Sound Quest (www.squest.com) is now shipping Midi Quest 9.1 ($199) and Midi Quest XL ($299) editor/librarians for Mac OS 9 and OS X. Both programs, which support more than 600 instruments from over 60 manufacturers, feature a wide range of tools to create, edit, organize, back-up, and tweak the settings of your synthesizers, effects units, drum machines, and other MIDI devices.

Midi Quest 9.1 features graphic parameter editors, drag-and-drop bank organization, and the ability to set up hierarchical relationships. You can use the program to create Cubase Patch name scripts and Sonar/Cakewalk master .ins name files (for networked Windows machines). Midi Quest 9.1 ships with over 70,000 unique patches.

Midi Quest XL, which includes all of the features of Midi Quest 9.1, adds advanced features, such as the ability to create XML patch name documents; patch name servers to automatically create XML name documents; batch tools for automated SysEx file conversion; and all the tools necessary to build and customize your own instrument modules. The Midi Quest VST plug-in version offers parameter automation.

According to Sound Quest, Midi Quest 9.1 and Midi Quest XL are the only universal editor/librarians currently available for both the Mac and Windows platforms, and all data files and instrument modules are cross-system compatible. For a complete description of Midi Quest''s features and a list of the supported instruments, visit Sound Quest''s Web site at www.squest.com.