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I've taken a shine to Yamaha's old XG midi protocol having used to have their old ISA card solution. I miss it dearly, and would like to replace it. Can anyone suggest a standalone sound-module or keyboard that has full XG functionality that doesent cost ££££��'ve espied the MU-50 on ebay and the like, but it only had the 4mb rom, which is the same essentially as the softsynth that yamaha had on the go for years - that ofcourse doesent work past Win XP :/ but I'd like to be freed from the need to use software in this case.. however oldskool that may be.. but then I'm all about oldskool
Oddly, I think you'd find that most Yamaha home keyboards sold in Toys R Us probably have the XG chipset, capable of a lot more than you'd think. I did most of Back in Time 1 on the DB50XG attachment for the SoundBlaster AWE32 You could do actual synth work on the DB50XG... Later on I had the SW60XG and the MU-80, which was most definitely just a standalone module and didn't require any version of Windows (plus it had two banks of MIDI channels and some extra sounds).
I've taken a shine to Yamaha's old XG midi protocol having used to have their old ISA card solution. I miss it dearly, and would like to replace it. Can anyone suggest a standalone sound-module or keyboard that has full XG functionality that doesent cost ££££����ed the MU-50 on ebay and the like, but it only had the 4mb rom, which is the same essentially as the softsynth that yamaha had on the go for years - that ofcourse doesent work past Win XP :/ but I'd like to be freed from the need to use software in this case.. however oldskool that may be.. but then I'm all about oldskool </quote]
If you want a really good XG compatible Yamaha module, take a look at the MU models.... They're not produced anymore, but they may not be hard to find on ebay. MU-80, MU-90, MU-128... there are more verions out there with added features.
I have had a DB50XG, a MU100R and the awesome SW1000XG which I still have.
Razmo is spot on in my opinion... There are still lots of these units about on e-bay and the like.
The MU-128 is 128 notes polyphonic across upto 64 different parts with nearly 1,400 instruments
and sells for around £ 100 - 130 these days.
It can take upto 3 additional plug-in boards and has Yamaha's proprietary 'To Host' connector.
You would need a serial/RS232 connector at the PC end to use the 'To Host' connector but it isn't
vital as you can connect these modules via straight MIDI.
thanks guys, I really took a shine to the SW1000XG PCI card thingie - but there seems to be a lot reports of problems getting it to work in Windows 7, and not at all in 7 x64 - which is what I use :/
You can indeed pop up Toys R Us now to find XG keyboards. Even the cheapies are so advanced that they sound as good as expensive boxes from just a decade back.
"Oddly, I think you'd find that most Yamaha home keyboards sold in Toys R Us probably have the XG chipset, capable of a lot more than you'd think. "
There are a few MU-50's on ebay for <£50... wonder if I'd be happy with one of those, how do they compare to the SW60XG, DB50, or the SW1000XG - anyone have any opinions? Sorely tempted to try shoehorn a SW1000xg to work somehow :/
This is apparently it but don't quote me on that../quote]]/quote]
Er, that's not XG. Is this posted in the wrong thread?
[edit: oh, right £� was two posts up. I got thrown by the £3�
[edit 2: That solution still isn't XG though: XG was a superset of GM and a competitor to GS: as such, it had lots of nice controller events, and standardised banks of instruments above the normal GM set)
I used to have a db50 strapped to an old ISA Sb16 at one time.. Have to admit to missing that little beast of burden more than once. In the right hands that thing used to sing ( have a search for David Kelly ( goes by Sonic too )), especially a midi file called Buttblower.. It's a public domain file, so Hopefully no problems posting a linky to site full of MU10 example midis in mp3 format?? ( admin ?? )
Thanks! There was an XG midi demo file I used to absolutely adore, it was called "Storms over Jupiter" - absolutely amazing song, and instrumentation - I'll make a recording of it once I've got the SW1000xg.
Cant wait to get this card, and get that functionality back! And what a card for audio processing too!
You could do actual synth work on the DB50XG... Later on I had the SW60XG and the MU-80, which was most definitely just a standalone module and didn't require any version of Windows (plus it had two banks of MIDI channels and some extra sounds).
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