Dear All,
I would recover that discussion as I want to buy the best MIDI Synth at the moment available on the market to play on the maximum quality games under DosBox and ScummVM.
Really with no compromises... what should I buy?
Cheers,
Fabrizio
You will need:
Roland MT-32 (Old)
Roland CM-32L
Roland SC-55
Dear Mau1wurf1977,
thanks for the quick reply... what's your opinion about the SC-88 Pro? I found it online to buy and it is also not expensive... also for the Yamaha products? Roland is better?
Cheers
Now you are already compromising 😀
What do you mean by quality? You mention scummvm and dosbox so I would suggest Timidity++. If you need authenticity then the Rolands should be fine; this would be even better if you have a somewhat old system that's not multicore.
You kind of make it sound like you want to purchase something like bassmidi or similar. TBH you'll get the same quality, if not, better, with Timidity++. You can even make your own instrument set (PAT set or soundfonts) for Timidity++, and it's freakin' free.
wrote:What do you mean by quality? You mention scummvm and dosbox so I would suggest Timidity++. If you need authenticity then the Rolands should be fine; this would be even better if you have a somewhat old system that's not multicore.
You kind of make it sound like you want to purchase something like bassmidi or similar. TBH you'll get the same quality, if not, better, with Timidity++. You can even make your own instrument set (PAT set or soundfonts) for Timidity++, and it's freakin' free.
Dear Holering,
thanks for your reply. I would like play my old games by using a software or hardware synthetizer. I am asking you which one should I buy to get the best audio quality from them.
Now as I see (I heard some comparative online) the best is the Roland SC-88 Pro but as I don't know... I am asking you.
If you would buy one, which one from:
-) Roland SC-55
-) Roland SC-88 Pro
-) Roland MT-32
-) Yamaha XG ?
I want play DosBox and ScummVM games with the highest audio fidelity.
It depends on what games you want to play.
Older games such as The secret of Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2, Fate of Atlantis, Space Quest III, Police Quest III use Roland MT-32. Later games use Roland Sound Canvas.
That's why you need more than one unit.
And some games need the old MT-32 (Old) whereas others use extra sound effects of the CM-32L.
Hence my recommendation for all three of them 😀
Get the Rolands. Ultima Underworld has water effects and I think they're only heard with the cm-32l. You're going to need the sc-55 and mt-32 too.
EDIT:
The Rolands are the standard for midi in DOS games. Unfortunately you can't buy one synthesizer that covers every DOS or Scummvm game properly. Supposedly the Yamaha xg modules can emulate the mt-32 but it isn't straight forward and people have mentioned it not emulating properly. Roland synthesizers are just the best options.
You are awesome... thanks for all that suggets.
At the end you suggest:
-) MT-32
-) SC-55 or MC-88 Pro? I heared the 88 Pro and I think (my opinion) has more realistic sound effects.
Which one can I get via software and which one should physically buy?
My recommendation is to buy a physical MT-32 and physical SC-55. This always works right away with the right sound effects / music. Have fun! 😀 Any additional sound effects the SC-88 has will not matter because music in games is composed for GM usually (where a Roland SC-7 is already sufficient) and extremely rarely for GS (where a Roland SC-55 is already sufficient). A SC-55MKII or SC-88 does not offer anything extra IMO.
