diff --git a/src/sound/i_music.cpp b/src/sound/i_music.cpp
index 1c3ed8d287..cbea4ee2ca 100644
--- a/src/sound/i_music.cpp
+++ b/src/sound/i_music.cpp
@@ -461,7 +461,6 @@ MusInfo *I_RegisterSong (FileReader *reader, MidiDeviceSetting *device)
 			return 0;
 		}
 		
-		// fixme: device and streamer need to be handled individually.
 		EMidiDevice devtype = device == nullptr? MDEV_DEFAULT : (EMidiDevice)device->device;
 #ifndef _WIN32
 		// non-Windows platforms don't support MDEV_MMAPI so map to MDEV_SNDSYS
@@ -469,24 +468,11 @@ MusInfo *I_RegisterSong (FileReader *reader, MidiDeviceSetting *device)
 			devtype = MDEV_SNDSYS;
 #endif
 
-		MIDIStreamer *streamer = nullptr;
-retry_as_sndsys:
-		streamer = CreateMIDIStreamer(devtype, device != nullptr? device->args.GetChars() : "");
-
-		if (streamer == nullptr && devtype != MDEV_SNDSYS && snd_mididevice < 0)
-		{
-			devtype = MDEV_SNDSYS;
-			goto retry_as_sndsys;
-		}
-#ifdef _WIN32
-		if (streamer == nullptr && devtype != MDEV_MMAPI && snd_mididevice >= 0)
-		{
-			 streamer = CreateMIDIStreamer(MDEV_MMAPI, "");
-		}
-#endif
+		MIDIStreamer *streamer = CreateMIDIStreamer(devtype, device != nullptr? device->args.GetChars() : "");
 		if (streamer == nullptr)
 		{
 			delete reader;
+			delete source;
 			return 0;
 		}
 		streamer->SetMIDISource(source);
diff --git a/src/sound/mididevices/music_wavewriter_mididevice.cpp b/src/sound/mididevices/music_wavewriter_mididevice.cpp
index 44e263bdfe..ddf5bb3bb2 100644
--- a/src/sound/mididevices/music_wavewriter_mididevice.cpp
+++ b/src/sound/mididevices/music_wavewriter_mididevice.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /*
 ** music_wavewriter_mididevice.cpp
-** Dumos a MIDI to a wave file by using one of the other software synths.
+** Dumps a MIDI to a wave file by using one of the other software synths.
 **
 **---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ** Copyright 2008 Randy Heit
diff --git a/src/sound/musicformats/music_midistream.cpp b/src/sound/musicformats/music_midistream.cpp
index 5889b0e1da..eea2049100 100644
--- a/src/sound/musicformats/music_midistream.cpp
+++ b/src/sound/musicformats/music_midistream.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include "doomdef.h"
 #include "m_swap.h"
 #include "doomerrors.h"
+#include "v_text.h"
 
 // MACROS ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
@@ -179,46 +180,56 @@ EMidiDevice MIDIStreamer::SelectMIDIDevice(EMidiDevice device)
 //
 //==========================================================================
 
+static EMidiDevice lastRequestedDevice, lastSelectedDevice;
+
 MIDIDevice *MIDIStreamer::CreateMIDIDevice(EMidiDevice devtype)
 {
-	// fixme: This should check up front if the device can be started.
-	// Checks to ensure that a device finds a compatible sound font are entirely missing here.
 	bool checked[MDEV_COUNT] = { false };
 
+	MIDIDevice *dev = nullptr;
 	if (devtype == MDEV_SNDSYS) devtype = MDEV_FLUIDSYNTH;
-	while (true)
+	EMidiDevice requestedDevice = devtype, selectedDevice;
+	while (dev == nullptr)
 	{
+		selectedDevice = devtype;
 		try
 		{
-	switch (devtype)
-	{
+			switch (devtype)
+			{
 			case MDEV_GUS:
-				return new TimidityMIDIDevice(Args);
-
-	case MDEV_MMAPI:
-#ifdef _WIN32
-		return CreateWinMIDIDevice(mididevice);
-#endif
-		// Intentional fall-through for non-Windows systems.
-
-	case MDEV_FLUIDSYNTH:
-		return new FluidSynthMIDIDevice(Args);
-
-	case MDEV_OPL:
-			return new OPLMIDIDevice(Args);
-
-	case MDEV_TIMIDITY:
-		return CreateTimidityPPMIDIDevice(Args);
-
-	case MDEV_WILDMIDI:
-		return new WildMIDIDevice(Args);
-
-	default:
+				dev = new TimidityMIDIDevice(Args);
 				break;
-	}
+
+			case MDEV_MMAPI:
+		#ifdef _WIN32
+				dev = CreateWinMIDIDevice(mididevice);
+				break;
+#endif
+				// Intentional fall-through for non-Windows systems.
+
+			case MDEV_FLUIDSYNTH:
+				dev = new FluidSynthMIDIDevice(Args);
+				break;
+
+			case MDEV_OPL:
+				dev = new OPLMIDIDevice(Args);
+				break;
+
+			case MDEV_TIMIDITY:
+				dev = CreateTimidityPPMIDIDevice(Args);
+				break;
+
+			case MDEV_WILDMIDI:
+				dev = new WildMIDIDevice(Args);
+				break;
+
+			default:
+				break;
+			}
 		}
 		catch (CRecoverableError &err)
 		{
+			DPrintf(DMSG_WARNING, "%s\n", err.GetMessage());
 			checked[devtype] = true;
 			devtype = MDEV_DEFAULT;
 			// Opening the requested device did not work out so choose another one.
@@ -238,6 +249,23 @@ MIDIDevice *MIDIStreamer::CreateMIDIDevice(EMidiDevice devtype)
 			}
 		}
 	}
+	if (selectedDevice != requestedDevice && (selectedDevice != lastSelectedDevice || requestedDevice != lastRequestedDevice))
+	{
+		static const char *devnames[] = {
+			"Windows Default",
+			"OPL",
+			"",
+			"Timidity++",
+			"FluidSynth",
+			"GUS",
+			"WildMidi"
+		};
+
+		lastRequestedDevice = requestedDevice;
+		lastSelectedDevice = selectedDevice;
+		Printf(TEXTCOLOR_RED "Unable to create " TEXTCOLOR_ORANGE "%s" TEXTCOLOR_RED " MIDI device. Falling back to " TEXTCOLOR_ORANGE "%s\n", devnames[requestedDevice], devnames[selectedDevice]);
+	}
+	return dev;
 }
 
 //==========================================================================