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First post, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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Well after being introduced to SGM SGM V2.01 sound font (as well as Bellatrix Orchestra for orchestral instruments, and Drums by Slavo v1.0 for drums), I began to question the value of hardware GM cards.

I have Warcraft II disc, whose red book audio tracks are the result of Sound Canvas recording. I know taste is subjective, but from my listening experience, Bellatrix Orchestra beats Sound Canvas hands on. It should be noted that people who prefer fidelity would choose a real Sound Canvas device to play Warcraft II songs, though.

Listening to System Shock GM using SGM and Drums by Slavo is a whole new experience. The combined sound fonts simply beats my SW60XG hands on.

I have to admit that it's not always the case. For example, Descent I opening soundtrack is still best listened using Yamaha XG. Also, songs written for MT-32 may become weird when played with sound fonts. But in general, I think sound fonts are better, although the sound of the instruments are not probably what the songwriter intend to. However, sound fonts are still more pleasing to the ears - at least to my ears.

So, which one would you prefer: fidelity or quality?

PS: Bellatrix Orchestra can be found here. The instrument number needs to be hand-tuned manually to match GM standard, though.

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 1 of 30, by d1stortion

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Well it's perhaps undisputed that modern soundfonts can have higher quality samples than the devices from back then, which were stuck with 2-8 MB ROMs. The problem is really in the balance of volume and "obtrusiveness" of the individual instruments. I'm sure that with every soundfont you will find at least one game that sounds like crap, so I don't think a universal recommendation makes sense. On the other hand with a SC-55 and DB50XG you are on the safe side for all games, because most composers seem to have used the Roland and the Yamaha isn't that far off in terms of balance.

Reply 2 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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d1stortion wrote:

Well it's perhaps undisputed that modern soundfonts can have higher quality samples than the devices from back then, which were stuck with 2-8 MB ROMs. The problem is really in the balance of volume and "obtrusiveness" of the individual instruments. I'm sure that with every soundfont you will find at least one game that sounds like crap, so I don't think a universal recommendation makes sense. On the other hand with a SC-55 and DB50XG you are on the safe side for all games, because most composers seem to have used the Roland and the Yamaha isn't that far off in terms of balance.

Hmmm... the only "obtrusiveness" I've encountered is the drum instruments, resulted from the high volume of Drums by Slavo. Fixed it by reducing the sound font volume.

Granted, I haven't had the chance to play many GM games lately.

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 3 of 30, by Mau1wurf1977

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I did a review into GM SoundFonts on X-Fi cards. Here is the link if anyone is interested:

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showpost.ph … 5&postcount=310

I quote myself for the conclusion:

"My impression is that this General Midi implementation brings something new to the table. A lot of other cards and SoundFonts "just" try to get as close to a Roland Sound Canvas and often fail miserably.

The X-Fi + LinkChoriumRevA.SF2 aims for something "beyond" a Roland Sound Canvas."

Doom just rocks that much more with such a SoundFont.

I made some recordings here: http://www.mediafire.com/?al4pe54f6kmzgvf

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman I will definitely try out your SoundFont!

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Reply 4 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman I will definitely try out your SoundFont!

Glad to see another fellow sound font aficionado. 😀

Remember, Bellatrix Orchestra needs to be hand tuned to match its instrument number to match GM instrument number, otherwise it will sound weird. I already have a hand-tuned version myself, but my internet is too pathetically slow to upload my version. 🙁

I also found that size doesn't (always) matter. Crisis GM is probably the largest sound font around, and its classical instruments are actually better than SGM. However, its pop instruments (electric guitars, etc) isn't better at all than SGM, and when I play Codename: Iceman soundtrack, the electric guitar sounds weird. As far as I tried, combining SGM and Bellatrix Orchestra beats Crisis GM, and with smaller size too! I'm always open to suggestion tho.

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 5 of 30, by bristlehog

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Crisis GM 3.01 is one of the largest.

Crisis GM 3.01 - 1.6 Gb
Evanessence GM/GS - 1.7 Gb
Colossus GM - 6Gb (that in fact is an EWQL Colossus soundset GM part ripped by someone and converted to SF2)

Reply 6 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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6gb sound font? Does Colossus GM actually sound that good? It'll be very interesting.

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 7 of 30, by bristlehog

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Imho it doesn't sound any good. Very imbalanced instrument volumes, unlike the original EWQL Colossus VST.

I heard the Colossus VST GM part, and found nothing so special. In fact, I haven't found any GM VST that would leave me breathless. It seems there're no real (universal) alternative to a manual setup of each instrument when re-rendering a MIDI.

Reply 8 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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bristlehog wrote:

Imho it doesn't sound any good. Very imbalanced instrument volumes, unlike the original EWQL Colossus VST.

I heard the Colossus VST GM part, and found nothing so special. In fact, I haven't found any GM VST that would leave me breathless. It seems there're no real (universal) alternative to a manual setup of each instrument when re-rendering a MIDI.

Indeed.

Anyway, how about others? Do you prefer sound font or hardware GM synth?

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 9 of 30, by keropi

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Where do you get those sound fonts? Are they free? It would be nice to test on my Auzentech X-Fi 😀

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 10 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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keropi wrote:

Where do you get those sound fonts? Are they free? It would be nice to test on my Auzentech X-Fi 😀

See this thread. 😀

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 12 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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keropi wrote:

^ gracias 😁

No problem. 😁

Anyway, I'm not really updated about modern sound card. What's so special about Auzentech X-Fi? I mean, does it capable to process sound font without burdening the CPU? And what is the maximum sound font size it can handle?

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 13 of 30, by Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman

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Anyway, Vogons drivers also has quite an assortment of interesting sound fonts. I haven't got the time to try them, though. Anyone?

Never thought this thread would be that long, but now, for something different.....
Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman.

Reply 14 of 30, by bristlehog

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Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:

Anyway, how about others? Do you prefer sound font or hardware GM synth?

I have tested many dozens of soundfonts, but found no one that would be miraculously excellent for a wide range of game MIDIs.

I have no GM hardware. Heard some in action though - at least the ubiquitous MU10 and SC55 mkII. Here's what I think: MIDI music will almost always sound better with the equipment it was composed and optimized for. It is due to nature of sound and mixing. Thus I prefer hardware GM synth.

There are games which sound pretty lousy even on some of equipment they support. Say, X-COM: Ufo Defense sounds excellent with an OPL3, but sucks a lot with AWE32. Vice versa, Magic Carpet 2: Netherworlds sounds excellent on an AWE32 (it even has a 512 Kb custom soundfont), and much poorer on an OPL3. I suppose it is because of music composers were perfecting their tracks for the equipment they particularly liked.

With gigantic soundfonts that arrived long after the MIDI era of game music ended - the game MIDIs are not optimized for them, and the result we hear is pretty much random. It could be sometimes even much better than on an authentic hardware, but most of the time it will be really pitiful.

Reply 15 of 30, by keropi

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Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman wrote:
keropi wrote:

^ gracias 😁

No problem. 😁

Anyway, I'm not really updated about modern sound card. What's so special about Auzentech X-Fi? I mean, does it capable to process sound font without burdening the CPU? And what is the maximum sound font size it can handle?

no ideas about soundfonts, but it does come with the full 64MB of X-RAM (useless 😜 ) and it has different amps/caps (with the option to install your own amps), you can read a review here: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/auzentec … %7C_test,1.html

It also features a cool red led that lights when the card gets power 😁 😁 😁 😁

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 16 of 30, by bloodbat

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

The X-Fi + LinkChoriumRevA.SF2 aims for something "beyond" a Roland Sound Canvas."

The link for the soundfont in overclockers is no longer working 🙁. I have a ChoriumRevA soundfont, but I'm not sure it's the same you used.
The MD5 hash of the one I have is
3b3ccb921d9bf29992a174a3315ff723

Reply 18 of 30, by Mau1wurf1977

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bloodbat wrote:

The link for the soundfont in overclockers is no longer working 🙁. I have a ChoriumRevA soundfont, but I'm not sure it's the same you used.
The MD5 hash of the one I have is
3b3ccb921d9bf29992a174a3315ff723

Oh yes that reminds me: It was removed one day and I received an email about copyright or something like that 😒

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel