Setting up your MIDI players for the best sound possible.

SETTING UP YOUR SOUND CARD

AND RELATED MIDI APPLICATIONS
FOR OPTIMUM SOUND QUALITY.
(Windows 95/98/ME/2000)

Each Internet or off-line MIDI Player requires a "Driver" and in some cases there are several available choices, one of which will provide you with the best sound quality.

One of the most frequently asked questions is; "When I play a MIDI file from a web site it sounds so much better than when I play it from the hard drive. Why Is that?" And of course the opposite scenario is also questioned.

We will show you how and where to select the best MIDI "device driver" without delving into any technical details, and also confine the subject to MIDI Playback.

If your feel that your system sounds great the way it is, then read no further. However if you notice a difference on line and off this will help you to find the solutions.

As a MIDI author, I am concerned that everyone should hear not only my work, but any other MIDI producer's work under the best possible circumstances.

In many cases inferior sound cards have already been pre installed in a system that is purchased as "web ready" or has several software packages installed.

Quite often when a poor sound card is installed, an optional Software Synthesizer such as the Yamaha S-YXG50 is also pre installed to allow the user a choice that will improve the MIDI playback quality. Unfortunately, the Installer phase of many Internet MIDI players and other MIDI software can not detect this, and will install their software using the default driver that is related to your sound card.

There may be several choices available on your system that affect MIDI playback, but YOU must select the best sounding one for every MIDI device or application.

1. If you know you have a MIDI Plugin installed, skip to Step 2.
If you are not sure then Click Here.

The above warning message will appear if you do not have a dedicated MIDI plugin. (Netscape warning illustrated, Internet Explorer is similar). Many applications can now play MIDI and in this illustration WIN AMP is being suggested as an application to open the MIDI file. In your case the player suggested may be the Windows Media Player or some other application that YOU have on your system.

Revised April 19, 2004 as Crescendo is no longer available.
Should this occur when you clicked on the Link provided above, we suggest that you visit Microsoft and download the free Windows Media Player 9. Then visit our Help section regarding Windows Media Player for MIDI. After this has been installed, return here and continue with Step 2.

2. The following screen shot was taken in our MIDI File Archives section. Crescendo 3.0 PLUS is installed and the Setup Options are illustrated. Description of setup follows the illustration.

Click Here to load a MIDI file in Crescendo. Click the Stop button on the MIDI console. Click 'Options' and when the drop down menu opens, compare the preferences that are checked in the above illustration to your settings. The settings in our illustration are the defaults following a new installation of Crescendo. We recommend that they be left like this for this and other MIDI sites.

Next, roll the mouse pointer down to 'MIDI Device' and the menu shown to the right will open. A list of all the MIDI Devices available on my system is shown. The Crescendo Installer determined this was the Wave Table device being used by my sound card, therefore it is selected by default.

However, should I wish to use the Yamaha SXG Driver because the sound was better than the sound card Wave Table, then I would have to make the change by clicking on this item.

Your Devices will be different unless you have the Creative Labs AWE64 sound card. If you have 3 or 4 items listed, select one that is different from the one that is already checked. Click anywhere outside of the menus to close them.

Now click the Play button and listen carefully. Repeat the procedure of 'Stop', select different MIDI device, 'Play' until you have heard all choices available. Some may produce no sound at all as MIDI is being routed to connect to a non-existent external MIDI module or synthesizer (unless of course you do have external devices).

TIP! When you are browsing, click the 'Volume' menu item from time to time and ensure that this is set at 100%. The Crescendo volume control is a relative control, that is, it increases or decreases whatever "master" setting you have made with the Windows or sound card volume control. Some sites that play background music to accompany text you are reading may reduce the setting of your Crescendo volume control.

Finally, when you have found the best sounding device, write down the name you have selected as it will be needed later for setting up MIDI players that you may use when you are off line.

Setup for other Internet MIDI players.

If you Internet MIDI player looks like this, you have the default "LiveAudio"
plugin that ships with Netscape. It has no setup options and will use the MIDI device that is selected in the Windows Multimedia properties sheet described in the next section dealing with off-line driver selection.

Yamaha Setup menu.

Yamaha MIDPlug for XG

Click the stop button then right click anywhere on the black section of the player. A portion of the drop down menu is illustrated.
The devices listed are identical to those shown in Crescendo. Follow the same procedure as for Crescendo.

VanBasco Internet MIDI Player.
If you have recently installed the VanBasco MIDI Player it is possible the MIDI Internet version may also be activated.

Although I regard their off-line MIDI Player as one of the finest available, my choice for an Internet MIDI player has always been Crescendo. During installation of the VanBasco player, they DO have the courtesy to allow you to decline making their Internet player the default. Thanks guys!

Both the Internet version and the standard MIDI player is set up by clicking on the Setup button shown top right in the above illustration. Then Click on the MIDI tab. A drop down list will appear with the same choices as illustrated for Crescendo.

Setting up your off-line MIDI Players and MIDI software.

The intent of this document is to help the MIDI enthusiast obtain the best possible sound for their system. Due to the large number of MIDI players, MIDI utilities and MIDI Sequencers, it is impossible to give specific instructions for each. Rather, use this as a guide to experiment with the many settings that can affect sound quality on your system. Also be aware that one MIDI player may be affected by settings you make in one area, while another player may use entirely different settings.

Following are some of the areas where you can experiment at your leisure when you are off line. Make sure you have a MIDI file that you enjoy saved in a folder that is easy to access.

Many applications use the settings that are available from the Windows Multimedia properties sheet. Double click 'My Computer' which should be on your desktop. Locate and double click 'Control Panel'. Locate and double click 'Multimedia'. Click the MIDI tab. The illustration below is where you should be.

You will recall that we asked you to make a note of the best sounding driver when you were setting up your Internet MIDI player. The most confusing part now is that the descriptive names shown in the list box above are different than the descriptions we were previously presented with. When setting up my on-line player the chosen device was "AWE64 MIDI Synth [620]" whereas now I must choose "MIDI for Creative Advanced Wave Effects Synthesizer". "AWE" is an acronym for "Advanced Wave Effects" so there is some relationship that should be apparent.

If you are not sure, by all means experiment.

For your experiments you will need to have access to the Windows or sound card volume control. Look in your task bar at the lower left corner of your screen and see if there is a speaker or similar icon that looks like a volume control:

If this is not present use Windows Explorer to locate the Windows folder and double click. Locate the file "Sndvol32.exe" and create a shortcut to this on your desktop.

There are probably already several MIDI players installed in your system. Locate your favorite MIDI file and double-click.
Whichever player has a Windows association with the .mid extension will open and begin to play the file. As you did when setting up your Internet MIDI player, Click the 'stop' button, try a different selection in the Multimedia properties window and listen to the results.

Double click the volume control to gain access to the following:

Balance between the right and left speakers can be adjusted from the above screen, also the MIDI Volume. Double click the Advanced button on the far left and you will have access to further adjustments:

Bass and Treble adjustments can be made from the above screen. 3D Stereo Enhancement is not present on all systems, but if it is, experiment!

To further complicate matters, not all MIDI players or devices will respond to the above settings. If you can hear no difference when you alter the Bass settings, this indicates that another set of controls is looking after your MIDI Player. Locate your sound card folder and look for other controls that may indicate they are for your card. In my case this would be the Creative Labs AWE Control.

Adjustments to Bass and Treble in the above panel will affect only those players which are using the AWE64 Driver.

As you experiment you can rest assured that your system can not be harmed and things can always be put back the way they were. Make notes if you have to so you can always return to the previous setting.

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