gdjacobs wrote on 2020-04-21, 02:37:

darry wrote on 2020-04-19, 22:03:

You can use an SB Pro 2.0 , but they are expensive and will have to run Softmpu (which requires emm386.exe ) in order to have a MPU-401 compatibility . As long as all the the games you want to play have no issues with emm386.exe, that is definitely an option .

A SB Pro compatible card (with actual MPU-401 UART support) would be okay. To the best of my knowledge, none of the LucasArts titles, even the early ones, require intelligent mode. Some of them do well with wavetable devices that implement the default MT-32 instrument set. IJFA, for instance.

Best bet would probably be either a YMF-71x based card or one of the later Aztech Sound Galaxies, taking into account affordability and availability .

Well, for LucasArts a wavetable synth is really best, so any card with decent PCM would work. That includes ESS, Crystal Semi (avoid the 4235 of course), and Opti lines.

gdjacobs wrote on 2020-04-21, 04:14:

Well, for LucasArts a wavetable synth is really best, so any card with decent PCM would work. That includes ESS, Crystal Semi (avoid the 4235 of course), and Opti lines.

Sorry, I meant for use with an external synth module . ESS , Crystal (without integrated FM) and Opti lines are fine too, if you can find them and at an affordable price .

carlostex wrote on 2020-04-20, 23:56:

appiah4 wrote on 2020-04-20, 16:24:

LucasArts games range from Maniac Mansion to The Dig and in between there are a million different sound standards to take into a […]
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LucasArts games range from Maniac Mansion to The Dig and in between there are a million different sound standards to take into acount. However, for these games you want to have the following:

1. Decent Adlib/Sound Blaster compatibility
2. No MPU-401 Bug
3. MT-32 MIDI support
4. General MIDI support
5. No DMA clicking
6. Clean Line Out

If you want a relatively inexpensive single device solution, there is only one card I know that does all this, and it's an AWE64. People will tell you otherwise but AWE64's CQM is a passable as an FM Synth. The AWE MIDI Synth on it can emulate GM or MT-32 in DOS, and its MT-32 emulation should be good enough for Monkey Island 1 at the very least. In games where you really benefit from having GM over MT-32, (Star Wars) you will also have AWE32 support so you will be fine.

IMO a Terratec EWS64 XL does all of that but much better. Crystal FM is better than CQM, 1:1 Roland GM with the BANK4M.94B soundfont (seriously its a copy of the Roland Sound Canvas Patch set), additional waveblaster header, Sound Blaster Pro 2 compatible and the soundfont does a better MT-32 job than AWEUTIL will ever do.

EWS64XL is my unicorn but in what world is an EWS64XL inexpensive?

appiah4 wrote on 2020-04-21, 05:19:

EWS64XL is my unicorn but in what world is an EWS64XL inexpensive?

In Candy Mountain?

Thanks guys, your have been very helpful.
It's quite clear to me now that there is no card to rule them all.
I have ordered a ES1868F card and will now use the savings on a real Roland.
Probably the MT-32 but I will do some more reading before i decide.
I'll be back with an update in a few weeks, thanks!

epictronics wrote on 2020-04-21, 16:36:

Thanks guys, your have been very helpful. It's quite clear to me now that there is no card to rule them all. I have ordered a E […]
Show full quote

Thanks guys, your have been very helpful.
It's quite clear to me now that there is no card to rule them all.
I have ordered a ES1868F card and will now use the savings on a real Roland.
Probably the MT-32 but I will do some more reading before i decide.
I'll be back with an update in a few weeks, thanks!

1992 onward is SC-55 territory for the most part . Prior to that, the MT-32 was the one to get . IMHO, the best would be to get both (expensive, I know). Second best, still IMHO, is an MT-32 and a cheaper still decent sounding General Midi module or card .
Good luck in your research and happy shopping .

You don't necessarily need a real MT-32 if you're comfortable with Munt. Fidelity is excellent, although you'll need some Google Fu to "buy" the necessary ROM files.

This project i moving along nicely, thanks for all the help

The ES1868 have arrived and I am also a happy owner of the legendary Roland MT-32!
This thing is quite fun to play with, I have hooked it up to my synth and played all the vintage Roland D50 sounds and I had a laugh 😀
I have to say it sounds pretty nice but it's a bit noisy.
Next step is to get the game port to MIDI cable.
Can I use any MIDI-game port cable on eBay? is it standardized?

lite this for example?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8m-Game-Port-Cable … 64AAOSwW7ldVcf~

epictronics wrote on 2020-05-11, 21:43:

This project i moving along nicely, thanks for all the help […]
Show full quote

This project i moving along nicely, thanks for all the help

The ES1868 have arrived and I am also a happy owner of the legendary Roland MT-32!
This thing is quite fun to play with, I have hooked it up to my synth and played all the vintage Roland D50 sounds and I had a laugh 😀
I have to say it sounds pretty nice but it's a bit noisy.
Next step is to get the game port to MIDI cable.
Can I use any MIDI-game port cable on eBay? is it standardized?

lite this for example?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1-8m-Game-Port-Cable … 64AAOSwW7ldVcf~

Yes that will work, I use the same one.

kolderman wrote on 2020-05-11, 21:45:

Yes that will work, I use the same one.

Thanks bro!