As someone who's used the same SC-D70 in multiple countries, it has a switching power supply, no dramas.

It's a good unit and the digital output is a nice feature, although it sounds like there's some sort of compression stage compared to my (recently sold) SC-8850. So it is a plus and minus situation.

As far as compatibility goes, neither the software or this hardware is "100% compatible" for SC-55 gaming. Various sounds, predominantly synth sounds, sound different, although many use the same waveforms. The effects being newer and better can cause differences in sound too.

That being said, incompatibility is usually an individual case basis rather than a whole game. For example, if you hear Quest for Glory 4, various synth leads like 'Saw Wave' and 'Bass and Lead' sound different, whereas most other instruments are on par.

Finally, being able to change maps is nice (the 8820 map is very nice for gaming) and the extra polyphony helps for some games too. I think I remember that SCVA has issues with map changing though, so might need to look into that.

They're great instruments and I hope you have fun with them, anyone who's getting them.

Spikey wrote on 2021-09-03, 02:27:

As someone who's used the same SC-D70 in multiple countries, it has a switching power supply, no dramas. […]
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As someone who's used the same SC-D70 in multiple countries, it has a switching power supply, no dramas.

It's a good unit and the digital output is a nice feature, although it sounds like there's some sort of compression stage compared to my (recently sold) SC-8850. So it is a plus and minus situation.

As far as compatibility goes, neither the software or this hardware is "100% compatible" for SC-55 gaming. Various sounds, predominantly synth sounds, sound different, although many use the same waveforms. The effects being newer and better can cause differences in sound too.

That being said, incompatibility is usually an individual case basis rather than a whole game. For example, if you hear Quest for Glory 4, various synth leads like 'Saw Wave' and 'Bass and Lead' sound different, whereas most other instruments are on par.

Finally, being able to change maps is nice (the 8820 map is very nice for gaming) and the extra polyphony helps for some games too. I think I remember that SCVA has issues with map changing though, so might need to look into that.

They're great instruments and I hope you have fun with them, anyone who's getting them.

Appreciate your thoughts, especially coming from an Aussie voltage user. Mine's somewhere out in the postal system, which is running a little slow at the moment.

Since I have an SC-55 among other things hanging off my retro PCs, I don't reckon I'll be too fussy about compatibility. I'll be happy enough to have a quality GM device hanging off my modern PC. I'm hoping it's viable for full time use as my primary external audio interface too - for all my speaker and headset requirements. We'll see.

I do wonder if it's possible to mod these to run just off USB power. The 8820 does it, so I guess it's a matter of how much extra demand the audio processing components add. I can't imagine it's all that much - and USB in 2021 can deliver a lot more power than when these came out.

It is quality, just slightly annoying to not be able to change settings as easily as the 8850 (eg the button for which map). I've used mine as an interface many, many times.

Also worth pointing out you can't use the digital inputs simultaneously, only one or the other. Also another limitation, you can't use two of the inputs together, can't remember which. Maybe digital plus analog? I forget.

My SC-D70 arrived. 240VAC power is fine, and the Vista x64 drivers work fine in Win10. It functions perfectly as an audio interface, and of course as a MIDI device in DOSBox. I was also very happy to see that mixed audio is piped back over USB, so quality MIDI captures are super easy. This unit will now be the primary audio interface on my daily driver. Very happy with the purchase!

I also installed Falcosoft MIDI Player which allows you to switch soundbanks with hotkeys. As mentioned I'll probably be happy to stick with the default, but it's very cool to have this ability anyway. Details:

Falcosoft wrote on 2017-06-16, 14:37:

E.g. Doom sends GM ON/GM OFF messages but indeed it's rather the exception not the rule. Incidentally I have just added the abil […]
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E.g. Doom sends GM ON/GM OFF messages but indeed it's rather the exception not the rule.
Incidentally I have just added the ability to FSMP of sending Bank LSB messages by hotkeys. According to the above referred documentation SC-D70 map changing works by setting the proper Bank LSB value (the same way SC-VA works in SC-8820 mode).
1. Download the new test version of FSMP:
http://falcosoft.hu/midiplayer_48_test.zip
2. Temporarily enable Bass output mode to reach the new checkbox control called 'Use Bank LSB' and select it.(it is really intended for soundfont testing...)
3. Disable bass output mode and select the midi out port where your SC-D70 is connected to.
4. While playing a song or when you use DosBox through midi in you can press the following hotkeys to select the different maps:
Ctrl + 0 -> Default map
Ctrl + 1 -> SC-55 Map
Ctrl + 2 -> SC-88 Map
Ctrl + 3 -> SC-88 Pro Map
Ctrl + 4 -> SC-8820 Map

Edit:
I have made a video about it (using SC-VA):
https://youtu.be/_SkkX2puXD4

Pierre32 wrote on 2021-09-03, 02:46:

Appreciate your thoughts, especially coming from an Aussie voltage user. Mine's somewhere out in the postal system, which is run […]
Show full quote

Spikey wrote on 2021-09-03, 02:27:

As someone who's used the same SC-D70 in multiple countries, it has a switching power supply, no dramas. […]
Show full quote

As someone who's used the same SC-D70 in multiple countries, it has a switching power supply, no dramas.

It's a good unit and the digital output is a nice feature, although it sounds like there's some sort of compression stage compared to my (recently sold) SC-8850. So it is a plus and minus situation.

As far as compatibility goes, neither the software or this hardware is "100% compatible" for SC-55 gaming. Various sounds, predominantly synth sounds, sound different, although many use the same waveforms. The effects being newer and better can cause differences in sound too.

That being said, incompatibility is usually an individual case basis rather than a whole game. For example, if you hear Quest for Glory 4, various synth leads like 'Saw Wave' and 'Bass and Lead' sound different, whereas most other instruments are on par.

Finally, being able to change maps is nice (the 8820 map is very nice for gaming) and the extra polyphony helps for some games too. I think I remember that SCVA has issues with map changing though, so might need to look into that.

They're great instruments and I hope you have fun with them, anyone who's getting them.

Appreciate your thoughts, especially coming from an Aussie voltage user. Mine's somewhere out in the postal system, which is running a little slow at the moment.

Since I have an SC-55 among other things hanging off my retro PCs, I don't reckon I'll be too fussy about compatibility. I'll be happy enough to have a quality GM device hanging off my modern PC. I'm hoping it's viable for full time use as my primary external audio interface too - for all my speaker and headset requirements. We'll see.

I do wonder if it's possible to mod these to run just off USB power. The 8820 does it, so I guess it's a matter of how much extra demand the audio processing components add. I can't imagine it's all that much - and USB in 2021 can deliver a lot more power than when these came out.

The ability to listen to midi songs with Sound Canvas quality, and the ability to simultaneosly use it as a general PC audio interface, makes it feel more feature-packed than modern DACs. You can even chance the midi volume independently! All this via single USB connection!

I have the SC-55, SC-88, and SC-88 pro, but outside writing retro tunes, using midi interfaces and hooking all these up is just too much effort, and always tends to clutter the workspace. I prefer the SC-55 for its authentic sound quality, but the SC-D70 is just the most hassle-free solution for general use.

Hopefully, but most likely not, the drivers are supported in future OS'es as well. 🤞