What MIDI Synthesizer and Soundfont do you guys prefer ?

[Victor]

I am using Bass Midi as a MIDI synthesizer right now, it's easy to use.
I had tried Timidity ++ , but it doesn't seem to work on my computer. I had tried FluidSynth, but the volume of it is too low.

As for the soundfonts, I had tried out WeedsGM3, Chorium, Arachno, SGM v2.01, GeneralUser GS, Sound Canvas.
I like the last soundfont the most, the other soundfonts are all right but they make Doom's music sound a lot more different than what I used to hear before I found out about this whole MIDI synthesizer and sounfont stuff, maybe that's why I don't like them too much.
Anyway what is your favorite MIDI synthesizer and soundfont ?
Maybe I'll find out some new things from you guys' answers.

[leileilol]

OPL2

Anything "better" just runs the risk of uncanny valley.

[XCVG]

WeedsGM3. Based on a recommendation from others. I've also heard SGM and Silverspring, but I found the first lacking in punch and the second lacking in the guitar/strings department.

Most of my pre-ZDoom Doom playing was with Legacy, which uses the Windows MIDI synth if I remember correctly, so that's actually what I remember Doom sounding like. I tried OPL emulation, but once I figured out Timidity++ I couldn't go back.

[esselfortium]

Windows MIDI on top. I would hazard a guess that a majority of MIDIs are written with the usual SoundCanvas instruments in mind, like Doom's MIDIs were, and in my experience, swapping them out for anything else has a great tendency to wreck the songs. It's not uncommon for replacement SoundFonts to bury half the instruments in the mix, and turn some of the others into ear-shredders. Most "high-quality" SoundFonts just make the music sound clumsy, hollow, and overly filtered, like it was remixed by a 13-year-old who just installed a pirated copy of FruityLoops a few hours ago.

[Victor]

Windows MIDI on top.

What do you mean by Window Midi ? Is it the Window GS Wavetable Synth that come with Zdoom?

[esselfortium]

Yeah. It's using a stripped-down version of the Roland SoundCanvas instrument set that Doom's music was originally composed on, and so it's going to give you a reasonably close representation of what it sounded like to Bobby Prince when he was composing it. A real SoundCanvas would have a bit more reverb and some other subtle effects processing here and there, but the instrument timbres wouldn't change.

[NightFright]

I use the "Yamaha UX-16" option in ZDoom. It is available because I have installed this cable which connects to an original Roland SC-55 synth. There is no better way to listen to MIDI music. Throw away all the pre-rendered soundtracks you can download (even though some are really good I have to say), save disk space and enjoy the music the way it was meant to be played.

It is a luxury solution though and only makes sense if you are really into playing classic games a lot, of course.

[Hellser]

I use SGM with Bass Midi (drivers). It works nice for me and gives me a great effect. I find Weeds' guitar to sound like nails going down a chulkboard and FluidR3GM drums sound distant and quiet.

[Victor]

You guys have interesting ways to listen to MIDI especially the one NightFright mention.

[Bashe]

I use eawpats, running through the Timidity++ driver. I've become so used to this sound that most other things aside from OPL sound kind of weird. I was using the standard Microsoft synth until I switched to Windows 7 (though not in SDL ports, even before that), where the midi was mostly gutted and it didn't sound as good. Unfortunately, since Foobar doesn't have support for the Timidity++ driver (from what I can gather), I use Weeds on it, which is fine for the time being until I can find a solution.

[Victor]

Also what do you guys prefer, MIDI with a good soundfont or bland ogg files ?

[XCVG]

Usually I prefer pre-recorded tracks, because there's just a lot more you can do than with MIDI. Additionally, from a creator's standpoint it's better in that what you created will sound basically the same on any configuration. With that being said, MIDIs have their place, as they are small and easy to edit. If a game had a MIDI soundtrack I find it best to use a soundfont-based MIDI player and make the best of it.

[NightFright]

I guess EAWPats is really one of the best, if not the only, convincing alternative you have if you want decent MIDI music. The only thing I dislike about Timidity is that songs don't loop properly. If that got fixed, it'd be perfect.

[Bashe]

Also what do you guys prefer, MIDI with a good soundfont or bland ogg files ?

Well when you make one of the options sound inherently bad, what do you expect people are going to say?

Regardless, I will generally take a pre-rendered route as long as it sounds good enough, and if that's the way the music artist intended for it to be. There's nothing wrong with MIDI at the end of the day but it can be quite limited, depending on what I'm listening to.