Sound Canvas differences \ VOGONS

Sound Canvas differences

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First post, by silikone

Posted on 2015-05-20, 19:05

silikone Offline

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From what I have read, there appear to be three versions of the Sound Canvas 55, where early models lack a General Midi logo, and the late models are branded as MKII.
They supposedly each have some quirks (or features) that can affect games, and these are as far as I can tell:
-MKII doesn't play an instrument at all if a wrong sub instrument is specified
-It also has many extra non-standardized instruments
-Non-GM doesn't understand GM reset
-The same model uses a different instrument where breath noise is usually found
-Some models have a problem with switching between games without resetting first
Is there anything else I have missed?
With these points in mind, which model is usually considered best/most valuable of the three?

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Reply 1 of 3, by Stojke

Posted on 2015-05-20, 19:27

Stojke Offline

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Sound Canvas 55 MKII (SCB-55) is from what I know, due to increased polyphony (24->28 voices) and additional sounds, a better model.

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Reply 2 of 3, by jesolo

Posted on 2015-05-20, 19:51

jesolo Offline

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Stojke wrote:
Sound Canvas 55 MKII (SCB-55) is from what I know, due to increased polyphony (24->28 voices) and additional sounds, a better model.

Based on other posts I've read, I tend to agree.
However, most General MIDI games were developed on the "mark 1", and therefore did not utilise these additional sounds.
Purely from a gaming perspective, they all sound the same (the MIDI sounds).
I have the "mark 1" with the General Midi logo and it works quite well on all my General Midi games.

Reply 3 of 3, by keropi

Posted on 2015-05-20, 20:20

keropi Offline

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SC-55 "mk1" has also different sound output circuit and sounds "different" (mk1 is 16-bit @ 32kHz , mk2 is 18-bit @ 32kHz).
MK1 has 317 tones , MK2 has 354. GM/GS games rarely use them so that's not really a problem. (in fact I don't have an example of a game that uses anything other than the 128 GM tones)
MK1 has the capital tone fallback feature making some few games work without issues (might and magic 4 comes to mind) and mk2 sounds correct in some few games due to increased polyphony (quest for glory 4 comes to mind).

If you have one you are set IMHO , the affected games in either case are too few. Personally I prefer the MK1, the early non-GM revision 😎

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