VOGONS


First post, by Cga.8086

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what version is the best for DOS gaming'? and why?

Roland Sc-55
or
Roland Sc-55 MKii

do you know?

Reply 1 of 6, by gdjacobs

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Cga.8086 wrote on 2020-02-13, 20:05:
what version is the best for DOS gaming'? and why? […]
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what version is the best for DOS gaming'? and why?

Roland Sc-55
or
Roland Sc-55 MKii

do you know?

Depends on the game. Some were composed for SC-55 with capital tone fallback. Some were composed for the mk2.

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Reply 3 of 6, by keropi

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Do not overthink it - both are a great choice. Personally I prefer the MK1 sound but both will work just fine in doom/duke3d just get the one with the better price 😉

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Reply 4 of 6, by derSammler

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gdjacobs wrote on 2020-02-14, 17:38:

Depends on the game. Some were composed for SC-55 with capital tone fallback. Some were composed for the mk2.

Wait, that doesn't make sense. Capital tone fallback kicked in when trying to use an instrument variation that isn't present. It would then use the parent instrument instead. How would you compose for that? It's not a feature one would use when composing music; it's actually something you would avoid by all means! Capital tone fallback was implemented with future additions of the GS standard in mind, so that the unit would be able to play later GS MIDI files that uses new instrument variations not yet present.

The only difference that matters is that the early SC-55 Mk.I had one patch that was later changed to something else. Can't remember what it was exactly, but I think Duke3D was affected by that change.

Reply 5 of 6, by SirNickity

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derSammler wrote on 2020-02-14, 21:49:

Wait, that doesn't make sense. Capital tone fallback kicked in when trying to use an instrument variation that isn't present. It would then use the parent instrument instead. How would you compose for that? It's not a feature one would use when composing music; it's actually something you would avoid by all means! Capital tone fallback was implemented with future additions of the GS standard in mind, so that the unit would be able to play later GS MIDI files that uses new instrument variations not yet present.

Roland disabled fallback on the MK II. If you sent CC#0 to select a variation tone that doesn't exist, you get MIDI instrument #129: Silence.

Fallback worked on the original SC55, and though most composers probably weren't "composing for" this feature, it did gloss over any issues where your sequencing software might have been inserting CC#0 messages that you didn't intend or know about. Maybe this was done automatically when using a GUI to select patches, or just leftover from prior edits and then never removed. The SC55 would just carry on playing the capital tone like nothing happened, but the MKII would select a non-existent tone.

derSammler wrote on 2020-02-14, 21:49:

The only difference that matters is that the early SC-55 Mk.I had one patch that was later changed to something else. Can't remember what it was exactly, but I think Duke3D was affected by that change.

Breath Noise. The earlier SC55 deviated from GM, replacing the Breath Noise effect with something else. The MK II restored Breath Noise as the capital tone to comply exactly with GM.

Reply 6 of 6, by gdjacobs

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derSammler wrote on 2020-02-14, 21:49:

Wait, that doesn't make sense. Capital tone fallback kicked in when trying to use an instrument variation that isn't present. It would then use the parent instrument instead. How would you compose for that? It's not a feature one would use when composing music; it's actually something you would avoid by all means! Capital tone fallback was implemented with future additions of the GS standard in mind, so that the unit would be able to play later GS MIDI files that uses new instrument variations not yet present.

The only difference that matters is that the early SC-55 Mk.I had one patch that was later changed to something else. Can't remember what it was exactly, but I think Duke3D was affected by that change.

It crops up with some soundtracks that were composed and tested on the SC55. Because the result was as desired with CTF, the composer presumably didn't correct the incomplete bank and program selection messages.

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