"You need to actually enter the IRQ and memory address settings into Windows when you install the driver (no, I'm serious!)...".
“GUARANTEED FOR LIFE”. Now there’s a phrase you don’t hear much these days. But back when the Spice Girls were just another bunch of hopefuls wondering if they could crack mainstream pop, the Midiman company of Arcadia, California, were happy to offer their tech hardware with such bold assurance.
And their confidence was not misguided. My Midiman Winman 2x2, bought in the mid ‘90s, is still soldiering on, and frankly I’m now much more concerned for the welfare of the ISA-slot-fitted PCs that are able to accept it than I am for the Winman card itself. Don't wanna tempt fate, but it clearly is gonna live forever.
The Winman 2x2 card was very much a product of its time. An old-school PC MIDI interface providing two classic MIDI cable inputs and two classic MIDI cable outputs. Predating the widespread adoption of PCI expansion slots, the Winman was manufactured to fit into an old-school Industry Standard Architecture (or ISA) slot on the motherboard.
The card recalls a period during which home-based PCs were regularly used by musicians and producers to sequence MIDI hardware instruments such as synths, beatboxes, digital pianos and the like, but were typically not powerful enough to handle audio recording.