JayAlien wrote on 2023-05-07, 15:37:

Is it possible to put the scc 1 on irq 2 or 3 and retest?

yes i will do.. but what change??

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-07, 15:10:

today I tried to disable the serial port if needed and the parallel. in the end I don't think it was necessary to disable everything, the SCC-1 is configured to use port 330 and IRQ7 while AWE32 220, 5, 1.

What I don't quite understand is how to select SCC-1 in game setups. Dune2 for example I can't figure out whether to select MT-32 or Sound Canvas.

SCC-1 = SC-55 Sound Canvas on a card, LAPC-I = MT-32 on a card. So with your card, choose Sound Canvas.

If I start Monkey2 with the "r" option which seems to be the one for the Roland the music is heard but it seems to use random and meaningless instruments.... I can't figure out how to use this SCC-1.

Monkey Island 2 is extremely old and supports MT-32, not Sound Canvas. MT-32 is pre-General MIDI, so instrument assignments are not standardized. what you are getting is what you should expect with MT-32 option selected and SCC-1 in default mode.

To at least attempt to sound like an MT-32, you need to enable "MT-32 simulation". This will set the instruments to the nearest match with MT-32 instruments, however it will not support special sounds synthesized using sysex commands. You can enable this in the chkscc utility.

Better though would be to test the SCC in games that support General MIDI, more specifically games whose music was composed on the Roland SC-55, like Doom, and just about every other game after that that uses MIDI for music.

As an aside, MIDI interfaces traditionally use IRQ2/9, rather than IRQ7 (which is more commonly used for Sound Blaster digital audio), so game support might be better if you moved to that IRQ.

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-07, 15:10:

What I don't quite understand is how to select SCC-1 in game setups. Dune2 for example I can't figure out whether to select MT-32 or Sound Canvas.

Generally you'll want to use the SCC-1 with games that support General MIDI or Sound Canvas and select that option.

If I start Monkey2 with the "r" option which seems to be the one for the Roland the music is heard but it seems to use random and meaningless instruments.... I can't figure out how to use this SCC-1.

The Roland option in the Monkey Island games is for a Roland MT-32 or LAPC-I.

dionb wrote on 2023-05-07, 18:43:

SCC-1 = SC-55 Sound Canvas on a card, LAPC-I = MT-32 on a card. So with your card, choose Sound Canvas. […]
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AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-07, 15:10:

today I tried to disable the serial port if needed and the parallel. in the end I don't think it was necessary to disable everything, the SCC-1 is configured to use port 330 and IRQ7 while AWE32 220, 5, 1.

What I don't quite understand is how to select SCC-1 in game setups. Dune2 for example I can't figure out whether to select MT-32 or Sound Canvas.

SCC-1 = SC-55 Sound Canvas on a card, LAPC-I = MT-32 on a card. So with your card, choose Sound Canvas.

If I start Monkey2 with the "r" option which seems to be the one for the Roland the music is heard but it seems to use random and meaningless instruments.... I can't figure out how to use this SCC-1.

Monkey Island 2 is extremely old and supports MT-32, not Sound Canvas. MT-32 is pre-General MIDI, so instrument assignments are not standardized. what you are getting is what you should expect with MT-32 option selected and SCC-1 in default mode.

To at least attempt to sound like an MT-32, you need to enable "MT-32 simulation". This will set the instruments to the nearest match with MT-32 instruments, however it will not support special sounds synthesized using sysex commands. You can enable this in the chkscc utility.

Better though would be to test the SCC in games that support General MIDI, more specifically games whose music was composed on the Roland SC-55, like Doom, and just about every other game after that that uses MIDI for music.

As an aside, MIDI interfaces traditionally use IRQ2/9, rather than IRQ7 (which is more commonly used for Sound Blaster digital audio), so game support might be better if you moved to that IRQ.

Thansk a lot, how can i use MT-32 simulation?" is a software feature? need some kind of driver?

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-08, 05:54:

[...]

Thansk a lot, how can i use MT-32 simulation?" is a software feature? need some kind of driver?

You can enable this in the chkscc utility

See the SCC-1 manual. That's the same utility that you probably used to set address and IRQ.

dionb wrote on 2023-05-08, 06:09:

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-08, 05:54:

[...]

Thansk a lot, how can i use MT-32 simulation?" is a software feature? need some kind of driver?

You can enable this in the chkscc utility

See the SCC-1 manual. That's the same utility that you probably used to set address and IRQ.

adress and IRQ are set by jumper directly on the card. but i did not find any software online.. probably due to my lack of skill in searching

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-08, 06:53:

adress and IRQ are set by jumper directly on the card. but i did not find any software online.. probably due to my lack of skill in searching

here you go, the contents of the floppy that came with the SCC-1 , sccmode is used to change modes

edit: also on vogonsdrivers: http://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid=419

very very thanks, i will try and let you all know

ok, after a thousand attempts I managed to make the SCC-1 work only by removing the AWE32, who knows why.

Apart from this thing which I will be able to investigate, I was interested in hearing a little about this famous Roland with the games I knew and with which I played as a child and the result was not much.

I tried: Doom1, Monkey island 2, Dune2 and in all 3 cases the AWE32 satisfied me the most.

Apart from some better instruments: the drums in Doom, the wind in Dune2, the AWE32 seemed to me more amalgamated as a sound, the Roland instruments were certainly much more defined and recognizable, but if I had to judge the involvement of the music the OPL3 according to wins me. The only doubt I have is that I'm too tied to the sound of my SBPro2 that I had in my DX2... but it's like wanting to justify myself.

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-08, 13:32:

ok, after a thousand attempts I managed to make the SCC-1 work only by removing the AWE32, who knows why.

Sounds like a typical hardware conflict. If the port and irq settings on the AWE32 were the same as the SCC-1, the former was probably overriding the latter.

FWIW, I've managed to get a combination of AWE64, GUS Extreme and SCC-1 all working side-by-side in a single setup. So it's possible, it just requires a good understanding of all the hardware settings and how to configure everything so there are no conflicts.

Apart from some better instruments: the drums in Doom, the wind in Dune2, the AWE32 seemed to me more amalgamated as a sound, the Roland instruments were certainly much more defined and recognizable, but if I had to judge the involvement of the music the OPL3 according to wins me. The only doubt I have is that I'm too tied to the sound of my SBPro2 that I had in my DX2... but it's like wanting to justify myself.

Preference in the way music in games sounds is a highly personal thing. If you primarily listened to these tracks via FM synthesis/OPL, it's hard to shake that nostalgia for the way those sound even compared to higher fidelity versions of the same tracks.

I feel this way about old Sierra game music. I grew up listening to these games via PC speaker sound. Even the MT-32 versions of the tracks can't capture that same level of nostalgia that the classic PC speaker sound can.

AlessandroB wrote on 2023-05-08, 13:32:

Apart from some better instruments: the drums in Doom, the wind in Dune2, the AWE32 seemed to me more amalgamated as a sound, the Roland instruments were certainly much more defined and recognizable, but if I had to judge the involvement of the music the OPL3 according to wins me. The only doubt I have is that I'm too tied to the sound of my SBPro2 that I had in my DX2... but it's like wanting to justify myself.

WHAT?! THATS IT YOUR BANNED FROM VOGONS!
Just joking, Rediscovering games music with a new MIDI device is part of the fun, working out which ones you prefer with which device.
And Nostalgia is definitely an overriding factor. Like hearing a cover of your favourite song , it doesn't sound right unless played exactly like you remembered but after awhile you may start to enjoy it.

Although not sure I can go as far as Shponglefan, PC speaker can have some charm but have never gone back to it if I can select a different sound source!

PC speaker was usually horrible... but I have fond memories playing Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies... sound via PC speaker - I didn't have any sound card at the time.

Someone else to think like me?