I think that the sfz format is probably the new soundfont. Grab the free Plogue sforzando player (VST instrument) and standalone app.
https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando/ There are some free sfz libraries available, as well as the sfz files from Dimension Pro will open in it.
As a bonus, an integrated format converter should get you started!
You can also drop SF2, DLS and acidized WAV files directly on the interface, and they will automatically get converted to SFZ 2.0, which you can then edit and tweak to your liking!
Out of curiousity, I just dragged a copy of 'FluidR3 GM.SF2' onto the GUI of sforzando, it easily imported the file. I can now select individual GM instruments from the menu under the "Converted" category. I can also open the new sfz file in a text editor by pressing a button on the GUI.