S-YXG50 on Windows 7 64-bit

[shalpp]

Seeing as though I've been a fan of many people's MIDIs on this website and have submitted a few of my own, I'd like to give back to the community.
So as you all may well know, MIDIs played through any of Yamaha XG devices, be it software or hardware sound extremely delicious. The problem is that unless you have a ~$200 module or an older computer, you're out of luck. Well I've come up with some steps on how to enjoy MIDIs the right way.

First thing's first, you're gonna need to get LoopBe1. It serves as a virtual MIDI cable. We're going to use this so we have an input device. Run the installer and let it do its thing.
Then you're going to need the S-YXG50 VSTi. I don't know the rules on arrr here, and I'm not gonna take any chances posting a direct link. Just Google "S-YXG50 VSTi" and you'll be sure to find it on the first page. Install it, apply the crack.
You'll then need MIDI-Ox. This is one of the key components to this process as it manages all the inputs and outputs, and can play the MIDI through the VSTi.
Now you'll need SAVIHost, a standalone VSTi host. This basically allows you to use VSTis without having to open up FL Studio or Cubase or the sort. Run savihost.exe, point it to the VSTi file which should be under C:\Program Files (x86)\Vstplugins\YAMAHA for the 64 bit users.

Go to SAVIHost with the S-YXG50 VSTi loaded, and click devices, then MIDI. Click the Input port 1 drop down box and select LoopBe Internal MIDI. Click OK.
Now go to MIDI-Ox, click actions, then click Play MIDI. Now a little player should come up. Either drag your MIDI file to the player or click the button 3rd from the left and select the file. Now click the button 2nd to the left, and a box should appear. Select LoopBe Internal MIDI, and click OK.
Now play the MIDI, and enjoy that glorious XG sound!

Note: I've had to reset the VSTi after a few MIDIs, may just be me, may not happen to other people.

[Blitz Lunar]

very nice haven't tried this myself but it looks good.

there's another way to get S-YXG50 playback on more recent Windows OSes; using foobar2000 with foo_midi plugin, again using the S-YXG50 VSTi (installing it as normal), and then setting foo_midi to use the VST instead of its default emu_de_midi. the VST needs to go into \steinberg\vstplugins for foobar2000 to find it (create the directory if you don't have it), but that's pretty much all there is to it. granted, you're limited to foobar2000 with this method, and you wouldn't be able to use the VSTi as a midi device for sequencing on midi channels (you'd need to load it into a VSTi host and sequence on audio/VSTi channels instead, but that would work just as well, theoretically) but it works as well as the driver for playback. now if only fb2k were available for mac and linux... external hardware is still the only universal solution :[

[shalpp]

And the problem with my method is it doesn't seem to like pitch bends. LoopBe always gives me an error that I'm using the input and output in the same application. Same thing goes for when I'm using FL Studio. Oh well. Here's to hoping that Yamaha will make a new, inexpensive softsynth that works perfectly on newer systems.

[RogerBlake]

I'm using Windows Vista final SP1 x64, and as an outcome of my advance to Vista from XP I had to provide up my beloved YAMAHA S-YXG50. Installing it on Vista looks impossible, even with compatibility settings tweaked. So, as a last effort at rescuing this software before giving up on it entirely, can anyone tell me if there's ANY hope of getting this to work on my current operating system?

[MaliceX]

For those that care, MIDI Yoke NT's setup installation will be able to install a virtual driver that will work for 32-bit applications running under x64. It's a much better solution to LoopBe1 (despite being native 64-bit) for all purposes intended, unless you're willing to pay for the much better payware version.

The downside is, you cannot adjust the number of virtual ports with MIDI Yoke, since the control panel applet wasn't designed to work properly under 64-bit. Otherwise the vsti chaining method is fine.

I will provide a link, until advised to take it down: http://djtbmx.stdrand.com/junkpile/yamahaxgvsts.rar (includes MidRadio Player 7's S-YXG2006LE, you can figure out the rest)

The problem with LoopBe1 is that it's been designed strictly to MIDI specs, so excessive MIDI data bandwidth (in this case a WALL OF PITCH BENDS) would trip the loopback warning, and cut off transmission, which is kind of silly since you're not generally dealing with MIDI-standard hardware limitations.

PS: I would personally use VSTHost instead of SAVIHost to get around polyphony limitations, and the possibility of omitted System Exclusive messages, in addition to being able to place a limiter at the end of the signal path.

[Bahamut X]

Hi all,

I've been doing some reading up because I'm interested in getting into midi sequencing and I would really love to do XG midis, I became a fan of Teck's works on YouTube a year ago. I have sequenced one midi way back about 12 years ago: http://vgmusic.com/music/console/ninten ... rumpet.mid

I've tried to read through the different options for sequencing XG midis and I'm not sure which one to do, so here are some questions:

1) If I want to use a Softsynth I see three options?
- Use Cakewalk or some other Sequencer to create the MIDI, then record the play back with S-YXG50 VSTi & foobar2000 combo
- If I want to use the XG instruments in my sequencing I either have to have a Yamaha XG soundcard or use virtual MIDI ports or something.
- Then there's what Teck did last year to do XG midis on Windows 7, not sure of what the details of that are.

2) I'd like to be the most legal as possible. Like I currently have Windows 7 64bit home premium, I don't mind paying for the upgrade if what Teck's doing is the easiest/best way to go.

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks!

[mudlord]

I proposed the idea to someone I know to create a MIDI system driver based on foo_midi's VST handling, using our current DirectMusic architecture for drivers to handle sample output.

Its certainly doable. Just takes time. The end result would be hopefully a MIDI synth usable on Win7 x64 that uses XG components.

[Bahamut X]

That'd be cool

[Aaron44128]

I've been trying to work this out too. I got foobar2000 working with the S-YXG50 VST plug-in, which is great for just playing back files. However, for MIDI playback within other applications, it doesn't do any good, so next I'll be taking a stab at loopbe1 + some VST host. (MIDI Yoke NT refuses to install on Windows 7 64-bit for me.)

@Bahamut X -
Some MIDI sequencers probably support output via a VST plugin so you may be able to work in XG without delving into virtual MIDI ports. I haven't done much sequencing but I did notice that Finale (used to score music) supports output via VST. I imagine other big-name apps would support it as well (otherwise, what is VST good for?).

And for some musing ---
I don't know how feasible it would be to write a 64-bit system driver for a virtual MIDI device that outputs via VST (even though I would love to see one). Drivers on 64-bit Windows 7 run in 64-bit kernel mode and can't make calls to 32-bit code. As far as I know, all VST output plug-ins (including the S-YXG50 VST plug-in) are 32-bit DLLs. loopbe1 works because it just implements a virtual "MIDI cable" between the program doing the MIDI output (32-bit or 64-bit) and some other program (32-bit) that takes the MIDI input and sends it over to the VST plugin for output. A system driver would similarly require a 32-bit helper process always running to talk to the VST plugin and implement a similar "virtual MIDI cable" for communication between said helper process and the 64-bit code --- the end result being not too different than just using loopbe1 or some other virtual MIDI port to route output to something that plays back MIDI data with a VST plug-in.

[mudlord]

I don't know how feasible it would be to write a 64-bit system driver for a virtual MIDI device that outputs via VST (even though I would love to see one). Drivers on 64-bit Windows 7 run in 64-bit kernel mode and can't make calls to 32-bit code. As far as I know, all VST output plug-ins (including the S-YXG50 VST plug-in) are 32-bit DLLs.

You clearly have not heard of usermode drivers >_>

[Aaron44128]

Alright, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I got loopbe1 + savihost working so now I can enjoy MIDI from (almost) any app.
Looks like some older apps send MIDI to device 0 (which used to be the MIDI mapper but now is the GS Wavetable Synth). Apps need to send MIDI to device -1 (the "default device") to respect your system-wide default setting. See "does it work" here: http://www.benryves.com/products/vistamidi

[Bahamut X]

Thanks for the help so far. I've been doing more reading on the forums and I found that there is a free way to get XG, but is on XP, viewtopic.php?f=16&t=12189&p=120090#p120090 A driver from the Microsoft website that you can just install and boom, it's your default midi sound. The downside of course is that it only works up through XP.

It sounds like if I want to do this on Windows 7 64bit, I need to use the XG VSTi, which is a kind of plugin of midi instruments? It seems that's the only way if I want to sequence with XG instruements in Windows 7, but I also need to use a sequencer that uses VSTis right?

As for sequencers, way back long time ago (2000 or so) I did use Cakewalk some, going to their website it looks like it's changed a lot. Any recommendations? I don't mind paying some for a good editor, but I wouldn't mind trying free ones either.

I'm still considering going the XP route. Either upgrade my Win7 to Pro, or create a Dual-Boot because I have a copy of XP which currently isn't being used.

[mudlord]

Feel free to take a dump in a form of a brick, thank you.

[MaliceX]

Feel free to take a dump in a form of a brick, thank you.

Now you really got me wanting to shittin bricks.

[Aaron44128]

Awesome progress, looking forward to trying it out.

On another note...



Anybody suppose there is a way to re-order the MIDI devices? Or, I'd be happy to just remove the GS Synth altogether, which might be easier. I've been messing with this on and off and I haven't been able to find a way to do it. The reason being is that I have a couple old games that seemed to be hard-coded to output to "device 0" so they will get the GS Synth even if you have another device set up and set as default.

Anyway, it seems like this is the final piece of the puzzle to good XG MIDI on Windows Vista+7.