Software MIDI driver

[Snarky]

I remember seeing a link to an application that was a MIDI player and also could act as a software MIDI driver. Now I can't find it. Searched the forums in all ways I could think of.

Could anyone help me out?

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

This probably isn't what you mean, but I don't suppose you mean WinGroove...? If that's what you mean, a simple search will do it since you already have the name. If not, well, I tried...

[Snarky]

Ah, yes, that's the one. Thanks!

Ummm... could someone explain to me why MIDIs sound better with WinGroove than when playing them with the windows or soundcard driver? Would a better soundcard eliminate the discrepancy?

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

AFAIK, what WinGroove does is play your MIDIs so that each instrument sounds like an MP3 instrument, or something.

Mind you, my soundcard plays pretty damn good MIDIs, quality comparable to WinGroove, and this is a new one - the previous one sounded horrible - so I guess the answer to the last question is "yes".

[Snarky]

OK, it seems like WinGroove does software wavetable synthesis (it uses samples of real instruments to play the notes), while my soundcard does FM synthesis (it generates the sounds electronically). A card with wavetable synthesis (hardware or through soundfonts) should sound about the same as WinGroove, though the exact sound depends on the samples used for the different instruments.

[Snarky]

I did some further digging, and I think I have a good idea of how to get very good sound indeed out of MIDI music.

The biggest factor is wavetable synthesis vs. FM synthesis. Most real soundcards now do wavetable synthesis, but some integrated soundcards still use inferior FM synthesis. (It's possible to get around this using a softsynth like WinGroove, though.)

Wavetable synthesis uses samples from real instruments, as I said in my last post. General MIDI (GM) defines 128 instruments, and all soundcards should have samples from the right instruments in the right slot. However, the actual samples used could vary.

Wavetable soundcards used to store the samples in ROM on the card, but nowadays they pretty much all use soundfonts. A good general-purpose soundcard appears to be the Audigy series of SoundBlaster cards from Creative.

Soundfonts are exactly what they sound like: a collection of sounds that you can use to play MIDI. If you change the soundfont, it will sound different, just like changing the font will make text look different. Soundfonts can be any collection of sounds, but many conform to the GM specification. By using a good GM soundfont with your soundcard, you will get better sound on your MIDIs.

In addition to this, games can have their own soundfonts to play music. By specifying the soundfont, the game will sound pretty much exactly the same on all computers (that support soundfonts), and the musician can use instruments that aren't standard.

However, older games just use the default soundfont, so getting a good GM soundfont is essential. Utopia Live! 2.0 is reported to be a good soundfont for the Audigy cards. It's an $18 download.

So I would think that with an Audigy soundcard and the Utopia Live! 2.0 soundfont, MIDIs will sound as good as or better than they do in WinGroove.

This is interesting to me since I'm buying a new computer and trying to optimize it for adventure gaming.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Snarky, you amaze me. You started this topic because you knew next to nothing on the subject, and now you know everything you need! Now that's what I call research and will to learn, among other things. I salute thee.