GS Sound Card/MIDI Interface
A Roland Classic! In original box with manuals, cables, and software. For IBM/Compatible computers with 8-bit ISA slot. The SCC-1 is a synthesizer, sound card and Roland MPU-401 compatible MIDI Interface for IBM/Compatible computers. A great selection of high-quality musical instrument sounds and sound effects are provided for your desktop music system, all in an easy-to-install, half-size ISA-slot card configuration. When used with appropriate software, the SCC-1 adds professional music capability to your computer system.
Roland's SCC-1 is an PCM-synthesizer board by Roland Corporation. It was launched in 1992. It supports General Midi- and Roland GS-patch sets. It has 317 patches. Board includes eight drum kits and one SFX kit. These include standard MT-32/CM-32L LA-patch sets and the board can playback these samples as low-level MT-32 emulation. They are not authentic except some MT-32's specials which have been recorded into PCM samples, but the result is quite much the same as in MT-32 even the MT-32's pathetic piano sound was replaced with SCC-1's decent one. My own experiences have proved that SCC-1 has superior GM patch sound quality when compared to those on Sound Blaster AWE32 in-ROM and Gravis Ultrasound 512KB memory-loaded (while I have heared that GUS PnP:s with 2 or 8 MBs ram can utilize high-quality patches shipped on the card's driver CD). I've tried some 8-megabyte GM banks for AWE32 and they sound worse than SCC-1 onboard GM patches mainly due excessive inbalance between the patches. Weird, as SCC-1 has 317 patches and nine drum sets in ROM which size is rumored to be between 3 and 4 megabytes and those SB AWE GM replacement banks have generally 128 patches and few drum sets in 8MB. The best explanation for SCC-1's superiority is to give a glance on the card's originally high pricing. The original price also caused the quantities sold to be very low so it's nowadays in rare supply second-handed and anyone who buys such a device is not going to sell it easily because of it's top notch quality. External sound module and genuine Roland MIDI interface makes matching equivalement.
From something the board is especially known from- It's game compatibility and untrickiness. There is no any kind of stupid crashing software-emulators or specific drivers, except the MPU-401-driver in Windows (neither it's crashing); just setting IRQ and I/O-address is enough to make the board immediately ready-to-go. Just like in the good old times. Actually, the card IS from "good old times": It is an half-lenght 8-bit ISA-board, which restricts the IRQ's selectable to 2-7. As IRQ 2/9 is something which is unusually used, you should put it there. Set the I/O to 330 and start the festivalities ;). Putting I/O to 330 and IRQ to 2/9 is ESSENTIAL if you are going to play with old games using MT-32 as they are the "default" settings for MPU-401 midi interface.
The MIDI interface of SCC-1 isn't more or less but fully-functional MPU-401 which supports Intelligent Mode (unlike numerous other cars like SB16), in other words all Great Old MT-32's and alike are not going to start World War Three (TM) because of interface. Just by purchasing an RCA switch like Hama AP-02:n, MT-32 and SCC-1 will work beautifully together without any mixers and allow everything to be heard by only using the sound card's mixer. If that kind of tech is impossible, consider channel shutdown MIDs and SYXs from the bottom of this page.
SCC-1 is roughly SC-55 and MPU-401/AT on same board and which settings are defined by software. SCC-1 is not a unique synth device as SC-55 series (external box) and SCD-15 (waveblaster expansion board) offer same synth engine and instruments.
Once upon a time there was a tale telling about men who wanted true MT-32 playback ability. They bought that device or any of the models CM-32L, CM-64 or LAPC-1. Because MT-32 is really something that can't be emulated well. It's synth engine is LA which is a combination of FM-like synthesis and Wavetable. All LA synths ever advertised with PC hardware are enlisted above. Only those devices could utilise their SysEx- SCC-1 isn't one of them! The standard instrument set is included on SCC-1, but new SysEx-embedded patches couldn't be used with SCC-1 nor any other PCM synth. If you want to use it in MT-32 game you will be listening to wrong instruments and lasers sounding, for example, sitar (!). Anyway, it's much more than in any other MT-32 emulator. As SCC-1 has the true MPU-401 it works on any program at least somehow. And because sounds are generally fine seeking for better device you are forced to buy such a device and hook it with SCC-1 or MPU-401 and if you are stupid enough you can also hook such to LAPC-1 (guess why?).
Below are all sorts of handy utilities and drivers for Roland SCC-1 boards. What I'm distributing here is NOT likely to jump to your way every day. My mission is to get as much of such an software for the board to download DIRECTLY and reliably from one place. If there is anything useful on the list presented below, it is my pleasure to provide it.
Roland SCC-1 Manual (1,851 KB)
SCMode. For fast jumping between MT32- and GS-modes. For DOS only. (9KB)
SysEx-file which sets card's volume to zero. (150 bytes)
Text above from Juho Sippola's web page.
