Roland Sound Canvas is also just one soundfont... what makes it so special for us retro gamers is that Roland was sooo popular back in the day that the game developers / music composers composed the sound tracks for Roland Sound Canvas. The result is that the music sounds AS INTENDED by the developer when you use Roland gear for playback. But of course it doesn't mean that every track sounds best when played back on Roland gear. Good example is Doom..It was composed for Roland but many people think it sounds better when played back with Yamaha soundfont. That may be due to more punchy drums, etc. Many people think that the sound font from KORG is even better.. but not due to the drums but due to the overdriven / distorted guitars.

What I want to say.. It always depends on personal preference. One should always keep in mind that the composers of the old DOS games music had the Roland Sound Canvas in mind when composing their game music; so it is most likely that you get the most balanced music experience when using Roland gear. But you will miss some great alternatives. That applies to modern high quality soundfonts as well as to different alternative soundfonts from back in the day.

I'd like to invite you to listen to my wavetable recordings I made from many different soundfonts from the 90ies: http://www.amoretro.de/soundkarten-und-wavetable-recordings

Cheers
Fabian

I only use Roland LA and GM/GS personally. FGB summarized it very well.

I agree with the above posts. It's really a matter of personal taste.. For me, I've always loved the sound of a 2MB Ensoniq SoundScape or Roland SC-55 General Midi, but my horizons have been widened after hearing DOOM/DOOM2 with my Gravis UltraSound Classic with the proper DOOM/DOOM2 patches. It's even cooler because you can change drum sets on the fly!