A few games i have accidently found that use LAPC-I/CM-32 sound effects:
-Hook
-Lure of the Temptress
-Curse of Enchantia
-Laser Squad
-Ultima Underworld 1
-Starlord

I found that Beneath a Stell Sky uses LAPC-I/CM-32L sound effects too.

Megatraveller 2
(with MT-32 you hear nothing in intro 😉 )

Do Ultima Underworlds I and II use the CM-32L/LAPC-I sound effects?

Interestingly, the first game supports the Sound Blaster/Pro for digitzed voices only, not sound effects. Sound effects are strictly FM Synth based regardless of whether you select the Adlib, Sound Blaster or Sound Blaster Pro. (The first game supports music and sound effects using the PC speaker but the second game does not.)

The sound effects heard when you select the MT-32/LAPC-I option are superior to the Adib-based effects. Does that necessarily mean that the game uses the LAPC-I exclusive effects? I wonder what effects you will hear if you have a plain MT-32? (I cannot say because I have a CM-500.) Can anyone point me to specific sound effects that Ultima Underworld I requires an LAPC-I and not an MT-32? I doubt the game would be without sound effects if the user only had an MT-32.

The second game supports digitzed sound effects as well as voices using a Sound Blaster/Pro. It still can use the same can use the same sound effects that the first game used if you select the MT-32/LAPC-I option, but in my opinion the Sound Blaster has the better sound effects in the second game.

My guess is that if they're listing it as "MT-32/LAPC-I" then they aren't using LAPC-I-only effects, as you'd then not be hearing anything at all for some effects on the MT-32 (as you suggested). I could be wrong though, especially if the MT-32 falls back to a crappier but similar sound.

Dune 2 is similar in that it has three sound categories: Music, Sound Effects, and Digitized Sound Samples (if you have the setup patch that is). In my opinion, the best settings for those for Dune 2 are Sound Canvas, SB Pro, and SB Pro, respectively (to me the FM/OPL/Adlib effects sound better than the General MIDI versions for that game)

I have tested all those listed games with my LAPC-I card and my MT-32 module. The difference is that with MT-32 you hear nothing when there should be a sound effect. (I also found many other games with "buffer overflow" problem with mt-32 and music/sound not playing properly, but i haven't listed them here as the difference is not that obvious).

With "ultima underworld I" you have to go a bit forward untill there is a small stream. So at least the sound of stream, and maybe some other effects there i don't remember: when a bug bites you, when you attack, etc.

If you want to compare with a mt-32 i recommend dosbox with builtin mt-32 emulator available here: http://home.amis.net/lkslavi/
It even shows you in the other dosbox's window when there is any special sound effect not being played 😉

Now, while you have cm-500 i really recommend you to check "lure of the temptress" as it is a real masterpiece. Check it first with adlib, mt-32 emu, and then with your cm-500. It has more sounds than adlib! (not to mention the quality) 😀

In Ultima Underworld, if you use the MT-32 you will not hear the sound of water running when you enter the water. With the CM-32L you will hear it. I also think the door opening and closing sound may be different and you may also hear a clink sound if your sword strikes a wall with a CM-32L. Other swords, like a sword swing, strinking a monster or running sound the same with the MT-32 or CM-32L.

Unfortunately, I don't have the horsepower to run the MT-32 emulator, so I can only compare Adlib to the CM-500 and the difference is amazing.

more games:

- Out of This World (DOS version)
- Leisure Suit Larry 5

Just a small footnote: If your synth reports buffer overflows when running DOSBox, try lowering your cycles and re-running the game until you no longer get buffer overflows during the sysex transfer. If the game runs too slowly at that cycle setting, you can always use ctrl+F12 to turn the cycles back up after the sysex transfer is complete. This has worked so far for each of the handful of games I've encountered it on (mostly old Sierra games and Prince of Persia I think)

What about a stripped-down emulator that only emulates the CM-32L specific portions of the module? Essentially, the emulator would only be used when the game called for the CM-32L specific sounds and would manipulate them just like a real CM-32L would. The user would use a real MT-32 for the remainder of the parts and standard rythym.

The reason why I suggest this is because MT-32s are plentiful and reasonably cheap while CM-32Ls, CM-64s and CM-500s are not.

That would be an interesting idea. Seems like it would be easier to just emulate the whole thing though. The real problem right now either way is that the ROMs are too scarce.

more games:

- ATAC
- Die Hard 2

one more:

- Gods

I'd love to see some CM-32L emulation. Ultima Underworld is one of my all time favorite games.

twistedemotions, the latest Munt does do CM-32L emulation (if you have the appropriate ROMs).

I think we should make this thread sticky cause it is actually CM-32L emulation that is better than MT-32 emulation and people should use cm32l rom, not mt32 rom.

I think we should make this thread sticky cause it is actually CM-32L emulation that is better than MT-32 emulation and people should use cm32l rom, not mt32 rom.

At the moment, this statement makes sense. However, should anyone ever try to emulate a particular module rather than a generic MT-32/CM-32L device, it will become controversial.

It really is an academic question because nobody possesses dumps of the CM-32L Control and PCM ROMs, except perhaps for the very select few.

It might not be a bad idea to create an emulator that only emulates the extra CM-32L sound effects. The user would connect an MT-32 and for all the regular MT-32 sounds, instruments and parameters etc., the MT-32 would be used. If a game was going to require a CM-32L exclusive sound, then it would emulate that sound with the help of the ROM. Not only would this save having to own a CM-32L, LAPC-I, CM-64 or CM-500, but only having to emulate the drum channel would save on system horsepower. Also, MT-32s are by far the most common and cheapest of the Roland LA synths and well worth it for someone to drop $50 on the device rather than spend $1000s to upgrade a computer.

I like the idea of emulating CM-32L-only features, as I have a real MT-32, but as you said it's academic as the CM-32L ROMs are basically unattainable unless you already have a CM-32L (in which case an emualtor is pointless really).

Also, I don't think this thread has much of value that would justify it being made sticky. However, I wouldn't argue if some other moderator disagrees with my assessment.

Have you guys at least tried googling? 😉