Roland Sound Canvas

[data8504]

Hello everyone. I have been using a general sound-card based synthesizer for as long as I can remember, but recently I got a copy of Roland's Virtual Sound Canvas from a friend.

Needless to say, the change was awesome.

Piano sounds real; orchestrated pieces put you IN the amphetheatre.

So, that brings me to my question:

I know that hardware solutions are better than software... at least thats how it goes with 3D rendering, processing, etc. If I am this impressed by my Roland SW Synth, should I unload for an actual hardware synthesizer?

Thanks!

Matt

[gdroad]

Agreed. Get the real thing. SW synths can lead you astray. Having said that the VSC88 MP1 version of ROlands SW synth is very good for recording with. It acts like a VST instrument plugin which the stright version does not. Then you can convert the midi trach into real audio (wav file)!

[saxmidiman]

Got the Roland Virtual Synth as well and you're right. It really rocks. It's pretty easy way to beef up a pretty cheesy or cheap sound card. But I'd rather use my external Yamaha Tone Generator. There's no latency problems and the sounds are very good as well.

Has anyone tried the Yamaha Virtual Synth? I might just have to start a new topic I think.
:rolleyes:

[Zandro]

Is Roland Virtual Synth the same as GM.DLS in the System32/Drivers directory?

[saxmidiman]

Here's what I found out

The GM.DLS file contains the Roland SoundCanvas Sound Set which is
protected under the following copyright:
Roland GS Sound Set/Microsoft (P) 1996 Roland Corporation U.S.
The Roland SoundCanvas Sound Set is licensed under Microsoft's
End User License Agreement for use with Microsoft operating
system products only. All other uses require a separate written
license from Roland.

There ya go.

[Zandro]

I knew about that. They do have a Readme in the same directory. What I want to know is if the Roland Virtual Synth is any better than the so-called SoundCanvas.

[saxmidiman]

Depends on what sound canvas. I tried a Roland SC-88 at one point and wasn't overly impressed with it. I bought a Yamaha MU90R instead. I did however like the Roland virtual synth. It had some better quality of organs than what I remembered from the SC-88.

Here's the catch. I just tried out the Yamaha Soft Synth and kind of liked it. But in no way did it compare to my MU90R in terms of reverb depth and overall quality of sound. It was close, but not quite as good.

I guess you'd have to put them side by side with the same midifile to really judge. Good luck.

[Zandro]

I think that people should stop spending money on such programs and buy a Sound Blaster Audigy card for < 100 USD and use SoundFont at not extra charge. The good banks are all free for instant download, and range from 24 to 240 MB. You can build your own synths with Vienna SF Studio, which is freeware included in the install package. Try my custom half-completed GM SoundFont bank (in the DA&C forum) with SynthFont, a sort of emulator of the SoundFont EMU-10Kx engine, and tell me if any of these synths are really worth it.

[saxmidiman]

That sounds pretty cool. Is there a latency issue when you use Soundfont? Will you be able to use XG on it or GM2? Would like to know more. Is there a website you know offhand with any info. Like to know more.

[Zandro]

http://www.soundfont.com/faqs.html
http://www.soundfont.com/tutorials.html

If you still have a question, lay it out to me in an informative manner.

With SoundFont, a MIDI file can play any sound you put into the SF bank, including a cat's meow.