I grew up playing Doom95, which while mechanically identical to these titles had slightly crisper graphics (irrelevant) and the music was vastly different, it sounded less "digital/computer" and more like actual instruments (huge issue). Doom II actually had some rocking metal tunes!

I picked this up hoping to get the 95 version, or at the very least have the ability to switch between the two, but unfortunately for me it's the original releases only. I actually didn't know the originals were different from '95 in any way before picking this up, c'est la vie I suppose :(

So my question is, does anyone have a source for Doom95, or know of a way to convert these titles to the '95 version? Again the graphics don't really concern me, I'm more interested in the music.

So I just spent 5 minutes reading the sticky post and solved my problem. Be merciful, ye gods...

For anyone wondering, just check out the sticky and download the latest build of GZDoom (for me it was Nov 29, 2016). It pretty well runs Doom95 right from there without having to screw around with sound fonts or anything like that. Some minor changes to the lighting I need to fix up but other than that it's 100%!

A few things to dispel confusion.

There's no difference in data between Doom for DOS and . The only thing that was changed was the executable. The game data (in the files called [url=https://doomwiki.org/wiki/IWAD]IWADs) remains identical. Notably, the music data was exactly the same.

So why did it sound different? Doom's music is in a stripped-down MIDI format, which means that the way it sounds like depends on what synthesizer is used. Most players back then had a Sound Blaster, which means that they experienced the music as played back with . Doom also supported the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravis_Ultrasound]Gravis UltraSound and generic General MIDI; but the synth that Bobby Prince used and that which can therefore arguably be considered as the intended sound was a Roland SC-55 or Roland SCC-1.

The SC-55 was later the starting point for Virtual Sound Canvas. It can't be said they'd be exactly the same because, especially back then, hardware and software audio synthesis were very different, but the samples at least were identical. Later, a dumbed-down version of the VSC was licensed by Microsoft to be used as the built-in MIDI synthesizer for Windows 95's DirectMusic library: the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth.

All that to say that Doom95, by using the DirectX libraries, used a synth that was based on a synth that was based on the synth that was intended for Doom music. So it's relatively close to what was expected.

But make no mistake, it's not that Doom95 itself did anything different with the music! It's just that the music in Doom95 was practically always one based on the Roland samples, while the music in the DOS version of Doom was most often one based on FM synthesis. But people could get good quality sample-based synths with Doom on DOS too! Better quality than Doom95, even.

With ZDoom-based ports, you get a large variety of synths to choose from, including OPL emulation. By default you'll get the FMOD synth, which on Windows uses the MS synth's own GM.dls samples. So yes, out of the box with GZDoom you'll get something quite close to how Doom95 sounded.

^That is really cool info dude!