I left out that I have a MB with 3 ISA slots sitting around for the first option

Removed exodos from op topic and post. So called abandonware not supported here.

SB16's in 16bit mode can have issues with dropped MIDI notes.

Are you planning to run these cards in your Pentium 3? Those CPUs don't have many options for unclocking and just plain slowing down. This makes older games that target the MT32 not run correctly.

For the best bang for your buck setup, I recommend getting a PicoGUS. It does both GUS, as well as hard MPU401 which is needed for some games. It's also half the price of a PCMIDI card. Then get a WP32 McCake which is an MT32 Pi daughter board and run that through the PicoGUS. That will combine a SB Pro, OPL2, GUS, MT32, external MIDI, and USB Joystick support into a single ISA slot.

You can then try out different SoundFonts on the McCake as well. The X2GS uses licensed Roland samples, but it's not a full SC55. There are effect differences. Currently you need a real SC55. But if you never experienced the real thing, you might not see any reason to advance beyond the SoundFont. Then look at a solution to run the nuked SC55 emulator once that's been hopefully integrated with MT32 Pi.

Doombringer4u2nv wrote on 2024-12-27, 16:48:

I did not know how to label this topic but I was playing with MT-32 and Sound Canvas emulation in those games and it blew me awa […]
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I did not know how to label this topic but I was playing with MT-32 and Sound Canvas emulation in those games and it blew me away. I never knew what I was missing in the 1990s. 🤣. Anyhow, I was going to get some hardware for my retro pc in sig to have this type of sound on that machine. Some many options today and somewhat confusion. So I did some research and come up with two options.

I was originally planning on doing a Roland MPU-401 with a MT-32 and a Sound Canvas SC-55 Mk II. My questions are I am awaiting a Dreamblaster X16GS daughter board for by SB16 and read that it is similar to the Sound Canvas SC-55 MK II in the way of General MIDI sounds. Is that true? I guess it would be since "General MIDI" is a standard. Also, I am waiting on a reply from the website that sells PCMIDI cards and if I can get that then I can forget getting a MPU-401 I suppose?

So I don't know what would be better as far as "better" goes. I play mostly DOS games if that matters.

MPU-401
MT-32
Sound Canvas SC-55 MkII
SB16
GUS clone in sig

Or

PCMIDI card
MT-32
SB16 w/ Dreamblaster X16GS
GUS clone in sig

Thanks for any suggestions

JD

I highly recommend watching Phil’s video on midi devices. You’ll discover there are 2 versions of the MT-32 (new/old). To cover most early DOS games you’ll probably need a combination of the MT-32 (old) and a CM-32L or a CM-500 with a hardware mod. Then do you want a SC-55 or SC-55MKII….midi is a deep rabbit hole so plenty of research is needed.

See https://www.philscomputerlab.com/ultimate-rol … 2-tutorial.html

If you don’t want to go down the original hardware route then there are other options such a WP32 McCake with a front panel which will cover the MT-32 all the way to a SC-55 and more

See https://youtu.be/KRRM1D98yOY

Then you’ll probably want a MPU401 with intelligent mode. I highly recommend the PicoGUS. Extremely versatile and I use it to connect to all my original midi hardware in MPU401 mode.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEHVB0FITqU

Hi, I think it should also be more often mentioned that the Roland LAPC-I sound card had an on-board CM-32L rather than MT-32.
So certain games with an LAPC-I selection may take advantage of the extra sound effects of the CM-32L, like water sounds (river splashing).

Games that uses the CM-32L specific sound effects

Thank you so much for all the great info! I do have a SB16 with a DSP version with the note bugs. Something to consider.

I found a Mt-32 "old" or al least the serial number is in the 83xxx range but they want $500 for it. Newer ones are half the price.

I will start reading more.

JD

Sort of a disappointment, I received by x16GS today and it appears their is no way to use any of the window apps for it because the chip is not support in Win98 or ME for that matter. Win98 detects it but no drivers are available. So how are "old retro pc computers" suppose to mess with the setting or load sound banks? Nothing in the manual about dos apps either.

Doombringer4u2nv wrote on 2024-12-28, 00:04:

Sort of a disappointment, I received by x16GS today and it appears their is no way to use any of the window apps for it because the chip is not support in Win98 or ME for that matter. Win98 detects it but no drivers are available. So how are "old retro pc computers" suppose to mess with the setting or load sound banks? Nothing in the manual about dos apps either.

EDIT: Sorry, I completely misread the question .

If you can't get it to work over USB directly on a retro machine with Windows 98 or ME, you have a few options, including (off the top of my head)

a) Put it on a supported soundcard with a waveblaster header

b) Get an external Chill carrier board https://www.serdashop.com/chill or similar for the X16GS and connect it to an existing MIDI port on the Windows 98 machine

c) get something like this https://www.amazon.ca/CAMOLA-UMH-20-Converter … /dp/B09S5YC2Z9/ to allow you to connect the USB MIDI interface on the X16GSto standard DIN MIDI and connect it to an existing MIDI port on the Windows 98 machine

d) Connect the X16GS to a modern machine over USB, add a standard MIDI (DIN connector) interface to that modern PC, connect it to an existing MIDI port on the Windows 98 machine and run a MIDI routing application on the modern PC to send the MIDI data to the X16GS

Doombringer4u2nv wrote on 2024-12-28, 00:04:

Sort of a disappointment, I received by x16GS today and it appears their is no way to use any of the window apps for it because the chip is not support in Win98 or ME for that matter. Win98 detects it but no drivers are available. So how are "old retro pc computers" suppose to mess with the setting or load sound banks? Nothing in the manual about dos apps either.

There are MIDI files you can play in a DOS or Win9X MIDI player to switch which sound bank you are using. But for uploading the sound banks, and adjusting settings, you'll need to connect to a modern PC.

SScorpio wrote on 2024-12-28, 01:36:

Doombringer4u2nv wrote on 2024-12-28, 00:04:

Sort of a disappointment, I received by x16GS today and it appears their is no way to use any of the window apps for it because the chip is not support in Win98 or ME for that matter. Win98 detects it but no drivers are available. So how are "old retro pc computers" suppose to mess with the setting or load sound banks? Nothing in the manual about dos apps either.

There are MIDI files you can play in a DOS or Win9X MIDI player to switch which sound bank you are using. But for uploading the sound banks, and adjusting settings, you'll need to connect to a modern PC.

Yeah. This ^.

I completely misunderstood the question that @Doombringer4u2nv has asked .

Doombringer4u2nv wrote on 2024-12-28, 00:04:

Sort of a disappointment, I received by x16GS today and it appears their is no way to use any of the window apps for it because the chip is not support in Win98 or ME for that matter. Win98 detects it but no drivers are available. So how are "old retro pc computers" suppose to mess with the setting or load sound banks? Nothing in the manual about dos apps either.

Loading sound banks and playing back are two different activities.

You load the sound banks on a modern computer using the relevant apps over USB.

You then connect this to your vintage computer and can playback.

As for DOS or Win9x: the Wavetable header this is plugged into has a MIDI address assigned (default would be 0x330). Just tell your - vintage - software/games to do MIDI playback over that address.