The compact design of this Roland MPU 401AT card doesn't lend itself well to securely mounting a DB. I'm not sure what the solution is. I just leave the card+DB "as is". I remember testing this Roland card, and reporting my observations on Vogons -

My test was to run Descent 2, and leave it running on the "Choose/create Pilot" screen. The Yamaha and NEC clone boards played this music too "heavy-handedly", and as a result, the music sounded "muddy" and unclear in places.

If possible, could you run the same test please?

I suppose I can run the test, but you'll have to give me detailed instructions. My hearing stinks too, so how will I know if my sound is off or not?

My proposed solution to the loose header is to find some plastic hollow tube, cut it down to the appropriate size and use it as a stand-off which is secured by a thin bolt which passes through the center of it.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

I suppose I can run the test, but you'll have to give me detailed instructions. My hearing stinks too, so how will I know if my sound is off or not?

Thanks. I used headphones for my test. I listened for about 30-40 seconds. Within that space of time, the music became muddy (almost distorted) two or three times, and that "distorted" sound lasted for about 2 seconds. I would say that this distorted sound would be fairly obvious to appreciate. You'll just know that something doesn't sound quite right. It won't sound "hi-fi" - it will sound a bit lousy. If you listen carefully for about 30 seconds, and the music sounds reasonably clear throughout, with no discernible problems, then it must be something wrong with my set up. Thanks.

Can you PM me about where I can obtain Decent II?

Please try the free to download demo here -

http://www.planetdescent.com/site/files/d2/demo/

Thanks, I'll give it a try tonight.

In other news, I solved about 90% of the loose header problem I was having. It involves using two 1/2" nylon spacers, and two 3/4" bolts.

It sounds like it's clipping a little bit, but I believe that might be because all the mixer settings are cranked up too high. I remember reading about this problem a few days ago. You need to use a utility to adjust the mixer. Unfortunately from what I have read, everytime you restart your system the mixer settings get cranked back up again to the default settings.

Unfortunately, I don't have any software for either the Roland MPU-401AT card, or the daughterboard. I had a look on the net (including driverguide.com), but I couldn't find any DOS mixer app. If you know where one can be DL'd, can you provide the link please? (That's assuming a link to an old hardware DOS mixer is permitted on Vogons. It should be OK, I guess.)

"WARNING-WARNING-WARNING" - This is NOT a solution! :

I have a better idea : Use the DB60XG with a SB card. Just send me over your MPU-401! Problem solved! (I've been looking for the MPU-401 for ages!) 😜

Look into this topic:

Midi daughterboard trouble

I came up with a final solution to this problem. As I said before, the nylon spacers with the bolts helped a lot, but the connection was still a little bit loose on the front of the card where there is nothing to hold it down. I ended up building a custom clamp out of a few random metal parts I had lying around. I'm sure this must be a fairly common problem with the MPU401AT, so I'll include a few pictures of my home made clamp. It's somewhat of a half assed design, but it seems to do the job: