MPU-401

From: Jeffrey H. Ingber <jingber_at_ix.netcom.com>
Date: Tue Jan 7 20:53:00 2003

And one more item:

An MPU-IPC/IMC does not produce music. It's an MPU-401 compatible MIDI
interface. A Roland MT-32 (or similar device) was typically connected
to this interface (ie. a seperate piece of eqipment) to produce music in
DOS games.

The LAPC-1 is a complete MIDI sound card. No other equipment (besides
amplified speakers) are required.



Jeff


On Tue, 2003-01-07 at 21:51, Jeffrey H. Ingber wrote:
> Just to clarify some items (ie. MT-32):
>
> The three original PC interfaces from Roland are as follows:
>
> MPU-IPC: 8-bit ISA card that connects to a beige, external breakout box
> via. 25-pin D-sub connector. Has MIDI IN, OUT, and through as well as a
> metronome conenctor.
>
> MPU-IMC: Microchannel version of the above card.
>
> LAPC-1: Full-length 8-bit ISA card containing both the MPU-IPC and
> Roland MT-32. Has 15-pin D-sub connector for attachment of a similar
> MIDI breakout box to those found on the MPU-IPC/IMC.
>
> What can become confusing when trying to identify the breakout boxes is
> that the LAPC-1 also offered a breakout box which looks similar to those
> found on the first two interface cards. It connects using a DB-15
> connector instead of the DB-25 connector of the MPU-IPC/IMC. They
> breakout boxes on the LAPC-1 and MPU-IPC/IMC are *not* interchangeable.
>
> An MPU-IPC/IMC and MT-32 setup is functionally equivilent to the LAPC-1
> with a breakout box, although the breakout box is optional on the LAPC-1
> (it is not needed to produce music since the MT-32 is integrated into
> the card itself).
>
>
> Jeff
>
>
> On Tue, 2003-01-07 at 20:40, No Junk Mail wrote:
> > > >IIRC the MT-32 is a full length card. I'm fairly sure that back in
> > > the
> > > >day I picked one up. Can't remember how. The music from it was
> > > superb,
> > > >at least for the time -- probably still. I
> > >
> > > The MT-32 is a external box by Roland, really a fancy drum syth.
> > > Since the
> > > smarts were basically a chip, that chip found its way to sound cards.
> > > Most
> > > modern motherboards and sound cards still offer MPU-401 and MT-32
> > > emulation, even oddly enough if midi itself isn't supported.
> >
> > My mistake. A quick Google shows that I had a LAPC-1 -- an MT32 on a card.
>
Received on Tue Jan 07 2003 - 20:53:00 GMT