One cool thing about ScummVM is that the music is MIDI, so it can be reproduced in different types of audio hardware, and some games have special music for devices like the famous Roland MT-32.
There are four kind of devices that you can select with the emulator:
- Adlib for basic FM based (OPL2 / OPL3)
- Embedded Audio Synthesis, which uses the built in MIDI player from Android (EAS)
- FluidSynth, a synthesizer with support of SoundFonts
- MT-32 Emulation
All games will work fine with Adlib, which is the common audio system for PC. Some games sound just incredible with this device, even when it was the most basic one, so this is the default option. Also, for Adlib you can choose between two types of OPL emulation, the one from MAME (older) and the one from DOSBox (newer).
EAS sounds good but it may crash on some systems, if you select it and the emulator crashes, just choose another one.
FluidSynth sounds really great, although it will require a fast device. The emulator allows to select a soundfont, but for now we included the one recommended by the RetroArch guys (Roland SC-55).
MT-32 is the saint grial of MIDI audio for PC. It still one of the most looked after devices if you want to have great sound. Fortunately, for poor people like us, one can use emulation of this device just selecting this option… although again you need a fast device to enjoy it.
ScummVM Audio Options
For more information about ScummVM and the audio options, check the ScummVM for libretro docs.