Emulation available for Roland MT-32 or other more advanced sound cards?

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I’ve really been liking the ao486 core for using DOS, but I’m curious if there are options for upgrading the sound card. It seems like the core emulates Adlib and Sound Blaster, but nothing else. While I’m just glad this core can run DOS games well, does anyone know if there’s sound card emulation you can use for the core for the Roland MT-32 or any of the other cards that are more advanced than Sound Blaster? I tried looking it up, but it doesn’t seem to be much in discussion currently on forums.

[YLFAndy]

This thread may have some of what you're looking for.
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=947&p=8242&hilit=soundfont#p8242

[TheMrAwesomeness]

OK, this might be able to help me out. Hmm, I’ll need to figure out how to install these. Also, Fatboy sounds interesting for a MIDI improvement.

[HMPoweredMan]

I ended up getting a real SC-55 to hook up to the mister. Works great.

[jrronimo]

Actually, Roland MT-32 / CM-32L support is now built in to MiSTer thanks to Midilink. The Munt emulator runs on the Arm processor on the DE-10.


You will need to supply your own copies of MT32_CONTROL.ROM and MT32_PCM.ROM by putting them into the /media/fat/linux/mt32-rom-data/ directory.

After firing up ao486, open Menu (Win+F12), and change UART mode to:
Connection: MIDI
MidiLink: Local
Type: MUNT
Change UART BAUD: 38400

In my experience, it lags a bit though... I'm listening to the intro to Space Quest III right now and some notes are definitely smooshed together like it's trying to catch up. Is everyone else hearing that or is there something wrong in my setup?

I've been trying all day to do MIDILink over a network to FalcoSoft's MIDI Player and it's working very, very poorly; I'm only getting the occasional note playback... enough to hear hints of the SQ3 theme, but really not great. Munt directly on the MiSTer works better, but it's laggy enough that it bothers me.

[thorr]

I recommend MT32-PI. In a nutshell, you install Munt on a Raspberry PI that is dedicated to Munt using a very thin OS that makes it work almost immediately after turning it on (not Raspian). It is fantastic. I helped a lot with ironing out the bugs and it is pretty solid now. https://github.com/dwhinham/mt32-pi

[Mills]

I tested fluidsynth and all the instruments are pianos... Is that a problem in my soudfont or is it a config problem?.

[bbond007]

I tested fluidsynth and all the instruments are pianos... Is that a problem in my soudfont or is it a config problem?.

Probably soundfont...

I recommend you test with the SC-55.sf2 soundfont downloaded by the soundfont_installer script here --> https://github.com/MiSTer-devel/MidiLin ... er/INSTALL

If it still does not work maybe try and lower the speed to 30mhz or try SoftMPU.

I probably could give better (less general) suggestions if I knew the specifics of your config and what app/game you are trying to run...

[Mills]

If it still does not work maybe try and lower the speed to 30mhz or try SoftMPU.

Does it work without SoftMPU? I thought it was the only way...
I was already using SC-55.sf2, it didn't work well, other tiny soundfonts worked a bit better.

This issue happens with all games/apps I tested, that's why I didn't describe any particular situation.

I'll try to reduce the speed.

[bbond007]

Does it work without SoftMPU? I thought it was the only way...

Many things that don't need full "Intelligent mode" MPU-401 now can work without SoftMPU including some games that are incompatible with SoftMPU mostly due to incompatibility with 32bit DOS extenders..

Some stuff still needs it...

I was already using SC-55.sf2, it didn't work well, other tiny soundfonts worked a bit better.

How would you really know which is better if "all the instruments are pianos"?

[Mills]

How would you really know which is better if "all the instruments are pianos"?

I could hear one or two instruments in the background that were not pianos in a soundfont called "AweROMGM.sf2" (1MB).

Anyway, I tested this without SoftMPU, I can hear the music mostly OK (sometimes it plays faster or stops playing, I know it is not perfect). Then, the moment I try to change soundfont... all pianos again even if I reset the midi connection. I'll just set a soundfont and live with that for the moment.
I realized, the tiny soundfont does not reset all instrumets to pianos, and the sc-55 soundfont does reload with all instrumets as piano.

I'm now testing the test menu in Wacky Wheels because it keeps playing the midi while I change things.

EDIT: I noticed some soundfonts have huge instrument samples and that will cause the music to lost sync with the game (maybe the ARM can't handle big samples very well), that's why I was experiencing music playing faster or slower.

So I ended up using the now built-in midi interface and soundfonts like "AweROMGM.sf2" or an OPL4 soundfont, they are tiny, and sound great for most dos games.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I tried using the built-in MUNT, and like jrronimo said, it worked sort of fine, but some notes hang, resulting in a messy soundtrack. After looking around some more, I was able to get the SC-55.sf2 file working on the built-in Fluidsynth, and it sounds pretty good so far, and consistent, no hanging notes, like in MUNT.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I just shelled a bunch out on making my MiSTer with all the fancy add-ons, so I'm probably not ready to shell out some more on an RPi4 just yet, but that's a setup I assume will be more reliable, and I'll probably wind up getting it not too long from now. For the meantime, I'll see how this soundfont works. I know there are some DOS games that were built with the MT-32 in mind, and sound like crap when using any of the other Rolands, but from what I understand those aren't many games.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

So, after playing Under a Killing Moon for a while with the SC-55 soundfont on the built-in Fluidsynth, it sounds way better than the Sound Blaster soundtrack, and it’s consistent, with no hanging notes. By the way, speaking of MUNT, I know the Raspberry Pi is a popular way to connect MUNT to the MiSTer via remote, but is there a way to do that by sending MUNT from your PC to the MiSTer through an ethernet cable or something?

[jrronimo]

So, after playing Under a Killing Moon for a while with the SC-55 soundfont on the built-in Fluidsynth, it sounds way better than the Sound Blaster soundtrack, and it’s consistent, with no hanging notes. By the way, speaking of MUNT, I know the Raspberry Pi is a popular way to connect MUNT to the MiSTer via remote, but is there a way to do that by sending MUNT from your PC to the MiSTer through an ethernet cable or something?

Yes there is! I finally got it working last night, and it works far better than any of the other solutions I've tried.

It's a little more convoluted though, so here's a mini HOWTO:

1. Get Tobias Erichsen's LoopMIDI from here
- Install it and run it.
- Once LoopMIDI opens, click the "+" at the bottom. It should add a line that says "loopMIDI Port"

2. Get bbond007's UDPMIDI.EXE from here -- Windows will complain the file isn't safe or commonly downloaded, but it's fine. Either that or bbond007's got all my credit card information now.
- Run it
- On the line that says MIDI Device, click the dropdown arrow and choose the number that also says "loopMIDI Port"
-- Note: If you run UDPMIDI before LoopMIDI, UDPMIDI won't see the LoopMIDI port.

3. Download and install the Windows version of Munt, here
- Run it
- Select Options -> ROM Configuration and tell Munt where your CM-32L or MT-32 ROMs are.
- Click Tools -> New MIDI port...
- Select the line with "loopMIDI Port"


4. You need to edit the /media/fat/linux/MidiLink.INI file on your MiSTer. I prefer the editor 'nano' for things like this.
- Use PuTTy to SSH in to your MiSTer by putting in its IP address (From the MiSTer Main Menu, press F12, then the left arrow key and it will display your MiSTer's IP)
- Login with root/1
- Use the command: nano /media/fat/linux/MidiLink.INI
- Edit the line that says "UDP_SERVER" to have the IP address of your Windows computer
- Press "CTRL+X" to exit; press 'y' to save changes, then 'enter' to write the changes.

Now, fire up ao486 and change the UART MidiLink: setting to Remote (type is UDP, but that should be default).

Start up Space Quest 3 (or whatever!) and enjoy!

[jrronimo]

Oh and don't forget that you'll need to run audio from your MiSTer into your PC's line in just in case any games use both MIDI and OPL2/3 effects.

For what it's worth, I set up this configuration on a Dell Venue 8 Windows tablet -- it's got some old quad core Atom Z3xxx and 2 GB of RAM and it ran great while plugged in.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

Cool, thanks for the turorial, I’ll probably try it out later tonight! Also, how do you run the audio from your MiSTer into your PC’s line? Do you use an aux jack or something?

[TheMrAwesomeness]

Also, I tried doing the setup, and I was successful until I got to the Putty part. Even after running the scripts on my MiSTer to enable SSH and disable the firewall, I couldn't get to my MiSTer's files through Putty, it kept telling me that the file and directory doesn't exist. I then just added my router's IP address by connecting the SD card to my computer, but even after doing that, after selecting remote and UDP in UART, I got no sound. I looked at MUNT, and nothing was happening, so it seems my computer and the MiSTer are not connecting. Not sure what it is I'm doing wrong.

[jrronimo]

In my setup, I have an HDMI to VGA adapter that has audio out, so I connect that audio into the Line In on my computer.

Hmm... Maybe the path for the nano command wasn't quite right. I did check it, but who knows! Anyway, glad you got it sorted with the SD card.

Your MiSTer is plugged in to your network, right? And your Windows IP is pretty similar? (typically 192.168.1.x or 192.168.0.x or 10.0.0.x)? Here's how to find your IP in Windows

If not that, then it's probably a Windows Firewall issue. The first time I ran UDPMIDI, it popped up a Firewall prompt, and I told it to Allow.

If you never got the firewall prompt for UDPMIDI, then you can add it yourself:
1. Click the Windows Start button
2. Type 'firewall'
3. Click on "Firewall & network protection". This page will show you which Firewall profile is active. If it's public, you should also do the next section.
4. In the "Firewall & network protection" box, click "Allow an app through firewall"
5. Click 'Change settings'
6. Click 'Allow another app...'
7. Click 'Browse'
8. Navigate to where you stored UDPMIDI.exe
9. Select the file and click 'Open', then click 'Add'
10. It should check the box for whichever Firewall profile you're already using, so click 'OK' and try again!

If public firewall:
Windows 10 has a bad habit of putting all network connections into "Public" mode though, which blocks a lot of traffic. Check out this article to try and change your adapter to Private.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

OK, thanks for helping with the guides! I'll try that out. For the audio, I have an I/O board on my MiSTer, so from your description of your setup, I guess that means I can easily run audio through my computer by using a simple aux jack from the audio out on the MiSTer to the line in on my PC.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I checked the firewall settings and it says UDPMIDI is already allowed. I also checked my PC's IP address and it's the same as my router's except for the last 3 digits. I guess I'll try connecting again. Maybe I have to run audio through my PC as well for it to work.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I tried before seeing if I could use a crossover cable to directly connect my MiSTer to my computer, but it wouldn't recognize it.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

I am also noticing that the UDPMIDI is saying Packets Received: 0, so that seems to confirm that they're not connecting. My aux jack should be ready for me to pick up from my local Staples in a half hour or so, so I guess I'll see if adding that to the mix makes a difference. I also changed my network to private, I guess it had been public all this time. So, I hope that does something.

[thorr]

On a separate issue that I have been meaning to bring this up for some time, I have noticed that the first few notes of MIDI are not being sent correctly. It is as if there is a buffer filling up and then it jams everything out full blast and then catches up. The instruments sound correct so all the data is getting there, but the music is silent for the first second or two. This can be seen in many titles but for example Monkey Island 2. If you hit Esc and listen to the beginning part and hit Esc to listen to the next part, and keep doing this until you are actually playing the game, several times there will be notes missing at the beginning. I am using a Roland UM-One MKII with my MT-32 Pi and my Sound Canvas and they both react the same way with Monkey Island 2 (I know using the Sound Canvas is wrong in this case, but it was a test to see if it was a problem with the MT-32 Pi or the Mister). Does anyone else have this problem and a possible fix?

[TheMrAwesomeness]

Whoops, I realized I made a mistake. I screwed up and put the MiSTer's IP address in instead of my computer's. Hopefully, this will make it work.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

OK, progress! The applications on my PC are showing there's a connection. I'm seeing packets received on UDPMIDI, and MUNT is showing the instruments playing. No sound is coming out through my MiSTer yet, but progress! Now, I just need to figure out how to make the sound come out. Maybe I have to mess with the output/input settings? I also got my aux jack, so I'm trying that. I'm connecting it to my mic input as a line-in, and it's recognizing it, I'm seeing the volume indicator go up and down. I'm so close!! Has anyone who had done this before like jrronimo run into this issue, or were they able to get the sound working right away?

[TheMrAwesomeness]

OK, so, progress, sort of. I was able to get the sound to work, but only with my normal computer speaker audio, oddly enough can't get it to output sound on my DAC. So, with this setup, are you supposed to listen to the sound on your computer, is there no way of making the sound come out on the MiSTer? So far, I can't play this game with this setup yet, since the game I'm playing uses voice clips, which come out on the MiSTer.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

Also, the SC-55 ROM I'm using for MUNT actually doesn't sound as good as the SC-55 soundfont I've used for the built-in FluidSynth. Maybe I should try the MT-32 ROMS I have with MUNT on some other games.

[thorr]

As far as I know, MUNT is only for MT-32. If it can do other things, that is news to me.

[TheMrAwesomeness]

Ah, thanks for that advice. I switched to an MT-32 ROM I have and it sounds MUCH better. I still like the SC-55 sound for this game, so I'll keep it for now. The last thing I need to figure out now, is how to be able to play voice clips and music from the same source when using MUNT this way.