Niiice. MPU401AT seems like the ultimate MIDI interface card. Best of both words there. That with MT32 and DB60XG, alongside SB Pro2 would be an unstoppable team!

Nice video! Prefer the Roland myself, but I must admit that I prefer Duke Nukem on Yamaha 😉

vetz wrote:

Nice video! Prefer the Roland myself, but I must admit that I prefer Duke Nukem on Yamaha 😉

I used to have a preference, til I found that it basically boils down to which game sound better on which device, and even down to individual tracks!

I found that Doom is a huge mixed bag, some levels are better on Roland, some better on Yamaha, and some even sound best on GUS!

SquallStrife wrote:

Niiice. MPU401AT seems like the ultimate MIDI interface card. Best of both words there. That with MT32 and DB60XG, alongside SB Pro2 would be an unstoppable team!

Yes and no. I mention this in my vide, the MPU401AT doesn't seem to have a mixer (maybe it does??? I admit I didn't investigate) and the NEC 385 outputs a very strong signal.

Most games will therefore clip. Now many games allow you to reduce the volume inside the game, but not all. This is one of the reasons why I didn't test Privateer as it was clipping badly on the NEC 385 and the game has no volume option.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Yes and no. I mention this in my vide, the MPU401AT doesn't seem to have a mixer (maybe it does??? I admit I didn't investigate) and the NEC 385 outputs a very strong signal.

Aah yes, true that.

I've always had my XR385 on that CMI8330 based card, so I never noticed.

Only needing the one card would be a plus though, you could always run the audio out through an external mixer.

Up to the Sam & Max demo... eesh, a bit hit and miss with some instruments.... I'd almost say it sounds better on OPL3!

One sound that stood out to me was the "alarm" sound in Space Quest 5. Sounds quite different on the NEC.

Very nice comparison! I'm not really sure which I prefer; as has been said it varies from game to game. They both sound quite good though. I'm actually leaning slightly towards favoring the Yamaha I think.

I think after I take care of some other expenses I'll get one of those XR385 cards for my 486. It would be a nice addition to my real-OPL3 CT2940 and would be a good, cheap way for me to get into the world of MIDI, until the time when I get a more expensive setup down the line.

At that price and availability why wouldn't you 😀

This video is awesome, thanks for putting it together!

vetz wrote:

Nice video! Prefer the Roland myself, but I must admit that I prefer Duke Nukem on Yamaha 😉

Exactly. I have both myself and I must admit, duke sounds better on yamaha. Everything else sounds better on roland.

Nice vid and downloading it too 😀

Wish that this midi gear wasn't so rare.

Great vid!
Ive been doing the same but quickly unplugging the speakers from each device so I loose the contanunity.

For sound generally I prefer the Yamaha for bling I love watching the Roland's LCD screen.
but then there is always that 1 track I prefer on the other device. Like Raptor, the 1st mission I actaully prefer the standard SB16's midi

I think I saw somewhere Duke3d takes advantage of the XG extention on the Yamaha?

Wondering if that eBay seller is going to see an increase in his NEC 385 orders 😀

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Wondering if that eBay seller is going to see an increase in his NEC 385 orders 😀

Great vid! 😁 Although personally I think the NEC XR385 sounded better, but that's just my honest opinion.

With that said, i'm sure he will, however the real question is where the heck does he get all these NEC XR385 cards from!? 😁

He's been selling them for roughly 2 years now. 😳

PhaytalError wrote:

Great vid! :D Although personally I think the NEC XR385 sounded better, but that's just my honest opinion. […]
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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Wondering if that eBay seller is going to see an increase in his NEC 385 orders 😀

Great vid! 😁 Although personally I think the NEC XR385 sounded better, but that's just my honest opinion.

With that said, i'm sure he will, however the real question is where the heck does he get all these NEC XR385 cards from!? 😁

He's been selling them for roughly 2 years now. 😳

In China there is a lot of scrapping companies that do a lot of recycling and that is how they have so much of these vintage pieces for sale. I once bought a k6-3+ e model for like $10!

Very nice comparison.

I have quite a few midi daughterboards, including original Yamaha DB50XG and also the Roland SCB7 and SCB15. I also have MT32 and SC-155. I tried them all and i decided for the Roland external gear. Very good sound from Yamaha but Roland has the edge on the games i play.

nforce4max wrote:

In China there is a lot of scrapping companies that do a lot of recycling and that is how they have so much of these vintage pieces for sale. I once bought a k6-3+ e model for like $10!

I saw this with Embedded S7 Pentium W/MMX 266 MHz recently. (a mix of single and bulk lots from china with something like 100 CPUs total being sold a few months back)

Maybe it is a bit OT, but what camera did you bought to record this footage?
I am still considering buying some camera for indoor recording of computer stuff usually with bad artificial light. Can you recommend one?

It's not possible to have the roland handle trebble and the yamaha handle bass ? 😁