MIDI Players for DOS

To play MIDI files under DOS, you need the right hardware. Hardly a player supports the FM chip, and only some the Advanced WavEffects of the Soundblaster AWE32 cards. Usually you will need an external MIDI device or a wavetable daughterboard.

GSPlay

This is the player that I have used the most. It runs on any PC, though the author recommends a 286, and has an ASCII interface that looks rather nice on a VGA screen. Support:

• Roland MPU401-compatible interfaces (UART mode)
• Soundblaster (and compatibles) MIDI port/daughterboard
• Proaudio Spectrum MIDI port
• Gravis Ultrasound MIDI port
• MusicQuest SE parallel port interfaces
• Serial port MIDI (Roland SC-88, Miracle Piano, and others)
• Key Midiator (serial port)

Download GSPlay

MegaMID

This player was fashioned after the GUS's MIDIPLAY. In text mode, it can probably run on about any PC, but then it's less attractive than either GSPlay or Jaleo. I don't know what the requirements for running it in graphic mode are, except for a VESA-compliant graphics card with 512k. Support:

• ROLAND MPU-401 STANDARD: Which means that it'll support JUST ABOUT ALL the wave-table devices out there... it's too long to list here (see the rest of the MEGAMID.TXT file).
• SOUND BLASTER MIDI PORT: Yes, even Sound Blaster v1.00.
• SERIAL PORT: The whole lot - COM1/COM2/COM3/COM4.

Download MegaMID

MiDPLAY

This is the ideal player for Soundblaster AWE32 owners. It was specifically written to support all the features of this card. For example it will automatically import a soundfont that has the same name as the midi file.

MiDPLAY has far more sophisticated graphics than MegaMID, and it is not modest in its hardware demands: For full enjoyment you should run it on a 486 with 8MB RAM and a 1MB VESA card. Support:

• SoundBlaster AWE and/or
• SoundBlaster-compatible MIDI-interface
• Roland MPU401-compatible interface (or software-emulator)

Download MiDPLAY