MIDI and digital sound: advantages and disadvantages

[stellaSSI]

The WAVE format is one of many, but far from the only, format for recording digital audio. Unlike MIDI data, digital audio data does represent sound recorded in the form of thousands of units called samples. Digital data represent the amplitude (or volume) of sound at discrete points in time. The sound of digital data is independent of the playback device and therefore its sound is always the same. But for this you have to pay with large volumes of sound files.
MIDI data with respect to digital data is the same as vector graphics with respect to bitmaps. That is, MIDI data is dependent on audio playback devices, and digital data is independent. Just as the appearance of vector graphics depends on the printer or monitor screen, so the sound of MIDI files depends on the MIDI device for playing these files. Similarly, the sound of a melody played on a concert piano will be different from the sound of the same melody played on a simple piano. Digital data, on the other hand, is identical and independent of the playback system. The MIDI standard in this sense is similar to the PostScript standard and allows you to control instruments in an understandable language.
Compared to digital sound, MIDI has the following advantages:
MIDI files take up less memory, and the size of these files does not affect the sound quality. On average, MIDI files are 200-1000 times smaller than digital files and therefore occupy a small amount of RAM, on disks, and they do not require large CPU resources.
In some cases, the sound of MIDI files is better than digital audio files. At the same time, the sound source of the MIDI files must be of high quality.
You can change the length of MIDI files by changing the tempo of the sound, while maintaining the quality and volume of the sound. MIDI data can be easily edited, even at the level of individual notes. You can manipulate small segments of a MIDI composition (accurate to milliseconds), which is not possible with digital sound.
The main disadvantage of a MIDI file stems from its merits. Since MIDI data is not sound in itself, playback will be as accurate as the MIDI data playback device is identical to the device used to create the source file. Even the sound of a MIDI instrument according to the General MIDI standard depends on the electronic playback device and the method used. MIDI sound is not used for speech reproduction.
The main advantage of digital audio over MIDI sound is that the quality of digital sound playback is always constant, and here the MIDI sound is inferior to digital sound. There are two reasons why you should work with digital audio:
A wider selection of programs and systems that support digital audio.
The preparation and creation of digital sound elements does not require knowledge of musical theory, which cannot be said about MIDI data.

[fuklin]

Great info. I believe that midi files have only one advantage. Not so long ago I became interested in music and I work quite productively on myself and my tunes. By the way, are of great help to me midi files  which are sorted by genre and are for me a source of inspiration for creating new music

[kleoRAT]

The method of presenting music in MIDI format was so convenient and popular that already in the mid-80s there were practically no tools without its support, and in operating systems such as Windows and OS / 2 it was implemented as one of the standard elements.