I did an A/B yesterday with Bandstand and Hypersonic2 GM. I loaded both of them on Forte, set HS2 in GM mode, set Midi Yoke as midi output on WinXP Control Panel and playd a midi file on Windows Media Player. Then I simply muted and unmuted the appropriate rack, to switch between them instantaneously, while the midi played. That way I can even have them both play at the same time.

I turned off reverb and chorus effects in both racks after a while.

Note: on 96 KHz, my PC could NOT cope with Bandstand on my attempt to play a busy style or a complex midifile. I had to turn Forte to 48KHz playback to be able to continue without hiccups.

On saxes, clarinets, flutes etc, Banstand wins... It feels more "real life" like, whatever that means. They sound more like instruments on a CD, vibrato and all. HS2 sounds more "keyboard like", much more "simple" sounding.

On the other hand, HS2 sounds like it has the high freqs turned up a little, it is more crisp.

Drums, I couldn't decide, maybe Bandstand has an edge, maybe it is just me.

After turning off the effects, I noticed that Banstand still sounds like it has some sort of Reverb built in the sounds, while HS2 sounds dry.

I have a lot of midis I found on the net over the years, that are specifically made for Roland Sound Canvas, even from Roland itself. These sound a better on HS2.

StarKeeper, Rikki, I still can't figure out how to use Cakewalk to play a midi file and have it sound from within Forte.



[This message has been edited by trident (edited 04-26-2006).]