VOGONS


First post, by walterg74

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hi folks, reading a bit about the SC-55 series, and I’m a bit confused...

On one hand, I read that the best one you can get is the MKII, but on the other I also saw the discussion of ROM versions, and it’s also said that an older version (1.20/1.21) was the best one because it lacks no features, and looking at the MKII it seems it has a newer ROM that’s lacking.

What’s the real deal? Is the older ROM more important or the MKII model more important? In the end, are those features relevant if you will just use it for gaming, or more for music making?

Thanks,

Reply 3 of 9, by Spikey

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

The important feature in my opinion is the extra 4 note polyphony of the mkII, which yields better results in later GM games such as Gabriel Knight, or Quest for Glory IV. And IIRC, the DAC might be 18-bit vs 16-bit. But it's not life or death stuff.

Re: Doubts on Roland sc-55 VS sc-55mkii is a good summation, IMHO.

Walterg74: As for the link you quoted, see this comment by Cloudschatze:
"The v2.00 SC-55s do support capital tone fallback. There is a slight difference in drum set Program Change behavior however, affecting the improperly-programmed sequences of at least two known game titles."

In other words, drum changes in a GS sense may be affected, i.e. from STANDARD to something else, on at least 2 games. I would go with the higher quality and extra polyphony unless those affected games are my 2 favourites 😀 (Not sure what they are?)

Reply 4 of 9, by walterg74

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Spikey wrote:
The important feature in my opinion is the extra 4 note polyphony of the mkII, which yields better results in later GM games suc […]
Show full quote

The important feature in my opinion is the extra 4 note polyphony of the mkII, which yields better results in later GM games such as Gabriel Knight, or Quest for Glory IV. And IIRC, the DAC might be 18-bit vs 16-bit. But it's not life or death stuff.

Re: Doubts on Roland sc-55 VS sc-55mkii is a good summation, IMHO.

Walterg74: As for the link you quoted, see this comment by Cloudschatze:
"The v2.00 SC-55s do support capital tone fallback. There is a slight difference in drum set Program Change behavior however, affecting the improperly-programmed sequences of at least two known game titles."

In other words, drum changes in a GS sense may be affected, i.e. from STANDARD to something else, on at least 2 games. I would go with the higher quality and extra polyphony unless those affected games are my 2 favourites 😀 (Not sure what they are?)

Awesome, thanks for the info!

Reply 5 of 9, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
Spikey wrote:

Walterg74: As for the link you quoted, see this comment by Cloudschatze:
"The v2.00 SC-55s do support capital tone fallback. There is a slight difference in drum set Program Change behavior however, affecting the improperly-programmed sequences of at least two known game titles."

That comment specifically relates to the v2.00 (ROM) SC-55s, in case there's any confusion there. The SC-55mkII does not support capital tone fallback.

Reply 6 of 9, by walterg74

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
Cloudschatze wrote:
Spikey wrote:

Walterg74: As for the link you quoted, see this comment by Cloudschatze:
"The v2.00 SC-55s do support capital tone fallback. There is a slight difference in drum set Program Change behavior however, affecting the improperly-programmed sequences of at least two known game titles."

That comment specifically relates to the v2.00 (ROM) SC-55s, in case there's any confusion there. The SC-55mkII does not support capital tone fallback.

Lol.. k, guess the question stands then?

Reply 7 of 9, by BloodyCactus

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie

well, if your favourite game of all time relies on capital tone fallback, then yeah it matters which one you get... otherwise so few games require capital tone fallback it does not matter and something like an SC88 with more polyphony is better 😜

and since you cant tell unless the supplier shows the rom version on the display, if your getting a CTF capable sc55 or not. serial nums on the device etc are no guarantee.

outside of CTF, its really a question of GM/GS/XG polyphony for picking a 55 vs 88 vs MU100 Series

--/\-[ Stu : Bloody Cactus :: [ https://bloodycactus.com :: http://kråketær.com ]-/\--

Reply 8 of 9, by walterg74

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
BloodyCactus wrote:

well, if your favourite game of all time relies on capital tone fallback, then yeah it matters which one you get... otherwise so few games require capital tone fallback it does not matter and something like an SC88 with more polyphony is better 😜

and since you cant tell unless the supplier shows the rom version on the display, if your getting a CTF capable sc55 or not. serial nums on the device etc are no guarantee.

outside of CTF, its really a question of GM/GS/XG polyphony for picking a 55 vs 88 vs MU100 Series

So the questions comes of course, is there a list of which games actually use the feature and don’t sound correct without it?

Right now I have a plain 55 w/2.00 ROM and a plain 88. About to get an MKII, an MU-80, CM-32L and MT100 to spice things up... 😀

Reply 9 of 9, by Cloudschatze

User metadata
Rank Oldbie
Rank
Oldbie
BloodyCactus wrote:

and since you cant tell unless the supplier shows the rom version on the display, if your getting a CTF capable sc55 or not. serial nums on the device etc are no guarantee.

All explicit "SC-55" units, regardless of ROM version or serial number, support capital tone fallback. This feature wasn't removed until the SC-55mkII.