[piano playing] [keyboard clicking sounds]
Greetings and welcome to another LGR thing.
And this is another upgrade video
for the LGR Woodgrain 486.
And last time, as far as sound upgrades go,
we swapped out the Creative Labs AWE32 Sound Card for
another Creative Labs, a Sound Blaster Pro 2.0
because while I do like the AWE32
and what it can do and all that stuff
it ended up having some problems that needed to be fixed,
and there were a few games that didn't quite work correctly
with it, at least how I remember it and like it sounding.
So I put in the 2.0, which is a great card.
It's overall got fantastic support
for just the games that I wanted to run
from around '93 and '94 and whatnot.
However, it could use with a bit of an upgrade
especially since I'm into general MIDI stuff these days.
A lot of different devices
like the Rolling Sound Canvas, MT-32,
and some other things which we're gonna be diving into,
but as you can see here on the back
of the card, or the back of the computer where the card is.
So the Sound Blaster is all the way down here in the bottom,
and while it does have that 15-pin joystick port that acts
as a MIDI output on later sound cards
from Creative Labs and many other companies,
this one in particular does not have the
MPU-401 compatibility, and even then, if it did
it wouldn't support intelligent mode.
It would only be UART.
I'm going to go with this right here.
This is a Roland MIF-IPC Card
from the mid 80s,
and this right here is just going to plug in
alongside the sound card there
and supply an output right here, which is,
this is going to give us all
of the information that an actual MPU-401 unit will need,
and in case you're not aware
this is an MPU-401
MIDI Processing Unit
which is what the MPU stands for.
So they had a whole line of MPU units for musicians
and computer users and all sorts of things back in the day.
This is another one from the '80s.
I believe this one is maybe from 1986.
I'm not entirely sure. '87 maybe.
But yeah, so this is the MPU-401.
So the card will go into the computer that'll plug into this
and then the outputs here will go to a actual MIDI device.
Which ones am I going to choose?
That's the question and I can't decide.
So we're just gonna do a ton of them.
Well maybe not a literal ton, but at least four.
Starting with the Roland MT-32,
the classic released in 1987.
This is a Revision 0 model
which I actually have covered before.
I did a review on it a while back.
Sort of a retrospective and it's great.
It's very, very appropriate for late '80s
early '90s games, really early '90s,
up to a certain point in the way.
It doesn't do general MIDI
but it does MT-32 sound quite wonderfully cause it's
that's what it is.
But yeah revision 0 means
it has these left and right outputs.
It doesn't have a dedicated stereo output
and it also has a bit
of a problem with buffer overflow in some games.
But yeah, that's what we're gonna put
on the very first layer of our MIDI Mountain.
Next up being the Roland Sound Canvas,
this is the particular the SC-55 Mark 2 released in 1993.
I have also reviewed this unit and it is fantastic.
It not only has full general MIDI support where
the MT-32 did not
and that, in case you're not aware, just actually signifies
that the MT-32 kind of has its own way of reproducing
sounds like its own instruments in its own specific places.
Whereas General MIDI standardize that
so that any general MIDI devices is pretty much
gonna have the same instruments in the same places.
And it also has Roland GS support, which is an expansion
or an extension really to general MIDI.
Which means it has a whole bunch
of really cool sounds on top of that.
So you can play some sound canvas games
that sound fantastic.
It also has just these little switches right here
and a serial connection, but I'm not gonna be doing that.
We're just gonna go with the regular MIDI here
and then plug that in to the MPU-401.
Next layer of the sandwich is going to be this.
The Yamaha MU-80 Tone Generator.
I haven't actually done a video on this yet
but I probably will in the future
because it is really, really cool.
It is released in 1994
and it not only includes the general MIDI support,
same as this one
although it's gonna sound different than this one.
But it also has the Yamaha XG extensions, which is a bit
like Roland's GS extensions.
These companies were trying to do their
individual MIDI things back
in the day while still adhering
to the general MIDI standard.
It's quite interesting, and yeah,
it's pretty similar, in fact,
to the sound canvas.
Has the same kind of a switch right here,
the serial connection for that.
But again, we're not gonna be using it
we're just gonna be using the MIDI output
going to an MPU-401.
Which gets us that maximum compatibility and all that.
You could use the serial with a program
like Soft MPU once again, that magical program.
But I don't want to be using any software layers
if I can help it with this. I just wanna do all hardware.
And the final piece
of the MIDI Mountain is the Korg NS5R
which is released in 1996, has this nifty little wheel here,
and you might be familiar with the sounds
of this thing if you've ever used like a Korg
in one or many of the other N-series devices
from Korg back in the day, the mid to late '90s,
and it is something that a lot
of people don't really talk about, I've noticed as far
as gaming goes, but it sounds really, really cool.
Yeah, so it has that serial connector as well,
but it doesn't need it.
It also supports different option boards,
which this one does not have installed
but that supports other different sound
like daughter boards that Korg had at the time.
We're just gonna be using the regular
NS5R capabilities here,
and plugging that in and seeing what it does.
How am I gonna connect this all together?
You might ask.
Well, we're going to be using the Roland MPU-104.
Man, I'm saying MPU a lot.
This in particular is another one
of their MPU series of things.
I think this was released
in 1984-1985, something like that,
whenever they started doing the MPU line of stuff.
And this is really just a MIDI input selector.
So you can plug up to five MIDI devices into this one thing
and then switch between them right here
and yeah they all plug into the back there.
So that the MPU-401 is going to be going in right here
to the MIDI through and then the inputs
are gonna be going right here to these four in succession.
So you can switch between them
on the fly and you know, I don't need this
but I found it for a good price at a music shop.
So I'm like, yeah, you know what, let's try it out
cuz the thing looks cool
and it just it fits right in with all
of these other sound modules, these little half rack things.
So you know, it makes me happy.
I kind of wish the MT-32 was the same
but at that point they hadn't really standardized the sizing
for these little synth modules.
So as far as what this is going to be connected to though,
well that's something else.
This right here is a Technics Stereo Graphic Equalizer
that I found while thrifting.
This is the SH-8044 model
and this is completely unnecessary but I like it.
While these do have graphic equalizers on some of them
and you know a form of spectrum analyzer
on the front of the displays on some of them they don't all,
and plus I just think this one looks really cool
and has a nice blue display here, like a VFD
which is just glows and looks great.
But this isn't actually
like a receiver/switcher AV kind of thing.
It only takes one line in and one line out
as well as an area for a tape recording out and playback.
We won't be using those.
Just gonna be using the line in and out.
Obviously there's four devices here
and there's only one line in and out.
So we're going to be using something else to get
that all connected into here.
And that's just gonna be this
little cheapo 4-port audio switch.
It's got video as well, but who cares?
So you can switch between
four different audio devices and that's fine.
So really all I need is these four right here.
And this is going to go to this
and then this once all of these are connected into here,
connected to
these Roland MA-8 Stereo Micro Monitor speakers.
These are Roland speakers specifically made for computers,
or you know I guess other applications
but computers especially
since they have the magnetic shielding
not to mess with your monitors or other magnetic media.
They are really not the most advanced Roland speakers
or even the most advanced ones of theirs that I have.
But I think they're cool looking cuz they're black
and they also have, you know, a couple of extra types
of inputs in the back. Which will be useful.
Although, I really only need the one.
So yeah, that's what these are going to be doing.
I actually found these at a thrift store as well
so they'll probably be showing up
in a future episode of "LGR Thrift."
Roland MA-8s.
Quite a lucky find I thought.
And then last but not least,
we do have a variety of cables here.
We got MIDI cables of all types,
a bunch of audio cables for the
different types of connections.
You know, some of them have like the
RCA connector on the end some of them have like
a quarter inch phono connector.
Like dual mono that go to one stereo
for the back of this or you know, whatever.
It's just all the cables we need, they're all here.
So let's just get to it because there's a lot to do
and I think this is gonna be really cool once
it's all together.
Well first the easy part
which is just getting the thing installed
in the computer itself.
Just get the case off here, unscrew the little thingy
in the back so we have a spot for it, and then finagle it
through all the wiring and all these ridiculous IDE cables.
And there you go.
There's not really much more to do with this.
There's no drivers or anything.
You just plug it into the port that it provides in the back.
One side goes to the interface and the other of course goes
to the MPU-401 box.
Since we're going from big to small.
Next up is that delightful graphic equalizer,
and we're gonna be using one of these cables here to go
from the line in to the rear of the computer itself
to the line out.
The equalizer will pretty much be the last step
in all this before it gets to the speakers.
And we got another cable going
from the line out of the equalizer,
and this will of course go to said speakers
once it's all said and done.
Got another cable here at 3 1/2 millimeter once again,
going to the line in of the sound card.
And this will be going to the line
out of this little switch box, which is going to make sure
that all of these MIDI devices go
into the line end of the sound card.
Speaking of the marvelous MIDI madness,
we're getting the first one here.
It's the Roland MT-32.
This just requires one of these patch cables
which is a couple of mono quarter inch connections
that go to RCA.
And every single one of these
are gonna be plugging into this poor little box.
And since it's a Roland I decided to use one
of my fancy schmancy Roland cables.
Any MIDI capable dub either way just has to be plugged
into the MIDI input.
Next up is the sound canvas, the SC-55 Mark 2 in MIDI mode.
Going to be hooking the output right here
through just regular RCA cables.
And right on over to our delightful little switch box.
Seeing as is another Roland device, we're going for
another Roland MIDI cable here to the MIDI input.
And yeah, these cords are already getting
kind of cumbersome.
I wish I had shorter cabling, but I don't.
I'm just using whatever I had on hand.
Next up is the Yamaha MU-80.
It's really the same kind of deal.
We're using these patch cables going
from that to the switch box.
And then we have another MIDI cable.
This is just a more generic one.
I don't have a fancy Yamaha one or anything.
Just going into the MIDI input.
Might be curious about the MIDI outputs.
We are really just not sending anything
from these devices to the computer or
to the MPU-401 because we're not composing
or doing any weird stuff like that.
So we don't need to worry with anything
but the MIDI ins on these devices.
Our last MIDI unit here is the Korg NS5R.
Fitting that it's right beside the Yamaha here
because they actually worked with Yamaha back then.
You could put a Yamaha daughter board
inside of here and it had a bunch
of sounds that were kind of similar actually to the MU-80
but you'll hear it in a moment.
Same cables though, just connecting to
all the stuff that we've been connecting to
all along the way.
And there we go.
That is one mangled mess of wiring.
Good grief, this poor box.
It's so lightweight that the cables
the weight of them is actually making it shift.
It doesn't actually sit level anymore.
Anyway, time to plug in
all those MIDI cables into something.
The MPU-104 here and yeah, we're just going 1, 2, 3, and 4
and have them all connected right into that.
And then we're having another MIDI cable going
from the MIDI through to the MIDI
out from the MPU-401, which sends the signals
from the games and whatnot to everything else.
Ta-da, I've made a mess.
It's a beautiful mess but a mess nonetheless.
Well, let's tidy this up a bit
and get all these things and well by tidying up
I mean just shoving it all behind there
so you can't see it as clearly.
Let's go ahead and get these speakers over here
these Roland MA-8s.
We just have a nice little RCA connection here in the back.
A little cable to go in between them,
which is just your standard thing.
And there we go.
They can sort of fit in here like that
because I only have so much room
on my table and this is how it's gonna work.
And yeah, I haven't even started with
the power cables AC adapters yet.
There's a lot of them.
Here's just the ones for the MIDI devices.
Good grief, let's get started
because I'm ready to test this stuff out.
No problem at all.
A time lapse will fix this.
Time to hit the switch on the power box,
everything is plugged into
and see if they all come on and yes they do.
And it's a lovely site.
Look at all the lights and displays
and oh man, this is awesome.
Except it doesn't work.
There's no audio coming out of the speakers
and that could be any number of things.
I don't know why.
I don't know what's going on.
After about and a half an hour
of screwing around with different things,
I figured out that the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 cards line in
was muted.
I guess because when I put the compact flashcard
in here a while back
I didn't actually reinstall the Sound Blaster software
and it needed that in order to adjust all the volumes
and activate it.
I don't know what was going on, man, but anyway
installing the software and putting the line in
up to 11 did the job.
So, here we go.
Let's try it out with some Duke 3D.
[synth music begins playing]
Now, you'll notice there,
if you know what you're listening to
that those didn't quite sound right,
none of them did
and that's because of the way that I was switching
between them on the fly.
What you need to do when you're actually
gonna use this, would be to make sure it's
on the right setting for one thing and the sound setup
and then make sure it's switched over before
you start playing whatever it is you're gonna be playing.
Because otherwise it's just going to use some sound patches
and things that are not right, and it sounds like garbage.
This is more like what it's supposed to sound like here.
["Doom" theme music plays]
[video game sound effects begins]
Oh, this is awesome.
Just being able to switch in between
whichever device I want as long as
the game is set to use it correctly.
That is fantastic.
It's just, this is a cool little setup.
Well, kind of a big setup, but I like it a lot.
Anyway, it's great for games
but let's just hear some demonstration in the form
of the classic Canyon.mid file from Windows.
I recorded each one of these separately
and then edited them together
so you can hear them going back to back with each device.
Enjoy.
[synth music begins playing]
Ahhh, I love this setup.
Just look at this thing.
It's a monstrous MIDI Mountain.
Uh, I enjoy it even though it's completely impractical.
I know it's absurd.
It is absolutely not my recommended way
of doing much of anything really.
This is mostly just for me to have fun with
because that's what my Woodgrain 46 is for
just to have fun with and show it off
in some videos and relive some childhood fantasies.
You know, I wondered about a lot of this equipment
just looking at it in music stores
and catalogs and game setup menus back in the day.
And now I finally have the chance to explore it.
And I know some of it's not ideal
and some of it is just also really, really good
and I'm surprised with certain things.
And there's all sorts of other ways to set up
a sort of MIDI configuration like this.
Of course, you could just use a daisy chaining method
or MIDI through outputs and inputs
and whatnot that are all over these things.
Yeah, you could do that too.
And then you are dealing with latency
and not having a cool switch box.
This is just one way of doing things
and I hope that you enjoyed seeing me screw around with it
and let me know what you thought and perhaps even tune in
to some future videos that are gonna be
on some future topics in the future.
There are new ones every Monday and Friday here on LGR.
And as always, thank you very much for watching.