ESS Audiodrive - cheap and good starting point.

doaks80 wrote:

ESS Audiodrive - cheap and good starting point.

Also, the drivers are simple and idiot proof.

A CT1600 will be great for what you need, this is what I use nowdays in my 233mmx build. I can't think of a better card for DOS stuff.

ESS Audiodrive isa, most compatible WAVE, nice FM. Simple minimalist software.
Yamaha OPL-SA compatible WAVE, minus Duke Nuken 2 (ADPCM), perfect FM, original software is crap. But there are alternatives.
Sound Blaster PRO is perfect but expencive!!!
Sound Blaster 16 is not even compatible to PRO 😁

ES1868/1868/1869 Audiodrive will give you the most options for pure DOS with zero hassle, for Win9x an AWE64 value will be a cheaper option with native GM synthesis.

I'm not so sure about the ESS being one of the best.

Back then I had an OPTi 930 based sound card with real Yamaha OPL3 and onboard wavetable. Never came across a game it wouldn't work with. (One with a cloned OPL3 chip would be just as good).

I only changed sound cards when I built a new computer that didn't have any ISA slots.

OPTi 928/929/930 are also valid options as they are usually found alongside genuine or cloned opl chips but they do have compatibility issues with games when running as sb pro in my experience; we can discuss esfm vs opl3 all day but the ess audiodrives are generally more problem free and have simple dos drivers with little overhead. ES688 is also a great option as a non-pnp card with genuine opl3 and simple drivers.

What games have issues on the OPTi 930 when running as SB Pro?

Cyberdyne wrote:

Sound Blaster 16 is not even compatible to PRO 😁

Really? How many games does this break? I've been digging how my Sound blaster 16 sounds, but I've stuck to DOOM and Duke Nukem 3D so I'd hardly consider that a thorough comb through available DOS games.

cyclone3d wrote:

What games have issues on the OPTi 930 when running as SB Pro?

Descent and either X-Wing or TIE Fighter IIRC..

cyclone3d wrote:

I'm not so sure about the ESS being one of the best.

No-one said it was the best. But taking price/availability into account, its SBPro compatability, good drivers and decent OPL emulation, it is one of the best ways to start out for a newbie.

The best card is the best card for a given game...which is why I have dozens and dozens of cards in my collection.

doaks80 wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

I'm not so sure about the ESS being one of the best.

No-one said it was the best. But taking price/availability into account, its SBPro compatability, good drivers and decent OPL emulation, it is one of the best ways to start out for a newbie.

The best card is the best card for a given game...which is why I have dozens and dozens of cards in my collection.

Right.. maybe I am just biased towards the Opti 930 based cards since I used one for quite a few years. That card is one of the few pieces of hardware I kept from back then. I also grabbed as many different Opti 930 based with onboard wavetable cards as I could find after I started collecting retro hardware a few years ago.

I also have dozens and dozens of sound cards in my collection.. actually, probably over 100. I should really do a full count at some point. Once all is said and done, I will probably be selling at least 50% of my sound cards.

appiah4 wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

What games have issues on the OPTi 930 when running as SB Pro?

Descent and either X-Wing or TIE Fighter IIRC..

Ok, I'll have to try those out. I don't remember having any issues with Descent but I didn't have either of those other games back then.

In my opinion the Terratec Maestro 32/96 is one the absolute best ones, but good luck finding one 😒

It has great MIDI (native MPU-401 so it works in all DOS games, and it also sounds almost identical to a Sound Canvas since it uses the Roland sounds), has 16-bit audio support in DOS (WSS compatible), and also 8-bit support (SBPro compatible.) The FM synth isn't a real OPL though. But this is one of the best cards for GM/GS MIDI games.

But again, it seems difficult to find.

realnc wrote:

In my opinion the Terratec Maestro 32/96 is one the absolute best ones, but good luck finding one

Indeed, It is pretty darn good. FM sound is very different, but kinda interesting, more like an organ.
Now take an Acer Magic S23 base card and stick on a Terratec 4MB dream daughterboard: you get something practically equal to the Maestro 32/96 but with genuine OPL3. The differences are that compared to the Maestro it may have a slightly higher noise floor and it has no 2nd MPU interface.

cyclone3d wrote:

Right.. maybe I am just biased towards the Opti 930 based cards since I used one for quite a few years. That card is one of the few pieces of hardware I kept from back then. I also grabbed as many different Opti 930 based with onboard wavetable cards as I could find after I started collecting retro hardware a few years ago.

I also have dozens and dozens of sound cards in my collection.. actually, probably over 100. I should really do a full count at some point. Once all is said and done, I will probably be selling at least 50% of my sound cards.

Do we have a test matrix for reverse stereo behaviour?

realnc wrote:

In my opinion the Terratec Maestro 32/96 is one the absolute best ones, but good luck finding one 😒

That card is GODLY and I'm dying to find one for cheap.. Good luck to me.

I'm also dying for a Terratec Gold 16..

realnc wrote:

In my opinion the Terratec Maestro 32/96 is one the absolute best ones, but good luck finding one 😒

It has great MIDI (native MPU-401 so it works in all DOS games, and it also sounds almost identical to a Sound Canvas since it uses the Roland sounds), has 16-bit audio support in DOS (WSS compatible), and also 8-bit support (SBPro compatible.) The FM synth isn't a real OPL though. But this is one of the best cards for GM/GS MIDI games.

But again, it seems difficult to find.

I didn't even know I had one and just "found" it in my "long card" soundcard box. I must have bought it years ago and I am sure I never tried it!

doaks80 wrote:

realnc wrote:

In my opinion the Terratec Maestro 32/96 is one the absolute best ones, but good luck finding one 😒

I didn't even know I had one and just "found" it in my "long card" soundcard box. I must have bought it years ago and I am sure I never tried it!

Wow, OK. That's like finding a gold bar in the mud 😀 This card is nowhere to be found online, and I'm sure it's not exactly cheap. It wasn't cheap back in the day either, IIRC it was very expensive for a sound card.