Well, FF8's a whole other animal, but fortunately a little more DirectX friendly.
The default configuration programs do NOT let you use any of your MIDI hardware if it can't handle DLS. That's one of the main reasons behind the creation of the FFSF's version of the config.
Second, DLS is basically software Soundfonts, only with the plus of being available on nearly all computers regardless of the soundcard, since the functionality is built into DX6 (or is it 6.1?). Anyway, on the FF8 Install CD, there is a DirectMusic upgrade for the S-YXG50/70/100 series, but it really doesn't do much for soundtrack quality, as there are all but 2 or 3 XG-specific songs in the soundtrack, plus both the MS synth and the yamaha synth still use the same DLS file, which unfortunately is built upon a DLS conversion of the Bank 0 instruments from the XG20 series, otherwise known as the XG70's "XGLite" mode.
But, that's where the
FFSF Project comes in. Squaresoft put together a rather poor DLS file in comparison to the PSX soundtrack's samples, but it still had a lot of potential, which you can see by comparing the original PC soundtrack with my
Improved Tracks patch, since both are geared for the Original DLS, so you're still dealing with the same sample set file.