@Skyscraper; I'm aware of the 8850, which is why I don't understand the purpose of this module so much. The digital audio is kind of novel though.
The thing that sucks about the MU boxes is that almost nothing made use of them. Perhaps some, to me, boring Japanese RPGs or something did, but nothing I find noteworthy. It's a shame, because the sound they make is almost unparalleled when they are set up properly. They did, however, mess up somewhere because the MU128/SW1000XG's replaced some sounds, notably the guitars, and they sounded awful compared to what was there. The original sounds appear to be present in the last couple of modules but I'm not sure they are the same Program # so they might still have broken support for existing music. Some day I'll get one and find out, just haven't had enough reason to move up from the MU90R just yet. That aside, I despise the noise the Sound Canvas makes even at its best, it sounds tinny and makes me think of some cheap toy you'd get in Toys 'R' Us, I always think of it in clown colors like those kiddie/accessibility keyboards (the textual kind) you can buy for PCs. I probably dislike it even more on top of that because I hate the original Mario Kart and its music is surely sampled from one.
Rant incoming, aimed at nobody in particular because I'm bored:
There have been far worse things than the Sound Canvas anyway. The D-series (Such as the D-50) were awful and rank as the worst synths I've ever encountered, I used a D-50 once and it broke as soon as I pressed keys and because my MT-32 died in a similar manner I can only assume they are unreliable, lot of analog traits to say they're digital synths and I don't think Roland even let the analog days go, especially given they were still making a version of the Jupiter last I checked. The Yamaha DX-Series was awful too, you kind of need one (DX7) to make a few signature sounds but even if I get one I'm still going to try and make the sound with other equipment first, the DX100/DX21/DX27 was just a horrible joke and you'll probably know what it sounds like because the technology was later used in the Sega Mega Drive, to make matters worse the DX series isn't entirely compatible with itself so patches made on one synth might not work on another one, they also tried to lock down replacement of the unreliable YM2151/2164 chips. The Access Virus synths are simply pathetic and seem only capable of making flat sine wave noises, I think even the 1920's Ondes Martenot was more varied (and I'd love one of those, they're amazing), Yamaha's CS-Series also ranks high as being awful, the internals look like a 1940s telephone exchange and they sound whiny and thin (think that music at the start of Blade Runner, but all the time), if you bought one you were an idiot, the Prophet 5 (Best) and Arp Odyssey (Ageing, but passable) were around, the only worthwhile thing they ever did with one was that 80s Dr Who opening and even that needed the help of an Arp to sound any good. There was no excuse for the CS80s wiring when you look at what else was there and it gets worse when you realize that even a 1940's Ondioline was more sophisticated inside. Lastly, the Jupiter series (That might hit a nerve with someone, oops) is one of the most awful things I have ever been near, period, poor quality and very lacking in the sound department, signature sound of the 80s? Yeah, the signature sound of the 80s that people want to forget, it can be heard in all those overplayed garbage tracks like "Don't you want me" and such, even SAW seem to have had the decency to steer clear of them, the Jupiter 8 is the one people fap to for some reason... No idea on that, but I did once piss off a Jupiter 4 owner enough that they won't talk to me anymore - I was writing a similar song to them with different, cheaper, equipment and they were supportive of it until I released it. Within 5 minutes of uploading it I found I was blocked from talking to them for no apparent reason, I was a bit confused and then annoyed at first but then I decided I was flattered, was pretty funny meeting and even exceeding the quality of their tens of thousands worth of gear with less than a £300 setup. I'm quite used to getting the cold shoulder, so I laughed at it, it happens all the time (In passing, most of the large computer-related channels on YouTube used to be regular viewers and commenters and now totally ignore me) so I'm used to things like that happening, I can only assume people are intimidated as I don't really see any other reason for such behavior. It doesn't affect me in any way, so whatever, sucks to be them.
For the record, I don't like the SID either. I love the sounds it can make, that's simply awesome, but as something to work with it is god awful, an unyielding little hell spawn. It took me two months to make a 30 second song with it and I just forgot about it after that. Still, at least that chip can sound good, so it almost makes up for it.
While I'm here - stomach has been playing up, so the server is not fixed yet. Hoping to make progress before I fall asleep again.
@lolo799; I remember when things like that were all over the place and were going to be the next big thing. With an increasing reliance on Clouds, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see similar devices pop up again in the next decade, though with some differences reflecting the changes to technology since of course.
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