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General Discussion / New computer and MIDI problem
Recently I was forced to consider buying a new computer, as my thirteen-year-old XP machine was starting to misbehave badly. That system utilised a Creative Soundblaster Audigy One sound card (the Audigy Two was just appearing on the marketplace at that time) and I eventually became familiar with the sounds it would produce and made extensive use of the electronic instruments in NWC.. Channel 10 often got a workout.
The new computer I've bought, running 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, has an onboard Realtek system, described as 'Realtek High Definition Audio', The sound quailty from CDs, FLAC, WAV and DSF files is excellent but the MIDI quality via NWC leaves a great deal to be desired. When I first checked the MIDI playback devices I had available in NWC I thoiught there were two: Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth and Microsoft MIDI Mapper, although I don't see the latter there now. (I have just updated NWC to version 2.75 so maybe that's not supported in this latest version). After searching through Google, I also found information about VirtualMIDISynth from Coolsoft and how one could use it with sound fonts. So that has become another MIDI playback option in NWC. I have downloaded some sound fonts but none of them impress me so far, particularly when it come to percussion sounds.
What I would obviously like would be sound fonts that replicate those that were produced by the Audigy One sound card but I guess obtaining them is a virtual (no pun intended) impossibility. I could use the Audigy card in my new computer but I personally feel that would be a backward step.
Any suggestions would be most welcome and thank you in advance.
Regards,
John Marchington