dionb wrote on 2020-01-21, 13:26:As i read it, it seems to be a non-AdLib/SB-compatible card with GM support. That sounds a lot like the Roland SCC-1. Would that be a correct characterisation? Would is be usible as GM card in games as the SCC-1 is?
It is far away from being a SCC-1, because the later is a music-only card with native MPU-401 support, while Multisound Classic is a PCM+MIDI card, but without MPU-401.
Of Roland stuff it somewhat resembles RAP-10, but RAP-10 still supports MPU-401, while Multisound doesn't. Both have proprietary PCM part with some support in games but not compatible neither with SB, nor with WSS.
Or, we can compare it to AWE32, which has MPU-401 incompatible wavetable synth (even from the same company, this time EMU-8000 instead of EMU Proteus 1/XR used in Multisound), but AWE32 has SB-compatible PCM part, while Multisound doesn't.
One more close analogue is any ARIA-based card, like Prometheus ARIA16. SB-incompatible PCM part and MPU-401 incompatible wavetable. The difference this time is that ARIA cards have some SB support via TSR utility, and that ARIA standard is much more widely supported.
And at last, we can place Multisound close to Gravis Ultrasound and Omni Labs Audio Master. The difference this time is that Ultrasound and Audio Master don't use any ROM for MIDI synthesis, but instead load patches into card's RAM, while Multisound only relies on ROM, albeit allowing to change patch numbering (save for the drum patches), which gives some versatility, allowing Multisound to comply with GM or MT-32 patch order. That being said, Gravis Ultrasound gaming support is very steady, while Audio Master is narrowly supported (and the cards are all but inexistent nowadays).
Hardware comparisons and game system requirements: https://technical.city