Re: OPL2/3 vs. the clones

Posted on 2020-09-11, 18:24

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I was pretty sure CMI integrates a 100% copy after my previous comparison so I do another comparison with short snippets which seems to underline that. Very interesting! How does the 8738 model compare to the 8730 that you tested? The 8730 is pretty hard to find for me locally, but 8738 cards are …

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Re: Setup for recording (DOS) audio

Posted on 2020-09-11, 13:14

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Nowadays, I'm using a Sound Blaster X-Fi on a separate PC for all of my recordings. It has an excellent resampling algorithm and can record using optical input (toslink) providing completely noise-free digital sound. This works because one of my retro rigs uses a SBLive + front panel which has …

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Re: Seeking suggestions for first ISA model sound card for new dos rig

Posted on 2020-09-11, 11:22

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Thanks! I will reload the game tonight and not install the 1.3 patch to test. I would suggest using CD audio anyhow since it's vastly superior and contains vocals as well. But if you're nostalgic about FM synth, then stay with the unpatched version. I will try to get the expansion as well. The …

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Re: Help me finish my first DOS build

Posted on 2020-09-11, 10:13

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

You can try manually installing the SBPro using the "Add New Hardware" wizard in Control Panel. And yeah, the lack of PS2 ports is why I'd never use a rig that doesn't have them built-in. Those motherboard headers tend to be finicky, and for me, using a mechanical ball mouse was one of the worst …

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Re: Seeking suggestions for first ISA model sound card for new dos rig

Posted on 2020-09-11, 04:34

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

So I have the ALS100 working for every game except heroes of might and magic 2 which is my best game. The sound effects work, but no matter what I select for midi in the sound config I can’t get it to play midi. Any ideas? Heroes 2 with the latest patch but without the expansion has non-functional …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2020-09-10, 19:58

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Someday I fear we'll have advertizing on coffins and on the sides of hospital beds . By then, Creative's approach will look charmingly subtle and tasteful in comparison . Yup, spyware and add integration is the reason why I'm never "upgrading" to Windows 10. Now that Win7 is EOL, I'm using Linux …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2020-09-10, 19:04

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

who at Creative thought displaying a slow, "EAX" splash screen with sound on each startup was a good idea? Or overriding the Windows startup sound with some thunder? I hated that as well, messing with my custom made Unreal Tournament sound theme back in the day. :D Almost tops the Nvidia 40.xx …

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Re: Your 'formula' for system specs and operating system matching

Posted on 2020-09-09, 14:22

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

There is some merit to installing Win98 on a 1GHz+ CPU. Turn of the century games like Unreal Tournament and Deus Ex do benefit from the extra horsepower, while being able to shine using 9x drivers for Glide and A3D.

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Re: OPL2/3 vs. the clones

Posted on 2020-09-09, 14:14

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Testament to that is the discovery that ALS100 cards that were FM-shamed for having "shitty OPL3" up until a few months ago have been elevated to a desirable status now that someone discovered they actually have genuine OPL3 clones on board. I think people were just dissing the FM of the ALS100 …

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Re: What retro activity did you get up to today?

Posted on 2020-09-09, 09:48

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Disassembled and cleaned my old A4 Tech PS2 keyboard. My sister spilled some soda on it, so a thorough cleaning was in order. After a bath in a dishwasher liquid/water mix and some scrubbing, the keyboard appears to be as good as new. I'd even say the keys feel a bit more responsive now.

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Re: Sound Cards Benchmark: I tested differents sound cards.

Posted on 2020-09-08, 06:47

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Its a Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Digital, Model S0220 (i think its a dell sblive, if i understand well, it has all features of a real sblive) Yes, I have also tried one of those Dell SB0220 cards and it worked fine for me as well. It is indeed a proper SBLive, unlike the infamous Dell SB0200. By the …

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Re: Sound Cards Benchmark: I tested differents sound cards.

Posted on 2020-09-07, 23:28

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Oh my god ! Wow! Im impress ! I followed all your guide carefully. All works perfect! I can't believe how great the music sounds in Doom and King Quest VI. Its much better than Yamaha Opl3 FM synth. I'm really impress. King Quest VI in village play so great its unbelivable ! Thanks so much ! You're …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-09-07, 21:23

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

Also 1.13d is the newest patch that will work in Windows 98. Thanks! I wasn't sure how far I could go with the patches and I figured they probably dropped Win9x support somewhere along the way. I do have LoD as well, and the plan is to re-create the character that I used back when I first got the …

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Re: What game are you playing now?

Posted on 2020-09-07, 18:52

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Milliways

in Milliways

Playing through Diablo 2 and then the expansion on my P3 1.4/CUBX-E machine, it's really fun. I haven't played this game since it was new and back then my computer ran it ver poorly. Very nice! That's next on my list, after I finish up StarCraft. It will be my first time playing Diablo 2 using …

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Re: Sound Cards Benchmark: I tested differents sound cards.

Posted on 2020-09-07, 16:14

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

Please can you give me a link for the soundfont that you use ? I want to use the same than yours for my sblive. thanks a lot ! I'm using Patch93's SC-55 soundfont. You can find a detailed explanation on how to set up a SBLive like that in my guide: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=74361 …

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Re: Sound Cards Benchmark: I tested differents sound cards.

Posted on 2020-09-07, 07:40

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

I just checked on youtube Doom with SBlive in general midi. The music sounds really weird to me, maybe it just too new for my ears. I heard doom with sc-55 too and its still a little weird, but much better than sblive. How General MIDI sounds on a SBLive depends entirely on the soundfont that it …

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Re: Installing DOS drivers on an Audigy2 ZS

Posted on 2020-09-07, 07:38

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Someone in a Retro PC Discord said this means that I misconfigured the sound hardware during the game's setup, but one of the games I tested - One Must Fall 2097 - doesn't offer any configuration other than the hardware type (I chose "Sound Blaster 16") and audio quality; no need to specify IRQ, …

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Re: Sound Cards Benchmark: I tested differents sound cards.

Posted on 2020-09-07, 03:01

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

in Marvin \ General Old Hardware

2. What are the advantages of a awe32 with a opl3 chip vs SB16? I read that they use soundfonts with ram. But honestly i dont know really the purpose of that. Is it for playing better quality midi music files? Soundfonts improve the quality of General MIDI music. They have no effect on FM synth …

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Re: My Socket 7 Build “Seven of 90’s”

Posted on 2020-09-06, 08:44

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by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ System Specs

in Marvin \ System Specs

kolderman wrote on 2020-09-06, 08:13: And maybe get a SB Live! for win95 and games like diablo. He'll probably get better sound with the ALS100 due to the Live's poor resampling algorithm. Assuming we're talking about Diablo 1, not the sequel.

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Re: Installing DOS drivers on an Audigy2 ZS

Posted on 2020-09-06, 06:29

by

by Joseph_Joestar

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Currently, AUDIGY12.EXE hangs after telling me that it found the device. Cursor continues to blink, but it doesn't respond to any keyboard inputs, and I can't do anything other than restart. I remember trying to get the Audigy2 ZS to work in DOS 6.22 one time and failing with similar issues. Not …

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