Please explain what Roland MIDI units are in this case?
They’re not in the case, they’re external.
Or wait, am I misreading that and you’re asking what they are?
Yes. I’m not sure I understand the concept?
Ohh, okay. For about a decade, a lot of DOS games supported MIDI music via either the Roland MT-32 or, later, General MIDI using more advanced MIDI units. Since I still play a lot of DOS games, I’d, for ages, been DYING to hear these games with true MIDI music.
At the time these units were hundreds of dollars, outside the range for all but the most die-hard enthusiasts. Now they’re far cheaper, so I own both a Roland MT-32 and a SC-55 for General MIDI, which makes games such as TIE Fighter sound ASTOUNDING.
I thought you were an OG, DL!
I am. I just wanted an explanation because I’m struggling with how this works in 2018?
I owned a Turtle Beach Maui general MIDI card and I know all about how incredible the music was on those cards in the ‘90s. I probably had one before most here. I got it in 1993 IIRC. ‘94 at the latest.
I have never owned an MT-32 so I don’t know how those connected, but the Maui was an ISA slotted card so I don’t think it would be usable today except in a period specific PC?
I am totally an OG on this stuff @stusser. :)
I think I paid $300 at the time BTW
You use a thing like this to connect the MIDI unit to your PC via USB.
So I’ve the MT-32 chained to the SC-55, and the SC-55 goes to the PC via both USB and line-in on my sound card. Once you configure it properly in DOSBox, it works like a champ.
Right. So the MT-32 is nothing like what I had because Turtle Beach created a card that fit in your computer. It was a daughterboard. I had a Sound Blaster 16 and the Maui so I would choose Sound Blaster for sounds and General MIDI for music. It couldn’t be made to work today.
I didn’t actually know that the MT-32 was an external box.
I see what you mean. Looks like the best place for the sound card would be the bottom x16 slot, as far away as possible from the video card.
That motherboard looks RGB-tastic!
I had a Yamaha DB50XG, and the first game I tried out with it was Tie Fighter. I’d just leave the game sitting at the menus while I listened to the music.
Actually I still have it, but my current sound card has no daughterboard connector for it.
Huh, can that card plug into that slot down at the bottom?
Yes, you can plug x1 cards into x16 slots.
Wow, Turtle Beach is still around. They seem to only sell headsets now.
That video sounds fantastic, though.
Oh yes… they transitioned toward headsets. They were selling USB sound cards for a bit there, too. I have one of their Amigo devices for my 2009 PC.
Loved the end of level music but even better is the E1M2 music… put on headphones…
YEAH
Back in the '90s, that thing was incredible. Friends of mine didn’t get it until I would show it to them. “That sounds like real music!” Heh heh…
Fortunately/unfortunately, CDs eventually led to CD soundtracks and Windows 95 was kinda the point where it all changed.
Which in a way is great, but in a way we lost, for a long time, the dynamic, context-changing soundtracks like in TIE Fighter and other games.
Yes. Redbook audio sounds great, but it definitely took away from the interactive experience.
I’m not sure, but I might still have the Maui at home in an old Pentium III. I might have to poke around with that this weekend if I can fire it up.
Warlords 3 on a Gravis Ultrasound. Pseudo MIDI awesomeness for us poor folks!
Then Total Annihilation came out on CD, and it rapidly became MIDI what?
Still one of the best soundtracks, truly.