The tittle says it all. Is it possible to emulate the mt-32's sample sound in Ms-Dos 6.22? Maybe uploading the sound bank into Gravis Ultrasound for example? Or to a XR385 daughter card?
I guess is not, because I haven't found any post related.
Any thoughts? It would be a breakthrough IMO if this was possible any how!
The XR385 and the GUS both support MT32 emulation under DOS, but it doesn't sound the same as a real MT32.
This is because the MT32 uses 'Linear Arithmetic' synthesis which is different to the wavetable synthesis used in most other PC music devices.
The MT32 is also much more programmable than the other devices and many games made use of this feature.
So its not as simple as simply loading MT32 samples into a wavetable synthesizer device.
If you are squeamish, don't prod the beach rubble.
wrote:The XR385 and the GUS both support MT32 emulation under DOS, but it doesn't sound the same as a real MT32. This is because the M […]
The XR385 and the GUS both support MT32 emulation under DOS, but it doesn't sound the same as a real MT32.
This is because the MT32 uses 'Linear Arithmetic' synthesis which is different to the wavetable synthesis used in most other PC music devices.
The MT32 is also much more programmable than the other devices and many games made use of this feature.
So its not as simple as simply loading MT32 samples into a wavetable synthesizer device.
ummm... what a pitty. But there must be a way to program an emulator like MUNT for DOS environment.
Sure, you could create an emulator that works much like MUNT for DOS. However, what would its intended usage be? MUNT is quite CPU intensive, easily making a P4 3GHz sweat.
So you couldn't use something like that on say a Pentium MMX 233 under DOS, because it would be way too slow.
The next best thing to getting an MT-32 is using a DB50XG with games that do not use their own sounds and instead rely on the default soundset (please excuse the terminology, I know how the MT-32 works but I cannot properly express it in words). Such games would be Monkey Island 1 and Ultima VI.
wrote:Sure, you could create an emulator that works much like MUNT for DOS. However, what would its intended usage be? MUNT is quite CPU intensive, easily making a P4 3GHz sweat.
So you couldn't use something like that on say a Pentium MMX 233 under DOS, because it would be way too slow.
The next best thing to getting an MT-32 is using a DB50XG with games that do not use their own sounds and instead rely on the default soundset (please excuse the terminology, I know how the MT-32 works but I cannot properly express it in words). Such games would be Monkey Island 1 and Ultima VI.
I didn't take into consideration CPU usage. I was thinking on a 486 machine for this!
Most sound cards during the "wavetable" explosion era support MT-32 emulation via patch banks or maps.
They follow the instrument numbers enumerated by the MT-32 exactly, but they don't sound the same in most games, since there are other factors coming into play. For instance, games reuquiring "intelligent" mode transfer will not sound right. Games that upload their own samples into the MT-32 will not sound right. The LA synthesis of the MT-32 is different than the direct replay of rom samples in the sound cards. Reverb and Chorus implementations are different with the MT-32.
As DonutKing said, the GUS emulation of the MT-32 is not the same as the real thing, but it still sounds good, you should give it a try. The program is called MegaEm, it comes with the installation disks. The downside is that it doesn't work well with games that reprogram the MT-32; you will get music but with wrong instruments, out of place sounds, etc.
I also read that it's possible to hook up a DOS machine with a modern computer running munt, as if it was a real MT-32. I have it on my list of things to try, but I haven't look into setting it up yet.
Yes, just like explained above, there are quite a few games that stick to the default MT-32 instrument configuration. Such games will work quite well with any MIDI device that has a MT-32 mode (XR385, GUS, AWE32/64, Ensoniq, Sound Canvas (press left instrument while turning on the unit). But the bulk of the (really good) MT-32 games all configure the heck out of the MT-32 and that's when you need the real thing.
CPU requirement is the other issue. However what you can look into is using a second PC (like a notebook) running MUNT and feeding the MIDI signal from the 486 into MUNT.
wrote:However what you can look into is using a second PC (like a notebook) running MUNT and feeding the MIDI signal from the 486 into MUNT.
I'm watching your Mt-32 tutorial right now Mau1wurf1977. Wow! Nice work mate!
This thing about using a 2nd pc runnig Munt, how can it be achieved?
I'm working on it. My cheap generic USB midi adapter seems to be the road block. I ordered a branded one, will let you know...
wrote:I'm working on it. My cheap generic USB midi adapter seems to be the road block. I ordered a branded one, will let you know...
Cool, I'm interested too. It would be an elegant solution if you don't have access to the real synth.
