Who knows MIDI gear? Advice needed.

So I seem to have got myself one of these:

...for a retardedly good price. This is my first hardware synth, and as it stands, I know nothing at all about MIDI. I just want to hook it up to my computer for now so I can play with it in Reason or Buzé. My question is, would something like this be worth bothering with? I know audio gear is usually "you get what you pay for", but this is just a simple interface adapter - there can't be that much difference in quality right?

I could fork out €80ish and get myself a starter interface box that can handle multiple devices, but I don't see much point when I've only got one instrument to plug into it. I'd rather pay €1.

Does anyone know a good "MIDI basics" type tutorial that I could read through? I don't really know what I'm doing here. I've been playing around with software synths and VSTs for ages though.

J

You should be able to get the M-Audio MIDIsport UNO for cheap. It adapts MIDI to USB. I've got one that I don't use anymore but I'm guessing since you put a price in Euros that "you ain't from around here" though.

Pretty much any USB to MIDI adapter will do the job. I have a cheap Edirol (Roland) USB adapter I use so my PC can control my ION.

Once you have the drivers for whatever adapter you buy installed, it's just a matter of going into your software of choice and selecting it as the input / output device. So you would be able to use your micro as a keyboard controller for Reason, and use the MIDI out from reason to control sounds on your micro.

Simple MIDI Tutorial

MIDI is seriously cool stuff, once you get some more gear and get everything talking to each other. I have a bad habit of using my EA1 as the master sequencer and chaining everything I own to it. If you have any questions, just post them up here. I love this stuff. Gratuitous gear shots:

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Oh and make sure you get familiar with this. Seems like it has a lot of potential. Korg Sound Editor

And welcome to the world of music hardware. I hope you have a big space, the gear buying habit is an addiction. I'm lucky enough to be blessed with two hobbies that eat all my money and time.