Very few performance differences to be had with sound cards in a modern OS... I would give the Audigy or X-Fi zero performance benefits. Back in the day there were differences. Modern equipment isn't really made for MIDI so you also would not get any benefit from trying to use relatively modern Creative products with MIDI.

To me, Roland SC55 or MT32 (depending on the game; MT32 is more for 80s and early 90s stuff generally and SC55 is mostly for early to mid 90s stuff) is a no brainer for MIDI. I did grow up with Sound Blaster and have some nostalgia for the sounds it makes but when it comes to MIDI, that nostalgia is nothing compared to the significantly improved sound the Roland parts have (and I was always curious as to what those Roland things were back in the day - I had no clue at all - so using a SC55 for me is like answering that question).

To other people, other solutions might be better. Not everyone likes the same sound and not everyone has the same amount of money to spend.

I think software synths are pretty cool. I've used BASSMIDI a little bit, which is very similar to VirtualMidiSynth, and have tried 2 or 3 soundfonts (obviously that isn't a lot). There are certainly some good soundfonts that you can find that will sound a heck of a lot nicer (at least to me) than the old Creative hardware I grew up with. But again, not everyone likes the same sounds. But the good thing about it is that if you go for free software like BASSMIDI or VMS and a free soundfont, you can try it out for free and hear how you like it compared to DOSBOX's OPL emulation. And if you like it then you could always try to get MUNT set up or buy a real SC55 and/or MT32.

Lots of Lucasarts and Sierra games especially had MT32 support. Many had General MIDI as well, but not the earliest ones.

Thanks, so that knocks out one option. So you'd say a virtual synth with a roland based soundfont vs an sc-55 is more subjective?

rishooty wrote:

Thanks, so that knocks out one option. So you'd say a virtual synth with a roland based soundfont vs an sc-55 is more subjective?

Yeah, should be. To be honest I didn't look much into emulating the SC55 or MT32, because I just like having actual hardware. But it should be fairly close to the real thing - both MUNT and the official Sound Canvas VA.

Well, I'm rather happy with VirtualMidiSynth and Arachno. I was just wondering if any other solutions produced a "cleaner" or better sound. but if its not big deal I'll save myself the shelf space.

Roland might be "better" if you think of it in the terms that a lot of the soundtracks for these games would have been created on Roland hardware and would be closest to what the composer originally intended. But not everyone feels that to be important. Some people listen to music and they grab that bass knob on their stereo and they turn it way the heck up, even if that wasn't intended by the band that recorded the music.

Same thing here. You can go for the original sound, Roland, or you can just focus on getting sound that sounds good to you. If that's all that matters to you, and you like Arachno, then I'd say go ahead and use Arachno. Nothing wrong with that.

You could always play a game using Arachno sound font, and then go on Youtube and find a recording of the same game with Roland hardware or with a different sound font and see if you like other options more. You may find you prefer Roland if you do this, or you may even like Arachno more because it's all subjective.

Or you can just enjoy your games with Arachno and be satisfied that you're hearing sound that you like. Less time screwing with soundfonts = more time to enjoy your games.

Cool, I'll just stick to that then as I've done the comparisons already. Just wasn't sure if a youtube recording was the best means of comparison for hardware sound. Thanks for all your help!