What MPU-401 model do you have?

If it is the one that does the processing in the box itself, that requires a special interface card to hook up to. The SB Live has a built in UART midi port and will not work with the MPU-401 box.

There are also multiple different MPU-401 breakout boxes that work with certain models of Roland cards that do the processing on the cards themselves.

The intelligent mode MPU-401 cards / boxes are only required for games that use the MT-32 or similar and do not use the default bank patch and if you want to see the cool messages that pop up on the MT-32.

As for good sound in DOS (not just music), the SB Live is most definitely not good for DOS.

What brand and model motherboard do you have? Does it have any ISA slots? Does it have a PC-PCI / SB-Link header?

Ok, thanks for the reply! I have the MPU-401, I can't find any other designation on the box, it just says Model: MPU-401 and the serial number below that. It is the bigger box, not one of the smaller breakout boxes. It comes with a 25 pin cable that goes to the interface card. The card I will be using is the MIF-IPC-A. Actually it is designated as -B by the maker as it is a reproduction and can be seen here - https://www.ebay.com/itm/285007501552

The MPU-401 can be seen here on LGB's YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQn3SyDh2Xo at time mark 8:43. I would include pictures, but I don't see where I can upload attachments here.

From my research, the MPU-401 provides the "Intelligent mode" processing.

I have 2 systems. The purpose for my post was to determine if I could use the SB card and its midi port daughter board connected directly to the SC-55 mkii from a Dell Dimension XPS b733r (PCI) and bypass the MPU-401 all together. Maybe this is possible using a wavetable daughter board? Unfortunately I don't see a header on the SB Live card for such an add-on.

The real and main dedicated DOS machine setup will be on an IBM 350 486/DX2 66mhz.

For that, I have a Soundblaster 1.5 and a GUS PnP on the way, both reproductions. The computer has a riser board with (5) ISA Slots, but IBM did offer another riser board that has both ISA and PCI slots. That should be here in a couple of days. It's a 486/DX2 66mhz released in 1994 and discontinued in 2000.

So my final setup will be the following:

IBM Personal Computer 350 486/DX2 66mhz with both ISA/PCI slots
Soundblaster 1.5 repro, GUS PnP Repro - can be seen here - https://www.tindie.com/products/kdehl/gravis- … us-pnp-replica/
Roland MPU-401 cabled to "Lo-tech MIF IPC B" in an ISA slot
Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 Mkii
Roland MT-32

I am also on the list for an Orpheus II card if they ever come back into production.

Thanks for your help!

There are conflicting reports about the Live / Audigy cards supporting external devices under DOS.

I have not tried it myself.

You will need to aquire or make an adapter for the MIDI port as the CT4660 and even the 5.25" drive bay expansions for the Live / Audigy cards use a mini-din to din adapter for the MIDI ports.

See here for how to set up the Live under DOS, which also includes settings for the MIDI port:
https://www.ixbt.com/multimedia/sblive-dos.shtml

The site is in Russian but Google does a pretty good job of translating.