MIDI 2.0 is finally in the operating system: what changed in Windows 11 and macOS, and what to do with it

MIDI 2.0 has been a published specification since 2020. For most musicians it has also been something that happens to other people. That changed on 17 February, when Microsoft announced that Windows MIDI Services, a single stack handling both MIDI 1.0 and MIDI 2.0, is now built into Windows 11 and rolling out in phases to supported retail releases. The post was written by Pete Brown, who chairs the MIDI Association's executive board, and Gary Daniels, the lead architect of the new stack.

The short version: your existing gear and software should keep working and get some upgrades for free. The bigger gains need your DAW to catch up.

What changes on Windows straight away?

Three things arrive without any app updates, according to Microsoft.

Shared ports. Every MIDI 1.0 port and MIDI 2.0 endpoint can be used by several apps at once. On Windows that has long meant vendor drivers or workarounds. Microsoft's caption shows Cubase 15, Pocket MIDI and MIDI-OX all reading the same device. The company says vendor-specific drivers are "no longer needed or recommended" in most cases, though kernel streaming drivers still work.

Loopback. Windows now ships its own loopback endpoints, so apps can pass MIDI to each other regardless of which API they use. Microsoft says this includes Web MIDI pages in a browser, with no extra drivers.

Translation. High-resolution MIDI 2.0 controllers running in MIDI 2.0 mode work with both old and new apps. Older apps receive values scaled down to MIDI 1.0. Microsoft names the Yamaha Montage M and MODX, Roland A-88 mk2, Waldorf Quantum and Iridium, and Studiologic SL mk2 as examples.

There is a new USB MIDI 2.0 class driver, usbmidi2.sys, developed with AmeNote and the Japanese industry body AMEI. Most MIDI 1.0 devices stay on the old driver by default. Port names default to the classic style so saved DAW sessions still find their devices.

The catch is in the detail. The project site says apps on the old WinMM and WinRT MIDI 1.0 APIs get only "a subset of the new features, including multi-client". Sub-microsecond timestamps and scheduled sending are available only through the new SDK, the blog says, and that developer API is still in preview on GitHub. The MIDI Settings app and tools package is due "in the coming months". Bluetooth MIDI, Network MIDI 2.0 and a virtual patch bay are still roadmap items. Microsoft also keeps a running known-issues post, and anyone relying on third-party virtual port tools should read it before a session.

And on the Mac?

Apple's Audio MIDI Setup guide now lets you create either a Network MIDI 2.0 session or an older RTP session. Logic Pro 12 also takes a small step: CDM noted that the Step Sequencer displays MIDI 2.0 data. We covered the rest of that release in our Logic Pro 12 report.

What MIDI 2.0 actually gives you

According to the MIDI Association:

• Resolution. Velocity goes from 7-bit (0 to 127) to 16-bit. Control change, pitch bend and pressure go to 32-bit. Filter sweeps and expressive controllers stop "stepping".
• More controls, per note. Over 32,000 controllers, including 16,384 registered and 16,384 assignable ones, plus per-note pitch and controllers. In practice that brings the kind of expression MPE offers into the core protocol.
• Devices that talk back. MIDI-CI lets devices negotiate with each other. Profiles define standard mappings for an instrument type, and Property Exchange lets one device ask another for its settings, patch names and more, as JSON.
• Backwards compatibility. MIDI 2.0 devices detect MIDI 1.0 gear and fall back. MIDI 1.0 is not being replaced.

Why DAWs lag behind

Operating-system support is necessary but not sufficient. A DAW's MIDI engine, its plugin formats and its project files all assume 7-bit values and 16 channels. Moving to high-resolution, per-note data touches every editor, every automation lane and every plugin interface.

The evidence fits. By October 2024 Microsoft had already shown previews of Cubase and Bremmers MultitrackStudio using the new API at NAMM, well over a year before the retail rollout.

Browsers are further behind. The W3C Web MIDI API still sends and receives MIDI 1.0 byte messages.

What to do with it now

• On Windows, let the update arrive, then retire loopMIDI-style workarounds where the built-in loopback does the job. Don't uninstall updates to dodge bugs; Microsoft warns that can leave MIDI worse.
• If you own a MIDI 2.0 controller, it already works everywhere at MIDI 1.0 resolution. Full resolution needs a host that speaks MIDI 2.0.
• When you buy gear, look for named Profiles and Property Exchange support, not just a "MIDI 2.0" sticker.

Update, 23 Oct 2026

Since we first published, the two platforms have met in the middle. At SUPERBOOTH26 in Berlin in May 2026, the MIDI Association demonstrated MIDI 2.0 sent from a Windows PC over an ordinary Ethernet router to a MacBook Air running Synthogy Ivory, with a Roland A-88MKII. Turning on the Piano Profile switched on Ivory's controllers automatically, so knobs controlled lid position and stretch tuning without any MIDI Learn. The Association said it was possible because Apple and Microsoft are implementing Network MIDI 2.0 at the operating-system level.

The same report fits our point about DAWs. The MIDI Association runs a DAW working group with Apple, Microsoft, Steinberg and Native Instruments, and in May said its Transport and Location profile was only "nearing completion". Plugin control is still a proposal: a day at Native Instruments in Berlin went on a MIDI 2.0 Plugin Control Profile based on NKS.

What we think

The useful part of this release is the dull part. Shared ports and built-in loopback fix the most common Windows MIDI complaint: a controller locked to one app. That help arrives for musicians without anyone paying for a new DAW or a driver utility, and it removes a quiet tax that small tool makers used to fill.

The headline feature, MIDI 2.0 itself, is a different story. The gain for players is real: 16-bit velocity is 512 times as many steps as MIDI 1.0's 128, and for a sampled piano or a bowed string that is the difference you feel under your fingers. But that value only reaches you when the controller, the operating system, the DAW and the instrument plugin all support it. Two of those four links are now in place. The other two belong to software companies with every reason to ship it as a paid upgrade.

Browser and web-MIDI workflows win early. Browser studios such as Veena, which already let you connect MIDI devices in the browser, can now share a controller with a desktop DAW on Windows instead of fighting it for the port.

Our ask is for DAW makers to publish a dated MIDI 2.0 roadmap, and for hardware makers to state which Profiles they support. The standard is no longer the bottleneck. The software is.

Sources

• Making music with MIDI just got a real boost in Windows 11, Microsoft, 17 Feb 2026
• Windows MIDI Services, Microsoft
• Windows MIDI Services rollout, known issues and workarounds, Microsoft DevBlogs
• Windows MIDI Services October 2024 update, Microsoft DevBlogs, 21 Oct 2024
• Details about MIDI 2.0, MIDI-CI, Profiles and Property Exchange, The MIDI Association
• Share MIDI information over a network in Audio MIDI Setup on Mac, Apple Support
• SUPERBOOTH26 shows MIDI 2.0 becoming reality, The MIDI Association, May 2026
• Web MIDI API, W3C
• Logic Pro 12, what's new, CDM, 28 Jan 2026
• Veena home page, Veena Studio