Well, you will be adding to your "litter" with external synth modules. 😉

SoundCanvas synths will work well for DOS games that support General MIDI; in fact many such games were probably composed for, and will sound ideal on, the SC-55. SC's also have an MT-32 emulation mode that will sound alright with many games that support the MT-32, but it's mostly just a remapping of the instrument patches, and custom MT-32 instruments via SysEx will not work at all (some games use those). Also, in case you don't already know, you can get reasonably good GM music from a modern SoundBlaster soundcard.

Some things to consider when chosing a synth from the MT-32 family are games that exploit quirks of the first generation modules, and games that use the additional sound effects found in the later CM-32L/64 and LAPC-1. I would suggest looking at the Wikipedia list of games that support the MT-32 (note that it's not entirely comprehensive) to compare to the kind of games you're interested in, because it mentions which games use the quirks or additional sound effects. The list also mentions which games supposedly don't work with first gen modules. I have a first gen rev01 unit, and it works well most of the time; although there are cases where I have to experiment with cycles in DOSBox to get SysEx messages used by games to work reliably (e.g. Space Quest 3), but that's probably a shortcoming in the game's code, not DOSBox.

Hi Ripsaw!

I appreciate the response 😀 I have to say, I am a bit of an audiophile and back when I made the purchase of the LAPC-1 I was totally blown away by the difference between SoundBlaster and MT-32 music in games like Monkey Island 2, SpaceQuest, etc. I think for my purposes, a little extra hardware in the form of a module is acceptable to revisit those days 😉

I did see the list you mentioned, so I will double check that to see if there are any games that would be problematic.

Question for you about your 1st generation module. I understand there is no headphone jack, so what would be the best option to hook up a headphone to it? Buy a splitter cable with 2 inputs for the MT-32 and a headphone plug on the other end?

Thanks!

Later models added a headphone jack. There was also a company (long gone, AFAIK) that would "mod" first gen units, and that included putting in a headphone jack. Such modded units are considerably harder to find on eBay and such.

My rig is based around my SB Audigy soundcard. The MT-32 is hooked up to the card's gameport with a gameport-to-MIDI adapter (you can also use a USB MIDI adapter, but sometimes there are lag issues; your mileage may vary), and the MT-32's sound output goes to the card's line-in. This kind of setup gives very good flexibility, as you can control volume from the OS, and the soundcard has a headphone jack. However, note that the MT-32 is not the cleanest sound source, so headphones might "reveal the limitations of the source" a bit more.

Thanks for the info 😀 I will check around and hopefully make a purchase soon.

I have seen numerous posts on how to set up the MT-32 for use with Dos Box, however, does anyone know offhand if there is any issue running this in 64bit Vista?

Vista no longer officially "supports" MIDI, to the annoyance of many users. The interface is still there and works, but it is hidden away and you need to resort to external tools in order to change MIDI mapper settings (so that the MIDI data gets sent to the correct device rather than the built-in softsynth). An added complication is that you *need* signed drivers on 64bit Vista, so you may have some trouble tracking down the appropriate MIDI port drivers (MPU401/compatible).

Personally, I use an Edirol UM-1EX USB to MIDI adaptor for my Vista64 MIDI needs.

Kippesoep wrote:

Personally, I use an Edirol UM-1EX USB to MIDI adaptor for my Vista64 MIDI needs.

I have the same adaptor. Although, I use mine with Linux. Works perfect in DOSbox with both my MT-32 and SC-55. The Linux kernel has built in support for it. No additional drivers needed.

Well, I made the plunge and won an MT-32 from a recent E-Bay auction 😀 After doing some extensive reading here and elsewhere, I would like to confirm some things about the usage of the MT-32 with regards to Vista x64.

I have a Soundblaster X-Fi Fatal1ty soundcard. It has a joystick port and a few headphone jacks as inputs/outputs. Can anyone verify if I can use a joystick-->midi cable such as this:
http://www.pccables.com/05010.htm

and hook up this way? If not, I understand my other option is to go with a USB-->Midi cable such as:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/XMIDI1x1/
-or-
Edirol UM-1EX (seems pricier, but perhaps better quality?)

I understand there could be audio lag associated with going this second route?

Thanks in advance for the info!

I didn't think Vista lets you use the gameport anymore, there's hacked drivers for 32-bit though I think. I'm using the EMU Xmidi 1x1 usb on my Vista Ultimate x64 and haven't had any problems or delay.

You won't have any perceptible lag. Note that it is not a quality issue. (All the sound is generated by the MT-32 and if it were supported you could connect it using potato peels and it wouldn't have an impact on sound quality, though it might smell a bit). The issue is one of drivers, absolutely nothing else. If there is a Vista x64 driver for the SB's MIDI port, you should be fine with that. There's definitely a driver for the USB adaptor (on the emu site)

Thanks a bunch! For cost purposes, I will probably go with the USB option.

That said, does anyone know anything about the X-Fi IO drive?
http://www.amazon.com/Creative-Sound-Blaster- … 0/dp/B000ECSHOA

It has MIDI in/out jacks on it, but seems the pricier way to go 🙁