Greetings,

The Dreamblaster X2GS and it's variations have long since intrigued me, ever since I saw Phil's Computer Lab and LGR cover them. I recently got an X2GS TE for myself, and have some... mixed thoughts, and comments about it. Considering you cannot place reviews on the site, I will be doing so here, as I am curious to see if other people have the same experience.

The sound set it comes with is strange, as it's an odd hybrid of the SC-55 and SC-88. The main way I can tell is with the Picked Bass sound, which is not the SC-55 version. The reason this difference and other strange discrepancies exist is because the X2GS seems to based off some weird uncompressed version of the sample set from GM.DLS, and by extension, VSC-55. The site itself doesn't mention that it's based entirely off any specific Roland module, but for those who want to know, it's based off GM.DLS for the most part. Some samples don't actually quite match GM.DLS, such as some of the drums, but otherwise, it seems those are the sounds Serdashop got provided.

As for the implementation of those sounds, it's... mixed. There are some patches that just don't sound quite right to what is on the real SC-55 (I used to use one extensively, you can check out my YouTube channel if need be), or even to GM.DLS. These include the following patches, which I have noticed so far:

-The Honky Tonk. On some notes, it sounds pretty close to the SC-55 version, however on others, it reminds me of how the patch sounds on the SC-88 onwards, where it instead sounds closer to the Piano 3 patch on the Sound Canvas. (For context, the SC-88 onwards has an SC-55 map which isn't entirely accurate, messing up sounds including the Honky Tonk, and the Strings patch. There are others that the SC-88 onwards messes up, but those are the main two I recall, off hand)
-The Breath Noise patch. This probably comes from the fact that the Dreamblaster seems to be using some sort of weird raw recordings from Roland, but compared to the SC-55 and even GM.DLS, it doesn't quite sound right. This isn't a patch most folk used, but in the songs where it used (such as the Create-a-Toon theme from Toontown Online), it loses out on the sound it originally had
-The Bird sound. Vs GM.DLS and the SC-55, it's tuning is not quite correct. I know for effects patches like this, that tuning can vary across synths, but I do feel this one is distracting enough to note.
-The Vibraslap. Vs GM.DLS and the SC-55, it's using a different sample, oddly enough, the one from the MT-32. I don't dislike this sound, so it's not a huge deal, but, it is a discrepancy I figured I should note, as it caught me off guard when I first heard it
-The French Accordion. The effects programming on it is a bit strange, and has a sort of weird phasing sound to it that shouldn't be there, as if it's fading in
-Whistle Patch. Oddly it's tuned up just a smidge bit too high, vs the SC-55 and GM.DLS, and needs to be detuned a bit. The waveform itself also may not be correct
-French Horns. Sound kinda off from what they should? It sounds like it should be combining multiple sounds to make it up, but is missing some effects GM.DLS and the SC-55 had

There are probably other minor differences and cases of things sounding off, but for the most part, it sounds fairly spot on, these are just the main patches I noticed which sounded off.

The device also seems to kinda struggle with fast hi-hats, with them often cutting in and out, which is not accurate behavior to either GM.DLS, or the SC-55.

And, while I am not 100% sure if this issue has to do with Windows, My Vortex 2, or what, but I have noticed that randomly, songs will have issues with hanging notes, and sometimes not. It ruins the song listening experience when it does happen, and would be devestating to have happen in a game. Having used an SC-55 MKII on the same machine before (I no longer own it) over the Vortex 2 Gameport, and having used the built in synth, hanging notes otherwise do not occur on this same machine, so I have a hunch this may be an issue with the device itself, but I cannot confirm for sure. (Different MIDI reset modes and MIDI players have been used, including Windows Media Player, and Vanbasco's Karaoke Player. I'd understand if the issue was happening if I was skipping around or stopping the song, but oddly, neither of those cause the issue, in the case of the X2GS. The only issue I've had with MIDI synths before on older PCs was with the AWE32 and 64 having note stutter and lag at times, but they never suffered from hanging notes)

This is not a post meant to defamate the x2GS or Serdashop, but meant as observations, and I guess criticism of the product I got sent. In many regards, the device sounds pretty good, but those specific patches I pointed out as sounding off (and others I'm sure I haven't heard yet), the issue with the hi-hats, and the inconsistent hanging notes bug, have been a huge bummer. I have to wonder if any of this could be addressed in an update, if the device can be updated at all. I will keep using it, since it largely does sound nice, but I do feel like, as someone who comes from the VGM Research scene (where we document the sources of sounds composers used in games), and as someone who has used various Sound Canvas devices extensively, this device, as it is, isn't 100% there, and for strange folk like me, may drive them crazy with the minor things (and not so minor, regarding the inconsistent hanging notes issue) I have pointed out here.

But that's just my experience. What experiences have YOU had with the x2GS and it's many versions? Do you encounter the same issues I noted (such as the hanging notes and hi-hats sounding off), and do you think some of the instruments being ever so slightly off is that bad?