Right, I should be able to help out with this shortly. I have a number of devices I can offer, but I imagine most of them have already been covered.

- SC-55mkII
- SC-88ST
- SC-88ST Pro
- SC-8850
- MT-120
- PMA-5

An SC-33 is also arriving next week.

One thing I must say is that although the demo tracks are indeed very well programmed, they don't fully exploit the differences that can be heard between different engines employed in the devices. For example, a rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller (which sadly doesn't have any author information embedded) employs some clever filtering on both the brass sections (to make them brighter and snappier) and on the synth sections (to make them sound more analog) and this sounds vastly different across modules.

That being said, having re-read the first post, this project mainly focuses on the DAC rather than the actual device engine quirks and features.

Just a little feedback anyhow - I'll try and get these recordings done at some point soon for you.

And for anyone who is curious about the track I mentioned - please see attached. I've edited the track to remove the vocal tracks as they always sound terrible, no matter what song.

As a fact, i can confirm, that the MT-32 analog recordings looks almost (99,99%) the same as digital recordings from my MT-32 SPDIF mod.
They are not bit-to-bit identical, but this is also about different analog line in level, which i cannot set to equal digital in.

firage wrote on 2022-03-12, 12:43:

Sounds very interesting. I'd be happy to participate with my SCC-1 sound card in any way that's helpful. 😀

Recording gear and methods will impact the audio samples, so it'll be good to attach some of that information to all the recordings.

I did not read through this whole thread, so I apologize if this was already mentioned, but there are two versions of the SCC-1; the SCC-1A and SCC-1B, which the specs look a lot like the earlier SC-55 (not fully GM compatible) and SC-55mkII.

There are also different firmware versions for otherwise identical synthesizers, which could produce a different output. So for any submissions, the firmware version should be included as well.

See here for some research I did on all of this previously:

Significant differences with certain MIDI files across Roland synthesizers

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-08-21, 18:27:

I did not read through this whole thread, so I apologize if this was already mentioned, but there are two versions of the SCC-1; […]
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firage wrote on 2022-03-12, 12:43:

Sounds very interesting. I'd be happy to participate with my SCC-1 sound card in any way that's helpful. 😀

Recording gear and methods will impact the audio samples, so it'll be good to attach some of that information to all the recordings.

I did not read through this whole thread, so I apologize if this was already mentioned, but there are two versions of the SCC-1; the SCC-1A and SCC-1B, which the specs look a lot like the earlier SC-55 (not fully GM compatible) and SC-55mkII.

There are also different firmware versions for otherwise identical synthesizers, which could produce a different output. So for any submissions, the firmware version should be included as well.

See here for some research I did on all of this previously:

Significant differences with certain MIDI files across Roland synthesizers

Sure, there are ROM versions for all of this stuff. Minor firmware changes don't usually make a difference unless the material is specifically picked to bring it out, though it's always interesting when you do find something.

I know a major revision exists that's marked "SCC-1A "on the PCB. (I believe "SCC-1B" is just an SKU for the SCC-1A.) Mine is an original SCC-1 without the A. From my testing: "Equivalent to SC-55 version 1.2x plus an intelligent mode MPU. Features Capital Tone Fallback and drum channel program changes also fall back to nearest like early SC-55's. GM standard configuration of PC#122 Breath Noise / Fl. Key Click, but doesn't have the additional instruments from SC-55mkII." I can tell you that the top of the Program ROM chip reads "GSS.PRM.A 2, R15279809".

I read that it's not fully GM compatible, because it interprets the GM reset command as GS reset, like the other early SC-55s, can you confirm? I think that this is a problem for all firmware prior to 2.xx.

Kahenraz wrote on 2024-08-22, 12:14:

I read that it's not fully GM compatible, because it interprets the GM reset command as GS reset, like the other early SC-55s, can you confirm? I think that this is a problem for all firmware prior to 2.xx.

I'll have to re-check whether it flips Rx.NRPN on GM reset, but I'm quite sure it's just a GS reset. Because that's how the SC-55 originally worked, games do use GS features despite sending GM resets. Strict GM devices are more trouble then.

What does that mean? More trouble for newer devices?

I mean depending on your synth's reset behavior one game will sound as designed and another will not. The original SC-55 behavior was de facto standard for a couple of years.

On a seemingly random notion, I just installed the last version of Quicktime For Windows on my computer and the MIDI (Roland GS soundset) works wonderfully. It kicks the crap out of the Microsoft Synth and it's DLS file. It doesn't match up to the SoundCanvas VA, but it's pretty passable with GM and basic GS files, so maybe it should be added to the comparison list.

Nice comment. Didn’t know nor remember that QuickTime would install midi drivers. Thx.