Hi Pat,
Let's try the following.
In the Setup/MIDI Devices Configuration dialog, please click on Port -> Select Port, and uncheck the MidiStart 25 box on the right hand side. This should put any stop to trying to treat it like an output device (I know you unchecked the "is output device", but this is a double-check for that
).
While you're still in the MIDI Device Configuration dialog, go to the properties for the MIDIStart unit.
- Make sure that under Playback properties none of those boxes is checked.
- Under Recording properties, make sure both are checked.
The MIDI Start unit is only an input device, and so it should not try to act in any way as an output device.
I've done a bit of research, and it looks like some other sequencing software users have had the same issues with the unit as well. It may be due to it being "compliant" hardware and thus not having specific drivers - this can be a blessing if it all works right, but a bane if it doesn't
I do see on the maker's website (
http://www.miditech.de/127-Downloads) what looks like a specific driver for the unit. If the steps above don't resolve the issue, it may be worth installing the driver. You can always roll back your machine if the new driver doesn't do the trick either.
For the latency, that is an issue with the GS Wavetable, as it has about a 420 msec (nearly a half-second) latency between when it gets the signal from your keyboard and when it actual gets the sound out. There are other devices that have lower (or zero!) latency. Rather than write that all out here, I'll just refer you to Composer's Help/User Guide, and use the Index to look up "latency". There's a nice explanation, as well as steps for using the "Tap in delay" feature to fix it for playback.
For recording, though, it's probably a good idea to look into using a device that doesn't have latency. Some users like using SynthFont in "MIDI Input On" mode. Using an ASIO audio driver (you can get a free ASIO driver at
www.asio4all.com) will eliminate latency for beautiful crisp response
If you go that route, be sure to use the MIDI Device Configuration/Port/Select Port, and uncheck the GS Wavetable (it interferes with ASIO). There are some discussions here on the forum about other MIDI output devices such as SynthFont, ASIO, using virtual MIDI cables, and the like for better recording and sound. We also have a couple of tutorial videos about the virtual cables and getting going with SynthFont.
Hopefully the suggestions near the front here will alleviate the crashing problem (I've also reported the error message for fixing, so Composer will handle such problems more gracefully in the future
Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Sherry