Update: I tested Nuke-55sc on a more modern computer (Core i7 Pro, versus the Core 2 Duo previously used) and much of the latency while playing a real-time MIDI keyboard has vanished! It's not as responsive as my hardware SC-55mkII, obviously, but the average person likely wouldn't notice. No surprise that all the crackling and garbled sound has disappeared too. It's still quite remarkable to hear an emulated Sound Canvas with about 99% accuracy coming out of an ordinary desktop PC with just a plain old DAC!

I also finally figured out how to use the JV-800 side playing one of my MIDI keyboard in real-time using a USB->MIDI cable adapter! (a nice treat, since I had a JV-880 stolen from me before I had a chance to try it). I'm wondering though, how accurate is the JV-880 side of Nuke-SC55. Is it still a work in progress or is it considered complete? I noticed one patch (RevCymBend) wasn't working properly, and a few others seem to have some minor clipping or distortion. I don't have a real JV-880 to compare with, unfortunately.

Listening to Descent OST through Yamaha MU80, I realized that it shares a fair amount of samples with SC-55. I wonder why.

because the mu-80 has a tg300B mapping that it uses when it does a GS reset.

Hi!
I just recently started using Nuked SC-55 (before I've been using SC-VA for years) and I have some (perhaps dumb) questions.
1. Which is a better (or less problematic) emulated device for DOS gaming: SC-55 MK1 v 1.21 or SC-55 MK2? I guess, what I mean is which one is considered to render music in most DOS games more correctly and without quirks, or if the difference is negligible enough and can be ignored?
2. There is a warning in the readme file that due to a bug in the SC-55mk2's firmware, some parameters don't reset properly on startup and need additional actions to properly initialize. I presume then, that means SC-55 MK1's firmware doesn't have this bug and no additional actions are required? Am I right?
3. When Nuked SC-55 starts up it produces 6 "Unknown Write" errors on MK2 firmware and 14 "Unknown Write" errors on MK1 v 1.21 firmware. Is it expected behavior and does it mean anything bad in practice? Does it actually mean that it's preferable to use MK2 firmware with Nuked SC-55 (since there are much less errors during MK2's initialization)?

Sorry if these questions have already been asked and answered. Thanks!

Sorry, another question. Is there any definitive way to check for CTF issue, preferably a midi file where the difference can actually be heard on SC-55 MK1 vs MK2 playback? Thing is, I patched (I think) MK2 firmware with a patcher from earlier in this thread, which promises to solve this CTF problem on MK2. I'm not sure I've done it correctly though, since it's not actually clear from the description, which rom file I should patch (since there are 5 of them). So I'm not sure I was successful and I also don't know where to look and what exactly to listen to to be sure. 🤣

syche wrote on 2026-05-29, 18:32:

Sorry, another question. Is there any definitive way to check for CTF issue, preferably a midi file where the difference can actually be heard on SC-55 MK1 vs MK2 playback? Thing is, I patched (I think) MK2 firmware with a patcher from earlier in this thread, which promises to solve this CTF problem on MK2. I'm not sure I've done it correctly though, since it's not actually clear from the description, which rom file I should patch (since there are 5 of them). So I'm not sure I was successful and I also don't know where to look and what exactly to listen to to be sure. 🤣

See here:
sc55mk2-ctf-patcher: A tool to modify SC-55mkII firmware to support CTF

gerwin wrote on 2026-05-29, 19:36:

syche wrote on 2026-05-29, 18:32:

Sorry, another question. Is there any definitive way to check for CTF issue, preferably a midi file where the difference can actually be heard on SC-55 MK1 vs MK2 playback? Thing is, I patched (I think) MK2 firmware with a patcher from earlier in this thread, which promises to solve this CTF problem on MK2. I'm not sure I've done it correctly though, since it's not actually clear from the description, which rom file I should patch (since there are 5 of them). So I'm not sure I was successful and I also don't know where to look and what exactly to listen to to be sure. 🤣

See here:
sc55mk2-ctf-patcher: A tool to modify SC-55mkII firmware to support CTF

Yep, I've read it before patching and tbh found it kinda inconclusive. I mean, it's good that now instead of no instrument it shows Polysynth or something like that, but I honestly for the life of me can't hear any difference at all. 🤣 Aren't there some problematic exemplary midi files where the difference is fairly obvious to one's ears. For example, on such and such midi file on 0:08 seconds you'll clearly hear an instrument with CTF that you won't hear without CTF, something like that, to be absolute sure the issue is gone.

syche wrote on 2026-05-29, 20:22:

gerwin wrote on 2026-05-29, 19:36:

syche wrote on 2026-05-29, 18:32:

Sorry, another question. Is there any definitive way to check for CTF issue, preferably a midi file where the difference can actually be heard on SC-55 MK1 vs MK2 playback? Thing is, I patched (I think) MK2 firmware with a patcher from earlier in this thread, which promises to solve this CTF problem on MK2. I'm not sure I've done it correctly though, since it's not actually clear from the description, which rom file I should patch (since there are 5 of them). So I'm not sure I was successful and I also don't know where to look and what exactly to listen to to be sure. 🤣

See here:
sc55mk2-ctf-patcher: A tool to modify SC-55mkII firmware to support CTF

Yep, I've read it before patching and tbh found it kinda inconclusive. I mean, it's good that now instead of no instrument it shows Polysynth or something like that, but I honestly for the life of me can't hear any difference at all. 🤣 Aren't there some problematic exemplary midi files where the difference is fairly obvious to one's ears. For example, on such and such midi file on 0:08 seconds you'll clearly hear an instrument with CTF that you won't hear without CTF, something like that, to be absolute sure the issue is gone.

Here you can download a canyon.mid version that is problematic on mkII. Channel 1 shows invalid intrument and so polysynth cannot be heard.
Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Falcosoft wrote on 2026-05-29, 20:38:

Here you can download a canyon.mid version that is problematic on mkII. Channel 1 shows invalid intrument and so polysynth cannot be heard.
Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Ah! Ok, now I definitely hear it, thanks. Funny thing, I already compared this file before and didn't notice the difference, I don't know how I missed it the first time. 🤣 So basically a patched MK2 firmware now sounds correctly, exactly the same as MK1, which is pretty nice, I think (best of both worlds and such).