System 7.5 sound in options for Roland MT32

[Dimitris1980]

Cheesestraws,  what type of cables do I need for the connection of the mixer with the computer and the cd rom drive? Also,  back of the Apple external scsi cd rim drive there are two ports  (L and R). What are these for? 

 

[commodorejohn]

The ports on the CD-ROM drive are direct outs for CD audio. For that, you'll need RCA-to-1/4" TRS adapters/cables to connect to the mixer; for the Mac, you'll need a 3.5mm stereo-to-mono splitter and 3.5mm-to-1/4" TRS adapters/cables. The MT-32 has 1/4" TRS outputs, so you'll just need matching cables for that. You can get all of these at pretty much any music store or a home-electronics retailer with a decent audio section.

 

[Dimitris1980]

Thank you commodorejohn for the info. 

Cheesestraws, is there a big difference between a mono mixer and a stereo mixer?

 

[cheesestraws]

Roughly speaking: A stereo mixer has separate left and right inputs and outputs, so you can use it to drive two speakers with different signals.  A mono mixer only has single inputs and outputs.  So you could use it to drive two speakers if you didn't care that they would be producing exactly the same sound. 

For the way you want to use things, a mono mixer is half of a stereo mixer.  You could use two mono mixers, one for left and one for right, and get a full stereo signal.

Does that make sense?

 

[Dimitris1980]

Thank you Cheesestraws for the helpful answers.

I am trying to find some free time for my investigation but it is difficult with two small kids.

 

[cheesestraws]

Glad I could be helpful   Life does get in the way, rather, doesn't it...

 

[nglevin]

This isn't a better solution, but this is a cheaper alternative I was thinking about.

You could use a wire splitter for all those stereo 3.5mm inputs through a single 3.5mm output, which will allow you to share a set of speakers but—and this is the major catch—every additional audio input will significantly reduce the overall volume.

Mixers have gotten substantially smaller and cheaper since I last had to deal with this problem. On the other hand, once you have a wire splitter, it comes handy in a pinch.

 

[Dimitris1980]

Thank you all for your answers. Today i got one pair of speakers (very cheap, very bad quality, i had bought them years before in order to adjust the volume on my powerbook 540c) that i had in my basement and i connected them to Roland. The logitech speakers are still connected on my Macintosh. This is temporary. My purpose is to get an audio mixer in order to use all with one set of speakers (Macintosh, Roland, Apple External CD) when i find time. I am glad that all run well. Roland has incredible sound and i would like to have a good audio system. The only bad thing is that only few games of Sierra On Line support Roland. I would like to connect it on my dos/windows 95 pc but i have only the Roland mpu ipc-t breakout box without the card. 

 

[Dimitris1980]

I would like to thank you all again for the helpful info. I haven't still completed my sound system but I am happy that the Roland runs perfectly. The day before yesterday I was playing Freddy Pharkas. I need the Roland for my LC475 because on my PowerPC systems  (Performa 6116 and Power Macintosh G3 Minitower) the most of these Sierra games don't run correctly  (system error all the time). Nglevin you were right for the "back of the day" connection. I realized it also from Freddy Pharkas,  Larry 6 cd and Gabriel Knight. These games start with the music being at very low position and you can listen only the effects and speeches on my powerpc computers. So I have to go to the game's sound options to adjust it. Especially with Gabriel Knight the balance between music and effects needs often readjustment. 

 

[Dimitris1980]

Here is the setup. Nedis audio mixer with three input sources connected with the suitable cables with the Macintosh LC475, Roland MT32 and the Apple external 4x cd rom drive. All work perfectly, i adjust the sound balance via the mixer which also does the job of an amplifier i guess because the sound is so louder. Great quality

 

[cheesestraws]

That looks like a really nice setup!  Glad you got what you wanted working

 

[commodorejohn]

Nifty - though I think by that period in Sierra's history, they'd stopped rolling up custom patches for MT32 and just used a generic conversion-to-GM patch set.

 

[Dimitris1980]

Thank you cheesestraws. You were all really helpful. I bought the Roland MT32 in 2010 with my Performa 6116 and it was so difficult for me to make it work because i am not familiar with sound stuff but i made it. I have the LC475 since 2017  and it is better to use Roland with it because most of these old Sierra On Line games do not rut well on ppc (very often system error comes on the screen on all of my ppc computers: Imac G3, Powermac G4 MDD, Performa 6116, Powermac G3 Minitower). The LC475 has Motorola cpu and they run without problems. I did the same connection and i couldn't understand what was going on. Like nglevin said: it has to be done like "back in the day". I can say that on LC475 sounds better than the Performa 6116 (or Powermac G3 Minitower). Some games (like Freddy Pharkas) on my ppc computers, when they start, the music is at the lowest volume and you can hear only the sound effects so you have to go to the game's sound panel and adjust it. Or Gabriel Knight for instance, there is no good balance between music and effects, even when i adjust it from the game, it does not work correctly. Now on the LC, with the audio mixer everything run perfectly.

 

[Dimitris1980]

I remember for the connection to the Performa 6116, Bunsen was really helped me.