Roland MT-32

[+DarkLord]

Okay, a little Google search led me here:

 

 

 

I grabbed the archive and watched the video but I'm still not clear - is the file(s)

from the archive simply supposed to be dropped into the Ultima III folder or is

there some other way that it's supposed to be loaded into the MT-32?  Thanks.

 

[Zogging Hell]

On 11/21/2021 at 11:49 PM, DarkLord said:

 

The description does say "4 conductor configuration". Does this have anything to do with anything?

 

Thanks.

 

Well one of the reviews suggests it has all five pins connected, so it technically isn't a MIDI cable in the strictest sense if that is the case. You should be fine, but you want to avoid using it with a certain subset of old Casios that use the other two pins for syncing patch data. Glad you have got it working, I would suggest perhaps having a good look at the caps in there, as that hum is something I have had from powered speakers where the caps have been on the way out.

[TGB1718]

Sound like you have a power suppy probem, given the faint display and hum, maybe the smoothing capacitors

[+DarkLord]

I'm leaning that way too guys. The one that came with it looks like

the original and seems to meet the specs, as far as I can tell but

I think it's a good idea to start looking for a replacement. 

 

Thanks for all the help and comments, appreciated!

 

[+DarkLord]

Okay, still trying to get the Ultima games to work with the Roland MT-32.

 

I followed a couple of links to guides, and this is what I did:

 

1. While holding down MASTER VOLUME, press PART 5

 

2. Press PART 1

 

This is supposed to change the default receive channels from 2-9 and

10, to 1-8 and 10.

 

This showed "Channel 1-8 ? [1]

 

Pressing 1 returns it to the default screen. I'm assuming this is what

it's supposed to show when it works?

 

Thanks all.

 

[+DarkLord]

I actually found a replacement P/S specifically for the MT-32 on Amazon and have ordered it.

 

Looks like it's gonna be a few weeks before it gets here, despite Amazon Primes' "2 day shipping".

 

Hopefully this is the issue and the replacement will resolve it. I'll report back here once it's

arrived and in place.

 

[+DarkLord]

Okay, got a replacement P/S in and the good news is, it fixed it.

 

The LCD screen is now clear with a muted background and bright

numbers and letters.

 

The MIDI message light doesn't stay on all the time.

 

The hum is gone as well.

 

I tried it with Space Quest 3 and it sounds absolutely great!

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

[Clint Thompson]

3 hours ago, DarkLord said:

Okay, got a replacement P/S in and the good news is, it fixed it.

 

The LCD screen is now clear with a muted background and bright

numbers and letters.

 

The MIDI message light doesn't stay on all the time.

 

The hum is gone as well.

 

I tried it with Space Quest 3 and it sounds absolutely great!

 

Thanks for all the advice everyone.

 

That's so awesome man, congrats!

[+DarkLord]

Yeah, I think I lucked out. Here I was ready to order a replacement cap

set and dive into the beast, as much as I was dreading it. I'm not good

with a soldering iron, barely passable on simple connections at best, so

this was a relief! 

 

Now if I can just get U3/U4 to play MIDI...

 

[oky2000]

Occam's Razor

[+DarkLord]

Exactly.

 

As google puts it:

 

"Occam's razor is a principle of theory construction or evaluation according to which, other things equal, explanations that posit fewer entities, or fewer kinds of entities, are to be preferred to explanations that posit more"

 

Or as us lesser mortals put it, all things being equal the simplest answer is usually the right one.  

 

BTW,  Ultima III and IV are working with MIDI here now. It seems there is quite a bit of difference in the volume level

between my Mega STe and the MT-32. I'm either going to get a mixer or just put a second set of speakers there and

split everything up for separate control...

 

[FastRobPlus]

I just built an MT-32 emulator board so I can play Ultima with MIDI on my Stacy. I have a question I think you can answer Darklord:

I feel like I can stuff this board, a small amp and a speaker all in the cavity that the Stacy was supposed to use to house its batteries. Then I could probably get 5V and the MIDI serial lines from the motherboard and route those in through a gap. This would give the Stacy portable MIDI audio.  My question is: Is there something better I should be using that empty batter space in the Stacy for?  

[+DarkLord]

Well, I think the real question might be are you ever going to do anything

else with your STacy? For example, add an accelerator. If you are, then the

battery space will most likely end up being used like I did, moving the

internal P/S board to there.

 

If not...then that seems like the perfect solution for your particular space

problem.

 

BTW, that's a pretty audacious project you've got going there. I can't ever

remember anyone doing an upgrade like that to the STacy. Sure beats

lugging a Roland MT -32 around. 

 

I'm not familiar with the MIDI lines on the STacy's motherboard but

you can get 5v from the 2nd floppy disk drive P/S cable. It's usually not

in use.

 

Also, about that added amp and speaker. Hmm, maybe it would be better

to do the really cheap and easy mod to bring audio out to a jack or RCA

connector? I did that with my Mega ST4 and the difference in sound is

unreal. Of course, that would mean that you would have to also carry a

small set of powered speakers around. I'm betting you'd still get better

sound than what you would have to pick to put inside the battery case.

 

 

On top of that, if you're going to a friends' house, who has a killer stereo

outfit with floor to ceiling speakers and sub-woofers, then you can just

jack the STacy right into that and boom, baby! 

 

[FastRobPlus]

Thanks for tracking down all that info!  I've been toying with the idea of relocating the CMI Processor Accelerator into the Stacy so I can have the blitter (I do realize that having a hardware blitter isn't really as big deal, I just kind of want one.)

 

When I attempt to replace the screen I'll get a look inside and understand the space situation better.

 

 

[+DarkLord]

It's tight. I mean it's unreal tight. Check here for help with disassembling it:

 

https://vintagecomputers.code.blog/2020/01/31/stacy-part-1/

 

https://vintagecomputers.code.blog/2020/02/01/stacy-part-2/

 

3 key things. If the hinge springs for the monitor/lid are still in good shape,

they are fairly strong. Be careful if/when removing them as they can have

a decent amount of tension on them. Also, when you get to removing the case

from around the floppy drive, go slow and take your time. That plastic is old

and gets fragile with age. Getting it to just the right angle to get it over the

floppy drive is tricky. Oh...the "snaps" that hold the monitor/lid together are

persnickety. HTH's.

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Sorry I didn't see any of this earlier. Another pretty easy to get and good PSU replacement for many roland modules and equipment is something you likely had on hand already. An SMS or Genesis PSU has the right specs needed to power these modules. I actually use an old model 1 Genesis PSU for my Edirol SD-20 module that I got from Japan. But I was using it on my MT-32 for a year before I finally sprung for a Roland PSU for it.

 

[Tillek]

Just a quick thank you for the demonstration of this you had on the Atari BBS Zoom chat we had last night.

 

Was great seeing it in action and hearing the sound... even if it was from your flip phone.

 

[+DarkLord]

15 hours ago, Tillek said:

Just a quick thank you for the demonstration of this you had on the Atari BBS Zoom chat we had last night.

 

Was great seeing it in action and hearing the sound... even if it was from your flip phone.

 

 

You're welcome. Funniest part to me was when I hadn't yet actually turned the Roland MT-32 on yet. 

 

(and we both know you're just jealous of my flip phone...)

 

PS In case anyone is wondering - I did a very quick walk-through of my MT-32/MIDI setup on my

    Mega STe, plus showing the "before and after" difference in games like Space Quest III and

    Ultima III, in a Zoom session.

 

[Paul Westphal]

I have this on the way...

[+DarkLord]

Is that the Roland MT-32 emulator board?

 

Thanks.

 

[FastRobPlus]

Yes. That's a thing that sits on a raspberry Pi and gives you an MT-32 clone. It's actually one of a few options out there. Here's the github for it:

https://github.com/chris-jh/mt32-pi-midi-hat

Update for Paul - I worked the kinks out of the high fidelity DAC and now it outputs to that just fine. And I've built 3 more of the these and am only waiting on the DAC modules for them (Thursday) to finish!  

 

[+DarkLord]

I'm not very good at judging from pictures - about how big is that thing?

 

It doesn't look very big - I can see why it would fit into the STacy's battery

compartment...

 

Thanks.

 

[The V-Man]

I recently bought the MT-32 again.  Used to have one back in the day, even scored some music with it on Master Trax Pro.  Never tried it with Ultima games, will need to try that out.

[FastRobPlus]

2 hours ago, DarkLord said:

I'm not very good at judging from pictures - about how big is that thing?

 

It doesn't look very big - I can see why it would fit into the STacy's battery

compartment...

 

Thanks.

 

It's exactly the size of a raspberry pi 3a board. I don't recall the dimensions offhand, but the Pi "A" form factor is the one that fits exactly inside an Altoids mints tin.

[+DarkLord]

11 hours ago, The V-Man said:

I recently bought the MT-32 again.  Used to have one back in the day, even scored some music with it on Master Trax Pro.  Never tried it with Ultima games, will need to try that out.

 

You'll be very pleasantly surprised! It's that wonderful Ultima sound, squared.