PhilsComputerLab wrote:

The UM-One MKII has the labels telling you what to connect it to. Swap in with out 😀

So MIDI out of the Sound Blaster goes into MIDI out labelled plug on the UM-One MKII.

The UM-One should MIDI flash when receiving input.

So the cable from the AWE64 should be MIDI OUT

and that cabled coupled, should also be MIDI OUT into the UM-ONE?

PHIL YOU ARE THE BEST!!! You seriously made my day - I was getting really bummed over here.
I'm not sure why Input would be OUT but Hey it works!!

I know that feeling when something finally works 😁

What PC are you running Munt / Sound Canvas VA on?

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I know that feeling when something finally works 😁

What PC are you running Munt / Sound Canvas VA on?

For now I'm using an old Toshiba Satellite A135-S4527
early Pentium T2080 dual core 1.73GHz
with 1.5GB RAM
Samsung 840 Pro 128GB SSD
Windows 7 Ultimate (32-bit)

I'm getting some strange popping and stuttering - almost sounds like some dropped notes here and there
not sure if it's the 486DX2 66
its AWE64 sound card,
one of the cables, adapters,
or the laptop

Mostly it sounds really good though - hopefully a minor issue I can fix

Is this with Munt? I found that it takes a fairly decent machine to run without glitches.

The machine I used was a fairly modern Celeron 1.7 GHz.

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Is this with Munt? I found that it takes a fairly decent machine to run without glitches.

The machine I used was a fairly modern Celeron 1.7 GHz.

It's happening with both.

I switched USB ports on the laptop, thinking maybe I had a mix of USB 1.0/2.0. It seemed to make things a little better - maybe just placebo effect.

I've had some problems with the 486 system - random memory and AWE64 issues. I bought all these 20 year old parts online so who knows, right?

I've had some of the following random issues
8/16MB RAM detected
0MB RAM detected
no signal to monitor
HIMEM ex memory error
freeze/crash game (Doom numlumps error)

Memtest reports no errors
Nothing is grounding out

Maybe failing RAM/PSU or weak solder points on motherboard?

On the notebook, you can use the MIDI coupler and connect IN with OUT on the UM-ONE.

Play a midi file, it should go into the input and then send it to MUNT or Sound Canvas VA.

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

On the notebook, you can use the MIDI coupler and connect IN with OUT on the UM-ONE.

Play a midi file, it should go into the input and then send it to MUNT or Sound Canvas VA.

Thanks for the great idea! Took me a minute to figure out I needed to switch my MIDI-out plugin in Winamp 😉

Holy smokes! Who knew Canyon.mid could sound SO amazing!!

I got the random stuttering - Sooo.. I need to try another PC to rule out the laptop or UM-ONE/coupler

Found an updated Sound Driver from December 2015 on Toshiba's site
Pretty sweet considering my laptop is from 2007 / didn't fix the issue however

Update: Other computer is working fine so problem is on the laptop. I'm not sure what's causing the issue but I find it hard to believe it's underpowered - I mean, if a Raspberry Pi can handle it.. Well, at least I've narrowed it down.

I wonder if the ports on the laptop aren't outputting enough power - maybe a powered USB hub would do the trick.

for Munt, you need a Pi 2 or equivalent performance. just sayin'.

I tried a modern AMD APU notebook, with E-450 processor, dual core, 1.6 GHz and it wasn't smooth. SoundFonts worked fine, but not Munt.

Maybe it also needs optimisations turned on when compiling? But the documentation does say a fast CPU is required.

Correct, using the vector units for FP math makes all the difference.

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I tried a modern AMD APU notebook, with E-450 processor, dual core, 1.6 GHz and it wasn't smooth. SoundFonts worked fine, but not Munt.

Maybe it also needs optimisations turned on when compiling? But the documentation does say a fast CPU is required.

Task Manager never shows CPU over 10%
Tried changing USB settings in Power Management

Still having the issue

UM-ONE is showing 70mA under USB Root Hub - port is listed at 500mA, if that makes any difference

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Software needed: […]
Show full quote

Software needed:

SoftMPU
Munt
MT-32 and CM-32L ROM files
BASSMIDI
Soundfonts
MIDI-OX

You can also use Midi Player to replace MIDI-OX and BASSMIDI (as it got BASSMIDI integrated, didn't work in the 64bit version tho).

http://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html

Thanks for the tip Kamerat!

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I tried a modern AMD APU notebook, with E-450 processor, dual core, 1.6 GHz and it wasn't smooth. SoundFonts worked fine, but not Munt.

Maybe it also needs optimisations turned on when compiling? But the documentation does say a fast CPU is required.

How would you define not smooth? Mine sounds like it's struggling to buffer occasionally. This sounds kind of like static/garbled and a few notes get dropped altogether or it skips ahead to keep up with the buffer. It also happens randomly - not at the same spot. Is this what you're experiencing or something else? Thanks

I really enjoyed this video and the music sounded awesome! Thanks Phil!

simbin wrote:

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

I tried a modern AMD APU notebook, with E-450 processor, dual core, 1.6 GHz and it wasn't smooth. SoundFonts worked fine, but not Munt.

Maybe it also needs optimisations turned on when compiling? But the documentation does say a fast CPU is required.

How would you define not smooth? Mine sounds like it's struggling to buffer occasionally. This sounds kind of like static/garbled and a few notes get dropped altogether or it skips ahead to keep up with the buffer. It also happens randomly - not at the same spot. Is this what you're experiencing or something else? Thanks

I didn't make a recording of the issue. Dropped notes is probably more like it. Like it wasn't able to keep up with the flow of data.

I get that behavior on my Atom powered netbook on Linux when using an unoptimized binary. My guess is that the standard FPU is not very strong compared to the SIMD unit. Coupled with a low clock, the resulting weak FP performance is likely causing the MIDI stream to overrun the emulator.

Kamerat wrote:

PhilsComputerLab wrote:

Software needed: […]
Show full quote

Software needed:

SoftMPU
Munt
MT-32 and CM-32L ROM files
BASSMIDI
Soundfonts
MIDI-OX

You can also use Midi Player to replace MIDI-OX and BASSMIDI (as it got BASSMIDI integrated, didn't work in the 64bit version tho).

http://falcosoft.hu/softwares.html

User Stretch mentioned a program named TMIDI in another thread, it can also be used to replace MIDI-OX. TMIDI is really light weight and Windows 98SE compatible.

http://www.grandgent.com/tom/projects/tmidi/

Edit: It should be noted that Midi Player and that it's integrated BASSMIDI also works in Windows 98SE.

Retro RGB consoles took over life but now I'm back. 😀 Has any progress been made on a Raspberry Pi - MT-32/SC-55 - device? Thanks

A little progress, but not too much. Going to grad school in September so prepping for that has taken most of my time.

I've prototyped the MIDI I/O circuit but haven't proofed it yet, as I don't have an interface for the other side. That's next on the list.