[BUG]: m-audio driver crashing service (was Windows 11 MIDI devices duplicating and causing DAW freezes)

[rpanwar4580-commits]

Windows Version

11 pro

Service Installation Method

In-box In Insider Build

SDK version, if appropriate

No response

Location

Application using Windows MIDI Services SDK (MIDI 2.0)

Type of bug

Other or Unsure (please indicate in additional notes section below), Windows MIDI Services SDK feature issue, Application Crash

Steps to reproduce

I am experiencing a persistent issue with MIDI devices on Windows 11.

Every time I connect or reconnect a MIDI controller (e.g., Launchkey MK4 or Casio USB-MIDI), Windows creates duplicate MIDI device entries under Device Manager (Software Devices). These appear as multiple instances such as MIDIIN2, MIDIOUT2, etc.

Over time, the number of duplicate devices increases, even after uninstalling them. The duplicates reappear after reboot or reconnecting the device.

Impact:

DAWs such as Ableton Live and Cubase freeze or stop responding
Standalone plugins stop detecting MIDI input
MIDI ports become unstable or unusable
Workflow is severely disrupted

What I have tried:

Reinstalling device drivers
Using different USB ports and cables
Disabling and uninstalling duplicate devices
Restarting Windows multiple times
Reinstalling Windows completely

The issue still persists and affects multiple MIDI devices, not just one brand.

Expected behavior

Windows should maintain a single stable MIDI device entry per connected device and not create duplicates on reconnect.

Additional notes

This appears to be related to the Windows MIDI service or device enumeration system. It may also be linked to MIDI 2.0 virtual device handling.

[rpanwar4580-commits]

Please investigate this issue, as it is affecting music production workflows significantly.

[PeteBrown-MSFT]

Additional Software Devices

For any given MIDI stream, we create

• A UMP compatible endpoint
• A classic MIDI 1.0 input port for each input
• A classic MIDI 1.0 output port for each output

What I see in your screenshots looks correct, assuming the LaunchKey has two inputs and two outputs. It's 1 UMP endpoint, and 4 classic MIDI 1.0 ports. Do you have a screenshot showing more than the expected number of ports?

And to double-check, can you paste in a screenshot showing all entries in this registry location which start with the word "midi" or "Midi"?

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32

Locking up

What is causing the freeze is almost certainly your m-audio driver, if it is exposing any MIDI endpoints. We're working with inMusic on that. It's documented on the known issues blog post and workarounds etc. are also all on our Discord server https://aka.ms/mididiscord (that will land you on a start-here post that has a map of where to go for each issue)

Pete
Microsoft

[clarewc20-spec]

@PeteBrown-MSFT Please could you post information on workarounds from your Discord post/s somewhere public, as I can't get through login to Discord - my antivirus / VPN doesn't let me access to Discord.
I also have Windows 11 Pro, a legacy M-audio interface device, use Cubase. I don't want to roll back the Windows update, and want to know if there is anything I can do to get my current set up working.
If not, I'd like some signposting to a newer audio-midi interface that is proven to work with the Windows Midi 2.0 release. So far I can only see a suggestion that 'newer class-compliant' devices might work, but would like some more specific assurance before having to spend money.
"Please investigate this issue, as it is affecting music production workflows significantly." Ditto - I haven't been able to use my DAW for the past two weeks.

[PeteBrown-MSFT]

All the info is on Discord, including lots of dicussions, and places where you can ask questions specific to your setup. I don't want to repost it elsewhere. I have never heard of an AV or VPN that prevented access to Discord, but there is likely a way to turn that off.

Only inMusic-brand devices have problems due to their drivers.

Pete
Microsoft

[clarewc20-spec]

@PeteBrown-MSFT Thank you for the reply Pete.
Unfortunately I can't get past email verification, I've tried several times, via my gmail address. I get this: 'This site can’t be reached
click.discord.com’s server IP address could not be found.' when I click on the verify email link. I've tried in Chrome and Edge.
You can imagine my frustration at not being able to access a potential solution.
Btw I use Bitdefender, I'm assuming it's somehow that that's preventing me getting to click.discord.com.
"Only inMusic-brand devices have problems due to their drivers." - and of course from my perspective this is more "Only inMusic-brand device drivers have been incapacitated by the Windows 11 Midi 2026 release."