (and replace it).

Read the manual. You can set the unit to either save settings on power off, OR to start fresh on power on. I simply have mine set to fresh on every power on.

The Patch button is how you assign patches. For example my modern PC is on input 2, my Sharp X68000 is on input 3, and my MSX in on input 4. My MU2000 is on on output 2, my CM-64 is on output 3, my SC-88 Pro is on output 4. So if I want my X68000 connected to my SC-88 Pro. I push Patch, then input 3, and finally output 4. You can Patch multiple outputs to a single input if you want several modules playing at the same time.

Merge is the other way, sending two inputs to a single output. This has uses for music professionals, but useless for games really。

If you do not use the Patch button, the units default to a Thru box, meaning Input 1 -> Output 1, Input 2 -> Output 2, etc.

MIDI INDI = Midi Identify. When this button is pushed, the LEDs on the Input and Output buttons will flash when MIDI data is sent through them. It's just a way to visually monitor what ports are active. It has no effect on where MIDI data is being sent.

I like Yamaha's drivers because they work 🤣. Yamaha just uses one generic driver for all of their USB devices. Their cheapest USB-MIDI cable, and the high-end MU2000 use the exact same driver. Also they are really good at updating it, Win 10 64-bit is officially supported, and I've never had an issue regardless of the OS I've used.

I like the UW500, because it serves as a DAC, ADC, Mixer, and Midi Interface all at the same time. And it is capable of mixing digital (toslink) and analog audio together. As an MU2000 owner, this is ideal for mixing the 2000's digital output with analog output (sound effects) from my retro computers.

And yes, I just plug the UW500's MIDI output into my UM-550's Input 2.

EDIT, forgot one thing, if you plan on using the UM-880's USB option, this works the same as the normal input buttons. Meaning you push Patch, then the USB button to mark it as the input, then push the outputs you want it going to. This is coming from the manual though, as I personally don't use the USB feature in my rig.

SuperDeadite wrote:

THANK YOU for that reply. Very helpful. I am learning more. I don't know why the manual has been so confusing for me.

Do you use another mixer? I had been using a Behringer Eurorack RX1602, which worked perfectly, but I decided I wanted something smaller to go on top of my sound modules. So I sold the Behringer this week and bought a less expensive Nady MM-242, and now I miss the Behringer. I hear all kinds of buzzing and static when I use the Nady. I'm 90% sure the problem is the Nady, but I still have to confirm that. Have to connect the MT-32 audio directly into my 3.5mm line-in port on my PC and see if it still makes the noise. It didn't make any static noise when I played MT-32 games while using the Behringer.

If the problem is the Nady, then I will have to find another small (I really want to keep things small from now on, when possible) but high quality mixer for up to about 4 or 5 inputs. I saw a Roland M10MX mixer that looked good, but I wonder if there are cheaper options that are also good.

Dominus wrote:

You can just use the Midi thru!
Connect one device to the working port and then connect the other device to the midi thru port of the already connected one.
Which is great because this way you just have to switch devices in the mixer during playing to hear the differences 😉

I will try this!

yawetaG wrote:

If your UM880 doesn't keep settings, check whether it has an internal coin cell battery (and replace it).

Very good idea.

Dominus wrote:

You can just use the Midi thru!
Connect one device to the working port and then connect the other device to the midi thru port of the already connected one.
Which is great because this way you just have to switch devices in the mixer during playing to hear the differences 😉

Yeap this is what I'm doing! I have an MT-32 and my MT-200. I have my Roland UMONE USB Midi from the computer to the Midi IN on the MT-200. I have a short (3ft being the shortest I could find) Midi cable from the Midi THRU of the MT-200 into the Midi IN on the MT-32. I have both modules going into an old cheap AV selector box with the output from the selector box going back into the Line in on my SB ZXr. Both modules get the Midi signals at the same time, and I only have to select through the AV selector which module I want to hear. Very easy setup all handled at hardware level.

The MIDI Thru option works, but in the end it really depends on what kind of setup you are building. I use a UM-550 because I have 4 different computers outputting MIDI, and it's a royal pain to change plugs around. A cheap USB cable and MIDI Thru is usually fine for people just using a modern machine and Dosbox.

For a mixer I use a combination of two. Phonic AM55 for analog, and Yamaha UW500 for digital. I'm quite happy with my Phonic as it was only $50 new, and has no sound issues. Pricier mixers often have features like auto-volume leveling, but I prefer to do it all by my own ear. I have been meaning to get a bigger mixer though as I have over 10 modules hooked up and I'm not happy with my current cable management system.