CM-64 is a combined CM-32L and CM-32P. So it is a viable alternative to the CM-32L.

There is also the CM-500 (combined CM-32L and CM-300) though it does have the faster vibrato issue due to a change in the clock speed in the circuit. Though this can be corrected via physically modding the CM-500.

All of those are pretty tough to get. I don't know of many other options, unfortunately. There's a Roland E-30 keyboard that is a CM-32L in a keyboard form (with a few extra FX combinations).

Another option is to use the MT-32 with the drum sound from the SC-55mkII, set to CM/LA kit, that way you get the extra effects.

All that being said, there aren't many games that use CM effects, and even fewer that use them well! Any games you were wanting to play that use them, specifically?

Spikey wrote on 2022-11-17, 06:33:

Another option is to use the MT-32 with the drum sound from the SC-55mkII, set to CM/LA kit, that way you get the extra effects.

I never heard before that it was possible to use a Sound Canvas module to gain the extra Computer Music effects. What are the steps to make this happen?

I am a fan of LucasArts and MicroProse, both releasing games from ~1991-93 which used those extra effects. Talk about a deep-buried secret if, with just a little software configuration, the Sound Canvas in fact has 100% backwards compatibility with Roland LA synthesis.

BaronSFel001 wrote on 2026-04-30, 16:07:

Talk about a deep-buried secret if, with just a little software configuration, the Sound Canvas in fact has 100% backwards compatibility with Roland LA synthesis.

It doesn't.

Various Sound Canvas modules have MT-32 compatibility mode, but that's not the same as being 100% compatible. For a start they sound very different and the Sound Canvas cannot be programmed like the earlier LA engine modules.

Thanks, that corresponds to what I discern as common knowledge but then what exactly is Spikey talking about?

BaronSFel001 wrote on 2026-04-30, 17:51:

Thanks, that corresponds to what I discern as common knowledge but then what exactly is Spikey talking about?

Don't overthink this. It means that when Roland implemented an MT-32 compatibility mode in the SC-55 and its variants, they went for CM-32/CM-64 compatibility instead of the basic MT-32 soundset. This means that the extra sound effects present in the CM modules but missing from the MT-32 are available in the SC-55, even though they won't sound exactly the same (though as far as I remember they're quite similar sounding, being PCM samples - the sound difference is less noticeable than the one existing with the emulated regular MT-32 patches).

Remember that if you intend to play an MT-32 / CM compatible game with a Sound Canvas, you will first need to set the module to CM compatibility mode (by sending a midi command to the module beforehand).

BaronSFel001 wrote on 2026-04-30, 16:07:

Spikey wrote on 2022-11-17, 06:33:

Another option is to use the MT-32 with the drum sound from the SC-55mkII, set to CM/LA kit, that way you get the extra effects.

I never heard before that it was possible to use a Sound Canvas module to gain the extra Computer Music effects. What are the steps to make this happen?

I am a fan of LucasArts and MicroProse, both releasing games from ~1991-93 which used those extra effects. Talk about a deep-buried secret if, with just a little software configuration, the Sound Canvas in fact has 100% backwards compatibility with Roland LA synthesis.

I phrased this confusingly. There are two different things being discussed here:
1. MT-32 emulation - which is inaccurate on a SC-55, and limited to the 128 default sounds only, no custom sounds. However the drumset present is the CM kit and not the MT kit.
2. CM-32L drumkit which adds 33 sound effects - used by few games, but not present in the MT-32 (either gen).

What one could *potentially* do is use a Sound Canvas just for the drum channel emulation and play that alongside a real MT-32 (which would be annoying to do but possible, essentially mute all channels but 10, need a mixer as well). If one wants proper CM sound there is only two ways to do this though, and that is either use MUNT, or get a CM-32L/64/500.

Theoretically, if a game only used default MT-32 sounds but CM drumkit, one could emulate this with a Sound Canvas, with the drumkit being manually changed on the Sc-55 device by hand. I would imagine there are limited use cases for this however. I am not familiar with LucasArts games or their music, so I'm not sure about their CM games.
Caveat - panning on the CM-32L is slightly different to the MT-32, but it will be backwards on the SC-55 anyway (unless the cables are manually reversed), so not a big issue. After reversing panning will still vary both from a MT-32 and CM-32L anyway, come to think of it. (MT-32/CM-32L use limited panning options, which vary slightly between them.)

Interesting. Sorry for the delayed response; I have been crunching on and trying to corroborate this information for a while (in between busy work & family times). The extra CM-32L effects I believe are generally for sound and not music; I know several pre-General MIDI MicroProse games used them for that (weapon launches & impacts, engine whine, etc.). I have experienced how AWE32, GUS, Ensoniq, and others result on these in how their MT-32 compatibility modes use their native MIDI capabilities to emulate rather than properly simulate: music is much nicer than AdLib, but sound effects are WAY off. I have not tried this by setting my Sound Canvas to MT-32 compatibility mode; the farthest I got was back in the day confirming those sound effects are still off when selecting Roland sound in DOSBox being passed on to the Microsoft GS Synth. For a device without a manual compatibility mode switch function (such as the SC-88ST), is it possible to enable such with a MIDI message and see if that results in more accurate game sound?

EDIT: I should have recalled the answer to my own question: as it is written the answer is no because the SC-88 family ditched the MT-32 compatibility mode. My guess is this is what likewise plagues the Microsoft GS Synth since it was contemporary. The SC-55ST, however (just not the SC-7 or SC-50 members of the SC-55 family) should have this capability as well as the CM-300 [along with the CM-500, though that unit's onboard CM-64 setting obviously renders MT-32 compatibility on the Sound Canvas end redundant].

Looking it up, it sounds like the U-110 has the same exact sound set as the CM-32P if you have room for a rack mount module.

cyclone3d wrote on Today, 17:07:

Looking it up, it sounds like the U-110 has the same exact sound set as the CM-32P if you have room for a rack mount module.

This is correct, but impertinent: the PCM-based CM-32P or U-110 is a different beast from the LA-based CM-32L. Are you thinking the D-110 which is a linear arithmetic synthesizer? I expect base samples would be the same, but proper compatibility could be a different matter since programming would have been tuned to the way it gets received by either the MT-32 or CM-32L.

I got them mixed up. I saw the 32P mentioned and went digging.

In that case, I would just go ahead and use MUNT.