General MIDI and Roland MT-32 Wavetable board: WP32 McCake

The WP32 McCake from Serdaco could be the ultimate wavetable board! It supports General MIDI SoundFonts in SF2 format, but also the legendary Roland MT-32.
Disclosure: Serdaco sent me this product for free to create a video review. I am not getting paid, but I do get to keep the product.
Buy the WP32 McCake: www.serdashop....
Buy the PicoGUS as MIDI interface: www.serdashop....
Buy both (Select LAPC Bundle): www.serdashop....
Buy PCMIDI card: www.pcmidi.eu/...
🛠 Resources 🛠
mt32-pi: github.com/dwh...
mt32-pi-control: github.com/gmc...
SoftMPU: bjt42.github.i...
500 SoundFonts Collection: archive.org/de...
Trevor0402's SC55SoundFont: github.com/tre...
ROM files: archive.org/de...
List of MT-32-compatible computer games: www.vogonswiki...
Roland MT-32 CM-32L CM-64 CM-500 Ultimate Tutorial: • Roland MT-32 CM-32L CM...
Roland GS History: xv2020.s14.xrea...
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eBay: ebay.us/bKzLAW
Buy games from GOG: track.adtracti...

[@redpheonix1000]

Duuuude, you _just_ convinced me to buy a PicoGUS, it hasn't even arrived yet, and now you're convincing me _again_ to buy a wavetable module for it lol

[@linoleum77]

It's a deadly duo, trust me!

[@billalverson6168]

Do it! 😛

[@rBennich]

A tip is to add an empty soundfont so you can still use the midi out of the souncard.

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

Installing this into my retro PC not only means that my sound card is more powerful than the Central Processor, but that it is also the most powerful processor in the system.

[@negirno]

And if the retro PC still has a period correct hard drive, the SD-card on the McCake is bigger and maybe faster.

[@billalverson6168]

What if you install it on a PicoGUS?.. What a great time for this hobby

[@dallesamllhals9161]

Hey! You make it sound like - it's a BAD thing?

[@kosmosyche]

Sound cards! I must admit, this is my favorite type of videos on your channel. Seriously, for some reason sound cards were the most memorable part of my mid 90's PC experience.

[@DerekLippold]

100% and it’s so wild to see options that we had only heard of back then

[@pc-sound-legacy]

💯 Same here 😊

[@GYTCommnts]

Same here! Still use them! 🍻

[@XOmrfloyd]

Same here. Cant explain that...

[@sweetlilmre]

Just built the WavetablePi from ScrapComputing. Haven't had a chance to test it yet, but it should do everything this does, for a much lower cost.

[@Beus38]

Thank you again for an exhaustively informative talk throughout the topic. Definitely, yes, for what it offers, it is a bargain, and a perfect thing to have if you ever consider having the MT-32 or CM-32L options in your vintage computer sound capabilities. As for myself, I was also considering it but in the end, I opted for an mt32-pi hat for a regular off-the-shelf Raspberry Pi, which is the same thing, runs the same software, just in a different form factor. I somehow like to have it kinda independent and external, with the possibility to hook it up to anything that can produce MIDI commands. Also, this way I'm bypassing the soundcard's analog circuits which might introduce some noise (and the PC power supplies are not stellar in this realm either). So now I just need to build the very simple Gameport to MIDI DIN adapter and I can then hook it to any gameport-equipped soundcard, but also to anything else MIDI-capable. Plus, being external, I can have the OLED display in my view at all times, emulating the real MT-32 table-top box experience ;)

[@philscomputerlab]

Welcome to the club 😊

[@montyoso]

The link to the SC55Soundfont is not working.

[@philscomputerlab]

Yea it seems it has been taken down...

[@turrican4d599]

@@philscomputerlab Booooh!

[@DatBlueHusky]

crazy that a wavetable board is more powerful than the entire system itself by 10 fold lol

[@billalverson6168]

Plug it into a PicoGUS and what do we have!?

[@AncapDude]

In my retro build is an AWE32 with SIMMconn module. Any advice to utilize this right? I never dealt with such stuff and always used basic fm synth back then.

[@jessie3268]

Remember buying an LAPC-1 (internal MT-32) off ebay in the early 200s for a retro system I had to sell in a move. Nice to know if I ever decide to go back to real hardware there are so many options now.

[@rootbeer666]

LoL I spent all that money on my MIDI mountain but all I want is this 🤣

[@shaneeslick]

G'day Phil, WOW! I find it really cool that people are using modern tech to replicate vintage components, while having all original components is nice for reasons sometimes you need to compromise.

[@philscomputerlab]

Thank you!

[@shiva_MMIV]

My favorite retro soundfont is the roland gm.sf2 (or roland sc-55, not sure of the name), it's a dump of the original rom of the SC-55 with the minimal changes needed to made it work in other synths. It's very small, little more than 3 megs, and is the exact sound the music of these old games is made for.

[@PeprealNL]

Try Shan's GM Soundfont SGM-V2.01. That is one of my favorite.

[@raelik777]

I've been SORTA using this in the form of mt32-pi running on a Pi 3 with a homemade hat I built using a proto hat. I incorporated a MIDI port (connects to the UART pins with an opto-isolator), a cheap DAC, and an LCD module, both from AliExpress. I have an Orpheus sound card in my retro PC, which incorporates the PCMIDI firmware and has a dedicated MIDI port. I am very tempted by this though, since it would reduce all the cabling I have running, and would let me get rid of the little 3 channel mixer I have to get the soundcard output and mt32-pi output going out the same speakers.

I was about to ask how does this handle the graceful shutdown of Linux on RPi, but after a quick search now I see it's a bare metal MT-32 emulator, so it's not even using the Linux kernel.

[@rackatack]

I love the dedication and quality of Serdaco's products! And a really nice guy too!

[@mariobrito427]

Nice video, kudos :D I really like how these Pi-based card replications are making their way into the homebrew market. On one hand they kinda blur the line between emulation and "real hardware" a bit, but man are they convenient! I certainly appreciate these products very much! Also, special thanks for featuring Wing Commander games when demo-ing these products, as these games have a very special place in my heart :) Cheers!

[@charonunderground8596]

In my first sound card in the 486 I had a wavetable module - a simple Avance Logic PRO32AW with 32 instruments and it played really cool. I can't imagine listening to music on a flat FM synthesis without a wavetable. .

[@NightSprinter]

Oh yeah, I'm STILL incredibly-lucky to have bought my CM32L off eBay in 2006 for under $80 after shipping. I have shown some friends the current prices, and they nearly had a heart attack.

[@philscomputerlab]

Score!

[@NightSprinter]

@@philscomputerlab right?! Then there was an SC-55 I found a couple years ago at a pawn shop near Disney of all places for $70 and tax. Even so, this project will be something to keep in mind if I were to ever have to sell them.

[@bauerns5er]

I paid ~200€ at the Beginning of this year for my CM32L, but it is in a real good condition and I really wanted it. But I wouldn't have complaint if I had gotten it for your 80$ But I got my SC 8820 for ~100€, so that is quite okay.

[@xBruceLee88x]

Looks like installation was a piece of... McCake! 😂 Great video!

[@bbertram2]

I wish games today had midi, different options for sound and graphics...those were fun days!

[@CatFish107]

Agreed. Looks to me like they could and should. I recall a bored evening not too long ago, poking around in windows settings, and it appears MS is still licensing the Roland wavetables for their midi drivers that come with windows, same as back in windows 3.1

[@johndegnan5703]

Oh my, the memories...I played the heck outa Quest for Glory III. I loved that game!

[@middle_pickup]

The D-50 is one of the best synths of all time. Engagement.

[@sapperlott]

If you want things to be extra stable (and take stress off the pin header), the wavetable board can be fastened to the sound card using standoffs. Unfortunately it seems like the holes in the McCake don't line up with the ones in the SB16. Don't know if these were standardized.

[@Conradlovesjoy]

I was just considering one of these

[@KendyBeraldo]

amazing review!

[@LyLykke]

@philscomputerlab. I have the Roland MPU-IPC complete in box. I haven't found anyone who wanted in here in Denmark, but it sure looks nice on my shelf.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

Hmm Mayhaps: En pris man ik' lige er klar på - Vest for Storebælt? p.s. har stadig min barndom/ungdoms SB16(CT2740)

[@retroMELpcAMIGA]

Hello Phil. I am really lost 😥 I have a Roland usb midi interface UM-One. But i do not get correct sound waves out of the midi player... As tutorial, i have seen your video, you have recorded 5 years ago: "Roland MIDI Emulator Project 2.0 for best music with DOS Retro Games" I am using the midi player 6.2 from falcosoft, the munt VSTi plugin 2.8.1 , and these ROM files: - MT32 ROM file from 1987 + MT32 PCM file or - MT32 ROM file from 1988 (patched) + MT32 PCM file Does it has something to do with the preset files? I don't have any idea what was been wrong with my setup. I have connected the cables 100% exactly as you did it in your video. I must say: The software is may not enough explained in any detail... I will follow with my error searching. Thanks.

[@retroMELpcAMIGA]

Hello Phil. Now i am happy. 😅 It is working now 👍 The wrong setting was in the midi player setting: Output mode. I had used the standard setting Directsound. But there was a message that this is not working. Now with the setting WASAPI, it is working. I am using Windows Embedded standard 7 (64bit version). After google search, i have seen that from microsoft VISTA, they have removed the MIDI mapper... But WinXP is no alternative, cause then i have less driver available for the midi system...

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

My retro PC is sounding great now! Thanks Phil!

[@TechToTunes]

I have a few of these, including the panel for the 5 1/4 inch and 3 1/2 drive bays. Would not be without them any more. Roland MT32 inside my retro PC.

[@Omarkoman]

I got one of these, they are absolutely amazing!

[@philscomputerlab]

@@Omarkoman This video will be for you, it's also a celebration of this unique product!

[@Nuevo_El_Nagual]

Very useful video with links. Thank you!

[@PorscheRacer14]

It's so cool seeing all the new sound options out there to keep retro gaming alive. This solves a bunch of problems and I really like this solution. Young me could only dream of something like this. As someone that has killed plenty of sound cards doing dumb things like trying to amp the output and overclocking the system, there's not many working sound cards out there that can do it all. Heck even at the time, no single card could regardless of money spent. Great review!

[@RetroPcCupboard]

I have to admit, I am torn as to whether I want this. Back in the day I just had a basic SB16. No wavetable either. So, I only ever heard these games using FM sythesis originally. Am I really missing out if I just stick with FM and my Dreamblaster X2 wavetable that I have now?

[@philscomputerlab]

DreamBlaster X2 is already very good for General MIDI. So I think it boils down to, do you want to play games supporting the Roland MT-32 or CM-32L?

[@billalverson6168]

I ordered it immediately! ❤ I'll install it on my PicoGUS, so it's basically inception, right!? These SW defined cards are the next frontier in retro computing, zero doubt

[@philscomputerlab]

Awesome 😎👍

[@Serdaco]

Thanks!

[@zuldanfpv4634]

I ordered mine an hour after the video released. It was shipped the same day. Fantastic service!

[@PixelPipes]

Well heck this seems like a must-own for anyone that already has a PicoGUS.

[@philscomputerlab]

Pi ontop of another Pi 😊😊

[@billalverson6168]

​@@philscomputerlabordered it last night! Thanks a lot!

[@Super123456789Kuba]

I can describe this device in one word: Convenience. As much I would love to have a Retro Room with all of the PCs and Real Rolands and stuff... Switching General MIDIs/Rolands on a go is just a awesome idea.

[@the_beefy1986]

Duke3d's "Grabbag" theme sounds glorious on the SC55 soundfont! I have my airsonic server setup to automatically transcode midi files via fluidsynth and that soundfont so I can listen to OG soundtracks that way from anywhere :)

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

That is too cool.

[@turrican4d599]

The prices of those daughterboards were breathtaking back then, so I bought a 50,- DM Trust32 card instead. It had full SB16 compatibility and GM, MT32 and GS.

[@mateiberatco500]

BIG WARNING: THE SQUARE PIN on McCake is NOT PIN1. Do not rely on the pin1 square. Easiest way to check correct fitting is to check the rows of the header and McCake. One of the rows is half ground half-5V which can be noticed easily. Make sure that row corresponds to your sound card. Also do not rely on "it only goes that way". I have a Medion MED-3700 (low-profile with yamaha chip and vertical header) where I can put the McCake in a single position which is wrong. I actually fried one McCake (CM4 was not damaged, but McCake is; YMMV) but I don't recall if it was with that card or another (the Medion was fried in another unrelated incident).

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Warning for those with no sense….

[@CatFish107]

Wavetable vs. FM synthesis, I don’t think it's as simple as one being better than the other. Certainly easier and more accessible sound design using wavetables, however FM can give a unique flavour of sound. Getting the best out of FM requires arcane wizardry though, and reliance on presets did result in a lot of poor FM soundtracks.

[@GYTCommnts]

What a great episode! Excellent work! Love "sound stuff" 😅 Thanks Phil!

[@wolfgangkrebl3056]

great video. thx. if only those wavetables would be cheaper!!. haven't seen one under 300 euros for a long time. 😢

[@ugh.idontwanna]

This is great! I have been wanting to build an internal MT32-Pi but never got around to it due to the Raspberry Pi shortage. Glad I waited, as this looks like everything I need, but a lot more compact than what I was planning.

[@JCD87]

You just freaking read my mind, "hope he plays some Descent... ' you did not dissapoint mr!!! :)

[@atomeec]

I use it for 2.5 years and yes, this is the ultimate wavetable board. MT-32 is perfect, for GM I found a good enough sf2 - ~100MB (the stereo effect is not as the original SC55). Also you can have CM-32 as well. Combined with Orpheus II this is GOD mode ON :D I was wondering why you didn't review it until now. Thank you Phil!

[@philscomputerlab]

I'm often way late to the party 😁😁

[@atomeec]

@@philscomputerlab Late but still VIP ;)

[@CatFish107]

As a random, clueless nerd looking at old synth hardware, it appears to me that roland sound canvases were still pretty widely available as one of the lower cost used vintage synths out there not too long ago.

[@atomeec]

@@CatFish107 I have both, Roland MT-32 and SC-55MkII so I have some possibility to compare. However already for years they are not really affordable and much luck needed to get one. I payed also a lot for these (MT-32 for sure, from eBay I bought it...). Downside using them with Orpheus II is volume cannot be fully balanced among external midi and wavetable, so I just dropped external stuff for now.

[@kouwes4686]

Nice video. Copy/paste the mt32 sounds easy enough, but where do you get them??

[@jbinary82]

I bought mt32 hat on its very first releases, even before the buttons. It is really a nice device. Mine is connected in pure midi cable, also with screen. I did some tests with my ess sound card.

[@sndwv]

Does anyone know if the last version of Trevor's SoundFont can still be downloaded from somewhere now that the repository is down?

[@atomicskull6405]

There is way more to MT32 than just the sample ROM the synthesizer engine was configurable through MIDI sysex commands and many many DOS games used this feature. It wasn't just playing back "canned" samples it applied applied digital filters and modulation to those sounds and altered the ASDR envelope so you could make a lot of cool custom sounds especially with the single cycle waves in the sample ROM. In many ways GM was actually a step backwards from the MT32 in spite of the better quality sample ROM. The only similar thing was the hidden QS-300 mode on the Yamaha DB50XG (the DB50XG used the same chipset as the QS-300 but defaulted to XG mode) and Yamaha really didn't want people to know about that (somone figured it out and made an editor that would switch the DB50XG into QS-300 mode but no games ever used that)

[@atomicskull6405]

Also I'd like to point out that many of the sounds in the "synth sounds" banks on the DB50XG are actually better sounding than on Yamaha's professional XG synthesizers (like my MU2000) because they are built up from single cycle waves and not "canned" samples. Such is the strength of the QS-300.

[@djangofett4879]

it didn't just manipulate complex envelopes, it had a full-on virtual analog in addition to the PCM. that's why it sounded so unique.

[@CatFish107]

Thanks for the extra infos, and spark for curiosity. Congrats, you're a successful barker for this here rabbit hole.

[@xenonkay]

Not really a fan of how these various addin boards cram a whole-ass pi into your retro rig just to perform basic tasks so far beneath the hardware.

[@borlibaer]

Yamaha did it with their own enhanced MIDI Standard XG and offered in addition to their XG Sound Cards the DB-50XG Daughter Board which is derived from their Rompler Control Synthesizer CS1x. General Midi sound terrible. On more powerful Computers you can use Midi Player Software where you can load Roland GS, Yamaha XG or any other Sample packs. Yamaha offered their own XG Midi Player Software supported for Windows 95/98, Windows 2000 and XP.

[@mOddEdLiKeHeLL]

The audiodrive and Yamaha OPL cards are hands down 2 of my favorite cards. I own both and the S2 wave table. Such a fantastic combo using any of the 2 cards with the S2 in DOS.

[@philscomputerlab]

More sound card content coming to the channel 😁☺️

[@modology]

very nice review! I wish that the device can be smaller... perhaps using smaller pi pico or something

[@chitan1362]

There's a work-in-progress cycle accurate Roland SC-55 emulator being developed by "Nuked" Developers, do what you want with this information.

[@philscomputerlab]

Yes!

[@IvanRodriguez-C]

The Trevor0402's SC55SoundFont link is broken By the way, you should make a video about Coolsoft VirtualMIDISynth. Dosbox-X with VirtualMidiSynth sounds great

[@philscomputerlab]

Interesting, maybe he closed the page...

[@brentgreeff1115]

Why do you say the MPU is impossible to find - I see listings on ebay?

[@zsnowball]

Really beatiful sounds compared to midi without WT. For such music I used Wave Table emulation, but it didn't always work. Thanks for video. Pozdrawiam!

[@ezrafreemantle1824]

Hey Phil, I have an ongoing project machine aiming for maximum compatibility from DOS to early 2000s. It's a p3 Tualitin 1.4, GeForce 4, voodoo 2, sound blaster pro ISA, PCI - SATA and running Windows 98. It would be really cool to see you do a full build video or mini series of something similar where you actually put it in a case and fully finish it.

[@philscomputerlab]

Such projects are always a compromise. Socket 7 does DOS better, Athlon 64 and Pentium 4 does 98 better. Pentium III does both well, but there will be gaps. As long as you're aware, it will be a great system.

[@Jackpkmn]

Oh boy more hardware being replaced by an entire computer more powerful than the retro computer.

[@jacobew2000]

This could be a game changer for retro gaming... if I can get them into the USA.

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Which you can….

[@dirkruppol3850]

Serdaco sends internationally

[@Madgitty2]

I’ve spent 5 days with the pico and this midi card, I will be sending them back, lots of problems especially with a sb16 with it, games nor booting,

[@philscomputerlab]

@@Madgitty2 Both gave you issues? Highly unusual. What system are you using?

[@ballandpaddle]

Dunno why I wasn't subbed. Fixed that.

[@sulcusulnaris]

Unfortunately, these OLED displays become unattractive relatively quickly in continuous operation. A kind of burn-in where areas are then permanently darker than the rest.

[@Serdaco]

there is a configurable time out setting : when not playing midi, after the timeout the screen goes black until there is activity again

[@YarisTex]

I prefer using a thin client running Falcosoft Mid player. It can run Munt, VSTI (Roland and Yamaha) and supports SF2 also.

[@philscomputerlab]

Yup that works wonderfully! I've built a MIDI emulator like that years ago and it worked great. The setup is a bit more involved though.

[@prezeskodaty4637]

roland lapc1 and diamond monster sound M80

[@koolmint]

Is this card also accept and fully emulate exclusive signals that were heavily used in the traditional MT-32 support games? When I listen samples in the video, it seems so.

[@Serdaco]

yes

[@thepirategamerboy12]

When I was a kid I always thought Roland was actually called Ronald for some reason...

[@Madgitty2]

after a long time testing the pico and wp32, they're coming out of my PC pico is another video, running a gateway 3000 p5-133 wp32 on a sb16 trying to run either wc1 or 2 with mt32 selected, it hangs on expanded mem, set to sb music all wc runs fine. in all games I have tested things run ok but when I put in a joystick the music is all wrong and cannot really hear it, and ideas UPDATE: took the wp32 off the sb and put it on the midi card I had , (the one u recommended if your other vid) and every thing works.

[@philscomputerlab]

Wing Commander needs SoftMPU on SB 16. Also that PC is way too fast for Wing Commander. Maybe disable all the caches will make it work. Joystick port and MIDI port are shared, so that's likely why you're having issues. It shouldn't happen with normal PC stick, maybe your joystick is a late advanced digital model?

[@Madgitty2]

@@philscomputerlab i have slowed the machine down and it does all works. i think as its now all working with the wp32 on the other midi card and not going to touch it anymore, thanks for your reply

[@broderperdurabo]

In sold my D50 10 years ago, needed money.

[@SireSquish]

The TrevorSC55 soundfont is now 404'ing. :(

[@philscomputerlab]

@@SireSquish Yea that's odd....

[@thoreberlin]

Soubds like too much reverb. Is this adjustable?

[@Serdaco]

yes, this is adjustable in the configuration file

[@dadstrainset]

Yes, these sound awesome. But can you get similar performance using SoundFonts for example? Can this be done in PCEm? My head says since we're no longer relying on the electrical idiosyncrasies of a Yamaha FM chip, these wavetables should be portable even to emulation, but I expect it's not quite that simple. I'd like to see an ultimate 'emulated' MIDI video at some point Phil, because I rarely have chance to use physical hardware any more.

[@20windfisch11]

There is the well-known Munt emulator which is supported by Dosbox and ScummVM which emulates the MT32 series. Don’t know whether that works with PCem or 86box, too.

[@dadstrainset]

@20windfisch11 Thanks - it would be great to see a current, in-depth comparison of available options, especially if the conclusion ends up being "you still need real hardware." It's a rabbit hole I've never been down. Presumably there's a Vogons thread that covers it - there usually is...

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

If only I had classic ISA era Sound blaster to plug it into... I'm part of the way there. Finally thanks to FB market place found a slot 1 Pentium 3 board. Just need a AGP graphics card and a case, I have a sound card that'll do for now (a SB Live 5.1) but I hope to find a ISA Slot Sound Blaster to add for Dos. A first generation, pro,pro 2 or something from the AWE series is what I'd like to find Edit Almost forgot. I'll have a midi option once the P3 is built. Thrifting I once found a "band in a box" software complete in the box one of the discs is a Roland made Soundacanvus 55 emulator unfortunately it won't work on anything newer thenwindows 9x so I haven't been able to try it out, but well be once the P3 is built

[@hikari_no_yume]

For whatever reason (as far as I can tell, not the result of a DMCA takedown), the SC-55 soundfont you linked to is no longer there. By the way, these days there is a highly accurate software emulation of the SC-55 available, better than any soundfont: “Nuked SC-55”. If you ran that on an old laptop or something and hooked up the MIDI cables to your DOS PC, you'd get an incredible result.

[@hikari_no_yume]

or… dare we hope, is the Pi on that board fast enough to run that emulator itself?

[@philscomputerlab]

Yea the page is also down for me...

[@broderperdurabo]

Back in the 1999, with a sb live.

[@Novous]

This guy sounds exactly like the WW2 historian guy who goes into exact data numbers. :)

[@moomah5929]

Sounds like a great upgrade to replace my laptop with FalcoSoft Midi Player as device for MT32 and CM-32L emulation. Only question is, what about SC55 and so on, using Roland SoundCanvas VA? Does it still offer benefits over the SC55 SoundFont? The frontpanel controls are awesome and I could remove my 5.25" floppy drive to make space for it in my computer case, as I don't use is anymore since I stopped expanding my game collection and after backing up all games already. But is there a chance of the PicoGUS getting support for using sound fonts and MT32/CM32L without the need of an addon card?

[@philscomputerlab]

I don't think the PicoGUS can handle Munt emulation, it's using a more basic Pi. SoundCanvas VA is superior to these SC55 SoundFonts from what I can tell, but it's close... If you want a Roland wavetable board, Serdaco is selling boards with licenced fonts from Roland. I will be testing this on the channel in the future!

[@moomah5929]

@@philscomputerlab Thanks. I will get this one then as close enough is fine for me and I like if one device can combine multiple others into one. That's why I was hoping for the PicoGUS to become a one for all solution in regards to MIDI devices.

[@moomah5929]

@@philscomputerlab Btw, ZuIuIDE (CD-ROM drive emulator) might be another interesting topic for a video.

[@Kleinwelka]

Hello Philscomputerlab, You make 1 Webel, after you have Eating.

[@matthewtuskes5733]

I have a MT32-pi hat for my raspberry pi, love it. It just brings the games alive. Unfortunately everytime I watch these videos I go into retro mode and play these old games again, 😅

[@philscomputerlab]

Enjoy!

[@dallesamllhals9161]

4:35 Larry?

[@Vantud391]

Raspberry Pi? Collab with Jeff Geerling when?👀

[@SimonHedges-oe2kq]

great vid, the zip file i downloaded only has on uf2 file, where do i get the rest, thanks

[@philscomputerlab]

You need to gather them yourself. I linked a 500 pack below, a good start.

[@Madgitty2]

@@philscomputerlab oh I didn’t realise that, did u put a link? Many thanks

[@filipetmarcal]

You have great reviews

[@over2seeyer]

using a raspberry seems a bit overkill for thid

[@dokols]

Using a pi 4 cm seems waay overkill. Wonder if a zero or zero 2 wouldnt be able to do the job.

[@ozzyp97]

​@@dokols I think Pi 3 is the slowest you can go without sacrificing some settings on the Munt side. The MT-32 isn't just a wavetable module, they also have to reproduce Roland's LA synthesis, and they even emulate the dac and some analog components to get closer to how the real thing sounds.

[@nicholsliwilson]

34.31 *compute module, not “computer module”

[@k9cj5]

I wonder how this would pair with a Areal Vortex 2 🤔

[@airmicrobe]

Receive my 👍

[@SneakiestDuke68]

Interesting project

[@mathieulh]

The SC-55 and SC-88 sound better than MT32, unfortunately it isn't emulated and fluidsynth doesn't properly recreate specific sound effects and reverberation like Munt does for MT32. To be fair, I prefered going the route of building an external MT32-Pi Module (using a Raspberry Pi) for my MiSTer devices, you can use specific Hats with MIDI input/output and/or audio input/output, I use that to chain my MT32-Pi with an SC-55 module. I also use a SC-8820 over usb on my regular PC.

[@hikari_no_yume]

There's a highly accurate SC-55 emulation now called “Nuked SC-55”.

[@marksmithcollins]

Honestly I started to think people can make fully featured part-to-part compatible retro PC with a bunch of raspberry pis...

[@philscomputerlab]

With DOSBox this is already possible 😊😊

[@Thomas.Falcone]

Thank you Phil for saving me from this rabit hole, excellent video as usual. By the way are you using DVI in the recordings? Which videocard? Take care 💪🏻

[@philscomputerlab]

Retrotink 4K scaler. The video card was a S3 Virge I believe.

[@Thomas.Falcone]

@@philscomputerlab Never thought that it would look so good, maybe it's the magic of integer scaling 👌🏻Best regards!

[@philscomputerlab]

@@Thomas.Falcone It's bilinear sharp, the default setting 😊

[@Thomas.Falcone]

@@philscomputerlab wow, that looks so good!

[@n.stephan9848]

23:43 What the hell is that "Whoo, Wha" sound called?

[@Slay1337pl]

I'm going to guess that using a pi compute module instead of a MCU for this tiny sliver of computing required is a waste of money and resources, but it was easier for the development team. Hoping to get proven wrong on this one.

[@philscomputerlab]

@@Slay1337pl It uses a Pi 4 Lite.

[@ozzyp97]

There's no chance Munt would run on some basic microcontroller, I'm fairly sure the minimum requirement is either Pi 3 or a Pi2 with some sacrifices to the settings. Emulating the MT-32 isn't that easy, it being a hybrid PCM/LA synth and all.

[@ruthlessadmin]

I generally disagree that wavetables sound better than FM. For instance, guitar sounds absolutely horrendous on wavetables, because it is such a dynamic instrument which cannot be captured in a single sample or even multiple samples in round robin. Granted, they don't sound like guitars at all in FM, but it's not really necessary to fill the same role in a more pleasing way. The Descent sound track is one where the entire thing sounds better to me on FM than WT. Some other games do have many tracks that sound better on WT but I'd stick to FM for the most reliably good sound.

[@atomicskull6405]

Are you sure? Behold the almighty power of the Final Boss of desktop MIDI modules the mighty Yamaha MU2000, the most powerful GM sound device ever made: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6S6mntjmrCLgZo

[@atomicskull6405]

Also I made this on an MU2000 a while back: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZKno3eHr859mZI That "crunchy" backing sound is actually a sawtooth wave lead run through the MU2000's overdrive and distortion effects (I was trying to match the original OPL2 used by the arcade machine)

[@ruthlessadmin]

@@atomicskull6405 Sounds pretty good! Although, I'm not familiar with the original.

[@philscomputerlab]

And that's ok! In a way, you are envied, as you can enjoy the simple life 😊😊

[@turrican4d599]

@@ruthlessadmin What do you think about the Gravis Ultrasound in the same games that you alwys enjoyed with FM?

[@carltonleboss]

Very cool

[@rs-qq3os]

Which one is the best option McCake or maybe X2GS SE ?

[@ozzyp97]

If you want to hear any MT-32 soundtracks, the X2GS simply can't do it properly. It can do what original SC modules could, try to match the default patches, which sort of works for a few games like Monkey Island. Nothing more. The McCake on the other hand isn't as good at reproducing the specific sound of old SC modules, but it can do GM just fine. In some ways it's actually better than the X2GS, since it can load regular SF2 soundfonts, not just some weird proprietary Dream format.

[@philscomputerlab]

I will review the higher end wavetable boards from Serdaco in the near future!

[@73rmin8r]

Would somebody mind explaining the practical difference between this fluidsynth soundfont based thing and something like the x2gs that has the real gs chip and can also use soundfonts. If you're using your own soundfont on either would they sound the same? If you had a soundfont based on the sounds from the gs chip would it sound the same?

[@Pickle136]

some differences x2gs is hardware processing and the fluidsynth is software. The x2gs uses sound banks in a format specified by dream. Fluidsynth uses soundfont 2 format. There are more SF2 than soundbanks. I suppose you could get similar sounds, but there are many controls on both devices. In my 486 im running a diamond ALS007 (yamaha opl and sb16 capable) with the X2GS and a Picogus 2.0 with a waveable mt32-pi that uses a pi zero 2. If i had to choose one to start with I would go with a mt32-pi based device and then you think you want the specific sounds a x2gs has then get one.

[@hikari_no_yume]

Every synthesizer has slightly different characteristics. The SoundFont specifications are not tight enough to actually ensure that every card or piece of software supporting them produces identical sound. It's kind of a mess in practice. Also I'm not sure, but I don't think the X2GS has a “real GS” chip. It has a chip by Dream, and I would be surprised if it exactly matched any Roland synth.

[@kunka592]

@@hikari_no_yume Even Roland synths don't match similar Roland synths.

[@hikari_no_yume]

@@kunka592 Yup. The later SCs don't manage to perfectly match the earlier ones.

[@philscomputerlab]

@@Pickle136 Great answer! I'll be reviewing the higher end X board soon and this is a good question to answer! How do the boards compare and what should you go for and why.