Here's my 2 cents worth...............

I have always held the the opinion that the average person who has ever listened to any of my "songs" is NOT a professional audiophile. The equipment they are listening to these songs with is NOT state of the art either. I have never found it cost effective to have mega dollar monitor speakers, soundcards, and special equipment to make good tunes. I wouldn't enjoy my modest MIDI studio any more with these high dollar toys...........I would probably just get frustrated, like you, getting all this stuff to work right. Just because one has a million dollar setup doesn't mean their music is any better. "You can't buy real musical genius!"