VST Plugins That Have General MIDI 2 Sound Sets?

[Annabelle]

I wonder, are there any plugins like Cakewalk TTS1, that include General MIDI 2 sound sets? I'm specifically trying to find ones that support MIDI controllers like "Portamento Control" (CC84), and Cakewalk TTS1 seems to assign that to a different parameter.

[Amberwolf]

I know there have been some discussions of TTS1 replacements for GM soundsets; I don't have any thread links though.  They may mention the CCs tehy respond to but I didn't really pay attention to that.   

This is a list of threads with TTS1 in the title, if it's helpful; it's proably not all of the discussions about it and it includes irrelevant ones too

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/search/?q=TTS1&quick=1&type=forums_topic&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_in=titles

 

If you know which parameter it assigns it to, you can reassign your CCs or automation to that one.

Or if you can't reassign those, there's at least one MIDI plugin by TenCrazy that lets you reassign anything to anything. 

[David Baay]

I think your best bet would be a late '80s or '90s vintage programmable multitimbral hardware synth that has a GM soundset like the various Roland, E-MU and Korg keyboards and rack modules. The basic soundset is there, but with the programmability to allow changing the sounds in all kinds of ways (including adding portamento) that most GM-only modules were not designed to support. I think GM was so passé by the time virtual instrument plugins came along that there was never a lot of developer interest in going above and beyond emulating a non- or minimally-programmable rompler.

[Terry Kelley]

Munt MT-32?

[Midi Factory]

https://www.roland.com/hu/products/rc_sound_canvas_va/

THE BEST

 

[Canopus]

5 minutes ago, Midi Factory said:

https://www.roland.com/hu/products/rc_sound_canvas_va/

THE BEST

Roland Sound Canvas VA is a great GM/GS plugin, but it was discontinued in September 2024 and is no longer sold. 

[Midi Factory]

 

 

[Midi Factory]

 

[Bass Guitar]

As far as I know the only fully functional and supported GM VST is made by SynthFont 

They make a full featured standalone midi player editor as well as the one called VST SynthFont 64. The web page is 

SynthFont.com  

Its a bit confusing to find the link to the VST version. 

The basic version is 14 euros. 
 

All the other players are as old as the TTS-1 and are on shaky ground too. SynthFont is rock solid and is maintained and updated. They have a few different versions at different price points. 
 

I got mine free as it is included with Band in a Box. You also get Coyote which I like the sounds better but it is DX so not a great idea for the future 

The other not as much talked about player is the MSWavetable synth which to me sounds like the rest. It’s my favourite to preview midi files using Media Player. 

It is still an option for midi output in every Daw on the planet with the exception of New Sonar. It is a bit of a mystery why they chose to remove that at about the same time they removed the TTS-1. 

 

Edited Wednesday at 02:37 PM by Bass Guitar

[Byron Dickens]

On 8/14/2025 at 1:28 AM, David Baay said:

I think your best bet would be a late '80s or '90s vintage programmable multitimbral hardware synth that has a GM soundset like the various Roland, E-MU and Korg keyboards and rack modules. The basic soundset is there, but with the programmability to allow changing the sounds in all kinds of ways (including adding portamento) that most GM-only modules were not designed to support. I think GM was so passé by the time virtual instrument plugins came along that there was never a lot of developer interest in going above and beyond emulating a non- or minimally-programmable rompler.

 

The prices on those old modules are getting ridiculous. 

I am ever glad I kept my Korg X3 although I live in mortal fear in might kick the bucket on me one day like my E-mu Proteus FX did.

[Chaps]

14 minutes ago, Byron Dickens said:

 

The prices on those old modules are getting ridiculous. 

I am ever glad I kept my Korg X3 although I live in mortal fear in might kick the bucket on me one day like my E-mu Proteus FX did.

I still have my old Boss DS-330 Dr. Synth module, though I only keep it handy in case I ever start using my MIDI controller to record with Sonar. Same way I use my Digitech RP350 to monitor sounds live while I record my guitar's signal through a direct box. This is why latency is never an issue with me.

[Amberwolf]

4 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

kick the bucket on me one day like my E-mu Proteus FX did.

What failed (or what were the symptoms)?   

The most common problems I run across in old electronics are power supply issues, bad capacitors (which all have a limited lifespan) that lead to regulator failures.... So...it might be fixable. 

 

[sjoens]

Some units have common coin cell batteries soldered in place that go bad so you lose all the presets.  You can replace them with a cell holder like those used for MB cells so they're easier to replace next time.  Some batteries are more unconventional and may require a web search to find.

[David Baay]

7 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

12 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

kick the bucket on me one day like my E-mu Proteus FX did.

What failed (or what were the symptoms)?   

The most common problems I run across in old electronics are power supply issues, bad capacitors (which all have a limited lifespan) that lead to regulator failures.... So...it might be fixable. 

My UltraProteus also failed a few years ago. The display comes up with a random "garbage" characters and the unit is unreponsive to any front-panel controls or MIDI input. Replacing the CMOS battery did not help. I suspected a bad power supply but never looked into finding someone qualified to check it out.

[Bass Guitar]

Speaking of Power Supplies. It was probably around 1986. I was slowly building my midi rig. A guitar player friend had paid $1,200 for a Korg Poly 800 and offered to trade me for my 1968 Fender Twin. I was tired of lugging it around! I figured I had made a super good deal!
 

The Poly 800 served as my Bass player. My drums were a  Roland 505 I still own and use. 
 

One day I was setting up my rig at home and I accidentally got the ends of the power supplies mixed up! The Korg went up in a puff of smoke! The Roland was fine. Turns out the Korg used reverse polarity. 
 

The technician told me that all that was needed by the Korg was a 25 cent Diode that would have stopped the reverse polarity current from getting past the power input Jack. 
He figured that a lot of IC chips were smoked. 
 

So that was the end of a $1,200 Analog Synth. 

Since that day I have carefully labeled all my power supplies both on the wall wart and at the Jack. 
 

The good news is that I now have the Free Fury 800 VST plug in that’s a great replacement. 
 

But it is weird how theirs no standard end Jack for power supply’s that would block you from making the mistake I made still to this day. 

I wonder if @Annabelle is still using Sonar 8.5?  That would have the TTS-1. 

[Byron Dickens]

13 hours ago, Amberwolf said:

What failed (or what were the symptoms)?   

The most common problems I run across in old electronics are power supply issues, bad capacitors (which all have a limited lifespan) that lead to regulator failures.... So...it might be fixable. 

 

Won't power up.  Was using it one day and left it on overnight and the next morning the display was blank and I couldn't communicate with it.  I have power through the switch and that's as far as I can get. There are apparently no schematics available. Not that it would do me much good because the ones for electronics are way different than automotive.

[Amberwolf]

6 hours ago, Byron Dickens said:

Won't power up.  Was using it one day and left it on overnight and the next morning the display was blank and I couldn't communicate with it.  I have power through the switch and that's as far as I can get. There are apparently no schematics available. Not that it would do me much good because the ones for electronics are way different than automotive.

Is the external power supply just a standard AC cord to the wall, or is it a "wallwart" or other external brick that converts wall power to AC or DC low voltage?

  If the latter, it could be just that wallwart / brick, in that you might see a voltage, but it might not be the right one (too high or too low), or it might not be filtered enough and have too much AC left (for the heavier transformer type supplies, not really the same kind of issue in switching / SMPS types, that dont' have the heavy big transformer in them). 

This latter type of failure is usually bad capacitors, and can easily be fixed if the problem hasn't blown up the regulators or other parts.  Very often bad caps are visibly faulty, with swelling / doming of the tops, or actual ruptures along the score marks at the top, or blown out the base with the rubber plug no longer in the cylinder, etc.  (badcaps.net and other places have good images)

If the former, then any problem it has would be internal, but the same problems tend to happen.

If you're willing to open it up and poke around, you can look for the caps and see if that's the issue.   it's also possible that an internal fuse has blown.  If you're not sure what to look for, you can start a thread for it, and let me know it's there, and post pics of what you see and I can guide you on what to check. 

I've had both of those problems with my Ensoniq ASR88's internal PSU over the years; the fuse blew because the caps failed and caused excessive currents.  Thankfully their regulator design isolated the input from the electronics, so it didn't blow anything up outside the PSU.

(and many many variations of the same problems in many many other devices over the decades)

 

Edited 8 hours ago by Amberwolf

[Amberwolf]

10 hours ago, Bass Guitar said:

One day I was setting up my rig at home and I accidentally got the ends of the power supplies mixed up! The Korg went up in a puff of smoke! The Roland was fine. Turns out the Korg used reverse polarity. 

The technician told me that all that was needed by the Korg was a 25 cent Diode that would have stopped the reverse polarity current from getting past the power input Jack. 
He figured that a lot of IC chips were smoked. 

It's possible, but not likely.   Most likely only the regulator itself would have been destroyed.  If it has multiple parallel regulators (like one for 12v, one for 5v, etc.) then those are cheap and easy to replace.   It might have a custom-designed SMPS and that would be harder to repair, but as long as the voltages it outputs are known, it could be bypassed and a separate regulation systme could be installed cheaply enough. 

So, if you still have it, it is probably repairable.   You can check it for the 7805 (5v) 7812 (12v) etc., or an LM317 (depends on design around it), all are fingernail-sized 3-pin regulators with a big silver tab that's usually bolted to a heatsink, with that number engraved on the front of the black plastic.  

 

 

10 hours ago, Bass Guitar said:

But it is weird how theirs no standard end Jack for power supply’s that would block you from making the mistake I made still to this day. 

Unfortunately while there *are* standards, it is up to individual engineers to follow them.   Even within a single company, not every device follows the same "standards", and it has 'always" been that way, in any stuff I've seen from any decade. 

Some devices using the "standard barrel" plug don't even use it for DC--IIRC my ancient Gadget Labs Wave8*24 uses an 18V AC  output wallwart and all the DC regulation is inside it. (or maybe that was the MOTU Midi Mixer 7s?)...but the same exact "DC Barrel" plug is used on my Yamaha stuff for 12Vdc on one of them, 10Vdc on another, 9VDC on another, and I don't even remember all the other ones....  

 

[Amberwolf]

12 hours ago, David Baay said:

My UltraProteus also failed a few years ago. The display comes up with a random "garbage" characters and the unit is unreponsive to any front-panel controls or MIDI input. Replacing the CMOS battery did not help. I suspected a bad power supply but never looked into finding someone qualified to check it out.

I'd guess at bad caps or regulation, and would check for the same things as suggested for Byron's. 

It's possible that something else less repairable failed, but it's worth checking the power first.  If you're willing to poke at it, then like I suggested for byron you can make a thread and let me know and I can walk you thru checking things. 

[sjoens]

Power surges, spikes and brownouts can shorten the life of electronic gear slowly over time.  A good power conditioner/UPS can help with those and . . .  Lightning Storms.  One hit my home killing a UPS - squealed like a pig and died, but it saved my gear - a true hero.

Dry deserty climates also have a way of rendering some components unusable over time.  Without a good repair shop near by, stuff gets sold for parts.