Control Panel -> Multimedia -> MIDI

Thanks @derSammler,

Interestingly, that window location you suggested, does not have Microsoft Synthesizer. It only has "Creative Music Synth [220]" and "SB16 MIDI Out [330]".
I just did set up the windows again and what's also curious now is that Media Player now seems to be using only the soundcard's synth and only way for me to hear the "beautiful" Microsoft Sythesizer is to test the Music playback in "dxdiag".
Microsoft Synthesizer is still marked as the "Default Port".

What have i touched without me knowing about it? A bit confused now...

GigAHerZ wrote on 2020-05-28, 09:40:

Thanks @derSammler, […]
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Thanks @derSammler,

Interestingly, that window location you suggested, does not have Microsoft Synthesizer. It only has "Creative Music Synth [220]" and "SB16 MIDI Out [330]".
I just did set up the windows again and what's also curious now is that Media Player now seems to be using only the soundcard's synth and only way for me to hear the "beautiful" Microsoft Sythesizer is to test the Music playback in "dxdiag".
Microsoft Synthesizer is still marked as the "Default Port".

What have i touched without me knowing about it? A bit confused now...

There are 2 different MIDI related API available in Windows 9x. The classic WInMM and Directmusic. The Microsoft GM/GS Softsynth is only available as classic WinMM Midi Out port when you use WDM drivers. With Vxd drivers The Microsoft GM/GS Softsynth is only available as a Directmusic device (listed as Microsoft Synthesizer). On the control panel Multimedia -> MIDI part you can select what is the default Midi Out port for applications using WinMM API while in Dxdiag you can test Directmusic API. The vast majority of Win32 Midi applications use the classic WinMM API. WMP is an exception.

Ps:
On modern x64 Windows DirectMusic is virtually dead (despite it was later than WinMM) since some part of it has never been implemented for 64-bit.
WinMM API is still fully functional even for 64-bit applications (the missing Midi mapper is another issue).

As i understand then, under Multimedia -> MIDI, i should have an option of "Microsoft GM/GS Softsynth".
I currently don't have it there. I tried adding new hardware and install manually all kinds of microsoft's soft synths that are available for windows, but nothing created me a new option in the "MIDI" tab of Multimedia Properties.

How can i get that Microsoft's soft synth available in the MIDI tab?

EDIT:
Microsoft Synthesizer in Windows 9x
From here i read that this MS's synth is not installed by default, if sound card can be synth on it's own. But can i still manually add MS's synth so i can choose which i want later?

GigAHerZ wrote on 2020-05-28, 12:17:

As i understand then, under Multimedia -> MIDI, i should have an option of "Microsoft GM/GS Softsynth".

No. You only should have Microsoft GM/GS Soft synth as normal Midi Out port if you have WDM drivers installed. By default SB16 setup installs the Vxd drivers. With Vxd drivers installed you should NOT have Microsoft GM/GS Soft synth listed as possible Midi Out port.
(Look at your driver in device manager. You most likely have 'Sound Blaster 16 or AWE32 or compatible' under Sound Video and Game controllers. If you look at your driver file properties you most likely find SB16.VXD among others. This means you have VXD driver installed. To tell you the truth I'm not even sure if WDM drivers exist for SB16.)

GigAHerZ wrote on 2020-05-28, 12:17:

How can i get that Microsoft's soft synth available in the MIDI tab?

Install WDM drivers for your soundcard (if available). WDM drivers are only supported in Win98+. Win95 can only use Vxd drivers.
(Among ISA cards ESS1868/1869 definitely has WDM drivers. Creative PCI cards (Live/Audigy) also have WDM drivers. )

GigAHerZ wrote on 2020-05-28, 12:17:

Microsoft Synthesizer in Windows 9x
From here i read that this MS's synth is not installed by default, if sound card can be synth on it's own. But can i still manually add MS's synth so i can choose which i want later?

This is simply not true. It is always installed as part of Directx/Directmusic. Availability as a Midi Out port depends on the driver model not the synth capability of the soundcard.
(Otherwise if it would not be "installed" you could not see it in Music tab of Dxdiag either. And as you can see there it is.)

As confirmed by MS:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/1932 … etable-sw-synth

... Note that the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth device is available for use in Windows 98 only when Windows Driver Model (WDM) audio drivers are being used.

@Falcosoft, thanks for that information! The windows detected my Vibra16 card automatically as "Creative Sound Blaster 16 Plug and Play", quite possibly it's VxD. (How to check it? Though, it shows it's from 1997, therefore pre-Win98, so quite certain, it's VxD)
I've looked around, that with WDM, usually you need to sacrifice some performance - the slower cpu, the more performance you loose. Considering that, i'm not so keen to have Microsoft's Synth freely selectable anymore, if i loose some performance on my Pentium MMX @266MHz. 😜

Thank you once again for clarifying this issue! I may try WDM driver out (if i find one) just to confirm this on my hardware as well. Thanks again!

EDIT: Found "Driver File Details" window in Device Manager, which shows "SB16.VXD" as one of the driver files, while there are no ".WDM" files mentioned.