no

I think some people got the VSTi version to work on 7 64 using some other tools. Search the forum.

I'm attempting a trial of the VSTi route on my work laptop, which has Win7 64 installed. I can get "Virtual Sound Canvas VST" installed fine, but I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it, even after searching the forum. I did find something called "VST MIDI Driver," but it won't load any of the files included in this installation (it goes "This is NOT a VSTi synth!" for each of them).

I use SaviHost for VSTi prugins:
http://www.hermannseib.com/english/savihost.htm

I dropped the exe into the VSC VST directory, renamed the exe "VSC.exe" as instructed, and then run it. It says something along the lines of "error loading VSC.dll, please make sure you have renamed savihost.exe to VSC.exe before running."

Sounds like you set it up properly. Does the VSC trial have some trial limitation that prevents it from working? I use Windows XP SP3 for this stuff. Maybe try it with another VSTi plugin to check if the principle is working.

Heh - figured it out. I was using the 64-bit SAVIHost. I tried the 32-bit instead, and now it loads, and I can play VSC on the virtual keyboard!

A few other things, though -

1:
I take it that I need to find a way to redirect games' MIDI output to SAVIHost. What's the easiest way to do this? I am about to experiment with MIDIYoke, but if there's an easier way (or if MIDIYoke is the easiest then if there's a straightforward tutorial), I would rather hear it than guess.

2:
This thread here:
Roland Virtual Sound Canvas - VST sysex tune-up
suggests that the VST has "problems" with sysex commands. What problems exactly? Would this affect games, and should I apply this patch? Any IPS ROM patcher will do it, right?

3:
It sounds like SC-88/SC-88Pro sound maps to me. That's fine and dandy - most games sound better to my ears this way, but some only sound right with the SC-55 sound maps. Is there a way to change it? The VSC is configurable. Thread browsing suggested that you can change it in VST by switching .dat files, but it looks like the VST 1.6 dll has the mappings data embedded inside, and does not use any .dat file.

4:
Any other downsides to the VST that I'm not aware of?

5:
Any advantages to getting a REAL sound canvas? I was briefly tempted to pick up a SC-55 mkII (I hear you need one for later Sierra games), though this cooled down a bit now that I got SAVIHost working.

thecrankyhermit wrote:

5:
Any advantages to getting a REAL sound canvas? I was briefly tempted to pick up a SC-55 mkII (I hear you need one for later Sierra games), though this cooled down a bit now that I got SAVIHost working.

VSC differs from the real hardware in various ways. This doesn't mean it's bad, but the fact is that Roland wanted to sell some modules after all and making the softsynth 100% accurate wouldn't have helped that cause. 😉 Here is a comparison. I can spot a somewhat noticeable buzz noise in the beginning part of the VSC recording...

An advantage is the (in theory at least) infinite polyphony, of course. When not talking about games 28-voice polyphony on the SC-55mkII is quite limiting.

Btw there also was the Edirol Hyper Canvas. Doesn't get mentioned a lot. I believe it's from 2002 or so making it a bit newer than the latest VSC-MP1. It has only 256 tones, though I've heard claims about them being higher quality compared to VSC.