First post, by cryptowhale
Hello!
I'm in the process of choosing MT-32 compatible device for my retro rig. Currently, after reading all the lists of MT-32 compatible games, I think that CM-32L/CM-64 is better for my needs because I won't be playing MT-32-OLD games much. Except for Dune 2.
Some would say that I should get both MT-32 rev.0 and CM-32L/CM-64 to cover every MT-32 game, including Dune 2, but I want to keep my setup as minimal as possible. If I get two of MT-32s, I will need some kind of external mixer that should be manually operated to switch between MT-32s, while with one MT-32 it's possible to use sound cards' Line-in for mixing purpose (yeah, I'm going to use MPU-401 compatible sound card with SoftMPU, not the real MPU-401 device).
I saw several reviews regarding difference between MT-32 rev.0 and later models, but non e of them give any technical insight on what really causes games to sound differently on older models? So, what precisely are the bugs that those MIDI files use in rev.0 that are not available in later models?
For example here are two interesting reviews: this good known one by philscomputerlab shows difference in games that use custom sounds, and this one shows difference in standard sounds using Dune 2.
I tried to replicate second review's comprasion with Dune 2 using Munt. I got roms from old MT-32 anf CM-32L, tested the same Dune 2 track that was used in review on both of them and... it sounded identically. Even more - it sounded like on real CM-32L, even though old MT-32's rom was used. So the difference between old MT-32 and CM-32L lies deeper than just difference in roms.
So does anyone have any technical insight in what "bugs" in MT-32 rev.0 some games were using? I know, from Munt sources, about the difference in reverb and, from Wikipedia article, about the difference in CPU and DAC. But that doesn't explain (to me) why some sounds (distortion guitar) in Dune 2 sounded louder on MT-32 rev.0?