Regarding the "DreamBlaster":

If you listen carefully to the single instruments you will notice that many of them sound tinny and / or very synthy. There are also little or no variations of many instruments available, so a high or low note sounds way more off than it should.
But thanks to the rich effects and the heavy use of reverb and chorus the weaknesses are covered and to some degree hidden, at least if you just do "casual listening".

In this aspect the module does its job quite well. Casual listening.

But as soon as you start to judge the samples itself and compare them against other modules you will notice its various sample weaknesses, mainly due to its small ROM size.

I quite like the sound of it 😀

But it's too expensive IMO.

Yeah me too. Distorted guitar in Doom e1m1 sounds great. I think the instrument choices make it very good for DOS games and listening to video game music IMO.

It's too bad some emulators don't allow midi output real-time. Would be nice trying some SNES or NES games (or arcade for that matter) with this module. Sometimes I wonder how Final Fantasy would sound on a Roland.

Actually the "distorted guitar" on the DreamBlaster sounds like FM.
The only distorted guitar that is worth its name sits on Korg modules.

E1M1 on a Korg AI2 synth: http://www.AmoRetro.de/wp-content/uploads/03-Doom-E1M13.mp3

@FGB
Distorted guitar on Korg AI2 sounds really good! The FM "distorted guitar" on DreamBlaster sounds pretty good, and waaay better than the Turtle Beach Tropez Plus; at least for my taste. Are you a musician?

I totally agree with you. The distorted guitar on the VoiceCrystal soundfont (Lite and Full = Tropez / Tropez Plus) sounds as bad and muffled as on the AWE series ROM or the Gravis UltraSound default patches. Still, the DreamBlasters distorted guitar sounds more like FM than a sampled instrument. I bet it has been sampled from FM 🤣 .
But together with the added rich effects from the effects processor the E1M1 song plays very well and very dynamically, accompanied by the punchy drum kit.

I'm a vintage computer music enthusiast and I play piano, but I wouldn't consider myself a musician.

FGB wrote:

I'm a vintage computer music enthusiast and I play piano, but I wouldn't consider myself a musician.

Cool! and once again thanks for the song recordings 😀. Cheers!

EDIT:
I think I meant "electric guitar"? Tonebank 29; the very first guitar on e1m1. But you probably knew that hehe.

Instrument Nr. 29 is the Overdrive Guitar, Nr. 30 is the Distorted Guitar. Actually the overdriven guitar plays first, yes, but both guitars playing together is what is usually meant when one is referring to the "Distorted guitar" in E1M1.

@Thank you! I enjoy making recordings and contribute to the community, but believe me, it takes a lot of time. I think I just finished 25% - 30% of my schedule.. There are still missing a lot of cards and synths and soundbanks [Missing "celebs" are: Ensoniq SoundScape,Gravis, Gravis with AMD, Orchid Soundwave (very synthy - I bet you like at least some songs played on it; with the better InVision soundfont is has its charm!), many RAM based soundbanks for EMU, Dream, AMD and other Roland and Yamaha products and also some more budget synths].

Hi all,

I am Serge, the Belgian developer of dreamblaster S1 module.

I am currently working on my next, 'high end' synth project (due to be released by the end of 2015),
and looking for reviews of my current S1 module, I bumped into this topic.

I think I can explain how the dreamblaster S1 achieves its sound with only 512k ROM :
It actually uses a both a sample based engine (samples + subtractive filtering) and digital FM synthesis.

The S1 can be plugged on a soundblaster, but also in a standalone module (I designed a kit for it).
I tested the kit module with a monkey island MIDI : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3fU3xAmn3M

The soundbank is ROM based, so the default general midi mapping cannot be edited.
But a lot of MIDI parameters are available to play with. So for example, with an arduino you can exploit that to control
the subtractive filter : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JB8bgfQdUkw

Of course, old games will not use these additional controls, still most game tracks sound great, indeed somewhere in between FM sound and wavetable sound.
Example : this is the dune II credits track from wavetable.nl : http://www.wavetable.nl/files/comparison/game … nth%20S1%5D.mp3

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Hey, glad you could drop by! Please keep us posted on your next endeavors, I think a lot of people here (including me) would like to have an alternative in easily sourceable daughterboards!

Okay, will do.

Will you be increasing the rom size for your next midi module?

Yes,

the S1 was a single chip solution, the 512kb ROM could not be changed.
The next project uses a different chip, using external NOR flash.
I will add sufficient to store the 8mbyte dream bank.
Probably I'll go for a 32 mbyte NOR flash chip.

hello,
the next generation board is ready : dreamblaster X1
i have 4 working prototypes, software is almost done (for waveblaster compatible mode).
Any midi files you like me to play on it as a test ?

Nice! I've ordered the S1 a while ago, hopefully it will arrive soon 😀

Will likely also get his new mode. Any idea on pricing?

As for MIDI:

Doom, Doom 2, Descent, Descent 2, X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Sam and Max, Privateer are all good ones to try.

^ yeah these are nice suggestions - just add the dn3d theme song to the mix... can't wait to hear the new board!
any insight on specs?

keropi wrote:

^ yeah these are nice suggestions - just add the dn3d theme song to the mix... can't wait to hear the new board!
any insight on specs?

DN3D, of course, how could I forget 😊

No final price yet : The cost will depend on how large the first production batch will be.
I will need to sell quite a lot to gain back the startup costs.
How many people want to buy this ? What would be reasonable price for this ?

Anyway, first I finish the software and play some MIDI on it !

Me! 😀

I'm in!