inaski
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« on: July 08, 2004, 05:44:44 PM » |
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I have just setup a computer for DOS games, a Pentium 133 MHZ, 32MB Ram etc, and a Sound Blaster PRO as sound card. And because of that the MIDI music leaves a lot to be desired.
I know the best solution would be an external midi module, but those are really expensive, and international shipping would cost a fortune, and frankly I can't affor that.
So I would need recommendations on what soundcard I should look for. Right now I have two choices in mind, AWE64 or Gravis UltraSound . Wich one of these would be better?
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Alistair
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« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2004, 05:25:09 AM » |
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I know the best solution would be an external midi module, but those are really expensive, and international shipping would cost a fortune, and frankly I can't affor that. For starters, shipping doesn't cost a 'fortune'. It's worse for me than you, I can guarantee you (I'm from Australia). Anyways, if you're going for sound cards why not get Roland's sound crds? They have the 'external device' quality music in a sound card. Certainly better and not much more expensive (if at all) than your SB lines. - Alistair |
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Ari
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« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2004, 07:37:30 AM » |
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such as?
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I feel like I'm diagonally-parked in a parallel universe
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Alistair
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« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2004, 01:14:06 PM » |
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Roland SCC-1 springs to mind..
- Alistair
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Ari
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« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2004, 01:44:09 PM » |
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So how are they not much more expensive than SB cards? unless you're talking about the newer Audigy 2 cards which cost over a hundred bucks, usually more.
At any rate, they're not very easy to come by.
Perhaps a cheap Yamaha XG card would be a good idea. They're fairly easy to find and while not as good as the SW1000XG or DB50XG/SW60XG line, they still sound decent. Better than the SB AWE series, that's for sure.
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I feel like I'm diagonally-parked in a parallel universe
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inaski
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« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2004, 09:28:12 AM » |
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Hmm, I've seen SCC-1 going for a reasonable price, so maybe I should look for one. It is a midi card only - right? Is it possible to hook it up with a soundblaster so you can have sound effects in games?
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Zemus
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« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2004, 10:48:50 AM » |
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The SCC-1 card has two RCA outputs that can be connected to the Sound Blaster's line in (with an RCA to minijack adapter). The SCC-1 also has an MPU-401 MIDI interface so you can connect any external modules if you ever get one.
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inaski
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« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2004, 12:05:54 PM » |
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The SCC-1 card has two RCA outputs that can be connected to the Sound Blaster's line in (with an RCA to minijack adapter). The SCC-1 also has an MPU-401 MIDI interface so you can connect any external modules if you ever get one. Sounds easy but a little inconvenient. Is there any way to connect the two cards internally? |
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Zemus
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« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2004, 12:23:18 PM » |
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There are no internal connectors on mine.
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inaski
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« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2004, 12:59:33 PM » |
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Ah, ok. So line in it is. And this way both Blaster sound effects and SCC-1 midi music work together without problems?
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Zemus
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« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2004, 01:22:13 PM » |
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The Sound Blaster should have a mixer program for DOS which will let you adjust the volume for the line in. Sometimes line in is muted so you need to run that program to unmute it. That's the only problem I can think of.
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inaski
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« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2004, 01:57:59 PM » |
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Ok. Thank you for the advice. I will definetly try to find one of these.
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Zemus
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« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2004, 04:05:26 PM » |
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Just one thing. Make sure you get the mini-DIN to DIN adaptors (small plug to big MIDI plug). They're for connecting external modules, and they're a bit hard to come by today. Originally they came with the card, but not all the sellers on ebay includes them.
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inaski
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« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2004, 01:11:23 PM » |
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One more question, I understand the SCC-1 has some sort of MT-32 emulation. How good does it sound on MT-32 only games?
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Zemus
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« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2004, 01:46:55 PM » |
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As good as any other non-100% MT-32 compatible device. It uses the SC-55 samples to emulate the MT-32 instruments, but it can't take any of the MT-32 sysexes so it will only work with games that use the default MT-32 instruments. Also, the SC-55 samples have a different balance and volume than the MT-32 instruments they try to emulate, so it doesn't sound very good even on games that only use the default instruments.
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Ari
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« Reply #15 on: July 11, 2004, 01:52:22 PM » |
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grrr.... Zemus beat me to it. :wink:
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I feel like I'm diagonally-parked in a parallel universe
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inaski
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« Reply #16 on: July 11, 2004, 01:58:21 PM » |
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Hmm... So are games like the Monkey Islands or Gabriel Knight MT-32 only games, or do they support general midi too?
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Ari
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« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2004, 03:31:56 PM » |
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GK1 supports General Midi. As for the Monkey Island series, I'm not sure. I think MI2 does support GM.
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I feel like I'm diagonally-parked in a parallel universe
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Zemus
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« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2004, 04:24:44 PM » |
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The first Lucasarts game to support GM was X-wing. Monkey Island 1 uses only the default instruments so you can play it with the SCC-1's MT-32 mode. Monkey Island 2 reprogrammed the MT-32 and will not work on GM devices at all.
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Ari
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« Reply #19 on: July 11, 2004, 04:47:58 PM » |
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I stand corrected.
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I feel like I'm diagonally-parked in a parallel universe
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