Roland SC-55 Soundfonts Compared + 500 soundfont pack w/ download!

[Teo Slayer]

So can I make E1M1 sound like this in-game?

Idk which soundfont is this, but I like it more than the in-game version

[Doomkid]

That’s an SC-55 variety with the reverb turned pretty high. Some of the soundfonts are pretty darn close to that.

[abunchoftrash]

ever tried Airfont 340? It sounds pretty different to 380 and its more like what i can imagine Pantera would do if they had to make the soundtrack

[Steve D]

7 hours ago, Doomkid said:

I still have too much fun applying different soundfonts to different MIDIs to ditch them though - It’s one of the few areas of life where an overabundance of choice wasn’t a detrimental thing!!

 

I fully understand, and I envy your ability to exercise control in this area. Indeed, I feel myself being pulled back, thinking, "Maybe this time I can be in charge of myself, maybe I won't become a helpless addict."

 

Fear holds me back. ;)

[Teo Slayer]

I was so sastifyed after using the SC-55 Patch93. It sounds close with the soundfont from Jim DarkMagic videos. Thanks Doomkid :)

[Doomkid]

No prob, glad it helped!

[Tycitron]

Hi i am just curious what SC-55 soundfonts are out there, i personally use the "Roland SC-55 v3.7" as i find it the most consistently listenable, but i am wondering if there are any better ones out there? (Also sorry if this is the wrong place to put this.)

[Doomkid]

Man, what a perfect coincidence. I've spent the last 2 years (on and off, of course) collecting GM-compatible soundfonts, and my collection just reached 500 yesterday! So many MIDI sounds..

 

Anyway, here's a big zip with 20 different SC-55 soundfonts / Roland soundfonts:

 

https://www.mediafire.com/file/ftcc5byvtrgl0cg/SC-55_and_Roland_GM_Soundfonts.zip/file

 

The volume levels vary wildly, but to get them all at consistent volumes, I use the following levels:

 

GM_Roland (also called RLNDGM) - 100% volume

GM DLS Remastered - 65% volume

GM2 Map Soundfont - 110% volume

SCC1 Florestan - 80% volume

 

SC-55 Deemster (the one that comes with GZDoom) - 80% volume

SC-55 DJ Tony 1.1 - 110% volume

SC-55 EmperorGrieferus - 60% volume (applies for all versions of Emp's SC-55)

SC-55 JMSexton - 75% volume

SC-55 Masquerade55v006 - 100% volume

SC-55 Patch93 - 75% volume

SC-55 Roland SOUNDCanvas Up - 55% volume

SC-55 v1.2b [Trevor0402] - 215% volume

SC-55 StrikingUAC - 50% volume (always has obnoxiously loud tom drums though)

 

As for my favorites, "GM_Roland" can never go wrong as the de-facto "default MIDI sound" that comes with Windows, and is quite similar to the SC-55.

 

"Roland SOUNDCanvas Up", "Masquerade55v006", "GM2 Map Soundfont" and Trevor0402's SC-55 are the best beyond that, in my humble opinion.

[Tycitron]

37 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Man, what a perfect coincidence. I've spent the last 2 years (on and off, of course) collecting GM-compatible soundfonts, and my collection just reached 500 yesterday! So many MIDI sounds..

 

Anyway, here's a big zip with 20 different SC-55 soundfonts / Roland soundfonts:

Oh dang! thank you! can't wait to try some of these out!

[Doomkid]

I made a WAY TOO BIG video comparison of 500 soundfonts using the E3M1 midi:

 

 

 

 

Download zip (37 GB) - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500_Soundfonts_Full_GM_Sets.zip

 

Torrent (faster than zip) - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets_archive.torrent

 

Full Soundfont list - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500_Soundfonts_Full_GM_Sets.zip/

 

[knifeworld]

On 6/28/2022 at 6:27 AM, Doomkid said:

I made a WAY TOO BIG video comparison of 500 soundfonts using the E3M1 midi:

 

 

 

 

Download zip (37 GB) - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500_Soundfonts_Full_GM_Sets.zip

 

Torrent (faster than zip) - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets_archive.torrent

 

Full Soundfont list - https://archive.org/download/500-soundfonts-full-gm-sets/500_Soundfonts_Full_GM_Sets.zip/

 

Skimmed thru this video yesterday and just had to grab the torrent.. Unpacking slowly as I type:
Saw some of my revolving go-tos in there like "SC-55.sf2" (I forget where I found it, but afaik it's the Emperor Grieferus SC-55 with shortened file name, probably wrong about that idk lol), and Florestan_GMGS, RLNDGM, SGM v2 NiceGuits+Bass or w/e the hecking name is, + some others.

I wonder how long i'll be up tomorrow trying some of these soundfonts with my fav midis, probably way too long.

[muizz]

On 6/20/2022 at 6:42 AM, Doomkid said:

SC-55 EmperorGrieferus - 60% volume (applies for all versions of Emp's SC-55)

 

I only just realised that this IS the "Roland SC-55 v3.7.sf2" file but with 10 more MB. Do you remember where you downloaded this?

 

EmperorGrieferus's soundfont really makes the instruments feel alive and sounds very high-res.

[Doomkid]

6 hours ago, muizz said:

 

I only just realised that this IS the "Roland SC-55 v3.7.sf2" file but with 10 more MB. Do you remember where you downloaded this?

 

EmperorGrieferus's soundfont really makes the instruments feel alive and sounds very high-res.

 

There's actually 3 different EmpGrief soundfonts in there named based on size, which one exactly? I'm pretty sure @Grieferus had all different versions up for download on his YT at some point, that's likely where I got them (Sorry for the tag Grieferus, but just wanted to see if you could confirm this info)

[Grieferus]

I don't really remember. What I can say for sure, is that I recommend to use only latest version.

 

Or turn on waiter mode and wait for EmuSC release, just like me.

[muizz]

@Doomkid Oh, the one named "SC-55 EmperorGrieferus 113mb.sf2"

[muizz]

6 hours ago, Grieferus said:

I recommend to use only latest version.

 

By the way, what is the latest version? If you can't link anything I can understand but I'd like to know what filenames I'm supposed to be looking for.

[Grieferus]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G53wKnIBMONgOVx0gCOWrBlJaXsyaKml/view?usp=sharing

[Tycitron]

53 minutes ago, Grieferus said:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G53wKnIBMONgOVx0gCOWrBlJaXsyaKml/view?usp=sharing

Oh yeah! i used your soundfont the most, I found the 3.7 version sounds better on alot of wad music more than the most recent one IMO. although now i am currently using the zzdenis sc-55 soundfont.

[Azafran]

I'm currently messing with soundfonts too. Just to be sure, what is the "better" or most accurate SC-55 soundfont currently available? There are a ton of versions and form someone who never listened to the real thing... it can be difficult!

[Chang O'Brian]

On 2/1/2023 at 1:33 PM, Azafran said:

I'm currently messing with soundfonts too. Just to be sure, what is the "better" or most accurate SC-55 soundfont currently available? There are a ton of versions and form someone who never listened to the real thing... it can be difficult!

If accuracy is important Sound Canvas VA is the best you can get, save for getting a hardware SC-55 for hundreds of $$$.

[Azafran]

18 hours ago, Chang O'Brian said:

If accuracy is important Sound Canvas VA is the best you can get, save for getting a hardware SC-55 for hundreds of $$$.

But Sound Canvas VA is an VST plugin to use with a DAW. The thing is to be able to have it as a soundfont to use in game not only with Doom but with other DOS games. Unless there is a way to use the VST as system MIDI?

[Lippeth]

14 minutes ago, Azafran said:

But Sound Canvas VA is an VST plugin to use with a DAW. The thing is to be able to have it as a soundfont to use in game not only with Doom but with other DOS games. Unless there is a way to use the VST as system MIDI? 

By using loopMIDI, a vst host like VSTHost, and MIDIMapper or VirtualMIDISynth you can get the SC-VA to playback midi with virtually any source port and even DOSBox. It can be a minor chore to fully set up and get running but once it's there it's as simple as opening the vst host and selecting the right MIDI output device. 

[Chang O'Brian]

20 hours ago, Lippeth said:

By using loopMIDI, a vst host like VSTHost, and MIDIMapper or VirtualMIDISynth you can get the SC-VA to playback midi with virtually any source port and even DOSBox. It can be a minor chore to fully set up and get running but once it's there it's as simple as opening the vst host and selecting the right MIDI output device. 

I use Falcosoft Midi Player + LoopMIDI personally, works perfectly with all source ports.

[Azafran]

22 hours ago, Lippeth said:

By using loopMIDI, a vst host like VSTHost, and MIDIMapper or VirtualMIDISynth you can get the SC-VA to playback midi with virtually any source port and even DOSBox. It can be a minor chore to fully set up and get running but once it's there it's as simple as opening the vst host and selecting the right MIDI output device. 

 

2 hours ago, Chang O'Brian said:

I use Falcosoft Midi Player + LoopMIDI personally, works perfectly with all source ports.

 

Thank you, I used Chang's combination and it works great. The sound quality of the VST is much better than the soundfonts! If this is how it originally Doom sounded like in a real SC-55, it was much better than what I always experienced.

[TheUltimateDoomer666]

11 hours ago, Azafran said:

Thank you, I used Chang's combination and it works great. The sound quality of the VST is much better than the soundfonts! If this is how it originally Doom sounded like in a real SC-55, it was much better than what I always experienced.

It's close, but a few effects on some of the instruments are still missing (most noticeable in the intro music which sounds much better on the real hardware). A few instruments (such as Strings) are also completely different.

[Lippeth]

Here's a short comparison between the vst in SC-55 mode and hardware using the intermission tunes for those who are curious.

Spoiler

 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by Lippeth

[Dweller Dark]

Are there any soundfonts that go good with Doom AND System Shock via VirtualMidiSynth?

[CacoKnight]

@Doomkid, favor/request here, do you have the files (flac, mp3..) used to make this video for the comparison here (possibly with the volume adjusted as well)? I'd like to check some stuff with an audio software. Thank you.

 

 

[Amaruψ]

DoomKid casually being awesome like a boss.