sf78 wrote:

Last piece of the puzzle arrived from Japan (CM-32). Now the tower is complete. I blame Phil (as usual) for all this.

keropi wrote:

excellent tower 😁

*vomits*

Had an SC-55, SC-88 Pro, E-MU Proteus 2000 and MT-32 over time, but they all ended up going to landfill long ago starting with the SC-88 around 10 years ago. I don't miss them. SCC-1 and AWE64 Gold are soon retiring too, the AWE will probably find a new home, the SCC-1 will likely just be left behind in the house when I move as I have no use for it and it is defective (Or Roland lied on the box - neither is unlikely)... Maybe I should auction it off just because I have the box and everything, but meh, can't be bothered. Seems there's plenty of nutters out there preserving them so it doesn't matter anyway.

Nah, man, it's always nice when you get the stuff you want. 😉

It's not so much wanting as needing. Hell, I wish someone would one day say: "Buy Roland XX, it covers everything from 1985 to 1995 and only costs fiddy bucks". 🤣

sf78 wrote:

It's not so much wanting as needing. Hell, I wish someone would one day say: "Buy Roland XX, it covers everything from 1985 to 1995 and only costs fiddy bucks". 🤣

CM-500 + MPU-401 compatible interface comes close. CM-32L + SC-55 is probably as ideal you can get for MIDI in that time period.

Phil's Mega Roland Tutorial covers the topic better than any other single source I've seen.

Though, getting close to $50 bux would be a challenge unless you're willing to wait for a couple of once-in-a-blue-moon steals.

got some diskette boxes , brand new

...and put them to good use immediately 🤣

Pulled this Futaba MX switch mechanical keyboard out of the garbage today, so far I'm up to three mechanical keyboards rescued from an early death. Let's hope my luck continues! 🤣

QBiN wrote:

CM-500 + MPU-401 compatible interface comes close. CM-32L + SC-55 is probably as ideal you can get for MIDI in that time period.

You also NEED the first model MT-32 for the late 80's, there's really no way around it. So it's still 3 different units no matter how you look at it. 😀

sf78 wrote:

QBiN wrote:

CM-500 + MPU-401 compatible interface comes close. CM-32L + SC-55 is probably as ideal you can get for MIDI in that time period.

You also NEED the first model MT-32 for the late 80's, there's really no way around it. So it's still 3 different units no matter how you look at it. 😀

Meh... Depends if you're play much Sierra or not. I was always more of a Lucasarts fan. Though I have an MT-32 old, it was never a factor for me personally.

Never had a single module. Does that mean that I don't have fun? 😀

QBiN wrote:

sf78 wrote:

QBiN wrote:

CM-500 + MPU-401 compatible interface comes close. CM-32L + SC-55 is probably as ideal you can get for MIDI in that time period.

You also NEED the first model MT-32 for the late 80's, there's really no way around it. So it's still 3 different units no matter how you look at it. 😀

Meh... Depends if you're play much Sierra or not. I was always more of a Lucasarts fan. Though I have an MT-32 old, it was never a factor for me personally.

The CM-32L or LAPC-I would be my recommended unit to go for if you just want a single unit, but compatibility with a wide range of games. Missing sound effects is worse than sound effects that sound off 😀

But it's harder to find and likely costs a lot more. The MT-32 (Old) is indeed great to have for many Sierra and Dynamix games, but also much easier to find and cheaper.

The main issue is that there is no real substitute / alternative to these units when you select Roland sound option in these old games. Contrast that with Sound Blaster / FM, which you can choose from a vast range of alternatives. My "MT-32 for $50" project is really the only cheap / free alternative that I know about. It's basically attaching a second PC running Munt and SoundFonts. Anything "MT-32 compatible" works with the default instruments only. While there are a few games that are compatible, like Monkey Island, it's a small list.

Now with General MIDI there are lots of options, with Yamaha being highly popular, or experimenting with SoundFonts.

In the US MT-32s are many and cheap all year round. With SoftMPU that puts most of the Sierra titles in reach.

SC-7 is cheap and excellent. Most games do not go beyond GM anyway.

The SC-7 is lame when compared to other GM devices in the same price range. But if someone only wants GM for games well... yeah but get it cheap. At this point in my life i wouldn't pay 20GBP for one, let alone the insane prices some are listed on eBay.

It's like The "Microsoft Synthesizer" in a box. Makes you wonder if it might not be cheaper to just hook a MIDI cable up to your newer machine and feed the MIDI through that, or a SoundFont.

Too many modules and too many games that need the correct module out of many.
I guess I will pass on midi modules. Though midi music is 100% totally awesome.
(in PC games, prefer metal on my stereo)

HighTreason wrote:

Makes you wonder if it might not be cheaper to just hook a MIDI cable up to your newer machine and feed the MIDI through that, or a SoundFont.

Here is the video of the project I mentioned earlier: Roland MT-32 CM-32L and General MIDI for $50

The main expense, apart from a spare computer, is a decent USB MIDI interface. Any decent brand should work, but for me a cheap eBay adapter didn't work.

It lets you configure Munt as MT-32 or CM-32L and Bassmidi / VirtualMIDISynth with whatever SoundFont you like. I really the Arancho SoundFont in Doom for example.

Just hook it up to your MIDI interface on your DOS PC and off you go.

This months haul from the local monthly electronics swap meet. not to much but there weren't many people at all seeing as the temp was so damn high. cleaning tape and some Sony demo tape on Beta, a AT to Ps/2 adapter in the packaging a VGA card heatsink/fan, some random p4 motherboard and finally the jewel in the haul a Intel l440gx+ duel slot 1 motherboard. all for a total of $7.50. the duel slot 1 was only $1.50.

NICE!

anyone know what that second power connector is for next to the regular AT connector on the duel slot board? on the Intel product specs sheet images there's no connector there just solder points.

The AT style connector is called an Auxiliary connector and the weird 10 pin connector I am unsure of what it is called, but I have seen on a lot of server motherboards and power supplies. I will do a little research on that and get back to ya unless someone else beats me to it 😀

That server MoBo looks SWEET

soviet conscript wrote:

anyone know what that second power connector is for next to the regular AT connector on the duel slot board? on the Intel product specs sheet images there's no connector there just solder points.

It looks like standard ATX power connector and a 8-pin EPS-12V CPU Power connector beside that. The bladed "Half AT" power plug is weird though, not many power supplies today have that, you'll be looking for an older power supply there.