thecrankyhermit wrote:

I have the OUT plug connected to the MT-32's IN port

Yes that's how it should be!

I believe you have a faulty or poor USB Midi adapter. Maybe the insides are different? I know they all look the same on ebay, but yours showing 2 devices in the midi mapper is unusual.

I'm 99% sure your next adapter will just work.

my adapter doesn't show two devices in both XP and W7. I too think your adapter is faulty...

I just ordered an expensive brand-name one from Amazon. This had better be the last thing I need.

You definitely get what you pay for. I had a cheap M-Audio one that was fine until I switch to Win7 x64 and found out that M-Audio hadn't even released Vista drivers yet. I ended up buying an E-mu X-MIDI 1x1 Tab to replace it (yeah, I know they're Creative but at least they had Win7 x64 drivers) and it's worked perfectly fine.

This happens, a *LOT* under Win95+, usually with (not-really-)MPU-401-Compatible devices.

SB cards were the pre-Win9X offenders, with "Game Ports" that claimed to be real, srs, MPU-401 ports, but were really just UART. You need an MPU-401 adapter that supports Intelligent Mode if you want it to reliably pass commands to the MT-32.

"MPU-401 Compatible" just won't cut it.

While this was certainly an issue at one point, they finally released a Windows 7 64-bit driver for the m-Audio USB Midisport Uno cable. Works fine with both a MT-32 and a SC-88. This driver might be new as of October or November. Functionality is surprisingly seamless, and it has been working very well in combination with Dosbox.

Drake1588 wrote:

While this was certainly an issue at one point, they finally released a Windows 7 64-bit driver for the m-Audio USB Midisport Uno cable. Works fine with both a MT-32 and a SC-88. This driver might be new as of October or November. Functionality is surprisingly seamless, and it has been working very well in combination with Dosbox.

The old revision MIDISport Uno USB is indeed the one that I have. I noticed they finally released the drivers in the past couple months, after I had waited forever and then gave up and bought the Creative/E-mu one to replace it 😜

I use an MT-32 and SC-88 as well 😀

Nice. I was rather elated. I'd been wanting to get my current gaming PC up and running as a hybrid old/newfangled gaming platform for going on six months, but had been forced to use an XP machine with my MT-32 until they got their ducks in a row regarding drivers.

I will say that they certainly nailed those drivers, though. I have the SC-88 / MT-32 running into the line-in on a X-Fi Fatal1ty card on my Core-i7 920 gaming rig. No issues at all. Better late than never.

I've had the SC-88 for two weeks, after losing out on an auction for a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz with a SCD-15/SCB-55 daughterboard. Decided to fork over for a module. No regrets, given the results.

Something of a watershed moment, as I've been meaning to play/listen to the three latest Tex Murphy games and especially Privateer in all their glory for years. Outstanding. Sidetracked on Tie Fighter right now, but I'll be checking out Doom soon enough as well. Nostalgia.

Cool. Mine are chained together (since SC-88 has both MIDI THRU and Line In ports) and are connected to my Core i7-860 gaming rig's onboard Realtek Line In. I then use the "listen to this device" feature in Win7 x64 to echo that Line In to my Xonar DX. I did it this way because the Xonar DX's Aux In is really quiet for some reason.

As for the SC-88, I was originally going for an SC-55MkII but also have no regrets. You probably already know, but the SC-88 has an SC-55MkII compatibility mode that will make it sound better with some games. I do like Descent better in native SC-88 mode, though.

I did see the references to daisy chaining the modules and will need to try that out. Currently I've got one plugged in at a time, then I swap cables. A real good idea.

I've been tempted to run the midi module through my stereo amp, but the current setup isn't working badly at all. I think I'll leave it. I've a powered 5.1 speaker setup cranking out decent volume. It's taking up three of the four dedicated front, rear, center/subwoofer channels of the sound card, with the side (for 7.1) left empty. The fifth mic/line-in jack is turned over to the SC-88/MT-32 (L/R RCA cable to 1/8 inch jack), with just a software selection of either the mic or the line-in being all the further adjustment necessary. Done that way, I'm getting both midi and Sound Blaster sound effects through the speakers, else the X-Fi front bay for headphones.

Argh! I'm green with envy!

I've tried to buy an MT-32 and also a CM-32L several times, but there were always problems (shipping, being outbidded, vendor ignoring my posts, etc) 🙁

Please, Dear Lord, make canadacow and kingguppy finish their emulator soon!!

RvLeshrac wrote:

SB cards were the pre-Win9X offenders, with "Game Ports" that claimed to be real, srs, MPU-401 ports, but were really just UART. You need an MPU-401 adapter that supports Intelligent Mode if you want it to reliably pass commands to the MT-32.

"MPU-401 Compatible" just won't cut it.

What's the real limiting factor though? Because I use an MT-32 on my SB16's gameport flawlessly.

So I've chained my MT-32 and SC-88 together, with the SC-88 connected via a m-Audio MIDI-to-USB cable in the MIDI IN receptacle, to my Windows 7 PC with a RCA-to-stereo 1/8" headphone jack, plugged into the L and R RCA outputs on the SC-88, into the line-in/mic port of my X-Fi sound card on the PC.

I then have my MT-32 connected to the SC-88 via two 1/4" audio jacks to RCA connections, each plugged into the L and R RCA connection inputs on the SC-88. A single MIDI cable is plugged into the "Thru" MIDI connection on the SC-88. The other end is plugged into the MIDI input receptacle on the MT-32.

I followed the model displayed here: http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php/topic,3109.0.html

I follow the instructions for games employing MT-32 sound, clicking both the ALL and MUTE buttons on the SC-88. MT-32 sound plays through nicely on such games, and I have no issues.

I'm less clear on what steps I need to take when playing a game with general midi sound. It's seemingly not playing through the Sound Canvas, but instead defaulting to the MT-32, even when the game is set to play GM and/or explicitly set to use Sound Canvas. I've also turned off both the ALL and MUTE buttons, with little change.

When playing a GM game, I am not sure what I should see on the screens of both modules. Right now, it's displaying channel/equalizer bars on the MT-32, and not on the SC-88. Seems to me that when working properly, the bars should be visible on the SC-88, with the MT-32 inactive.

I can just pick up another MIDI-to-USB cable, of course, but would prefer this chaining route.

Drake: I use a similar setup with MT-32 and SC-88, and when I want to use GM/GS I simply turn off the power to the MT-32 and un-mute the SC-88.

Please note that you should only toggle the SC-88's MUTE setting on/off when the ALL light is active, or else you'll just be toggling mute for the currently-selected individual MIDI channel. You should never need to deactivate the ALL light unless you want to fiddle with individual channels.

Also note that the MT-32 must be turned off because it has no mute button and the volume knob is software-overrideable, so the only way to make it shut up is to turn it off.

Just had a thought... previously when I did a device check, the MT-32 (or whatever) MIDI device showed up as device 3 and that has been my mididevice=x standby in the dosbox.conf templates that I've been recycling each time I write a new shortcut for a new game.

With both now connected, will both be device 3, or will a fresh check reveal them to be two separate devices, each with a unique number? If so, all I need are fresh *.conf templates, one for MT-32 and another for games that use the SC-88.

EDIT: Simply turning off the MT-32... can't remember if I tried that one or not, but it will be the first one that I do try.

They will both be seen as the same device in Windows/DOSBox because they are both being accessed via the same USB-MIDI interface cable. Since the communication is basically one-way (PC->synth), the computer has no idea what the USB-MIDI cable is connected to.

This means that if both synths are on and unmuted, you'll hear both at once - and it will probably sound awful.

Also, it means there's no way to set DOSBox up for one versus the other. It's up to individual game configs and you muting/unmuting and powering on/off your synths.

Edit: Also note that the volume of your MT-32 depends on both its volume knob and the little knob on the back of the SC-88, while the SC-88's volume depends on the knob in its front and of course the mute states.

So, essentially, since they are on the same channel and the MT-32 has no mute button/switch, the only way to avoid getting sounds from both at once is to turn off / unplug the MT-32 completely (else turn the volume all the way down via either knob, I suppose).

Turning down the volume knob on the MT-32 is problematic because it can be overridden by MIDI commands, and turning the knob at the back of the SC-88 is inconvenient. On the other hand, the MT-32's power switch is on its back side, so you're kind of screwed either way...

I plugged my synths into one of those power strips that is meant to sit under a computer monitor and let you turn your monitor and printer on and off individually so that I could turn my MT-32 off easily.

Well, sure enough, that did it. I can't believe I didn't try turning it off, but that's all it took.

Turn on the SC-88, with none of the four lights set to on, and the MT-32 turned off before starting up Dosbox. Plays GM in games like a champ.

Both my desktop and modules are on a side table, with the modules up front, so the knobs are near at hand. Doesn't look like it matters, though.

SquallStrife wrote:

RvLeshrac wrote:

SB cards were the pre-Win9X offenders, with "Game Ports" that claimed to be real, srs, MPU-401 ports, but were really just UART. You need an MPU-401 adapter that supports Intelligent Mode if you want it to reliably pass commands to the MT-32.

"MPU-401 Compatible" just won't cut it.

What's the real limiting factor though? Because I use an MT-32 on my SB16's gameport flawlessly.

If you have a second-gen MT32, it isn't an issue, as the second-gen doesn't rely on proper timing; it just takes data as fast as the port provides it. The first-gen will overflow if data is sent too quickly, which means you lose SysEx and other control data.