Shponglefan wrote on 2024-11-05, 15:16:

Yup, it's a spray: Deoxit D5.

It's also great for cleaning audio jacks, potentiometers, etc. I use it frequently when working on retro hardware.

Awesome. Yep, that's the one I saw on Amazon. 😀

Does anyone know, or have a list, of the differences between the Roland MIDI module versions? I mean, I see listings for the SC-55, there's an SC-55 MKII, an SC-55ST, an SC-88...

Thanks

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-11-08, 13:14:

Does anyone know, or have a list, of the differences between the Roland MIDI module versions? I mean, I see listings for the SC-55, there's an SC-55 MKII, an SC-55ST, an SC-88...

Thanks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas

Okay, I managed to win a Roland SC-55 for £100 on eBay. I decided to go with a sound canvas in the end over a wavetable for two reasons - 1. I like the idea of owning a piece of retro kit from the 90s. And 2. I can use it on my main PC with ScummVM and DOSBox. 😁

It looks like it's only going to include a power cable/pack, but I wanted to check if I need any other cables for it? I know a joystick serial cable is often mentioned, but will that be needed if I'm using an ISA sound card with MPU-401 output? Or do I need to get a MIDI cable of some sort?

You need a DB15 to MIDI adapter. Something like:

https://www.rapidpcs.co.uk/store/11/56/product/1428/

One end goes into your (Soundblaster?) joystick port and the MIDI OUT cable goes to the MIDI IN of your SC-55. You then either need to plug some headphones/speakers into the SC-55, or connect the left/right phono OUT of the SC-55 to the line-IN of your soundcard (to mix the SC-55 audio with that of your soundcard - MIDI cables do not transmit sound).

The better long-term, more-flexible option is an external desktop mixer, that you connect your soundcard, SC-55 and anything else you want to use, and THEN to your speakers/headphones.

Be aware that the Soundblaster cards are not 100% compatible with all games featuring MIDI soundtracks. They have various bugs. The use of something like SoftMPU can mitigate this to an extent for some titles, but not entirely.

Sorry.... legacy PC audio is not entirely a simple topic to summarise!

megatron-uk wrote on 2024-12-05, 14:41:

You need a DB15 to MIDI adapter. Something like: […]
Show full quote

You need a DB15 to MIDI adapter. Something like:

https://www.rapidpcs.co.uk/store/11/56/product/1428/

One end goes into your (Soundblaster?) joystick port and the MIDI OUT cable goes to the MIDI IN of your SC-55. You then either need to plug some headphones/speakers into the SC-55, or connect the left/right phono OUT of the SC-55 to the line-IN of your soundcard (to mix the SC-55 audio with that of your soundcard - MIDI cables do not transmit sound).

The better long-term, more-flexible option is an external desktop mixer, that you connect your soundcard, SC-55 and anything else you want to use, and THEN to your speakers/headphones.

Be aware that the Soundblaster cards are not 100% compatible with all games featuring MIDI soundtracks. They have various bugs. The use of something like SoftMPU can mitigate this to an extent for some titles, but not entirely.

Sorry.... legacy PC audio is not entirely a simple topic to summarise!

Awesome. Thank you. 😀 I'll also look into the desktop mixer at some stage, too.

Not sure if SoftMPU will be needed in my case...? I'm using a Yamaha YMF715E-S ISA sound card.

SoftMPU is needed to convince games which look for an intelligent mode MPU-401 MIDI interface that your soundcard really is one. Though most (all?) of them expect a MT-32, rather than an SC-55 or other GM/GS/XG type device. The list is here:

https://github.com/bjt42/softmpu/wiki/Compati … gent-Mode-Games

If you're not wanting to play any of those titles, and only interested in later, GM/GS type soundtracks then you don't need to bother.

Yes, the Yamaha cards have a better MIDI interface than the Creative cards.

megatron-uk wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:02:

SoftMPU is needed to convince games which look for an intelligent mode MPU-401 MIDI interface that your soundcard really is one. […]
Show full quote

SoftMPU is needed to convince games which look for an intelligent mode MPU-401 MIDI interface that your soundcard really is one. Though most (all?) of them expect a MT-32, rather than an SC-55 or other GM/GS/XG type device. The list is here:

https://github.com/bjt42/softmpu/wiki/Compati … gent-Mode-Games

If you're not wanting to play any of those titles, and only interested in later, GM/GS type soundtracks then you don't need to bother.

Yes, the Yamaha cards have a better MIDI interface than the Creative cards.

The only game that stands out on that list for me is Simon the Sorcerer, but I know that makes perfect use of GM/GS. 😀

I might be typing the wrong wording, but I'm not finding much in the way of sound card to MIDI interface cables on the likes of Amazon and eBay UK. The one you listed to is no longer available it seems.

EDIT: Unless more modern ones only use 5 DIN connectors now...? None I'm seeing have a serial connector.

EDIT 2: Ahh, wait. Are those all that are needed...? The serial connector is just a pass-through to allow joysticks to be used...? I have a joystick, but I doubt I'll be using it much, if at all.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-05, 14:18:

It looks like it's only going to include a power cable/pack, but I wanted to check if I need any other cables for it? I know a joystick serial cable is often mentioned, but will that be needed if I'm using an ISA sound card with MPU-401 output? Or do I need to get a MIDI cable of some sort?

You'll need a joystick (DB15) to MIDI adapter. These come in a variety of form factors.

SerdaShop has one that is basically a board that plugs in the joystick port and has two MIDI out ports: https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI You'll need a separate MIDI cable to connect the adapter and the SC-55. Note that this particular adapter means the joystick port cannot be used for a joystick at the same time.

There are also other adapters that include a DB15 pass-through for joystick connections in addition to MIDI connections. Some of them will have MIDI cables that would plug directly into the SC-55. Others (for example, MediaVision's MIDI Mate) would require an additional MIDI cable to connect to the adapter.

Whether you need a separate MIDI cable comes down to how the adapter is designed.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:19:

You'll need a joystick (DB15) to MIDI adapter. These come in a variety of form factors. […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-05, 14:18:

It looks like it's only going to include a power cable/pack, but I wanted to check if I need any other cables for it? I know a joystick serial cable is often mentioned, but will that be needed if I'm using an ISA sound card with MPU-401 output? Or do I need to get a MIDI cable of some sort?

You'll need a joystick (DB15) to MIDI adapter. These come in a variety of form factors.

SerdaShop has one that is basically a board that plugs in the joystick port and has two MIDI out ports: https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI You'll need a separate MIDI cable to connect the adapter and the SC-55. Note that this particular adapter means the joystick port cannot be used for a joystick at the same time.

There are also other adapters that include a DB15 pass-through for joystick connections in addition to MIDI connections. Some of them will have MIDI cables that would plug directly into the SC-55. Others (for example, MediaVision's MIDI Mate) would require an additional MIDI cable to connect to the adapter.

Whether you need a separate MIDI cable comes down to how the adapter is designed.

Cool. Thank you. I think I would ideally like one of those DB15 pass-through cables for convenience sake. I rarely use the joystick, but it's nice to have that flexibility and option in case I decided to. I just can't seem to find any anywhere at the moment. I could be wrong (I'd need to check), but I *think* I might have two serial connectors for a joystick. If I do, would that still allow me to connect the Sound Canvas in one and still hook up and use a joystick in the other? Thanks.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:31:

I could be wrong (I'd need to check), but I *think* I might have two serial connectors for a joystick. If I do, would that still allow me to connect the Sound Canvas in one and still hook up and use a joystick in the other? Thanks.

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to that, as I never tried to do that. Usually whenever I have multiple joystick ports (e.g. multiple sound cards), I disable most of them.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:49:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:31:

I could be wrong (I'd need to check), but I *think* I might have two serial connectors for a joystick. If I do, would that still allow me to connect the Sound Canvas in one and still hook up and use a joystick in the other? Thanks.

Unfortunately I don't know the answer to that, as I never tried to do that. Usually whenever I have multiple joystick ports (e.g. multiple sound cards), I disable most of them.

Okay. I just checked and it does have two serial ports. I'll just stick to the single MIDI cable for now then. Thanks.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-05, 15:58:

Okay. I just checked and it does have two serial ports. I'll just stick to the single MIDI cable for now then. Thanks.

It depends on that sound cards. I had two that supported PnP and used Unisound to configure the gameport on one, and MPU401 on the other. It might be possible to do the same with others via jumpers.

Do sound cards, like ISA ones, require a Soundblaster driver if running a DOS game under Windows?

Usually not, if inside win9x.

It has a virtual soundblaster driver baked in, and routes mpu401 accessess to the midi mapper. (Which is usually serviced bybthe microsoft supplied softsynth. Setting the default midi device to an actual mpu401 will route midi there instead.)

On 2k and XP, you'll need something like vdmsound (or, use dosbox).

wierd_w wrote on 2024-12-06, 22:31:

Usually not, if inside win9x.

It has a virtual soundblaster driver baked in, and routes mpu401 accessess to the midi mapper. (Which is usually serviced bybthe microsoft supplied softsynth. Setting the default midi device to an actual mpu401 will route midi there instead.)

On 2k and XP, you'll need something like vdmsound (or, use dosbox).

I wouldn't have thought so either. I'm just trying to work out why I'm not getting audio at all when trying to setup and play the original Tomb Raider. It's perfectly fine in native DOS, minus the audio tracks working, but when I tried to test it in Windows, none of the audio options work, including Soundblaster.

Okay, I have my Roland SC-55, the MIDI connector, and the device’s power supply. But. Unsurprisingly, I think I’ve overlooked something again. 🙄 Am I right in guessing that I WILL need to plug in a serial connector…? For some reason I was under the impression I could just use a MIDI cable. There’s no MIDI port on the back of my PC or sound card. Do I need some kind of adapter? There’s certainly a serial port on the sound card, but then, where would the other end go? There’s no serial port on the SC-55. So does it need to be serial to MIDI? 😮
And then how do I connect it to my subwoofer? I’m guessing I would need L and R cables to go into Input from the sound canvas to the L and R under Line 2? Line 1 is for my left and right speakers.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-09, 17:16:

There’s no serial port on the SC-55. So does it need to be serial to MIDI? 😮

You need a DB15 (joystick) to MIDI adapter. You connect the adapter to the joystick port on your PC, then the MIDI cable from the adapter to the SC-55.

And then how do I connect it to my subwoofer? I’m guessing I would need L and R cables to go into Input from the sound canvas to the L and R under Line 2? Line 1 is for my left and right speakers.

What speaker setup do you have? Normally you wouldn't connect the SC-55 directly to the subwoofer or speakers. You'd either want to go through an external mixer or the input on your sound card, and use the sound card as a mixer.

Shponglefan wrote on 2024-12-09, 17:23:

You need a DB15 (joystick) to MIDI adapter. You connect the adapter to the joystick port on your PC, then the MIDI cable from th […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2024-12-09, 17:16:

There’s no serial port on the SC-55. So does it need to be serial to MIDI? 😮

You need a DB15 (joystick) to MIDI adapter. You connect the adapter to the joystick port on your PC, then the MIDI cable from the adapter to the SC-55.

And then how do I connect it to my subwoofer? I’m guessing I would need L and R cables to go into Input from the sound canvas to the L and R under Line 2? Line 1 is for my left and right speakers.

What speaker setup do you have? Normally you wouldn't connect the SC-55 directly to the subwoofer or speakers. You'd either want to go through an external mixer or the input on your sound card, and use the sound card as a mixer.

Ah-ha. So I DO need one of those DB15 to MIDI adapters then. I don’t know why I thought I’d just need the MIDI cable. 😖 Thanks. My problem now is finding one as I didn’t have much luck the last I checked. 😕

I have the Yamaha YST-MSW10 with YTS-20DSP speakers. Oh dear… Is this going to involve spending a load more money if I’m to get a mixer as well? 😅

I think I may have to get this from Serdashop…

https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI