DreamBlaster X2M : New MIDI Module \ VOGONS

DreamBlaster X2M : New MIDI Module

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First post, by dreamblaster

Posted on 2016-04-23, 17:50

dreamblaster Offline

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Hello,

I 've been working on a new MIDI module project :
Dreamblaster X2M 'Limited Edition' :
- Small formfactor midi module : 9cm x 5cm x 3cm size
- Dream 5000 series synth chip with 81 voices polyphony
- Super low latency <1ms
- 64mbyte flash for soundbank data
- USB MIDI in (Class compliant midi device, works on windows XP without drivers)
- 'Classic' DIN MIDI input
- stereo line out using a high quality 24 bit DAC
- Preloaded with a high quality 16 megabyte Dream General MIDI soundbank (http://dream.fr/pdf/Serie5000/Soundbanks/GMBK5X128.pdf)

I have a small run of 10 boards ready, they work very well.
At this moment no more X2M boards are planned (it will depend on the feedback).

I am still working on the software. More specifically :
The Dream chip supports the proprietary Dream binary format soundbanks, so sf2 files cannot be loaded directly.
I am testing a Soundfont conversion flow using Chicken System's Hi Tech translator software combined with
the (expensive but necessary for compilation and editing) Dream 5000 sound development kit.
This entire flow still needs some testing and debugging, but we're getting there.
I'd love to hear your suggestions :

Which soundbanks would be great on the DreamBlaster X2M ?
- Top 5 soundbanks for retro gaming ?
- Top 5 soundbanks for live playing on a midi keyboard ?

Any soundfont experts\enthousiasts here ?

Cheers,
Serge

Visit http://www.serdashop.com for retro sound cards, video converters, ...
DreamBlaster X2, S2, S2P, HDD Clicker, ... many projects !
New X2GS SE & X16GS sound card : https://www.serdashop.com/X2GS-SE ,
Thanks for your support !

Reply 1 of 35, by stamasd

Posted on 2016-04-23, 18:22

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I'd be interested in the X2M if you can load custom soundfonts on it. It's why I haven't gone for a S1 or a X1.

If you have to ask about which soundfont... FluidR3 would be nice, but it's over 64MB.

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 2 of 35, by keropi

Posted on 2016-04-23, 18:42

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great news! any recordings/pics of it?

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 3 of 35, by dreamblaster

Posted on 2016-04-23, 19:35

dreamblaster Offline

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Hi Keropi,

here are some pictures of X2M :

X2M_INSIDE.png

X2M_SIDE_VIEW2.jpg

X2M_FRONT2.jpg

X2M_CONNECTORS2.jpg

I will probably do some recordings next week.
Which MIDI files do you want to hear ?

Grtz,
Serge

Last edited by dreamblaster on 2016-05-10, 19:15. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 4 of 35, by Stiletto

Posted on 2016-04-23, 19:51

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"VOGON Tribute Limited Edition" ... Love it! 😁

... technically it's VOGONS tho... 😉

"I see a little silhouette-o of a man, Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you
do the Fandango!" - Queen

Stiletto

Reply 5 of 35, by keropi

Posted on 2016-04-23, 20:31

keropi Offline

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looks really nice!
well as for midis , just the usual well-known ones like DOOM E1M1 , DN3D Grabbag, maybe some ROTT ones... 😀

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 6 of 35, by dreamblaster

Posted on 2016-04-23, 22:20

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here are some quick recordings of X2M with the GMBK5X128 cleanwave 128 soundbank

ROTT_deadly.mp3

dukenukem_grabbag.mp3

doom_e1m1.mp3

Reply 7 of 35, by rgart

Posted on 2016-04-23, 22:46

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Very impressive and it sounds great, following this project with interest

Last edited by rgart on 2016-04-23, 23:40. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 8 of 35, by clueless1

Posted on 2016-04-23, 23:14

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Sounds incredible!

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
DOS PCI Graphics Card Benchmarks

Reply 9 of 35, by PhilsComputerLab

Posted on 2016-04-23, 23:15

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Yes these sound very nice. Got to listen to it a bit more and compare it with the X1, but both sound very nice 😀

YouTube, Facebook, Website

Reply 10 of 35, by keropi

Posted on 2016-04-24, 13:21

keropi Offline

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It does sound very nice! thanks for making the recordings dreamblaster. I'll be watching the project 😀

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 11 of 35, by Artex

Posted on 2016-04-24, 13:34

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Nice work (again!) Sounds great!

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Reply 12 of 35, by moturimi1

Posted on 2016-04-24, 16:36

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Quite impressive. I am looking forward to proceeding of this project.
I might be interested in one of the boards.

Reply 13 of 35, by hard1k

Posted on 2016-04-26, 10:26

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Being a keen collector of Serdaco devices, I'm already willing to get one 😀

Fortex, the A3D & XG/OPL3 accelerator (Vortex 2 + YMF744 combo sound card)
AWE64 Legacy
Please have a look at my wishlist (hosted on Amibay)

Reply 14 of 35, by FaSMaN

Posted on 2016-04-26, 11:09

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A friend of mine does a lot of synth work and loves making music, if your ever going to sell one drop me a PM and I will get one for him as this is right up his street.

http://soundcloud.com/DigitalMusicXpress

Reply 15 of 35, by Kodai

Posted on 2016-04-27, 02:22

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I would love to buy one of these as they sound great and have the phrase "Vogon Limited Tribute Edition" on them.

Reply 16 of 35, by aleksej

Posted on 2016-04-27, 05:49

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dreamblaster wrote:
Which soundbanks would be great on the DreamBlaster X2M ?

Eye & I Voice Crystal 4mb GM bank and Chorium i think.

Reply 17 of 35, by mattrock1988

Posted on 2016-04-28, 16:23

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Count me in if you are planning on doing a limited run of these units, especially if the soundfonts can be dynamically swapped out on the fly. I like the premise of a USB port for power delivery and possibly serial communications.

~~Retro PC: Intel Pentium III @ 1 GHz, Intel SE440BX-2, 32 GB IDE DOM, 384 MB SDRAM, DVD-ROM, 1.44 MB floppy, Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600 AGP, Creative SoundBlaster AWE64 Gold, Aureal Vortex 2~~
I only rely on 86box these days. My Pentium 3 PC died. 🙁

Reply 18 of 35, by dreamblaster

Posted on 2016-04-30, 18:32

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yeah I did a limited run : 10 pieces, that's it.
I have them here 😀

X2M_ALLOFTHEM.JPG

Last edited by dreamblaster on 2016-05-10, 19:15. Edited 3 times in total.

Reply 19 of 35, by F2bnp

Posted on 2016-04-30, 18:51

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Dang, that's mighty awesome!

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