How to Make Midi Files Sound Better

I solved this problem using XMPlay 3.6.

It's a free audio player that can reproduce MIDI and karaoke files too, using Sound Font 2 (*.sf2) libraries.

An interesting option of XMPlay is that it can use more than one soundbank simultaneously, taking, for example, the piano from a library and the tenor sax from another.

Instructions:

1) Download "XMPlay 3.6" from http://www.un4seen.com/xmplay.html, and "MIDI input plugin" from http://uk.un4seen.com/files/xmp-midi.zip

2) Install it.

3) Unzip the "MIDI input plugin" and put the XMP-MIDI.DLL file in the same directory as (or a sub-directory of) XMPLAY.EXE (usually C:\Programmi\xmplay36 or C:\programmi(x86)\xmplay36).

4) Now you need a good General Midi soundfont (*.sf2). There are many soundfonts freely available on the internet or on peer-to-peer systems.

For example the excellent "SGM-V2.0", avaible at: http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/

Download all 5 parts and double click on "SGM-V2.01.part1.exe" to extract the file "SGM-V2.01.sf2".

Two other free good banks are "Fluid Release 3"  http://soundfonts.homemusician.net/collections_soundfonts/fluid_release_3.html and AirFont380 http://www.4shared.com/get/TpQ7z4eY/airfont_380_final.html

You may also buy a soundbank like "Conexant GM500", "SONiVOX GS250", "Colossus 1500" and many others.

4bis) Some soundbanks are in a compressed file.

To unpack *.sfpack files you can use: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Other-AUDIO-Tools/SF-Pack.shtml.

To unpack *.SfArc files you can use: http://melodymachine.com/sfark.htm

With XMPlay and MIDI input plugin, from its mixer, you can also transpose midi files, view karaoke window, mute one or more tracks and so on.