4 ms·

A floppy disk MIDI boombox: The Yamaha MDP-10

132 points by zdw 2y ago

sublinear 2y ago
> In this, the year 2025, minijack MIDI is now fairly common, but in the 90’s it was all DIN, all the time
- infotainment 2y ago
  I'm guessing this was meant to be a joke about how everyone is still using the DIN connector for midi? Kind of confusing.
  - bzzzt 2y ago
    Lots of smaller or portable synthesizers use a 3,5mm TRS connector for MIDI. It's badly standardised though: there are different wirings depending on the manufacturer.
  - mkesper 2y ago
    DIN MIDI connectors have the advantage to use mandatory optocuplers so no ground loops etc.
petesoper 2y ago
If you're in 2025 we have a few questions for you.
- ngcc_hk 2y ago
  Time loop is hard … do you have to wait until 2025 for your question to appear in his timeline … nothing run faster than speed of light, even time? Or as he is in 2025, he saw everything keep on changing due to the ripple of his disruption of timeline. Or as back2future postulate it is a different future and hence back to the speed of light issue. Hard.
NikkiA 2y ago
In 1996 Yamaha was all about TwinVQ (which was far better than mp3 at low bitrates) anyway, so it'd have been that rather than mp3, had they gone that route.
squarefoot 2y ago
When General MIDI standard sounds became widespread in early-mid 90s I already wet my feet with synthesizers, samplers and the Amiga .MOD scene, so I was eager to try this new format and its standard library of sounds, but was surprised how absolutely awful they sounded compared to pretty much everything I used, cheap keyboards included. No way I would swap any of my cheap synthesizers with a MT32 or any similar expander. I may have a very unpopular opinion, but hated those sounds since day one, and still hate them. The demos linked sound just terrible to my ears; you can't make a general purpose sound and expect it to fit any song in any genre as much as you can't have a single type of cheese and expect it to be good in all meals. I completely understand the reason why they existed, but no, I don't feel any nostalgia.
- ElectricBoogie 2y ago
  It's a common misconception that GM has to sound bad. Consumer GM units used the smallest sound ROMs they could get away with, lower quality DACs, etc. But you could fire up GM on your Kurzweil K2000, your Quadrasynth, your Roland, or Yamaha professional level synthesizers and workstations and the same GM programs would sound amazing. For less than a higher end Sound Canvas, you can get a real professional synth with a much bigger and better sound ROM, better DACs, better effects, etc.
  - brudgers 2y ago
    Right. General Midi specified a set of instruments and standard program values to select them. For example 0 (or one depending on where you start counting) is will be a piano. Just as pianos vary in timbre, so can the instruments among various GM devices.
  - jasomill 2y ago
    Not just "could"; e.g., Yamaha's latest workstations, with gigabytes of samples, still support General MIDI[1]. [1] https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/2172427/MONTAGE-M_DL_En_D0_web.pdf#page=208 https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/2172427...
  - bzzzt 2y ago
nedrylandJP 2y ago
Even more useful once your MIDI files are organized.[0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVYtkh-LO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVYtkh-LO4
- k12sosse 2y ago
  SON, YOU KNOW THOSE MIDI FILES AREN'T SORTED! Was glad to see this already here. Never before - or since - has the Tulley Toggle found a more appropriate use.

132 points by zdw 2y ago

sublinear 2y ago

> In this, the year 2025, minijack MIDI is now fairly common, but in the 90’s it was all DIN, all the time

infotainment 2y ago
I'm guessing this was meant to be a joke about how everyone is still using the DIN connector for midi? Kind of confusing.
- bzzzt 2y ago
  Lots of smaller or portable synthesizers use a 3,5mm TRS connector for MIDI. It's badly standardised though: there are different wirings depending on the manufacturer.
- mkesper 2y ago
  DIN MIDI connectors have the advantage to use mandatory optocuplers so no ground loops etc.

petesoper 2y ago

If you're in 2025 we have a few questions for you.

ngcc_hk 2y ago
Time loop is hard … do you have to wait until 2025 for your question to appear in his timeline … nothing run faster than speed of light, even time? Or as he is in 2025, he saw everything keep on changing due to the ripple of his disruption of timeline. Or as back2future postulate it is a different future and hence back to the speed of light issue. Hard.

NikkiA 2y ago

In 1996 Yamaha was all about TwinVQ (which was far better than mp3 at low bitrates) anyway, so it'd have been that rather than mp3, had they gone that route.

squarefoot 2y ago

When General MIDI standard sounds became widespread in early-mid 90s I already wet my feet with synthesizers, samplers and the Amiga .MOD scene, so I was eager to try this new format and its standard library of sounds, but was surprised how absolutely awful they sounded compared to pretty much everything I used, cheap keyboards included. No way I would swap any of my cheap synthesizers with a MT32 or any similar expander. I may have a very unpopular opinion, but hated those sounds since day one, and still hate them. The demos linked sound just terrible to my ears; you can't make a general purpose sound and expect it to fit any song in any genre as much as you can't have a single type of cheese and expect it to be good in all meals. I completely understand the reason why they existed, but no, I don't feel any nostalgia.

ElectricBoogie 2y ago
It's a common misconception that GM has to sound bad. Consumer GM units used the smallest sound ROMs they could get away with, lower quality DACs, etc. But you could fire up GM on your Kurzweil K2000, your Quadrasynth, your Roland, or Yamaha professional level synthesizers and workstations and the same GM programs would sound amazing. For less than a higher end Sound Canvas, you can get a real professional synth with a much bigger and better sound ROM, better DACs, better effects, etc.
- brudgers 2y ago
  Right. General Midi specified a set of instruments and standard program values to select them. For example 0 (or one depending on where you start counting) is will be a piano. Just as pianos vary in timbre, so can the instruments among various GM devices.
- jasomill 2y ago
  Not just "could"; e.g., Yamaha's latest workstations, with gigabytes of samples, still support General MIDI[1]. [1] https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/2172427/MONTAGE-M_DL_En_D0_web.pdf#page=208 https://usa.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/7/2172427...
- bzzzt 2y ago

nedrylandJP 2y ago

Even more useful once your MIDI files are organized.[0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVYtkh-LO4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puVYtkh-LO4

k12sosse 2y ago
SON, YOU KNOW THOSE MIDI FILES AREN'T SORTED! Was glad to see this already here. Never before - or since - has the Tulley Toggle found a more appropriate use.