MIDI Ports

MetaServer manages the virtual MIDI ports that MetaGrid Pro uses to control DAWs and software instruments. Starting with MetaServer 6, both Mac and Windows create the required ports automatically — no extra software needed on either platform. The full LoopMIDI walkthrough for older Windows installs is kept at the bottom of this page as a legacy fallback.

What Lives on Each Port

The same set of ports is created on both Mac and Windows. Each port is bi-directional:

Toggle each port on or off in the MIDI Ports page (Mac) or MIDI Ports tab (Windows). Only the ports you enable are created — disable the ones you don't need to reduce noise in your DAW's MIDI device list.

Mac

MetaServer creates the ports via CoreMIDI as soon as it launches. No additional software is required.

Verifying

Open Audio MIDI Setup (Applications → Utilities) and choose Window → Show MIDI Studio. While MetaServer is running, every enabled Metasystem - … port appears in the MIDI Studio window. The ports exist only while MetaServer is active.

If your DAW does not show these ports, confirm MetaServer is running and connected to MetaGrid Pro.

Windows (MetaServer 6 and later)

MetaServer creates the ports via the modern Windows MIDI Services API as soon as it launches. On most Windows 11 installs the API is already in place and no additional software is required — the Metasystem ports simply appear in your DAW the first time MetaServer connects.

If the ports do not appear on Windows 11, the underlying Windows MIDI Services components are likely missing or in preview state and need a one-time install. The full procedure (Developer Mode, MIDI 1.0 Basic Loopback plugin, Network MIDI 2.0 preview, SDK via winget, and the Local System service tweak) lives in Native Windows MIDI Services Setup. Once those steps are done you don't need LoopMIDI at all.

Verifying

Open the MIDI Console (midi.exe from the Windows MIDI Services tools) or, more practically, check inside your DAW: while MetaServer is running, every enabled Metasystem - … port appears as an available MIDI input or output. The ports exist only while MetaServer is active.

If your DAW does not show these ports, confirm MetaServer is running and connected to MetaGrid Pro. If everything is running but the ports still aren't visible, that's the signal to follow the native MIDI Services setup.

Windows — Legacy Setup (LoopMIDI)

Use this path only if you're on MetaServer 5 or earlier, or on a Windows configuration where MIDI Services is unavailable. MetaServer 6+ creates the ports automatically as described above.

On older MetaServer builds, MetaServer for Windows does not create MIDI ports on its own. You install LoopMIDI to provide virtual MIDI cables, then map each MetaServer channel to a LoopMIDI port in the MIDI Ports tab.

Step 1: Install LoopMIDI

Download and install LoopMIDI (free) from Tobias Erichsen's website. It creates virtual loopback MIDI ports on Windows 7 through Windows 11.

Important: LoopMIDI ports only exist while the application is running. Enable autostart in LoopMIDI's tray icon menu so the ports are available every time you log in.

Step 2: Create Virtual Ports

Open LoopMIDI and create one port per DAW you use, plus a general MIDI port. Enter the port name in the New port-name field and click the + icon.

Required ports for full integration:

• Metasystem - MIDI - In — General MIDI messages
• Metasystem - Cubase - In — Cubase commands (if using Cubase)
• Metasystem - Cubase Sync - In/Out — Cubase Selected Channel sync (if using Cubase)
• Metasystem - StudioPro - In — Studio Pro (Fender) and legacy Studio One (PreSonus) — both DAWs share this single port
• Metasystem - DP - In — Digital Performer (if using DP)
• Metasystem - Reaper - In — REAPER (if using REAPER)
• Metasystem - Live - In — Ableton Live (if using Live)

Create only the ports for DAWs you actually use.

Important: Digital Performer users must name the port exactly METASYSTEM - DP - IN. This name is hard-coded in the DP key bindings file.

Step 3: Pair Ports in MetaServer

1. Right-click the MetaServer icon in the system tray and select Setup → MIDI Ports.
2. Match each MetaServer port name to the corresponding LoopMIDI virtual port under System device. For example, pair the Cubase row with Metasystem - Cubase - In.
3. Click Ok to save. MetaServer routes MIDI messages through your virtual ports immediately.

After You Upgrade to MetaServer 6

When you upgrade to MetaServer 6, the automatic port-creation path takes over. You can disable LoopMIDI's autostart and remove the manually-created ports — MetaServer will create cleaner, identically-named replacements via Windows MIDI Services.