Just got an SC-50!

[jharris01]

Finally after years of putting it off I bought a sound canvas. I have joined midi gaming geekdom by owning both an SC-50 and a MT-32   Best part for me is that I was able to do so for $100 buckazoids total (after buying both units). The SC-50 is in mint condition! Not a scratch or dent on the little box.

Following Nagra's footsteps I took a few photos:



   

 

   

Now I am at a point where I am noticing the subtle differences between Roland's Virtual Sound Canvas (with SC-55 sound set) and the real thing. So far Roland's VSC sounds pretty darn close! That's my preliminary impression from my average (non musician) ears. I might change my mind later on as I download more stuff from the Sierra Sountracks section. Any recommendations as to what tracks or specific games (even non-Sierra) sound best on this device?

[mace]

What's the difference between the SC-50 and the SC-55?

[Salient]

What's the difference between the SC-50 and the SC-55?

SC0-50 = SC-55mk2 without mt-32 patchbank

[jharris01]

It's basically a slimmed down version of the SC-55 (mkII flavor). Additionally to what Salient said it lacks the frontal MIDI IN port and mini remote support found on the SC-55. Other than that they look about the same.

[Nagra]

Following Nagra's footsteps I took a few photos:

Congratulations! It is weired, isn´t it? This "time-machine-feeling" :-)

[jharris01]

Thanks man. That's part of the fun of being a retro gamer. 

It has been couple of weeks with the unit and it's been working great. I am very happy with this unit. I like how easy it is to reset the unit and also find the volume knob to be very convenient. I got my MT-32 hooked through the SC-50's MIDI thru and RCA mixer input jacks. The all mute makes it easy for me to disable the SC-50 for MT-32 use.

As far as midi music goes I've been listening a lot to TIM2's soundtrack (love the "New Age" theme on the sound canvas). As far as gaming goes I've been playing a lot of X-Wing lately. The CD version runs fine under DOSBOX. I always liked the adaptive qualities of that game's soundtrack.

During the 90s my main soundcard was the Ensoniq Soundscape Elite. Now that I have an SC-50 I find it inevitable to make comparisons. Personally I find the difference between the SC-50 and the Elite to be minimal for this game (and for a few others as well). The SC-50's sound quality is better but the Ensoniq Elite is pretty close! It further cements my opinion about the Elite being an excellent alternative to the more expensive Roland units (at least during those days and specially for the games that supported it natively).