foo_mmf 1.1.2

Yamaha SMAF playback for foobar2000 2.x on Windows 10 or later. The component uses original, user-supplied Yamaha MA7 or MA5 synthesizer libraries in a separate 32-bit process.

AI Disclaimer

Large Language Models were used to aid in development of this component.

Install

1. Install foo_mmf.fb2k-component through File > Preferences > Components > Install, then restart foobar. This single package includes both the x86 and x64 components; foobar selects the correct version automatically. ARM64EC foobar uses the x64 version.

2. Open File > Preferences > Playback > Input > Yamaha SMAF. Choose an engine and locate its library folder if necessary. Automatic (prefer MA7) is the default. Keep each Yamaha library set together, including its runtime DLLs. Yamaha binaries are not included in this component. For MA7, an empty folder setting searches C:\Program Files (x86)\Yamaha\MCP-MA7 on x64 or ARM64 Windows, and C:\Program Files\Yamaha\MCP-MA7 on 32-bit Windows (using the system drive if different). The folder needs M7_EmuSmw7.dll, SMAFMMS7EMU.dll, M7_EmuHw.dll, EMOJIMGR.dll and their original runtime dependencies. For MA5, select MA5 (fall back to MA7) and use the separate MA5 folder field. An empty field uses C:\Program Files (x86)\Yamaha\MidRadio Player on 64-bit Windows, or C:\Program Files\Yamaha\MidRadio Player on 32-bit Windows. The folder needs M5_EmuSmw5.dll, SMAFMMS5EMU.dll and M5_EmuHw.dll; the Smaf.dll add-in is not required. Both the older MidRadio set and the supplied newer set have been tested. Select the folder containing the version you want; avoid mixing DLLs from different releases.

3. You can start playing! The component supports .mmf, .mld, .mid or .midi files, with each format registering a separate decoder. If you also have foo_midi or another decoder for these extensions, open File > Preferences > Playback > Decoding and order Yamaha MMF decoder, Yamaha MLD decoder and Yamaha MIDI decoder independently against competing decoders. This affects MMF as well as MIDI: foo_midi also handles MMF. Put your other decoder first when you prefer its rendering, then restart playback. For screen reader/keyboard users, open the context menu (Shift+F10/Applications key) on a decoder in the list to find the move up/down commands.

MA5 gives some songs a different sound because some patches differ from MA7. If you listen to a ringtone created for a device using a MA5 chip and it sounds different to how you remember, change the Playback Engine setting to "MA5." If it cannot load a file, the component tries MA7 when its libraries are available. Both tested MA5 versions reject the MA7 and MLD regression fixtures and standard MIDI, so those use MA7 fallback. Automatic also uses MA5 when MA7 is missing or cannot open the file. Selecting MA7 uses only MA7. File properties report the engine that actually loaded the song. Engine/path changes apply to newly opened sessions.

The older MA5 libraries reject modern Windows version numbers. The component applies Windows' version-reporting compatibility fix only to MA5 helper processes; it does not alter your system compatibility settings.

Playback and settings

• Sample rate, under File > Preferences > Playback > Input > Yamaha SMAF, selects 44,100 Hz or 48,000 Hz, defaulting to 48,000 Hz. Both MA7 and both tested MA5 releases support these rates. The selected rate applies to every file when playback or conversion starts a new session. Foobar may still display a previously cached rate; use Properties > Tools > Reload info from file(s) on affected tracks to refresh it.
• MMF text metadata, including title, artist, composer and copyright, appears in foobar's tags when present. Tags are read only; source files are unchanged.
• Supports supplied MA2, MA3, MA5 and MA7 files in .mmf format, MLD, and standard MIDI.
• Default Yamaha volume, in preferences, ranges from 0 to 127 and defaults to 64. It controls the synthesizer before its PCM output clips. Lower it for loud songs: reducing foobar's own volume cannot repair clipping that has already occurred inside Yamaha. Some files may need a value below the default.
• Enable Yamaha reverb and Enable Yamaha chorus for MID and MIDI files are independent preferences, both on by default, preserving the file's effect settings. Uncheck either to disable that effect. Changes apply when a file is next opened and also apply to conversion. MMF/MLD effects are unchanged. Disabled effect sends are suppressed in memory; source files are never edited.
• View > SMAF control has labelled spin boxes for tempo (70-130%), transposition (-12 to +12 semitones) and Yamaha volume (0-127). Type a value or use Up/Down; valid changes apply after 350 ms without further edits. There is no Apply button. Incomplete or out-of-range values leave the previous settings active.
• Tab and Shift+Tab navigate the controls. Alt+T, Alt+P and Alt+V select the fields; Alt+R resets; Enter and Escape close the window. Reset restores normal tempo/pitch and the volume currently saved in preferences. Closing also applies any pending valid edit.
• Temporary controls apply across tracks until foobar exits. Saved preferences initialize new decoders; a temporary volume override takes precedence during playback. Conversion, integrity testing and canonical decoding use normal tempo/pitch and the saved volume. Changes become audible after foobar's existing output buffer plays out.
• Preferences provide 0-254 extra whole-song repeats and a 0-30 second fade over the end of the last repeated pass. Defaults are no extra repeats and a five-second repeat fade. Foobar's no-loop flag disables extra repeats.
• Ordinary playback preserves the natural release/reverb tail until it settles, with a ten-second tail limit. End positions retain 10 ms rendering resolution. Metadata reports nominal song duration; audible release tails can extend playback.

Playback uses Yamaha's fast native seek without restarting the helper. Native seeks restore musical position with millisecond precision; they do not reproduce the exact waveform or accumulated effect tail of an uninterrupted render.

MA5 can occasionally freeze inside Yamaha's libraries. If loading makes no progress for five seconds, the component terminates that helper and retries once in a fresh process. If the retry also stalls, it uses MA7 when available; otherwise it reports an error so the file scan can continue. View > Console records the filename, stalled stage, elapsed time and recovery action. Cancellation remains available during the wait. This also covers metadata reads and conversion opens. A complete helper request has a 30-second limit even if it reports intermediate progress. Note that this issue was also present in MID radio player which would sometimes fail to load files.

Build and test

Place the foobar SDK at sdk/. Current builds use SDK 2025-03-07 and Visual Studio 2026 with the C++ desktop workload, toolset v145 and a Windows SDK. SDK files are not modified; build output stays under build/. No WTL dependency is required. Yamaha libraries and songs are needed only for runtime tests, not compilation or packaging.

powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File package.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File tools\Test-Package.ps1
powershell -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File build.ps1 -Project bridge_tests.vcxproj -Platform x64
$repo = (Get-Location).Path
& .\build\x64\Release\bridge_tests.exe "$repo\build\Win32\Release\smaf_helper.exe" "$repo\MCP-MA7" "$repo\test files"

The package layout follows the foobar component packaging specification: root foo_mmf.dll is x86, x64/foo_mmf.dll is x64, and the x86 helper is shared at the root.

build.ps1 without arguments builds the x86 WAV probe:

build\Win32\Release\smaf_probe.exe library-folder song.mmf output.wav

Optional probe arguments, in order, are tempo, semitones, extra repeats, volume, seek position in milliseconds, MIDI reverb (0/1), engine (5/7), MIDI chorus (0/1), and sample rate (44100/48000). The probe defaults to volume 64, both effects on, engine 7 and 44100 Hz. For the older MA5 set, launch the probe with the process-local environment variable __COMPAT_LAYER=WinXPSP2VersionLie; the component's bridge handles this automatically.

Pass two additional absolute folder arguments (older MA5, newer MA5) to bridge_tests.exe to run both MA5 suites. The real-host suite expects the newer set under newer_ma5/ and the older set at the default MidRadio installation path.

To measure library loading without foobar or IPC, run smaf_probe.exe DLL-folder --benchmark input.mmf 5 (use 7 for MA7). It reports initialization, the first open and five warm opens. Each warm open resets song/chip state while retaining the process and DLLs. Older MA5 libraries can load more slowly than newer releases. Foobar buffering and helper launch time are additional.

Bridge tests cover both client architectures, hot file switching, exact/native seeks, clipping, MIDI effects, concurrent sessions, controls, cancellation, malformed input, missing libraries and helper crashes. Build metadata_tests.vcxproj to test the metadata reader without Yamaha DLLs; pass an optional MMF folder to check your fixtures. Use tools/Host-Test.ps1 -Package -Features for metadata, both sample rates and the loop regression cases in foobar. The named fixtures expected by these optional tests are listed in the test sources and are not redistributed. Build foo_mmf_tests.vcxproj and use tools/Host-Test.ps1 -Package -Foobar path-to-foobar to test packaged binaries in a disposable portable foobar copy, including native keyboard controls and MSAA labels. Never install the test component into your normal profile. See DEVELOPMENT.md and DEVELOPMENT_NOTES.md for contributor instructions.

Use tools/Host-Test.ps1 -Package -Recovery for controlled MA5 stalls: the test suspends only its own helpers and checks fresh retry, repeated-stall fallback, missing MA7, console messages and cancellation. Build load_stress.vcxproj for Win32, then run load_stress.exe helper DLL-folder song-folder passes with absolute paths. It accepts your own MMF files, repeatedly opens them in shuffled order, logs timing and discards stalled workers before continuing.

The component's own code is MIT licensed. Package builds include the foobar SDK and PFC license notices. Yamaha DLLs remain separate and are not redistributed.