Simultaneously hooking up SC-55 and CM-64 to X68000?

[cr4zymanz0r]

I finally got my Roland CM-64 in today and it appears to work fine (but I need to figure out a good indoor light to retr0bright it with), However I'm not entirely sure how I'm suppose to have it and my SC-55 hooked up at the same time.

1. (MIDI line) As far as the actual MIDI hook up do I just use one MIDI cable going from the X68000 to the CM-64 input then one from the CM-64 thru port to the SC-55 MIDI input?

2. (Audio mixing) On the SC-55 things were simple. It had audio input so it could accept the audio output from the X68000 and mix it with the SC-55's MIDI. I didn't realize the CM-64 doesn't have an audio input port until I went to hook it up. How do I properly mix the X68000's audio with the CM-64's MIDI (and make sure I have the right volume levels)? I'm hoping for something cheap and simple as I don't have a need for any kind of crazy professional mixer. Also, how do I have do I "mix" the SC-55 into this too? Of course I'll only be using one at a time, but I don't want to have to unplug and move cords every time I want to switch between the two.

I could probably figure something out, but I figure someone here has an optimal setup I'd like to hear about.

[SuperDeadite]

You can link the module's togheather via the thru port, but doing so requires both modules to be turned on at once.  Instead, I recommend hooking one to the X68K's Midi Out and Midi Thru ports.  Every game I've ever tried outputs on both.  Note there is a jumper which switches the port between Midi Out 2 and Midi Thru.  You want it on Thru, then both ports output the same thing.

As for mixing, get a proper audio mixer.  I use the Phonic AM55, which can be had new for $50, and it's good enough for actual stage use.  Using a proper mixer will allow you to stick with proper phono cables as well, every time you use one of those phono>RCA adapters you are lowering the quality.

Now if you are like me and have a ton of modules, and multiple sources (X68k, FM Towns, MSX, Modern computer), a MIDI Patcher is a great investment.  I do not recommend a MIDI switch-box, most of them suck and cause sysex issues.

[Andy-Antsinpants]

How do Phono-to-RCA adapters influence audio Signal quality?

[SuperDeadite]

More adapters = more noise.  This is analog audio basics.  One's ability to actually hear such noise will vary greatly though.

[Andy-Antsinpants]

Please excuse me, but this statement doesn't make me understand how such an adapter could alter the signal.

[kendrick]

Theoretically, any audio connections will have a continuous ground and a continuous shield, which should mean that you could add an infinite number of phono/RCA/headphone adapters and not produce any extra noise. However, the truth of the matter is that shielding is inconsistent, ground connections are improperly joined or broken, and adapters will frequently mix many different types of conductor metals. Even if you account for all those things, additional adapters add resistance and change impedance in unpredictable ways.

I'm not an audiophile, so I don't generally care about sound quality, especially not out of 1980s synthesizer electronics. But I've known some gamers who put their whole 8-bit computing rigs into Faraday cages just to eliminate a tiny 60 Hz electrical field buzzing.

[cr4zymanz0r]

I've been looking into things more and the Phonic AM55 looks like overkill for my needs, plus I'm only seeing them for $80+ new. Also, I'm fine with using phono adapters. I don't have audiophile ears (or equipment), so I'm probably not going to notice the difference unless the adapter itself is faulty/loose.

I'm thinking about building my own simple solution, but I'm not sure about a couple of details. With the SC-55 it's pretty simple because I can just hook the X68000 line-out to the SC-55's audio input and it will mix the X68000 internal audio itself and the volume levels seem correct as far as I can tell in nearly all games (though the music might've been drowning out the sound effects in Super Street Fighter 2. I can't fully recall).

What I'm unsure of is a "proper" way to mix the X68000 line-out with the CM-64 audio-out. I know how to make a simple resistor based mixer to mix the two signals, but I'm unsure if that would give me the proper volume levels. Would that work fine or would I need to add 1 or 2 stereo potentiometers to individually control the volume levels of the CM-64 and X68000 line-out to manually adjust them to the correct levels?
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The gist of my self-made solution is to have a Y splitter on the X68000 line out and connect one to the SC-55 input and the other to my homemade solution. The homemade solution will have 3 (probably headphone jack) inputs. One for the SC-55 output (A), one for the CM-64 output (B), and one for the X68000 line-out (C). Basically it would mix B and C inputs (we'll call the result X), then A and X would be connected to a toggle switch to change between them on the single output. This would let me change between the SC-55's output and the mixed CM-64 output.

[alamone]

For my setup, I have a CM-500 in CM-64 mode, I just mix the headphone out from the x68 side with the line-out on the CM-500.
I actually have a Micomsoft produced cable expressly for this purpose, which probably just uses a resistor to mix the two.
The cable was a freebie when I ordered the SC500N1 from the direct shop a while back.

I can adjust the volume on the x68000 by the knob in the front, and the volume on the CM-500 by the knob on the front.
I just max out both of the knobs and it sounds fine to me. Does the CM-64 only have a fixed line-level output?

[famiac]

Alright, i have a riddle. I have an sc55, a cm-64, and a phonic am55 mixer.
The phonic has only two stereo audio inputs. How do i hook up both the midi modules and remain able to mix the audio with the x68k?

http://i.imgur.com/xhidPKa.jpg

[SuperDeadite]

You can also use the 2T RTN RCA Jacks to input, just push the button down to send that input to the main output.  These jacks are great for hooking up a CD Player as well.

[famiac]

Hey thanks for the reply SuperDeadite!

By the way are there any games that require the use of both the CM-64 and the SC-55?

[BlueBMW]

I dont know of any that use both simultaneously but many games support both.

[famiac]

Alright cool, thanks bluebmw