It's not unfair. Looking at my home studio here I have nine different MIDI synths all set up, two require adapters, and for some reason one set of these sets of identical-looking adapters doesn't even work properly on one of my synths that needs 'em. The other takes both, one only likes one pair. It's a huge pain in the ass. Other issue is they come out easily, DIN has a very solid connection and it takes quite some force to remove the connector. Also I'm not entirely sure how good the isolation is on those little 1/8" jacks, proper DIN MIDI connectors are all opto-isolated so you don't get ground loops.
replyThe ass part about jacks is that there is apparently 2 standards for midi over jack, with various gear manufacturers split over which one to use. You can make device accept either but it's pretty rare sight.
replyConnector wise, far superior to DIN midi
There are actually 4 ways manufacturers do it. Something like the Disaster Area Designs[1] MIDI Box is a necessity once you start dealing with guitar effects pedals.
replyI've had A/B solved by just schottky rectifier and low enough current optocoupler, but damn ,didn't knew there is even more to that mess
reply> but jacks for MIDI is unfair, I think.
replyFeels like studio setups are personal and individual enough that you can't say it's fair or unfair for someone else to care about specific features. Everything I own, including my own modular synth, has MIDI DIN ports on them, so I too look for that in new gear, but friend of mine too don't use MIDI for anything, obviously he doesn't look for that :)
USB MIDI seems tempting, you can send a giant virtual MIDI cable snake down one wire, but the connector issue rears its head again. It'd be cool if there was a more robust standard for USB connectors. I bet industry, the military, scientists, professional audio people etc. would all love such a thing.
reply> but jacks for MIDI is unfair
replynot the person you're replying to, but -
I would be ok w/ the 1/8" jacks if there weren't TWO STANDARDS to keep up with. madness!