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Soundfonts in Windows 7

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First post, by Paddan1000

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I upgraded to Windows 7 from Windows XP. It seems that 7 doesn't support soundfonts or switching between different MIDI-devices and only uses the standard Windows synth whenever a MIDI-song is played. It doesn't support the gameport either, but even if I were to connect my MT-32 with a USB-MIDI-interface I wouldn't be able to select it for MIDI-playback.

There is supposed to be a workaround by editing some stuff in the registry, but it didn't work for me. Everything still sounds like the default Windows synth.

Has anyone else had the same experience and knows how to switch between different MIDI-playback devices?

My sound card is an Sound Blaster X-fi XtremeMusic by the way.

Reply 1 of 20, by MaxWar

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I think the peak of soundfont functionality was a SB live! running on win9x. I still have such a system. Soundfont support on latter Sound blaster cards and windows version has been going downhill it always seemed to me.

As for your specific issue, there is supposed to be some utilities to work around the problem of no midi mapper settings in win7.
Vistamidi maybe ? I never tried any of this.
Whether you run 32bit or 64 bit might be relevant.
What utility are you using to load your sound font ?

Personally the only midi uses i had on win7 was with dosbox, which lets you select the midi device via the configuration file,
and winamp, which also lets you choose the midi output device in its options. So i could live with it.

Reply 2 of 20, by Dominus

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You can use fluidsynth to load soundfonts

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Reply 3 of 20, by sklawz

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hi

i am in linux right now but when i do boot into
windows 7 (AMD64 X86_64) i use a applet
named `PLWMidiMap.cpl' which i believe I
dowloaded as plw-vista-midi-mapper_0_93.zip
to change the default midi device.

i also have kX project drivers loaded for my
audigy2. there is no doubt in my mind that
soundfonts will work here and it will supply
two output synths and a control panel where
you may load the soundfonts.

i admit i didn't intend to run kX on my gaming
partition, however, the creative drivers are
so bad i had really no choice since after the
last upgrade of them sound completely failed
to work at all.

bye

Reply 6 of 20, by Paddan1000

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I'm using Windows 7 64-bit and I load soundfonts using the Creative Soundfont Bank Manager like Davros does above.

I downloaded Vista MIDI mapper and it seems to have done the trick. Now I just have to buy a USB MIDI interface, since the gameport doesn't work in Windows 7. Or does it? Are there any unofficial drivers?

Reply 7 of 20, by Jorpho

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I found at least one unofficial gameport driver for Vista, but I have no idea if it would help any for getting an external MIDI device working; it might have been just for gamepads.

Don't forget you'll need the special gameport-to-MIDI cable as well if you want to go that route. (I suppose they must be available cheaply somewhere, but I haven't seen them.)

Reply 8 of 20, by collector

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I have no driver loaded for my Creative game port, either, but it still passes MIDI signals on my Win7 x64. Works fine with my MT-32. Nor do I have any problem with my Soundfont Bank Manager. Paddan1000 probably only needs something like Putzlowitsch's to select his MIDI device.

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Reply 9 of 20, by GXL750

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I have Windows 7 32bit on my desktop with a SoundBlaster Audigy 2ZS. Using Creative's SoundFont bank manager, I'm able to work with sound fonts just fine. I'm using drivers from Creative's site with no modifications or patches.

I suppose it might be different if I was using 64 bit OS.

My attempts in the past to use a Live with Windows 7 were problematic, however. There would always be some component on the card that didn't work right.

Reply 10 of 20, by elfuego

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MIDI selection also works for Terratec DMX 6 fire, as odd as it may seem 😀 Even though the x64 driver sucks (incredibly, full duplex doesnt work!), it still supports MIDI.

Reply 11 of 20, by Targaff

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Which driver are you using? I had heard tell that it had real issues under Vista and 7, so I didn't bother installing the 6fire when I upgraded.

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Reply 12 of 20, by xenoneo

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BassMIDI is what I use for soundfonts in windows 7.
I have a realtek soundcard, so it's been pretty amazing using all the soundfonts out there recently, when I previously had thought it impossible.
There's info in the link rcblanke posted.
It has a built in MIDI device selector as well, so you don't need the Putzlowitsch program unless you're running MUNT as well for some reason.

Reply 13 of 20, by Mau1wurf1977

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Paddan1000 wrote:

I'm using Windows 7 64-bit and I load soundfonts using the Creative Soundfont Bank Manager like Davros does above.

Hey!

I wrote a little guide a while ago:

Creative Labs X-Fi + SoundFont + W7 64bit + DOSBox + General Midi Games

Works fine using W7 64 bit. If you use DOSBox you don't even need to change the default MIDI device, just tell DOSBox which MIDI device it should use!

Reply 14 of 20, by elfuego

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Targaff wrote:

Which driver are you using? I had heard tell that it had real issues under Vista and 7, so I didn't bother installing the 6fire when I upgraded.

I tried all of the 'compatible' ones and I landed with the latest 5.53 which can be downloaded from here:
http://ftp.terratec.de/Audio/DMX6fire2496/Update/

I mainly used that soundcard for awesome surround sound via Sensaura. But that pleasant sound ended when I changed the system to Win XP x64 and Win7 64 - Sensaura is gone, and more importantly, I cannot make the card do both recording and playback at the same time (important for messengers like skype). So the only reason its still stuck in my machine is MIDI.

...But there should be a way to run it properly under Win 7 via Windows XP .86 mode which I didnt try out yet.

Reply 15 of 20, by DaveUUMusic

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I am also having issues with getting SoundFonts to work, on my new Windows 7 system. Here is my setup:

CPU: AMD FX 8150
Chipset: AMD 990X/SB950
RAM: 16GB
Sound Card: SB X-Fi Titanium HD
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit
MIDI software: AnvilStudio

Here's what happens: Everything *seems* to work okay, Soundfonts load, no errors, etc. But when I try to play a MIDI file in AnvilStudio, it plays way below the correct tempo, and it seems to be having trouble playing more than a couple of voices simultaneously, as random voices keep getting dropped. (I can post a sound sample if that helps give you an idea.) Then, if I try to just play individual notes on the keyboard in Soundfont Bank Manager, it will play the first note I hit, then go silent until I either change the Instrument or restart SFBM. If I try to play MIDI in any other app (e.g. Windows Media Player) it just ignores the Soundfonts altogether and uses the Windows default voices.

Does anyone have any idea how I might fix this? I'll continue to use my old Windows XP system just for MIDI if I have to, but I'd rather get it to work on the new one...

Reply 18 of 20, by NamelessPlayer

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Strange issue...I certainly don't notice anything of the sort when listening to game MIDI tracks on my modern system.

Perhaps you can provide an example of a MIDI file that's proven to be troublesome on your end, and then I experiment with it and Anvil Studio on both of my X-Fi-equipped computers (one Win7 64-bit, one WinXP)?

Reply 19 of 20, by DaveUUMusic

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SOLVED! --- The problems went away after I went into Creative Audio Control Panel and switched the card from "Entertainment Mode" to "Audio Creation" mode... These Sound Blaster "Modes" are a new concept for me...

Thanks for your help...