VOGONS


First post, by Hakeshu

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Hi,

Got recently a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 for a fair price and it seems to work just fine (demo mode, functions, phones volume, etc are ok). Got a MIDI cable from Ali Express and tried to connect my Sound Card (Audician 32 A151A00) Game Port to the SC-55 but no sound at all. Since it doesn't have In/Out labels I tried both MIDI connector on the Roland's MIDI IN and still no audio. Opened the cable and saw a mess of wires. Did a little research (here and on google) for a MIDI OUT pinout and found this one, and even with correct pinout(?) still no sound. There's any configuration on the SC-55 or DOS that I'm missing? There's other pinout for MIDI OUT?

My Sound Card is set as: I/O:240, IRQ:5, DMA:1, MPU:400, Game Port:201

Thanks in advance for any clue about this issue

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Reply 2 of 7, by darry

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Hakeshu wrote on 2021-03-21, 04:08:
Hi, […]
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Hi,

Got recently a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 for a fair price and it seems to work just fine (demo mode, functions, phones volume, etc are ok). Got a MIDI cable from Ali Express and tried to connect my Sound Card (Audician 32 A151A00) Game Port to the SC-55 but no sound at all. Since it doesn't have In/Out labels I tried both MIDI connector on the Roland's MIDI IN and still no audio. Opened the cable and saw a mess of wires. Did a little research (here and on google) for a MIDI OUT pinout and found this one, and even with correct pinout(?) still no sound. There's any configuration on the SC-55 or DOS that I'm missing? There's other pinout for MIDI OUT?

My Sound Card is set as: I/O:240, IRQ:5, DMA:1, MPU:400, Game Port:201

Thanks in advance for any clue about this issue

If changing the MPU port address to 330 , as suggested by Pierre32, does not work, the cable is probably the issue (see remarks on that below).
You should also set the MPU-401 port address within the game's setup to match the value specified for the sound card . Games that do not offer the option to configure this are typically hard-coded to 330 .

I suggest you either buy a proper gameport to MIDI adapter , such as this one https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI or build one using a more proper schematic, such as the one described here : Re: "Quality" gameport to midi cable availability and testing

IMHO, finding an in-spec gameport to MIDI cable on Ebay or AliExpress is almost like hoping to win the lottery without buying a ticket, if you get my drift . 😉

Reply 3 of 7, by Hakeshu

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darry wrote on 2021-03-21, 04:37:
If changing the MPU port address to 330 , as suggested by Pierre32, does not work, the cable is probably the issue (see remarks […]
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Hakeshu wrote on 2021-03-21, 04:08:
Hi, […]
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Hi,

Got recently a Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 for a fair price and it seems to work just fine (demo mode, functions, phones volume, etc are ok). Got a MIDI cable from Ali Express and tried to connect my Sound Card (Audician 32 A151A00) Game Port to the SC-55 but no sound at all. Since it doesn't have In/Out labels I tried both MIDI connector on the Roland's MIDI IN and still no audio. Opened the cable and saw a mess of wires. Did a little research (here and on google) for a MIDI OUT pinout and found this one, and even with correct pinout(?) still no sound. There's any configuration on the SC-55 or DOS that I'm missing? There's other pinout for MIDI OUT?

My Sound Card is set as: I/O:240, IRQ:5, DMA:1, MPU:400, Game Port:201

Thanks in advance for any clue about this issue

If changing the MPU port address to 330 , as suggested by Pierre32, does not work, the cable is probably the issue (see remarks on that below).
You should also set the MPU-401 port address within the game's setup to match the value specified for the sound card . Games that do not offer the option to configure this are typically hard-coded to 330 .

I suggest you either buy a proper gameport to MIDI adapter , such as this one https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI or build one using a more proper schematic, such as the one described here : Re: "Quality" gameport to midi cable availability and testing

IMHO, finding an in-spec gameport to MIDI cable on Ebay or AliExpress is almost like hoping to win the lottery without buying a ticket, if you get my drift . 😉

Yeah tried 330 and still no sound.

I'll try the schematics from the link you shared. The DB15MIDI is great but since dollar and euro rates just skyrocketed here in Brazil, I guess I'll need to find a working schematic that works on my Sound Card.

But thanks for the info. First time using/setting up a MIDI device.

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Reply 4 of 7, by Hakeshu

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Just a small update.

Got the MIDI DB15 adapter from Serdashop (https://www.serdashop.com/DB15MIDI), and it arrived today. Worked like a charm, for everyone with issues with MIDI modules and generic MIDI cables I strong suggest to get one of these adapters.

Tested with SC-55 and MT32-PI.

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Reply 7 of 7, by Barty

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Audician 32 seems to have issues driving MIDI out with simple adapters like the one on the top schematic. An additional buffer is required built either on transistors or IC (eg. double not gates in series or CD4050 like).