I'd like to add that if anyone has problems with instruments not playing in Vista (and they sure do because of how Vista handles audio) especialy when using custom DLS (like Samuel's) there is a way to fix it by putting an "old" dmsynth.dll (aka Microsoft Synthesizer) file in the game directory. The file can be downloaded here.
I tested this on 64bit Vista and it works like a charm.
This dll file and the marvelous FF8 Launcher from magixts bring this game into the modern era,what more can a ff8 fan ask for?
Another addition to this issue.
With SP2 for Vista they updated the dmsynth.dll as well.The best part of it is that many games got surround sound back, and a lot of games work as they should now (if they had issues because of sound).
It also fixes the missing instruments issue in FF8 when using the "Microsoft Synthesizer" as the device which is necessary for Samuel's DLS and gives the best sound.
It's nothing new for FF8 because it worked great with the method I wrote before but just as information, another way you can get normal sound back is by installing Service Pack 2 for Vista or just using the dmsynth.dll from it.
Also, I tested it on Windows 7 RC too and it works.
If anyone wants only this dll -
download hereYou can put it in the game directory just like the previous, older dll that fixed the problem (I see 71 downloads, looks like it was usefull) but there is no reason to do it because the old one works just as fine.
So why would you need it? If you have sound issues with other games too and not just with FF8, this new dmsynth.dll will likely fix those problems too, on Vista and Windows 7 (currently RC status).I noticed that I got surround sound back again in all the games that didn't want to use surround in Vista and Win7 and Metal Gear Solid 2 actually starts, without sound issues+surround and is playable untill the end!
For it to work on a "global" level, you have to put the dll in C:\Windows\System32 ...the old dll there may have some protection, so you have to "own" it to delete/rename