Ableton Forum

Simple question, I know most midi controllers can go up to 16 different channels, but is there a way to have more?

Well not per MIDI port I believe.

You can have multiple MIDI ports each with its own 16 channels. So yes you can have more than 16 channels. You just need to use multiple ports.

In the old days of the 90's large MIDI setups would use a device that has multiple MIDI ports. Typically each device would get its own port. Of course some stuff could be chained on a single port to take advantage of the available MIDI channels. However, sometimes MIDI data from multiple devices on the same port can sort of 'clog' the MIDI stream thus resulting in timing errors, missed notes, and general weirdness.

Rich

So with something like the Motu Micro Lite (5 I/O midi interface) I could in theory have up to 80 midi channels? (5*16 = 80)? Does Ableton recognize multiple midi ports?

Yes and Yes