Testing the Roland Sound Canvas for iOS on DOS games

[MiddlemanOne]

Hi guys,

 

Just letting you know that I've been testing Roland's Sound Canvas app for iOS recently with classic DOSBox/ScummVM games. The subject hasn't been covered much anywhere else online I'd seen, so I thought to mention it here.

 

To work with the setup, I'd bought an iRig MIDI 2 adapter and also got a Roland UM-ONE USB MIDI adapter (which I use with my Roland MT-32). The iRig MIDI 2 is an adapter that allows MIDI signals to work with an iPad or iPhone, and connecting the two allows you to use the iPhone/iPad as an output sound module, in this case the Roland Sound Canvas app. FYI the iRig can also be used with a MIDI keyboard or other music-making software.

 

So, with the UM-ONE setup via USB to the PC and also to the iRig's MIDI IN & OUT, and the PC running ScummVM (with the game's MIDI output set to the UM-ONE), I am able to play classic Sierra and Lucasarts titles which utilised the MT-32 and/or Sound Canvas. I've tested the setup with a few games so far like Laura Bow 2 and Leisure Suit Larry 6 and the results are absolutely amazing! Certainly sounds better than standard GM midi.

 

 

[Walterg74]

Hi there,

 

I realize this is an old post, but since I am planning to do the same, I happened to come across it and there is something I don’t understand, or rather not sure if possible. 

 

In the old days. You would hook up the midi out of the sound card to the midi in of the sound box (what you do here with the usb/midi cable into the irig/ipad) but then the output of the sound box gets sent back to the sound card and both music and sound effects arr output through the sound card and to the soewkers etc. 

 

Is there any way to do that with this setup? Because if seems like eff3cts owuld come out the PC and the music just on the iPad...

[MiddlemanOne]

Hi there,

Happy New Year and sorry for the 'late' reply!

About the setup, that's actually not the case. The sound and effects both come from the iPhone/iPad phone socket, since we are setting the sound output on the PC as UM-ONE. As it goes my preferred sound device is the original MT32, closely followed by the SoundCanvas app. I think the Roland module and app both just produces MIDI sounds that are just that much more crisper sounding and more realistic than General Midi. For the old Sierra and Lucasarts games, their games were specifically catered to the Roland as first audio device choice, which is why the music and effects sounded that much better, even compared to using a Soundblaster. I tried the Munt MT32 emulator with ScummVM and I did not like the sound it produced at all. Compared to the original MT32 it sounded way way different than what it was supposed to sound.