The SC-55 sample bank was cut down immensely for Windows, downsampled, no processing effects either (especially chrous is necessary for some of these patches to sound good even on the original!) Still, it suits its purpose, as otherwise people still using older sound cards at the time were going to be stuck with farts that lacked the polyphony to play back MIDI music anyway.
I have seen on your MS/GS Soft Synth's description page that it "Cannot use variant instruments". This is not true. It has the same variation tones as the SC-55 except the MT-32/CM-32 compatibility bank at bank MSB 127 (and the MT-32/CM-32 compatibility drum set at program 127 on channel 10). But you have to explicitly switch the synth into GS mode by sending a GS reset SysEx message before you can use the variation tones. BTW, MS/GS Soft Synth in Win XP even supports Capital Tone Fallback like the first real SC-55. On Vista+ this feature has been removed and you get complete silence when an invalid Bank + Program Change message is sent to the synth in GS mode.
Yeah, it sounds bad, because default Mixing frequency is only 22Khz and Reverb, Chorus is disabled. Just for everybody, for example in Winamp you can go to MIDI Player configuration and there you have DirectMusic configuration (which is MS GS SW Synth), change it to 44.1Khz and check in Reverb/Chorus, and result will be like a day and night. 🙂
@@pc-sound-legacyIt is quite weird, that MS is keeping these settings as default even now in Windows 10. Back in Win98 days they makes, due to limited CPU power.
The MS GS is quite acceptable for casual retro gaming. Instrunents are the same. For us enthusiasts, we prefere external modules or better softsynth with chorus/hall for a more realistic sounscape for sure :-)
The SC-55 sample bank was cut down immensely for Windows, downsampled, no processing effects either (especially chrous is necessary for some of these patches to sound good even on the original!) Still, it suits its purpose, as otherwise people still using older sound cards at the time were going to be stuck with farts that lacked the polyphony to play back MIDI music anyway.
Definitely - it was a huge step up for midi sound in windows if you were
running an fm-only soundcard.
It was actually for those with newer cards since it required WDM drivers.
yeah the MS WV just comes out flat, i think some reverb, chorus it might have been closer
Definitely. With effects I guess it'll come too close and that's why they passed that. Maybe also because of cpu utilization.
Totally agree, MS GS SW sounds flat, not bad but flat
I have seen on your MS/GS Soft Synth's description page that it "Cannot use variant instruments". This is not true. It has the same variation tones as the SC-55 except the MT-32/CM-32 compatibility bank at bank MSB 127 (and the MT-32/CM-32 compatibility drum set at program 127 on channel 10). But you have to explicitly switch the synth into GS mode by sending a GS reset SysEx message before you can use the variation tones.
BTW, MS/GS Soft Synth in Win XP even supports Capital Tone Fallback like the first real SC-55. On Vista+ this feature has been removed and you get complete silence when an invalid Bank + Program Change message is sent to the synth in GS mode.
Thanks for your knowledge! I need to change the description.
Yeah, it sounds bad, because default Mixing frequency is only 22Khz and Reverb, Chorus is disabled. Just for everybody, for example in Winamp you can go to MIDI Player configuration and there you have DirectMusic configuration (which is MS GS SW Synth), change it to 44.1Khz and check in Reverb/Chorus, and result will be like a day and night. 🙂
I didn't know that, thanks👍
@@pc-sound-legacyIt is quite weird, that MS is keeping these settings as default even now in Windows 10. Back in Win98 days they makes, due to limited CPU power.
Roland SC-55 realistic sound.
No
Funny how much better the MS GS SW wavetable is than I remember..
Yes, it's not bad after all. But it's also a good demonstration on what a difference chorus and hall can make
@@pc-sound-legacy It is as much about post processing as it is about 22khz samples really, the basses in particular really lack presence.
I would stick with the real deal but as with many things MIDI, it often comes down to the actual MIDI you are playing through.
The MS GS is quite acceptable for casual retro gaming. Instrunents are the same. For us enthusiasts, we prefere external modules or better softsynth with chorus/hall for a more realistic sounscape for sure :-)