Sound Profile, a series taking a look at old synths and MIDI hardware \ VOGONS

Sound Profile, a series taking a look at old synths and MIDI hardware

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First post, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2018-10-07, 00:11

SpeedySPCFan Offline

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Figured some people here might enjoy this - I've been doing a video series called Sound Profile where I take a look at old sound hardware or topics related to it, primarily stuff that relates to retro gaming in some way, but anything goes.... I just happen to own mostly gaming stuff 🤣

First episode explaining the basics of how MIDI works and how it relates to gaming; this was mostly in response to the tons of people I saw on YT comments talking about MIDI music but not really knowing what it was beyond MSGS sounding bad. https://youtu.be/yTRxrWnUomw

Second episode talking about the Yamaha PLG100-SG, an old expansion card for compatible synths that added a simple but effective singing synthesizer reminiscent of Vocaloid. Cool bit of history that's received very little attention over the years (although one of the users on here, SuperDeadite, posted the demos of it on his YT channel which I really appreciate, since I got copyright flagged when I put them in the original version of my video). https://youtu.be/ondrO7MCFH0

And the third and latest episode, talking about the SC-88 Pro in a very in-depth manner, going over all of the compatibility modes, editing features, how it sounds, etc etc. https://youtu.be/GL1onh_c3mE

I have some future episodes planned out; I'm hoping to cover the SC-8850 soon, along with the SC-55 and MT-32. Would like to tackle the OPL3 and some other FM chips at some point as well. Hopefully everyone enjoys it!

PS: I was unsure if this belonged in the Sound category of Marvin since it IS MIDI related, but future episodes are gonna branch off of being directly related to retro gaming so I think this would be the right place. Feel free to move it though!

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 1 of 11, by Beegle

Posted on 2018-10-07, 01:32

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Subscribed. This series is promising!

The more sound cards, the better.
AdLib documentary : Official Thread
Youtube Channel : The Sound Card Database

Reply 2 of 11, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2018-10-11, 04:23

SpeedySPCFan Offline

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Beegle wrote:
Subscribed. This series is promising!

Thank you! I'm working on some game reviews for Halloween right now, but in November I'll be back on track with a new Sound Profile episode hopefully. I'm thinking the SC-8850 is gonna be the topic of the next video.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 3 of 11, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2018-11-19, 02:03

SpeedySPCFan Offline

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New episode is finally out! Taking a look at the Roland ED SC-8850, the first USB synth and somewhat of an infamous one! https://youtu.be/6GUXbsqIuMQ

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 4 of 11, by doaks80

Posted on 2018-11-19, 02:23

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This is awesome!

k6-3+ 400 / s3 virge DX+voodoo1 / awe32(32mb)
via c3 866 / s3 savage4+voodoo2 sli / audigy1+awe64(8mb)
athlon xp 3200+ / voodoo5 5500 / diamond mx300
pentium4 3400 / geforce fx5950U / audigy2 ZS
core2duo E8500 / radeon HD5850 / x-fi titanium

Reply 5 of 11, by Salient

Posted on 2018-11-19, 05:48

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This is great!
My next purchase will probably be an sc-8850. 😀

MIDI comparison website: << Wavetable.nl >>
(Always) looking for: Any Wavetable daughterboard, MIDI Module (GM/GS/XG)

Reply 6 of 11, by keropi

Posted on 2018-11-19, 06:48

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I missed this thread, will check the vids after work thanks for the heads up! 😀

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

Reply 7 of 11, by Garrett W

Posted on 2018-11-19, 11:41

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Same, this sounds awesome and I'm already subscribed anyway due to your other videos, gotta thabk YouTube's algorithm for not pushing your vids on my feed 😁

Reply 8 of 11, by keropi

Posted on 2018-11-19, 20:47

keropi Offline

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really enjoyed the 1st episode - moving on to the others
shared the playlist on soem fb groups 😀

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

Reply 9 of 11, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2018-11-19, 22:10

SpeedySPCFan Offline

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keropi wrote:
really enjoyed the 1st episode - moving on to the others
shared the playlist on soem fb groups 😀

Thanks a lot! Any exposure helps; YT's algorithm is probably working against me since I don't have a consistent upload schedule, so word of mouth does a lot 😀

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 10 of 11, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2018-12-09, 05:26

SpeedySPCFan Offline

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Unexpected development: I now own a Roland XP-30! It's a JV-2080 derived synthesizer and... well, it's obviously meant for professional use given its stature, but it still has a General MIDI bank which will get a short mention in the video on it. Looks like I can finally make the JV/XV/XP Sound Profile episode I've been hankering to do for a while!

Question: would any owners of other JV models here be willing to pitch in some recordings to compare the audio quality of the models when the time comes? I just need recordings from a JV-1080 or XP-50, and then any other model except the JV-1010 (the 1010 has the same DAC as the XP-30). I have a couple of MIDIs I made myself that can be used as tests.

I also need a little bit of video from the JV-1080 and other models in use (changing sounds, playing them, etc), but I can get that from people on YouTube easily. Everyone I've talked to has been nice enough to grant permission to use their videos, given they're credited.

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

Reply 11 of 11, by SpeedySPCFan

Posted on 2019-01-16, 17:51

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New episode is out! Taking a look at the Roland JV, XV, and XP line up - some of the most popular professional synthesizers ever made, used in countless games from the 90s and early 2000s! https://youtu.be/kH3SrDkOzek

Musician & music gear/game reviewer.

MIDI hardware: JD-990, SC-55, SC-880, SD-90, VL70-m, Motif ES, Trinity, TS-10, Proteus 2000, XK-6, E6400U

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