VOGONS


First post, by hageir

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Hey y'all,

my name is Geir Helgi and I'm an electronic musician from Reykjavík, Iceland.
Cut my teeth on Pentium II in the 90s, played Doom for the first time and had a Sega Mega Drive back in the day (along with a NES)
/also saw Terminator II on VHS at the same time 🤣

I've always loved the Frequency Modulation sound of these older systems!

I started out with a 100% hardware setup; synths+drum machines+sequencers and effects,
then I had a short stop in the software-only world (focusing on arranging and mixing in the box)
and now I'm back on the hardware track (well, mixed with some software)

I've been lurking around, unregistered here for quite some time and reading about PCI and ISA cards
and I'm currently looking for a Pentium II laptop to run Seer Systems Reality (sequenced externally from a hardware sequencer or a "modern computer")
I think I'd go with the PCMCIA card for a MIDI IN port and the sound out…

I've also got an ancient Yamaha C1 Music Computer (8X MIDI Outs!) running Voyetra Sequencer Gold Plus! 1986 baby!! 8 MHz 😊 Blue+White Monochrome screen.

I just bought an old Huyndai "MIDI Tower" P5000M = Pentium I 90 MHz with some ISA slots.

So here are my questions:

I like the YM2151/YM2164 FM sound and I'd like that kind of a synth in a PCI/ISA sound card format,
what would be an equivalent?
Also, what software can I use to create the sounds /gain access to the synthesis?
I would sequence the computer externally through the joystick/MIDI interface (I've yet to check this one card on the tower I just bought, which might be the larger serial MIDI type connector)
And I would like a decent quality output from the sound card as well…

But mainly focused on the YM2151 FM sound (I know it's a pre OPL chip but I really like how it sounds! I heard it recently in an old Pinball machine and it ROCKS!)

My favorite channel on Youtube was Raymangold22's channel where he was comparing and playing sound cards in Unison!
I really like the texture of his Crystal FM based sound card…

What would you guys recommend as an equivalent to the YM2151 type chips?

Thanks a ton and one big love to this community, I love it!

-Geir Helgi
www.geirhelgi.com
https://soundcloud.com/geir-helgi

Reply 1 of 7, by Stojke

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Yo, and welcome 😀

YM2151/2164 is present in an Yamaha FB-01 sound module. It is connected to the host PC via MIDI connection.
I love FM Synthesis as well, so you should also try Frequency Monster 801 program and an genuine OPL 3 card 😀

Note | LLSID | "Big boobs are important!"

Reply 2 of 7, by hageir

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Stojke wrote:

Yo, and welcome 😀

YM2151/2164 is present in an Yamaha FB-01 sound module. It is connected to the host PC via MIDI connection.
I love FM Synthesis as well, so you should also try Frequency Monster 801 program and an genuine OPL 3 card 😀

Yeah I know about that old FB-01 😀
Just looking for a sound card with a similar texture as that chip…
Maybe I'll just go with the Crystal stuff, it's so sharp and clear!

Wow, that Frequency Monster 801 looks great!
It's probably more nice to edit FM with a mouse on a screen than a synth,
I found out that the Yamaha DX21, 27 and 100 use the later variant (2164)

Thanks for the reply 😀

Reply 3 of 7, by hageir

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Hey hey!
My father just found a Toshiba 480CDT at a second-hand market here in Iceland!
So I've got the computer and now I'm waiting for a TDK DMC9000 PCMCIA sound card (with MIDI IN+OUT on the breakout box)
I think I'll have to install Windows 95 on this old computer (the TDK I think would work best in that environment)

Just wondering on the side,
is there any GUI/Front End for accessing the General MIDI sounds (wavetable in this case) on soundcards?
Thinking about sampling the drums and stuff, because they actually sound pretty cool 🤣 😀

I'll have to try the FM synth you mentioned with the OPL3-SA card that's built-in the Toshiba! YES, ROCKING THE HOUSE!!! 😀

Reply 4 of 7, by retrofanatic

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The Toshiba 480CDT is a very nice laptop...I have two of them...love how they are built solid and made in Japan.

I have setup one of mine to be used exlusively for DOS, but I do not have a PCMCIA sound card, just the onboard SBPRO compatible sound.

Does your TDK card you are getting have DOS drivers?

For what you will be using it for (sampling and MIDI stuff), maybe it would be better to install Win95 as you mention.

Anyway...even though I have only been on Vogons for a few months, I still would like to say welcome.

I've had friends that have been to Reykjavík and loved it...one day I hope to visit. Glad to know there are some retro computer lovers out there as well!

Reply 5 of 7, by hageir

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retrofanatic wrote:
The Toshiba 480CDT is a very nice laptop...I have two of them...love how they are built solid and made in Japan. […]
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The Toshiba 480CDT is a very nice laptop...I have two of them...love how they are built solid and made in Japan.

I have setup one of mine to be used exlusively for DOS, but I do not have a PCMCIA sound card, just the onboard SBPRO compatible sound.

Does your TDK card you are getting have DOS drivers?

For what you will be using it for (sampling and MIDI stuff), maybe it would be better to install Win95 as you mention.

Anyway...even though I have only been on Vogons for a few months, I still would like to say welcome.

I've had friends that have been to Reykjavík and loved it...one day I hope to visit. Glad to know there are some retro computer lovers out there as well!

Nice!
It came with everything included! Original+HUGE Manual, external floppy-drive, Windows 95 Brochure and some more stuff 😀
It's in really good condition… This TDK card only has Win 95 support, are there a lot of synths that are DOS only?
Actually when I think of it, I was going to see how some older sequencers would run on this Toshiba laptop,
I've got Voyetra Sequencer Gold Plus running on a Yamaha C1 Music Laptop from the 80s, I was thinking about checking out how the Toshiba would handle MIDI Out,
although I'm quite sceptical because the Yamaha C1 has 8x MIDI Ports built-in/hardwired to the motherboard = zero latency + really really tight MIDI sync!

I think the best setup for this computer would be to use it as a synthesizer,
create a song in a "modern" DAW on my Macbook Pro and send all the MIDI data to my synths and the laptop. 🤣 I'd never think I'd be doing that ever! Sequence another computer running some "vintage" soft-synths hehehe

Iceland is great, highly recommend it!
What are your friends names? Do they live here?
Yeah, I'm going out the door now with this old Toshiba, to take it to a computer repair guy next door, he's got a lot of old stuff 😀
I was asking him about some ISA sound cards the other day and he said he was just fixing one for an old client who still listens to symphonies and stuff on his super-old computer hehe

Reply 6 of 7, by retrofanatic

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hageir wrote:

Nice!
It came with everything included! Original+HUGE Manual, external floppy-drive, Windows 95 Brochure and some more stuff 😀
It's in really good condition… This TDK card only has Win 95 support, are there a lot of synths that are DOS only?

Some are for Windows and DOS, but most are not exclusive for DOS...come to think of it, I don't think that there are may at all that are DOS only....there is a thread/topic on vogons where PCMCIA sound cards/MIDI adapters are discussed in depth...check it out...PCMCIA Sound Cards

hageir wrote:

Iceland is great, highly recommend it!
What are your friends names? Do they live here?

🤣...no they don't live there, they just visited for a few days...one of them got some nice photos on a helicopter tour.

Reply 7 of 7, by hageir

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I found these,
http://adlib.wave460.net/editors.html
Some of them work, some don't OPL2 vs. OPL3
But I'm still waiting for the PCMCIA card so I can send the laptop some external MIDI
I tried out "Timbres" and the internal card sounds pretty darn nice 😀

I also played Another Part Of Me (MIDI File) by Michael Jackson in the Yamaha MIDI player just to hear the synths in action 😀 awww yeah!

Wow Awesome!!
Hopefully I'll get to ride a helicopter this summer if I can get a job in the movie business 😉