Listening to the midi clips

Some MIDI players (noteably, old versions of Windows MPlayer such as the one installed with the original Windows 95) will need a reset to get back to ordinary twelve tone equal temperament after playing the clips.

Play: B flat then c . Now play Two notes . Do you hear the same note (middle c) twice? If so your player is okay.

If you hear two pitches, you can upgrade your player to one with automatic resets

Windows Media Player (it's free) :)

Alternatively, play Reset after listening to the clips. More details.

The quality of the sound you hear in MIDI is very dependent on your soundcard as it uses the on-board midi synth. (Other types of sound file such as mp3 or real audio are played as a waveform, which is much less soundcard dependent).

You can get an alternative way of playing midi files for very little cost using the Yamaha Soft synth. It's free trial for 3 months, then you have to register if you want to keep it.

Pitch wise it is fairly reasonable (accurate to within half a cent), and the voices are comparable to those on a middle range soundcard, but not anything like as good as a top notch soundcard or synth.