Interesting find. I have no doubt it's GM compatible. But what will it sound like?

The "PC interface" port on the back looks an awful lot like the one on the Roland SC-7 that goes to a standard serial port.

This is the only information I could find about it.
http://equipboard.com/items/goldstar-gs1000r-gm-sound-module
The reviewer wasn't particularly thrilled about it.

I asked him to open it up and post some photos of the chips inside. I was able to identify:

GM76C88AL-15 CMOS RAM.
ST90R50FC6 microcontroller.
ADSP-2163 analog-to-digital processor.
GM82C650 digital sound processor with PCM/FM and GM/GS support.

I think the chip with the white sticker on it is the sample ROM. I sent him another message to help shed some light on it for us. 😀

that GM82C650 chip is a beast.

cdrom interface, gameport interface, ram+rom simultaneous interface, 20bit dac. GM + GS support inbuilt.

interesting, its ROM data is can be set to either 8bit or 12bit.. no 16bit rom samples...

wonder if this chip was ever used on a soundcard, as it has it all you need to make an awe32 style card with some drams + sample rom.

I agree with your opinion of the GM82C650; the datasheet was very compelling. Unfortunately, this unit has no buttons or LCD to access any of it. So we're left guessing as to what it's defaults are.

A lot of information I've read suggests that this was bundled with keyboard synthesizers so it may not be meant for games? Still not sure what to make of it.

the datasheet has some interesting default settings. but that does not imply the card overrides the chips internal pull ups + pull downs. I guess you'd have to probe its configuration pins and see if they are high or low on startup. the datasheet implies it needs either a gm system on or a gs reset message, but dose not say what mode it is, if it does not get one.

heh interesting it includes the cm64/cm32-l set.. and it has the sound effects set! curious.. someone should test this as a CM32L and see if the effects come through. but not sure how you'd reset it into CM32-L mode...

well the datasheet lists it, I'm guessing you need a rom for it tho since it wont be inside the chip itself.. its jut lists the intstrument table in the datasheet...

oh well.. guess its not really there.

BloodyCactus wrote:

heh interesting it includes the cm64/cm32-l set.. and it has the sound effects set! curious.. someone should test this as a CM32L and see if the effects come through. but not sure how you'd reset it into CM32-L mode...

I thought that was pretty interesting too. But again, since there is no way of interacting with it, it's all about the defaults. And I doubt it has anything more than GM patches, as that's what the manual implies. It doesn't mention GS at all. And there is only a "General Midi" logo on the front.

It's kind of like how so many PCI sound cards support doughterboard headers but don't have them put onto the board.

I just bought this -- will post more about it when it arrives!

I couldn't get him to open it back up and photo the GM ROM chip. Please let us know what it is. Even better, record some Warcraft 2, Doom, and Duke Nukem for us to compare.

Sorry for necroposting =) I managed to put my hands on one of these units. It's not in working state for now, but I'm working on it =)
Here's the Guts (2 photos — with and without flashlight):

I managed to get my hands on a boxed MIDI ART GS1000R unit with included manuals and PROCYON Pro software disk, I've read and now scanned the manual which contains its MIDI implementation.
So the MIDI implementation of the MIDI ART is NOT the same as the one on the datasheet of the LG GM82C650 (which that is likely for to the extremely rare GoldStar SoundTrack ISA card).

The following MIDI commands below behave as you normally expect:
𝟾𝚗 𝚔𝚔 𝚡𝚡 - Note Off
𝟿𝚗 𝚔𝚔 𝚟𝚟 - Note On/Off
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝟶 𝚟𝚟 - Bank Select: 0 for GM (Normal) voice set, 1 for Variation voice set, and 2-7 for no sound. Value >7 is ignored. Does not apply to drum channels.
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝟷 𝚟𝚟 - Modulation
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝟻 𝚟𝚟 - Portamento Time
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝟼 𝚟𝚟 - Data Entry MSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝟽 𝚟𝚟 - Volume
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝙰 𝚟𝚟 - Pan
𝙱𝚗 𝟶𝙱 𝚟𝚟 - Expression
𝙱𝚗 𝟸𝟼 𝚟𝚟 - Data Entry LSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟺𝟶 𝚟𝚡 - Sustain Pedal
𝙱𝚗 𝟺𝟷 𝚟𝚡 - Portamento
𝙱𝚗 𝟺𝟹 𝚟𝚡 - Soft Pedal
𝙱𝚗 𝟺𝟻 𝚟𝚡 - Hold 2
𝙱𝚗 𝟻𝙱 𝚟𝚟 - Reverb Level
𝙱𝚗 𝟻𝙳 𝚟𝚟 - Effect Level
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟶 𝚡𝚡 - RPN/NRPN Data Increment
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟷 𝚡𝚡 - RPN/NRPN Data Decrement
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟸 𝚟𝚟 - NRPN LSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟹 𝚟𝚟 - NRPN MSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟺 𝚟𝚟 - RPN LSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟼𝟻 𝚟𝚟 - RPN MSB
𝙱𝚗 𝟽𝟿 𝚡𝚡 - Reset All Controllers (sets Pitch Bend, Pressure, Modulation, & Expression to off, releases Sustain, Portamento, Soft, & Hold 2, and deselects RPN/NRPN)
𝙱𝚗 𝟽𝙱 𝚡𝚡 - All Notes Off
𝙱𝚗 𝟽𝙵 𝚡𝚡 - Poly
𝙲𝚗 𝚟𝚟 - Program Change
𝙳𝚗 𝚟𝚟 - Pressure (Channel Aftertouch): Secondary modulation
𝙴𝚗 𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚖 - Pitch Bend
𝙵𝙴 - Active Sensing
𝙵𝙵 - System Reset: Stops all sounds and resets all parameters to its power-on values with the exception of Master Fine and Coarse Tune

The following supported channel mode controllers below have quirks/bugs in them:
𝙱𝚗 𝟽𝟾 𝚡𝚡 - All Sounds Off: Not only this operation stops all sounding notes on the specified channel, but also deselects the Reverb and Effect type (can be worked around by 𝙱𝟶 𝟼𝟹 𝟶𝟶 𝙱𝟶 𝟼𝟸 𝟶𝟶 𝙱𝟶 𝟸𝟼 𝟶𝟸 𝙱𝟶 𝟼𝟸 𝟶𝟷 𝙱𝟶 𝟸𝟼 𝟶𝟹 𝙱𝟶 𝟽𝟿 𝟶𝟶 which reselects the default Reverb and Effect types respectively).
𝙱𝚗 𝟽𝙴 𝚡𝚡 - Mono: On channels 2-16 it will end up using channel 1's selected voice (but goes back to the channel's actual selected voice on Poly operation).

The following RPNs of the MIDI ART are recognized as (MSB is always 0. Both MSB and LSB of 127 deselects):
0 - Pitch Bend Sensitivity (as usual, but with a max range of 12)
1 - Master Fine Tune: Unlike other GM synths which set the channel's tuning level, it applies to all channels.
2 - Master Coarse Tune: Unlike other GM synths which set the channel's transpose value, it applies to all channels but also has an LSB parameter as a secondary fine tune.

The following NRPNs of the MIDI ART are recognized (MSB is always 0. Both MSB and LSB of 127 deselects), which involve using Data Entry LSB (instead of MSB) to function:
0 - Reverb Select (Off, Large Hall, Small Hall, Large Room, Small Room)
1 - Effect Select (Off, Rotary Slow, Rotary Fast, Chorus, Flange, Distortion, Echo1, Echo2)

Only the following SysEx is recognized by the MIDI ART:
𝙵𝟶 𝟶𝟶 𝟸𝟶 𝟸𝟹 𝟶𝟻 𝟶𝚟 𝟶𝚗 𝙵𝟽
where v is:
0: Channel Off (Mute)
1: Channel On
2: Set as Drum Channel
3: Set as Melody Channel
n = Channel #

Although the MIDI ART does not support the GM nor GS reset SysEx, it instead does support the System Reset (𝙵𝙵) command.