hey... im EXTREMELY new to this forum - anyhow... i'm a chip musician (primarily with NES, OPL2 soundblaster, and C64) and i recently bought a yamaha CX5m on ebay... it has the SFG-05 installed - i was wondering how useful this would be to me if i want to make MSX music - im reading about all the different versions of the MSX and also i read about the moonsound cartridge and other sound expansions - is the moonsound even compatible with this unit? theres only one cartridge slot on the top and one expander slot in the back... i was wondering where i could track down hardware for this machine to make it more useful to me - i would also use the SFG-05 portion of the computer if i had some way to construct patches and save them... however the FM voicing program i got with this computer is not playable with midi... its actually the one made for the SFG-01... not 05 - does the CX5m have any other built in soundchips? - what tips would you give me for upgrading and expanding the sound possibilities of my CX5m? and do i NEED a disk drive? or is there an alternative? and the sunrise site seems like its outdated... would it be trustable to order from?

THANKS
~alex mauer

http://headlessbarbie.com

Hi, so you eventually *did* join in.
(vse)

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i was wondering how useful this would be to me if i want to make MSX music

To be quite honest: close to zip. I know of no tracker or similar program other than the cartridges from Yamaha that actually *use* the YMF2150 in the CX5M A tracker for this baby would be sooo sweet!

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is the moonsound even compatible with this unit?

Nope.

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i was wondering where i could track down hardware for this machine to make it more useful to me

eBay!

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does the CX5m have any other built in soundchips?

Standard MSX PSG.

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and do i NEED a disk drive? or is there an alternative? and the sunrise site seems like its outdated... would it be trustable to order from?

a disk drive or the Sunrise (CF-)IDE interface is actually a must. unless you're willing to struggle with tapes and the likes. I've never seriously used the CX5M (I've got the CX5M/II), so I can't tell whether the voicing program or other Yamaha cart's do even recognise the disk drive >

well in the case i suppose i should buy a better MSX computer haha - ok so which one do you guys recommend i get if i want to use moonsound? also... whats the deal with the SCC+ ? is it possible to compose for this chip as well? thx guys

~alex

A standard MSX2 with 128kB will do for most things around. If you want to work with a CF-reader then you'll be using DOS2 and you'll actually need some more RAM, like 256kB or so. Regarding speed, a turbo R is the better option, but it's a Japanese machine, with dito keys, which you may not like for typing. Another alternative for later would be a 1-ChipMSX. (see: www.bazix.nl) I'm not sure whether you can still sign-up for the pre-order, but iirc some ppl ordered one themself, and they may have cancelled their bazix reservation.

thanks for your advice - i'd prefer the old school MSX hardware to the newer one chip version as i like to get 100% accurate nostalgic sound in my songs... including the sounds of the DAC

Unless you like the tR for its speed, I'd go for a boosted MSX2. Boosted usually means it's got some extra RAM, v9958 video chip, some sounddevices perhaps, perhaps a 7Mhz switch, maybe a hardware fix for PSG balance, etc.

one other question about the tR ones - i was reading about the FS-A1GT - i read it has a midi interface built in... i assume that could be useful to me considering im a musician... i would probably like to get that model but is it extremely rare? and... what are the other differences between turbo R models?

The CX5m is more rare than a tR GT The GT was a common machine, but in Japan mainly, and some ppl outside Japan. But it's really not like MSX is such a MIDI computer. We stuck to tracking with common sound extensions mainly. Because of that, MIDI was rarely used.. sometimes as an extension to trackers, but it never really took off.

what are the other reasons you suggest the msx2 over the tr? the cost? as far as the "dito" keys thing goes... it would be fun to show my grandma what im making music with (shes from japan)... she'd probably think it was cool - anyhow yeah... im still not sure what to get o.o

~alex

oh yeah one more thing... i live in the united states so i'd need an NTSC machine - does that affect the decision making? thx

As for the tR vs boosted European machine: for me it's purely the keys/layout. But I guess you get used to it after a while. The problem is that I don't get used to it I think as I also type on a European PC keyboard each day.. My other reason could perhaps be the price. It's not to say that the tR was a complete failure, but most stuff runs on our typical MSX2 machines as well. A slow'ish game like Xak 1 will run somewhat slower then, but those heavy games are rare'ish. So, the urge to get a tR was less important, resulting in less dedicated software.

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oh yeah one more thing... i live in the united states so i'd need an NTSC machine - does that affect the decision making? thx

You would have to go for a japanese model. Most japanese MSX2 and MSX2+ models are base models with only 64 kB memory so I would settle for the MSX turbo R after all, simply for the larger memory (the ST has 256 kB and the GT has 512 kB).

Hey alex ! your name sounds very familiar, through composers on #8bitpeoples (k9d).
Cool someone finally displays some interest in msx haha !
I guess SCC might be something you like, it's a very characteristic sound.
Hope you have a nice time here on MRC
it's very useful.
Excellent music by the way ^_^

thanks poke

might i add that i like your broadcasts
~alex