Opcode's Studio 128X is the "twice‑as‑big" (but in the same size box) elder sibling of the Studio 64X MIDI Patchbay and Interface that I looked at in the May 1997 issue of SOS, and has eight MIDI ports instead of the 64X's four. Having an extra four MIDI ports may not seem all that significant, but it says a lot about the user's studio: four ports might be described as 'compact', but eight ports is definitely 'serious'. Welcome to the big league.
Each port on a multi‑port MIDI interface/patchbay can cope with 16 separate MIDI channels. An eight‑port version, therefore, can cope with 128 individual MIDI channels or multitimbral parts — which explains the Studio 128X's name. Whereas 128 channels would have seemed like complete overkill ten years ago, today's multitimbral expanders can take up alarming numbers of MIDI channels. Using an eight‑port interface and patchbay like the 128X, however, should give you access to more than enough sonic armoury to cope with all but the most demanding of applications.