Mu2026 Hybrid

This is a separate, experimental 32-bit Windows VST2 instrument. It is not an update to S-YXG100 Hybrid or S-YXG2026 Hybrid.

What plays

MU2000 supplies the main XG voice set. Where a requested voice is not distinct in the MU2000 program ROM, the S-YXG2006LE engine can supply its additional voice. Native VL/PVL and SG workers handle their own MIDI parts. The plugin's unique ID and name differ from the existing Yamaha plugins.

Effects

The modified MU2000 engine accepts twelve internal audio channels: stereo dry, reverb, chorus, variation, insertion 1, and insertion 2. Audio from 2006LE and the native workers enters the appropriate MU2000 effect path before final output. Insertion 2 uses the MU2000 slave DSP. MU2000 voices retain the effects implemented by S-MU2000. XG50 is neither loaded nor used for effects or voices.

Insertion 2 follows the MIDI part assigned by Yamaha SysEx. VL voices and 2006LE parts are routed separately. SG uses insertion 2 only when its worker output belongs to one assigned channel; a combined multi-channel SG output cannot safely be separated at this point.

External audio is level-matched before it enters MU2000's effects. The modified engine retains headroom above unity at that input so louder SG passages are not clipped before the effects stage. MU2000's own voices are unchanged.

Required files

Keep the VST DLL, mu2000-engine.bin, both worker executables, syxg2006le-engine.bin, its two table files, and both VXD files together. Provide the MU2000 program and wave ROMs in a roms subfolder. For a local test, roms.txt can instead contain a relative path to an existing S-MU2000 ROM directory. Relative paths are resolved from the plugin folder. ROMs and Yamaha binaries are not part of public source.

The program ROM is mu2000_flash.bin. The four 8 MB wave ROMs are xv364a0.ic49, xv365a0.ic50, xw848a0.ic53, and xw849a0.ic54, placed in the ROM layout expected by S-MU2000.

Instrument definitions and updates

The source repository includes definitions for QWS and Reaper. They combine the existing MU1000/MU2000 voice names with VL/PVL and SG names. Some inherited PLG expansion names may describe optional hardware that this plugin does not emulate.

Run Update Yamaha Hybrids.cmd from the plugin folder or its parent to check for signed code updates. Close Foobar, REAPER, VSTHost, and other audio hosts before installing. The updater preserves locally supplied Yamaha data, mu2026.ini, and roms.txt. It stores a compressed rollback outside the plugin folder.

Performance settings

The manual code package includes a default mu2026.ini beside the VST DLL. For a source build, copy Config/mu2026.ini there. It sets native=1 and suspend_unused=1. Native mode reduces MU2000 CPU use while preserving its MEG effects, although some physical-engine edge cases may differ. The suspension setting makes instances that have never received MIDI return silence without rendering the MU engine. Foobar's MIDI component loads three instances; with a single-port song, this avoids spending audio-thread time on the two silent ones. An instance starts normal rendering as soon as it receives any MIDI event. Neither option changes the standalone S-MU2000 plugin. Updates preserve your existing INI.

vl_sg_gain in the same section sets the VL/SG worker gain before MU2000 effects. The default is 2.0, which balanced complete local VL and SG songs in listening tests. It does not change MU2000 or 2006LE voices.

Current limits

Internal audio injection is tested through MU2000 dry, reverb, chorus, variation, insertion 1, and insertion 2 at 44.1 and 48 kHz. FatPizz restores its distorted VL part, and unaffected ForYou and SG_yuki renders remain byte-identical to the previous candidate. A complete offline StarStrp render completed, and Foobar playback remained smooth during a Paperback foreground test. External audio through insertions 3 and 4 has not been implemented. A first VL note can still cause an audio-thread setup spike; 96-sample live buffers, long sessions, and physical PLG-board fidelity need more testing. This does not prove that every song's effect parameters translate perfectly.

Licensing

The wrapper is based on S-YXG2026 Hybrid and retains its MIT license. The modified S-MU2000 engine fork credits the original project by tarboh and retains its BSD 3-Clause license and third-party notices. Yamaha firmware, ROMs, tables, and VXD files are not covered by those code licenses and must be supplied separately by users with appropriate rights.