GM sound varies by manufacturer. From what I've heard on Youtube, most Yamaha GM modules sound colder and flatter than Roland GM modules from the same time period (my reason for being very doubtful whether I'll ever pick one up, just don't like the sound), so I guess it's something you'll have to get used to.

Congrats on the new unit. $45 for an MU100 seems like a good price. I paid about double for an MU80 a little while back. In terms of equivalency, the MU100 is probably around the SC-88 Pro. Both came out at roughly the same time and feature similar specs.

For sound, I find that Yamaha units seem better geared to electronic soundtracks particular in XG mode. For example, I much prefer the Descent soundtrack played back on a Yamaha versus a Roland soundcanvas.

Here's a sample of the Descent theme song on a Roland SC-55 versus the Yamaha MU-80:

Descent theme - Roland SC-55
Descent theme - Yamaha MU-80 (XG mode)

yawetaG wrote:

GM sound varies by manufacturer. From what I've heard on Youtube, most Yamaha GM modules sound colder and flatter than Roland GM modules from the same time period (my reason for being very doubtful whether I'll ever pick one up, just don't like the sound), so I guess it's something you'll have to get used to.

Maybe I'm in the same situation as yours. I think the bitrate of Yamaha samples is lower than Roland's on GM, it sounds a little bit noisy and unclear, especially the drums, but for XG, it's something totally different. It sounds much brighter and flatter, pretty suitable for Japanese style games. So I will keep using on more games. Thank u, dude 😀 😀

Shponglefan wrote:

Congrats on the new unit. $45 for an MU100 seems like a good price. I paid about double for an MU80 a little while back. In t […]
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Congrats on the new unit. $45 for an MU100 seems like a good price. I paid about double for an MU80 a little while back. In terms of equivalency, the MU100 is probably around the SC-88 Pro. Both came out at roughly the same time and feature similar specs.

For sound, I find that Yamaha units seem better geared to electronic soundtracks particular in XG mode. For example, I much prefer the Descent soundtrack played back on a Yamaha versus a Roland soundcanvas.

Here's a sample of the Descent theme song on a Roland SC-55 versus the Yamaha MU-80:

Descent theme - Roland SC-55
Descent theme - Yamaha MU-80 (XG mode)

Thank u so much, bro!! So much valuable information provided, and I do appreciate! Seems my MU-100 is much cheaper! I have to say it is a cheap one even in Japan (I'm living in Japan now), normally an MU-80 costs $50 some here.

Your samples are excellent! MU series sounds really nice on XG mode! Do u know more games with XG mode supported?

Saotome Ranma wrote:

yawetaG wrote:

GM sound varies by manufacturer. From what I've heard on Youtube, most Yamaha GM modules sound colder and flatter than Roland GM modules from the same time period (my reason for being very doubtful whether I'll ever pick one up, just don't like the sound), so I guess it's something you'll have to get used to.

Maybe I'm in the same situation as yours. I think the bitrate of Yamaha samples is lower than Roland's on GM, it sounds a little bit noisy and unclear, especially the drums,

I don't think the bitrate has much to do with it, there are GM modules and synths that use low bitrates for their samples and that sound absolutely fantastic, with a lot of character (e.g. some Korg and Kawai stuff). Yamaha's GM modules seem to lack that, they just sound rather plain. You could try playing with the samples' settings to see whether it improves things, especially if the XG samples sound better.

Having had a 100, I would say the MU2000 was amazing in comparison. Digital output made a hell of a difference to the sound. I sold mine to get a Yamaha MOTIF ES, but the 2000 was great. You can hear the 100 I think on my Eco Quest 2 soundtrack on Sierra Music Central, the 'Otters and the Rainforest' track is all MU100. The 2000 might be in patches in the Space Quest V soundtrack, would have to think.

It has a Roland GS set that is underrated also, the whole synth (any XG synth) mimics the layout of the Roland SC series. I like that, I wish more synths had that layout now, instead of random patches thrown around (yes, I know they're a *little* more organised now).

Do the XG synthesizers mimic the SC effects? Can a MU-100 or MU-2000 reproduce SC-88 or SC-88 Pro MIDI files reasonably? Like the enhanced version of Grab Bag that Lee Jackson made and eventually shared?

kode54 wrote:

Do the XG synthesizers mimic the SC effects? Can a MU-100 or MU-2000 reproduce SC-88 or SC-88 Pro MIDI files reasonably? Like the enhanced version of Grab Bag that Lee Jackson made and eventually shared?

AFAIK, there are hidden Roland GS compatible modes in MU 1000 and 2000. U just need to upgrade them with the latest patches or firmwares(?) and they will be the kinda-all-purpose-midi-modules for u to go, although GS is played via yamaha's samples.

MU-2000 is my next and final target on Yamaha series' midi module.

Saotome Ranma wrote:

kode54 wrote:

Do the XG synthesizers mimic the SC effects? Can a MU-100 or MU-2000 reproduce SC-88 or SC-88 Pro MIDI files reasonably? Like the enhanced version of Grab Bag that Lee Jackson made and eventually shared?

AFAIK, there are hidden Roland GS compatible modes in MU 1000 and 2000. U just need to upgrade them with the latest patches or firmwares(?) and they will be the kinda-all-purpose-midi-modules for u to go, although GS is played via yamaha's samples.

MU-2000 is my next and final target on Yamaha series' midi module.

MU-2000EX, then, if you want the GS-compatibility. That's a MU-2000 with upgraded firmware.
This might be a problem because when there's talk of "firmware upgrades" with older synth modules, those can't always be loaded over SysEx/MIDI or from floppy, sometimes you have to physically swap the firmware chip. Often, manufacturers offer the firmwares for download from their website if they can be loaded from floppy or via SysEx, but replacement chips for old stuff are harder to come by (check Ebay).

Edit: apparently the firmware patches for MU-2000EX are only available via Yamaha Japan's website (with explanations in Japanese) and the upgrade procedure is complicated and risks bricking the unit, according to this post on this very forum.

Do the XG synthesizers mimic the SC effects? Can a MU-100 or MU-2000 reproduce SC-88 or SC-88 Pro MIDI files reasonably? Like the enhanced version of Grab Bag that Lee Jackson made and eventually shared?

It seems the MU2000 has the same GS implementation as the SYXG-50 softsynth (namely TG300B).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmkbRT7quYc
If it's true then the answer is no. I'm not a big fan of the 'enhanced' version of Grabbag theme (mainly because of the complete lack of reverb and overused chorus effect on the guitars) but it sounds pretty bad/unbalanced on the TG300B compared to the original in the game.
GrabbagOriginalVer_GS1.mid otherwise seems to be composed on at least an SC-8820/8850. It uses PC: 30 CC0: 24 CC32: 3 on channel 3 (Rock Rhythm) that is the SC-88Pro Map* on 8820/8850. E.g. this instrument is missing from the TG300B.

*correction: It's using LSB: 2 so it could have been a native SC-88Pro

Saotome Ranma wrote:

Your samples are excellent! MU series sounds really nice on XG mode! Do u know more games with XG mode supported?

I'm not overly familiar with games that specifically make use of the XG features, at least outside of Japan. I believe those games tend to be limited to certain Japanese titles (like Final Fantasy VII).

However any GM midi will work on an MU module in XG mode. It's just a matter of experimenting and finding ones that sound good.

Shponglefan wrote:

Saotome Ranma wrote:

Your samples are excellent! MU series sounds really nice on XG mode! Do u know more games with XG mode supported?

I'm not overly familiar with games that specifically make use of the XG features, at least outside of Japan. I believe those games tend to be limited to certain Japanese titles (like Final Fantasy VII).

However any GM midi will work on an MU module in XG mode. It's just a matter of experimenting and finding ones that sound good.

Yea, maybe u r right, but I believe most of those Jap titles are probably not for DOS PC, but a specially kind of alternative named PC-98 series released by NEC, which beaten DOS PC at 90s in Japan....

MU-2000EX, then, if you want the GS-compatibility. That's a MU-2000 with upgraded firmware.
This might be a problem because when there's talk of "firmware upgrades" with older synth modules, those can't always be loaded over SysEx/MIDI or from floppy, sometimes you have to physically swap the firmware chip. Often, manufacturers offer the firmwares for download from their website if they can be loaded from floppy or via SysEx, but replacement chips for old stuff are harder to come by (check Ebay).

Edit: apparently the firmware patches for MU-2000EX are only available via Yamaha Japan's website (with explanations in Japanese) and the upgrade procedure is complicated and risks bricking the unit, according to this post on this very forum.

Yeah, I forgot mine was a MU-2000EX. I actually did it myself, and to be honest, I don't remember how I did it, but I feel like it was very easy and something like running an EXE with the USB cable hooked up and the firmware updated.

Anyway, back on topic, I think the MU100 is a great unit, not just the 2000 (I've owned both). I used it on some soundtracks I recorded also, like Freddy Pharkas- almost every string track is a combination of the SC-55 or 8850 strings combined with one of the string vriation patches (maybe var 64?). I really like the attack on some of the XG strings.
Must be on some of my other recordings also.