Having just installed VirtualMIDISynth on Windows 10 myself I’ve found that it’s automatically being used by Media Player, as in the image above. Microsoft stripped out the MIDI Mapper in Windows 8 and 10, which means there’s no way to tell Windows which MIDI device to use by default. *This is actually more of a pain in the arse than you’d think.

It could revolutionise the playback of MIDI files on your Windows PC. It has an integrated MIDI converter to render your MIDI files into MP3. There’s a MIDI mixer to get into track volumes and the muting of parts. It can run up to 4 virtual devices, each with its own SoundFont configuration. It appears as a device and all you have to do is select it as the default MIDI player*. You don’t have to load up a separate application or do any virtual MIDI routing. VirtualMIDISynth now installs as a multimedia driver, so it’s right there within Windows.

They’ve also been around for decades, forming part of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster and Emu soundcards, but they’ve continued to grow and develop. There’s now a huge library of sounds out there, not just General MIDI, but specialised and dedicated banks for all sorts of music. SoundFonts are sample based sound libraries that are capable of being much larger, layered and detailed. VirtualMIDISynth offers the opportunity to replace the Microsoft one with something just as easy but infinitely superior. They’ve been at this a little while but the new version really nails it.

Into the MIDI file sound quality void leaps VirtualMIDISynth version 2. You can, right now, head over to, download Bohemium Rhapsody ( click here) and listen to the synth play it’s little heart out (if asked how to handle the file select “Windows Media Player”). The only change or update it’s received since then is moving from 32 note polyphony to 64 note polyphony with the arrival of Windows XP in 2001. It was licensed from Roland in 1996 and based upon a sound set they created in 1991. This veritable synthesizer engine has been part of the core Windows operating System since Windows 98.

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