Open DLS files in your browser
The sound banks behind Windows' own MIDI synth, the Mac's and the games of the DirectMusic years. Open one right here, pick an instrument and play it on the keys. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your sound bank opens as its presets, and the one you pick plays on the keys with its own sounds.
- Every preset with its bank and number • Drums marked
- Play the keys, or the letters from A to ;
- Filter presets by name
- Its name, maker, notes, instruments and samples
About DLS
The MIDI Manufacturers Association made Downloadable Sounds in 1997, so a MIDI file could bring its own instruments. Windows plays MIDI with gm.dls, Roland's General MIDI sounds, the Mac's set is gs_instruments.dls, and games of the DirectMusic years shipped their music's sounds as .dls.
A DLS is a RIFF file like a SoundFont: a pool of wave samples, and instruments, each with its bank and program, splitting the keys into regions that play a sample with its loop, tuning and envelope. Level 2 adds layers and filters.
Filepeek lists every instrument with its bank and program, drum kits marked, and plays the one you pick on the keys with the file's own waves. The card gives the bank's name, its notes, and every instrument and sample.
Downloadable Sounds
.dls
Format
- MIME type
- audio/dls
- Made by
- The MIDI Manufacturers Association
- Released
- 1997
Inside the file
- Holds
- Instruments and waves
- Built on
- RIFF
- Levels
- DLS 1 and DLS 2
- Used by
- Windows, the Mac, DirectMusic
Opens in every browser
Filepeek opens DLS sound banks in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari. On their own, browsers only download them.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Apps that open DLS
- WindowsAwave Studio • Windows plays MIDI with its own gm.dls
- MacLogic Pro and GarageBand, through Apple's DLSMusicDevice
- iPhone and iPadNo app opens it
- AndroidNo app opens it
Questions
How do I hear a DLS file?
Drop it on this page. Pick an instrument and play the keys, or the letters from A to ; on your keyboard, with the file's own sounds.
Where is Windows' MIDI sound bank?
It's gm.dls, in the drivers folder under C:\Windows\System32, the Roland sounds Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth plays. A copy of it dropped here opens like any other bank.
How do I turn a DLS into an SF2?
Awave Studio converts a DLS into an SF2, which more apps and synths load.