NeoG_ wrote on 2025-12-20, 01:07:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-19, 14:02:

I think the final piece of the puzzle would be a sound mixer, but at the moment, I need to have my speakers plugged into the Sound Blaster primarily. Especially if I want to use the SB's limited MT-32 capabilities. Otherwise with the Yamaha, I won't get music in those games.

You were extremely close to getting EK1M working as the mixer, the config file was just edited in the wrong way. I think you changed "-as line" to "-as line mix" when it should have been "-as mix"

Ohhh, okay. I can give that a try much later on, but again - unlike a physical mixer, how exactly would you control the mixing? I take it with an actual mixer you can specify the chosen card at any given time at the press of a button? With this method though, would I not still be specifying on a game-by-game basis via a BAT file? Or is there some other kind of shortcut?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 06:35:

Ohhh, okay. I can give that a try much later on, but again - unlike a physical mixer, how exactly would you control the mixing? I take it with an actual mixer you can specify the chosen card at any given time at the press of a button? With this method though, would I not still be specifying on a game-by-game basis via a BAT file? Or is there some other kind of shortcut?

What you are talking about is switching - Mixing means both cards can be heard at the same time and you just leave it like that so any card can play when it wants

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-12-20, 06:52:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 06:35:

Ohhh, okay. I can give that a try much later on, but again - unlike a physical mixer, how exactly would you control the mixing? I take it with an actual mixer you can specify the chosen card at any given time at the press of a button? With this method though, would I not still be specifying on a game-by-game basis via a BAT file? Or is there some other kind of shortcut?

What you are talking about is switching - Mixing means both cards can be heard at the same time and you just leave it like that so any card can play when it wants

Ahh, I see. And when each one plays it depends on which IRQ and/or DMA is selected…? They surely don’t both play the same tune at the same time in a game, right…?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:27:

Ahh, I see. And when each one plays it depends on which IRQ and/or DMA is selected…? They surely don’t both play the same tune at the same time in a game, right…?

Generally no.

Common use cases for a mixer is to have one sound card playing sound effects and another playing music. This is why in DOS game set up programs you can often choose different sources for sound effects and music.

Another common use case is to be able to use different sound cards with different games.

There are some exceptions to this, for example FM synthesis. If both sound cards are configured to the same FM port (typically 388) it's possible to have multiple sound cards playing FM sounds and music at the same time.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-12-20, 15:04:

Generally no. […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 09:27:

Ahh, I see. And when each one plays it depends on which IRQ and/or DMA is selected…? They surely don’t both play the same tune at the same time in a game, right…?

Generally no.

Common use cases for a mixer is to have one sound card playing sound effects and another playing music. This is why in DOS game set up programs you can often choose different sources for sound effects and music.

Another common use case is to be able to use different sound cards with different games.

There are some exceptions to this, for example FM synthesis. If both sound cards are configured to the same FM port (typically 388) it's possible to have multiple sound cards playing FM sounds and music at the same time.

I see. I did not know that. I missed out on so much stuff with computers growing up, mainly because of being so young and not having access to what I now have. I’ve learnt loads since using a retro PC. And it’s insightful for how things were to what things are like now. 🙂
I take it with multiple FM cards they’d play different SFX/music to each other, Increasing the scope and number of instruments being played?
I take it that doesn’t apply to modern sound cards, does it? Considering how far tech has come? Having one sound card for SFX/speech and one for music?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 16:15:

I take it with multiple FM cards they’d play different SFX/music to each other, Increasing the scope and number of instruments being played?

Yes and no.

Different FM implementations will sound different. But it's not really a case where you are increasing the number of instruments per se. Just different sounding variations of the FM synthesis itself.

I take it that doesn’t apply to modern sound cards, does it? Considering how far tech has come? Having one sound card for SFX/speech and one for music?

Once digital music recordings became common, the need for separate sound cards for sound and music become obsolete. The main reason to have separate sound/music cards is for the MT-32 and General MIDI era.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-12-21, 20:05:

Yes and no. […]
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DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-20, 16:15:

I take it with multiple FM cards they’d play different SFX/music to each other, Increasing the scope and number of instruments being played?

Yes and no.

Different FM implementations will sound different. But it's not really a case where you are increasing the number of instruments per se. Just different sounding variations of the FM synthesis itself.

I take it that doesn’t apply to modern sound cards, does it? Considering how far tech has come? Having one sound card for SFX/speech and one for music?

Once digital music recordings became common, the need for separate sound cards for sound and music become obsolete. The main reason to have separate sound/music cards is for the MT-32 and General MIDI era.

Okay, great. Makes sense. So yeah, the missing ingredient(s) would be an actual MT-32 sound canvas. And a mixer. But for now, the SB's own MT-32 will do as a placeholder. 😀

If you want a less hassle way to get every MT-32 type and good General MIDI in one device, an MT32-Pi wavetable board would give you MT-32 Rev.0, MT-32 New, CM-32L and high quality GS compatible MIDI on an internal board. I use the WP32 McCake.

But I think I saw you already have an SC-55 module so it would be a shame not to get an MT-32 to stack with it

Nice thing about a real MT-32 is the LCD display.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-12-21, 21:59:

Nice thing about a real MT-32 is the LCD display.

Just the LCD display...? Not that it has proper MT-32 music...? :p

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-21, 23:05:

Just the LCD display...? Not that it has proper MT-32 music...? :p

There are numerous modern devices that give you extremely accurate MT-32 sound (To the point where you can't easily tell the difference, or can't at all) but they would not have the physical presence or display of a real MT-32

NeoG_ wrote on 2025-12-21, 23:16:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-21, 23:05:

Just the LCD display...? Not that it has proper MT-32 music...? :p

There are numerous modern devices that give you extremely accurate MT-32 sound (To the point where you can't easily tell the difference, or can't at all) but they would not have the physical presence or display of a real MT-32

Fair enough, yeah. But the idea of owning the original hardware definitely appeals. Just a shame they cost as much as they do. ^^; That reminds me though - I still need to look into whether there's a tool/manager for adding custom sound fonts for that SB. I take it once they're loaded in Windows, they'll also work in DOS...? Or would that require an additional setup? Also, are there any recommended sound fonts to get?

DustyShinigami wrote on 2025-12-21, 23:23:

Fair enough, yeah. But the idea of owning the original hardware definitely appeals. Just a shame they cost as much as they do. ^^; That reminds me though - I still need to look into whether there's a tool/manager for adding custom sound fonts for that SB. I take it once they're loaded in Windows, they'll also work in DOS...? Or would that require an additional setup? Also, are there any recommended sound fonts to get?

Unfortunately the DOS drivers use a proprietary patch library format - ECW - for which there's only a few available files, the largest of which is the 8MB General MIDI file