Yes. The XG format is upward compatible with GM, so GM files will play properly on any XG tone generator.

Almost all XG products, including the MU80, MU50, DB50XG, and SW60XG, have a TG300B mode. A GS reset message automatically activates this mode, allowing playback of GS music data.

Windows 3.1 has MidiMapper which allows the user to configure the midi environment, while Windows 95 does not have any such interface. The standard Windows 95 midi configuration follows the SoundBlaster 'error' and puts percussion on channel 16 instead of the general midi standard of channel 10. The upshot is that midi files played through the DB50XG (in common with other general midi cards) sound odd and do not do the card justice. Windows 95 uses the IDF or Instrument Definition File(s) which are located in the directory \Windows\Config\*.idf to configure the midi environment and only one (channel 16) file 'General.idf' is supplied. Microsoft have posted a utility called 'IDF Edit' on their Games Developers Web Page. This utility allows you to both edit the existing General.idf file or to create new ones and you can set instrument and channel patches as well as set the percussion channel. The result is a DB50XG which sounds the way it should.

From the computer user's point of view, there is absolutely no difference in functions, sound, or number of voices. Of course, MU50 data will play perfectly on the DB50XG.

The DB50XG only supports the XG and TG300B modes it does not support the C/M, DOC, or Performance modes. Since the Performance mode allows the MU50 to be used as an expansion tone generator for keyboard players, it is not provided on the DB50XG.

The DB50XG plugs into the Sound Blaster in place of the Wave Blaster, so it can be used on any card that is fully compatible with the Wave Blaster.

What are the pin outputs for the DB50XG?

• 24 - left out
• 20 - right out
• 1,3,5,7,9,11 - digital ground
• 15,17,19,21,23,25 - analog ground
• 6,10,14 - +5V
• 18 - +12V
• 22 - -12V
• 4 - midi in
• 8 - midi out

Any card with a 26 pin waveblaster connector interface - please check with your sound card manual for this.

The standard Creative Labs range of cards (and clones) all have their waveblaster ports physically hardwired to the external midi/joystick ports. When the user plugs a joystick directly in to this the pins that transmit midi and power are nulled, therefore disabling the waveblaster socket.

As you may be aware Windows 95 does not adopt the Midi Mapper system used by Windows 3.11.

To route the output of the DB50 on any card in Win95, you need to first click on the multimedia properties sheet.

Click the Start button, select settings and then control panel.

Open the Multimedia icon and select MIDI. You will then see the device drivers for your host card, more than likely one for FM and one for external midi, just select external midi and go. On the Tahiti card, select TAHITI HEADER OUT.

The drivers supplied by Creative Labs with Windows 95, do not support the waveblaster socket, so you may need to contact them for a complete set of drivers. The file is available for download from Internet or CompuServe and is called SBW95UP.EXE. Please download or telephone Creative Labs for this file, do not contact Yamaha.

It has also come to light that some of the Plug & Play Creative Labs cards have problems with games compatibility and the waveblaster socket. A patch disk is available from most internet and CompuServe sites called WBPATCH.EXE.

Here is the Readme file from the SBAWE32.UP file to help with installation of these files:

1.  In the Control Panel folder, double-click the System icon to show the System Properties dialog box.

3.  Double-click the "Sound, video and game controllers" to display the devices installed in your system.

4.  Double-click the device you wish to update (e.g., Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32). The Properties dialog box of the selected device appears.

5.  Select the Driver tab in the Properties dialog box and choose Change Driver. The Select Device dialog box appears.

6.  Choose Have Disk in the Select Device dialog box. The Install From Disk dialog box appears.

7.  Enter the path where the new drivers are located and choose OK. The Select Device dialog box appears.

8.  Choose OK to return to the Properties dialog box.

9.  Choose OK to exit the Properties dialog box. The drivers will be copied to your Windows directory.

10. Choose Close to exit the System Properties dialog box. The System Settings Change dialog box appears.

The YAMAHA DB50XG Daughterboard is a great way to add YAMAHA instrument sounds to any sound card with a waveblaster compatible connector, such as the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 or the MIDIEDGE. These notes explain how to configure the software and use a daughterboard in Windows 95. First, physically attach the daughterboard to your existing sound card according to the instructions in your manual, and then follow the steps below for use with Windows 95.

Before setting up the daughterboard, your Sound Blaster drivers must be installed and functioning properly. If this is the case you can skip to the "Setting the Daughterboard as the Windows MIDI Device" section. Although there are many variations of Sound Blaster cards, you can follow these general guidelines below for installing the Windows 95 drivers.

Before setting up the daughterboard, your MPU-401 drivers must be installed and functioning properly. If this is the case you can skip right to the "Setting the Daughterboard as the Windows MIDI Device" section. Otherwise, follow these steps below for installing the Windows 95 drivers.

2. In the Control Panel, double-click on the Multimedia icon to open Multimedia Properties.

5. If you are installing on a Sound Blaster (or similar sound card), click on MIDI for External MIDI Port in the white box. If you are installing on an MPU-401AT, select MPU-401 Compatible.

1. From the Start Menu, select Programs, followed by Accessories, followed by Multimedia, and open the Media Player.

2. Under Media Player's Device menu, select MIDI sequencer.

3. A window to open a file will be displayed. If you upgraded your computer from Windows 3.1 you should be able to find the CANYON.MID file in your Windows directory. Otherwise you will need to locate and open a MIDI file of your own.

4. Click the Play button (the button on the far left that looks like a sideways triangle) and your MIDI file will begin playing through the daughterboard.

If everything appears to be working properly at this point and you just are not getting any sound, try disconnecting the joystick from your sound card. On some sound cards the joystick port also acts as the MIDI port, and the joystick may short out the MIDI connection (including the daughterboard) as long as it is plugged in. To correct this problem, purchase the recommended MIDI adapter cables for your sound card from Creative Labs(800-998-5227). This is essentially a Y-cable that allows you to attach a joystick and MIDI devices at the same time, allowing you to use your joystick and the daughterboard simultaneously.

If you installed the drivers for your sound card but Windows reports a problem, then the card is probably not at the default settings Windows expects, or it is conflicting with another device. You will need to determine what the card's IRQ and address are set to, physically change its jumpers and switches if necessary, and tell Windows to use those settings. Your sound card's manufacturer can help you with this. The procedure for making the Windows changes follow:

3. Click on the Device Manager tab at the top of the System Properties window.

5. Your sound cards will be revealed. The device that has a problem should be marked with a yellow exclamation point. Double-click on it.

8. To change one of the settings, click on the resource under Resource type, and then click on the Change Setting button.

9. Click on the up and down arrows to select the correct address or IRQ value.

None, the DB50XG relies entirely on the host card having it's full and correct driver set installed.

Using controller messages embedded within your sequencer's event list, or by downloading XGEDIT, or XGBANK from CompuServe or internet sites listed in the links. The controllers used are 00 and 32 which correspond to bank select msb and lsb. For further information on this please refer to the DB50XG guide.

Once you have installed the correct drivers for your host sound card to access the waveblaster port on it, then it is a simple matter of selecting this as the output device in your sequencer "midi device selection" option. Please refer to your sequencer manual for this.

This is not due to the DB50XG. The DB50XG has very high resolution 18bit output converters, which unfortunately have to pass through the output set of the SB card that it is plugged onto - this reduces the overall signal to noise ratio. For a high quality sound, a professional card such as the Turtle Beach Tahiti, or the MPC401 MK2 are recommended.

Absolutely 100% with any game that supports GM/GS/XG or MPU401 as an option.

Some midi files do not contain either a GM or XG reset, and the midi mapper configurations on some computers can be set to sound blaster mode which plays drums on midi channel 16 rather than 10, this is usually the problem.

• Fiji by Turtle Beach
• Tahiti by Turtle Beach
• Midi Edge
• Awe32 by Creative Labs
• SB16 by Creative Labs

All will work with XG, and some such as cakewalk have special features implemented to take further advantage of XG.

As mentioned, the DB50XG will work with any operating system, as long as the host card that it is plugged into will work under that OS code.