Does the front display of the Sound Canvas show that there's any activity? That MIDI plug says Out on it, I'm not sure what cable that is, but the Roland UM-ONE is dumb and IN and OUT doesn't mean this is MIDI IN or OUT. It means connect this to the IN jack or OUT jack. If that's the case for that one, you should have the IN plug inserted into the MIDI IN jack on the SC.

If there is activity, do you hear music if you plug headphones into the front?

I should have clarified, this is a Sound Canvas CS-55ST.

Does the front display of the Sound Canvas show that there's any activity?

No, this one does not have a font panel LCD.

That MIDI plug says Out on it, I'm not sure what cable that is, but the Roland UM-ONE is dumb and IN and OUT doesn't mean this is MIDI IN or OUT. It means connect this to the IN jack or OUT jack. If that's the case for that one, you should have the IN plug inserted into the MIDI IN jack on the SC.

Good call. I tried to use the Midi IN but that doesn't help.

For reference, the user manual is here: https://polynominal.com/roland-sc55st/r ... anual.pdf

If there is activity, do you hear music if you plug headphones into the front?

I tried that too. Nothing when I plug directly in the front jack

The LED next to the power button label signal will flash as it get MIDI data. Are you seeing anything?

> The LED next to the power button label signal will flash as it get MIDI data.

Thank, I had no idea. It is not flashing. I also tested the line-in of the PAS16 with a walkman and I am getting sound. There is definitely a problem with the SC-55ST not getting a signal. This leaves, from the top of my head:

• The midi cable is faulty (it is new (MOLEX 5 Pin DIN to DB15 MIDI 92604-0001 Cable Harness Assembly, New). I got it from ebay here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/160682536460).
• No data is sent. I tested 330h with dosmid. If I used /mpu=300 I set an error "MPU doesn't answer". If I use 300h, dosmid "plays" normally....except I hear no sound. But it looks like the MPU answered.
• The cable is not well connected. I tried to use the IN and OUT of the midi cable.
• SC-55ST is faulty 🙁 ?

It can be any of those things. I'd wager and hope it's the MIDI cable as the generic ones aren't always the best and you could just have one with bad assembly.

I suggest picking up a USB to MIDI cable as well as a MIDI coupler (lets you connect two MIDI DINs together). This way you can connect your SC to a modern PC to verify it's working. But with the coupler you can also connect your PAS16 to a modern PC and test, as well as using MUNT or other synth emulators to play around with different MIDI sound.

The PAS16 has a buggy MPU interface so even if you do get it working, it won't be great. I'd suggest looking into a different sound card or a dedicated MPU card.

From https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/Manufacturer … mediavision.php "If the main MVD101 chip is revision C or earlier, the MPU-401 interface supports only the proprietary Media Vision MIDI interface (not widely supported), whereas revision D and later also supported MPU-401 UART mode. Sadly this does suffer from the hanging note bug."

and here https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/retro_review_pas16_pt2.php "Apparently PAS16 cards have poor MPU-401 emulation and also suffer from the famous hanging note bug that so many Creative cards also have. I also read that the PAS16 requires the optional MIDI Mate box and cable to use MIDI with the card. I will look more into this when I get it installed."

I picked up two of these a couple of years ago :

Thanks to the sound (:P) advice on this thread, I ordered a MIDI to USB Interface Cable (see photos). Link if someone ever need to test too.

I plugged the speakers directly into the SC-55ST and the Interface cable in my mac. Note that I plugged the MIDI OUT of the cable in the MIDI IN of the SC-55ST.

I was hoping garage band would let me play the piano to generate signal to the SC-55ST but it only recognize input interface. Likewise, "Audio Midi Setup" did not recognize the cable.

However there is an app called Pocket Midi which can be used. When I pressed the piano key, I started to hear music from. the SC-55ST (and the light blinked)!

This leaves three points of failure:

• The PAS16 is bad. I am going to order a Sound Blaster 16 or a PCMIDI
• The software configuration is bad.
• The DB15 cable is bad. I have ordered another one.

fabiensanglard wrote on 2025-01-22, 04:57:

This leaves three points of failure: […]
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This leaves three points of failure:

• The PAS16 is bad. I am going to order a Sound Blaster 16 or a PCMIDI
• The software configuration is bad.
• The DB15 cable is bad. I have ordered another one.

I highly recommending considering the PicoGUS. The MPU401 works great on it and supports intelligent MIDI. PicoGUS: ISA sound card emulator with Raspberry Pi Pico (Gravis Ultrasound, AdLib, MPU-401, Tandy, CMS)

It also gives you a lot more, and you can use it along side your PAS16.

Epilogue.

I got to the bottom of it. I ordered a new MIDI cable and all of the sudden: Beautiful music!!!