[LAU] Multi-port MIDI interface for PC ?

As recent PCs have no joystick port, my DA-15 adapters are not much good any more. Guess it's purchase time again. While I'm at it, I'd like more ports. I gather that these days, instead of standalone MIDI matrixes, you have multi-port boxes that have built-in MIDI matrix functionality and a USB port so they can double as a MIDI interface for a PC. Is that right ? The Edirol UM-880 looked good and was supported by ALSA, but it's not made any more and used ones don't seem to be so common. What's still in the stores is : - MOTU MIDI Timepiece (around 600 EUR) - MOTU Express XT (around 400 EUR) - MOTU MIDI Express 128 (around 200 EUR) For the price, I'm guessing the Express 128 does just I/O, not matrix functions. What else is there to know ? I've heard complaints about the latency of the MOTU interfaces. How is it under Linux ? Is the MIDI Timepiece worth the extra money over the Express XT if all you're doing is talking to synths and maybe a Syncman MTC<->SMPTE ? Are there any other 8-I/O port interfaces still being made ? Or good ones that are out of production but available on the used market ? Thanks for helping me catch up with the last fifteen years. -- André Majorel <URL:http://www.teaser.fr/~amajorel/> Do not use this account for regular correspondence. See the URL above for contact information.