Reply 51120 of 53280, by Kahenraz
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Turbo -> wrote on 2023-12-07, 17:42:PD2JK wrote on 2023-12-07, 15:28:Well, I got myself thrown into the world of external midi devices. Got this for relatively cheap.
What is the difference between this one and Roland MT-32?
Also note that not all SC-55s are 100% GM compatible. The early models were GS; I think that GM was not formally ratified just yet? The later models were GS/GM. You can see this by the presence of the General MIDI logo on the front bezel. I think there may also be an issue with the device responding to the GM reset command versus the GS reset command.
The effect seems to be very minor. See here for more information:
Roland SC-55 and MIDI compatibility
The earliest Roland SC-55s simply have a "GS STANDARD" logo on the bottom of the front panel, while slightly later SC-55s have a "GS" logo. Modules with the GS logo may still have General MIDI firmware.
There are also several different firmware revisions of the SC-55, with the latter 2.0 versions sounding slightly different due to a lawsuit from Yamaha regarding the capital tone fallback feature.
Depending on whether the game was made for the SC-88 or the SC-55, you might also run out of instrument polyphony, even though the music is still General MIDI.
Here is some additional information related to your SC-55:
Significant differences with certain MIDI files across Roland synthesizers
PCB destroying adhesive found in my Roland Sound Canvas SC-55mkII (inspect your synthesizer!)
Have you opened your SC-55 to check the battery inside?
Welcome to the rabbit hole.