Fury DLS bank for Vortex2

Training your Monster to play MIDI files with High Quality

1. History
2. About this page
3. Programs that support DLS
4. Hardware that support DLS
5. If you want to convert some other bank (like SF2) to DLS
6. Notes
   Banks and files for download
   Links and contact information

Change log:

About this page

Here i publish the information on Monster Sound MX300 and it's wavetable MIDI banks (DLS) which i know. This information can be incorrect or misleading, so treat this as one of the sources within the others, and have your own way (pretty disclaimer, eh?)

Note: SB AWExx series and SB Live! does not support DLS as far as i know. With SB Live! you use SF2 banks, which is superior to DLS Level 1 format. So there is no need to read other parts of this page.

Programs that support DLS

These programs claim DLS support (there's more, but i can't get any of 'em => not included here):
[You can get the full list @ midi association web site. They're commercial site.]

Conclusion:

As of now, i prefer AC (v4+). If you don't like it, try Awave.

Hardware that support DLS

These sound cards claims DLS compatibility:

Please report if you know more detailed information/corrections...

If you want to convert SF2 (or other format) to DLS

Here's what you should be aware of when writing to DLS format:

1. Use latest converter software version (this is important because of DLS bugfixes);

2. Auto conversion never gives you the same bank;

3. Save the source bank somewhere in its original format - maybe later you will find better converter (hi, Aureal);

4. You have to edit your bank after you saved it in DLS form, prefer saving to "DLS Level 2" for intermediate stages, and save a copy to "DLS Level 1" when you are satisfied. Otherwise you will lose some instrument settings which leads to instrument corruption while playing. (AWave 5.2+ and Audio Compositor 3.4+ are capable of writing DLS L2);

5. You should test your bank on as many MIDI files as you can get - and compare how they sound on (preferably) a hardware board like DB50XG or its software equivalent, S-YXG100+ (with CD quality or better).

Notes

Notes specific for Vortex2 users:

It is recommended to turn off Vortex 2's graphic equalizer and MIDI effects. Why? Distorts sound.

Banks and files for download

Files available here (all sizes are specified for packed files):

Contact information and links

If you create DLS bank, let me know.

My e-mail is mr_stranger@mail.ru

Note: i will NOT answer on FIDO email. (If you're a dog, it's not my fault)

If you live in Moscow (Russia) and want to save the time and efforts to download the bank, you can buy this DLS set on CD. It will cost you $10. (You will get the latest revision. You can ask me to add something else to the CD.)

Some links:

There's now a mirror of this page at iXBT Hardware

Many SF2 banks can be found at HammerSound.

Some (not so good) DLS utils are at Shred's DLS Adventures

Some MIDI utilities are at Gunter Nagler's site

My favorite midi players is MegaMID v0.23+ and AkOff Music Player 1.00 (or AkOff's Music Composer - the player is the same w/o recording ability)

For other (not DLS/MX300) links, check my "portals" page (go here through main page)