MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
MIDI (.midi) is the full-extension variant of .mid files, containing identical Standard MIDI File data. Both extensions are interchangeable and store sequences of musical events for synthesizers and DAWs. The .midi extension is less common but equally valid.
MIME Type
audio/midi
Type
Binary
Compression
Lossless
Advantages
- + Identical functionality to .mid with a more descriptive extension
- + Recognized by all MIDI-compatible software
- + Tiny file sizes for complex musical compositions
Disadvantages
- − Less common than .mid — some software may not associate .midi by default
- − Same limitations as .mid — not audio, quality depends on synthesizer
- − Some older systems expect the 3-character .mid extension
When to Use .MIDI
Use .midi interchangeably with .mid; prefer .mid as it is more widely recognized by file associations and music software.
Technical Details
Identical to .mid — Standard MIDI File format with header chunk, track chunks, and delta-time encoded MIDI events. Type 0 files contain one merged track, Type 1 files contain multiple simultaneous tracks.
History
The .midi extension emerged as an alternative to .mid, following the convention of using the full format name. Both have been used interchangeably since the Standard MIDI File specification of 1988.