midi hardware output not working Part 3

[pbeau]

All

I have been working now for a few months reliably and again, for reasons unknown the midi (output only this time) is flakey. For completeness:

Windows 7 pro fully up to date
Asus Sabertooth Mobo, AMD 6 core processor, 16GB ram 2TB disk
Audiophile 2496 sound card
USB: Akai eie pro USB midi/audio/usb interface
midisport 4x4 anniversary midi interface
a couple of cheap USB2.0 midi interfaces (spares but seem to work fine)
I have a Roland JX10 and an ensoniq VFX for Keyboards along with an RD800 piano and a custom built USB KB for Hauptwerk (not used in Reaper)
A Yamaha EMT10, Roland U110 and as outboard boxes.
I use Hauptwerk as a VST and have recently added Arturia Collection 6 (recommended!)

The most recent change is the addition of the Areturia stuff and as VSTs work very reliably and play nice with Reaper - no problems here.
The Hardware midi is very flakey - currently it is only the output that stops - inputs all seem fine all the time.
In the most simple test, starting one track with piano only, do a test record and attempt to play it back causes all hardware midi to cease. The indicators show midi output but nothing at the interfaces (there are indicators in some cases) or devices. In the case of the PCI interface, stopping Reaper, starting midiox, testing the interface here (works) stopping midiox and restarting reaper makes it work. This sequence is reliable however, so is the break - at this point a simple recording/playback breaks it.
A restart of REaper does not repair this nor does an OS reboot.
I use Nirsoft tools (Windows users should find and install this free set of often excellent tools) to confirm USB activity at OS level - it seems of ... this is Reaper failing. Trawling through the forums and elsewhere shows this up as a long-standing problem - back to Version 3 in at least one case. There is some hint in there that the midisport is part of the problem and I'd love to chalk it all up to that but I can't. It is certainly less relaible than any other interface but this basic problem goes across other USB devices and the PCI interface pretty much equally. The essential difference is that I can recover the PCI interface with midiox but not the midisport.
This is the third posting in two years on this subject. And it is still the same problem (though I am happy to admit the first one was largely a newbie error). Over the time it has been mostly OK.... it comes and goes in a pattern I can't divine.. Right now it is unusable.
I picked up in another thread one of the developers chipping in and providing a fix... any chance of a repeat please? ... happy to assist in any testing etc to provide the necessary inputs. I REALLY like Reaper but this functionality is essential for me.

Thanks muchly