VOGONS


First post, by Pabloz

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I ended up checking a youtube video that compares a bunch of Soundcards with Doom music.
Took my headphones and listened to practically every single one.
Then i said, wow the Yamaha sound is awesome!, even better than the rest. (excluding the roland SC)

here is the video if you want to hear it, check the notes that provide time and soundcard used.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXFYWJ7dbz0

Then i said, well the yamaha PCI cards must also be great, and found another video with a yamaha Harmony YMF 724 XG PCI, this is the ymf724 XG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTUVUWa_hlA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7IFAHWrPKM

hear those drums!!

checking my box of things i found 2 of those cards.

One YMF724F-V SB-LINK IS AVALIABLE!
One YMF744B-V (SB-LINK was removed and pin6 connects to a resistor r49 that is not there. I wonder if i can just put the pins and connect to motherboard.

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but i havent tested them yet. are SB-link connectos available on P4 and athlonXP motherboards too?

Reply 2 of 25, by Scali

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It's no contest, is it? The SB Pro 2.0 uses a budget 80s FM synthesizer chip, where the newer Yamaha cards use much more modern and advanced XG wavetable synth chips. There's a huge generational gap.

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Reply 4 of 25, by Scali

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derSammler wrote:

Just connect a Yamaha MU-50 to your SB Pro and the difference is gone. 😉

If the SB Pro had an MPU-401 compatible interface perhaps... but I don't think you can get DOOM running via MIDI on an SB Pro.

http://scalibq.wordpress.com/just-keeping-it- … ro-programming/

Reply 5 of 25, by firage

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Yes, a huge apples and oranges gap comparing FM to wavetable music on one of the better sounding cards. The SB Pro sound is a great fit for 286/386's and many 486's, for FM and lower production quality 90's SFX material.

Doom has a pretty rocking FM soundtrack, but it's definitely the low-fi option there.

My big-red-switch 486

Reply 6 of 25, by Anonymous Coward

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[quote]Is a Creative Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 better than a Yamaha ?{/quote]

For selling on eBay, yes.

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V'Ger XT|Upgraded AT|Ultimate 386|Super VL/EISA 486|SMP VL/EISA Pentium

Reply 7 of 25, by gdjacobs

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Pabloz wrote:

but i havent tested them yet. are SB-link connectos available on P4 and athlonXP motherboards too?

A small number of early P4 motherboards support PC/PCI. QDI, for instance, seemed to include them quite commonly.
List of motherboards with SB-link (PC/PCI) header

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 8 of 25, by Deksor

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Both also features an integrated OPL3 which is the same FM chip found on the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0. I made a record of several OPL3 sound cards including one of my YMF744 here https://youtu.be/2v6FqmQbs2w and it sounds exactly the same (and with less noise and better amplification)

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Reply 10 of 25, by brostenen

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Whenever I run a Win9x box, then I install a YMF-724. If I run a MS-Dos 6.22 box, then I go for an ISA card. That can be everything from YMF-718/719, over SB16 and up to AWE64. It all depends on the target. Is it a mid-90's Pentium with Dos-6.22 or is it an early 90's 486dx33 box with Dos-6.22. However, I allways install Doom and Duke3D on every Win9x box that I build, as the only two Dos games. And for those two games, the YMF-724 is an awesomme card.

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Those cakes make you sick....

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Reply 12 of 25, by brostenen

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Baoran wrote:

How does a YMF-719 isa card compare to a SB pro 2.0?

There is a tread here on vogons, about the drawbacks on that chip, and phil has a couple of videos up on this. Something about some intruments missing or wrongly played. Yet it is so close to a SB Pro 2.0, that one will not really make any notice. It is not the same difference as say a SB16 with OPL3 chip vs. AWE64 using the CQM.

On SB 2.0 you do not have a Waveblaster header and on the YMF-718/719 you have it. Differences in OPL are not that big, yet the price difference is huge. So..... To me it is a no brainer. YMF-718/719 beats the SB 2.0 these days, when all factors are counted in. (Price, sound-reproductiom, features and more)

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

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Reply 13 of 25, by gdjacobs

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Really, the only issue with YMF-71x cards is the lack of ADPCM format support, so a handful of older Apogee titles (DN2, Major Stryker I think, etc) don't quite work. It doesn't have an issue with reversed audio on any of the mixer channels, and James-F goes into how the output filter can be modified to perform identical to the SBP 2.0.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 14 of 25, by cyclone3d

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brostenen wrote:
Baoran wrote:

How does a YMF-719 isa card compare to a SB pro 2.0?

There is a tread here on vogons, about the drawbacks on that chip, and phil has a couple of videos up on this. Something about some intruments missing or wrongly played. Yet it is so close to a SB Pro 2.0, that one will not really make any notice. It is not the same difference as say a SB16 with OPL3 chip vs. AWE64 using the CQM.

On SB 2.0 you do not have a Waveblaster header and on the YMF-718/719 you have it. Differences in OPL are not that big, yet the price difference is huge. So..... To me it is a no brainer. YMF-718/719 beats the SB 2.0 these days, when all factors are counted in. (Price, sound-reproductiom, features and more)

OP is talking about the SB Pro 2.0 not the SB 2.0.

Funny thing is, although I have a ton of different sound cards, I still have not been able to get a YMF-718/719 based card. When I see them for sale, they are generally priced really high for what they are.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 15 of 25, by badmojo

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I got told off about this here once so I’m going to play it forward - the Pro is named “2”, not “2.0”. The original SB had a 2.0 version. So it’s confusing to say Sound Blaster Pro 2.0.

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Reply 16 of 25, by Deksor

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Indeed, SB 2.0 is completely different from SBPro 2. One is mono (except if you install the CMS upgrade, then that new part is stereo) while the other is fully stereo, but can't be upgraded with CMS anymore.

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Reply 17 of 25, by Scali

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Funny enough I have one of these "Sound Blaster Pro 2" cards, but they don't mention anything like that in the manual or the included software as far as I recall. Most stuff just talks about it as a "Sound Blaster Pro".

http://scalibq.wordpress.com/just-keeping-it- … ro-programming/

Reply 18 of 25, by firage

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No, that name is written on the PCB. Not that hard to miss.

I believe the only new name it had in branding and marketing was "Sound Blaster Pro Deluxe".

Last edited by firage on 2018-02-22, 21:16. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 19 of 25, by brostenen

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Yeah. That is correct on that naming thing. I don't know why I have it wrong.
I still think the YMF-718 or 719 are good enough cards. As said. A select few titles does not work correctly.
Personally, I kind of like the 718/719 cards. They have a nice sound to them, and does what I need of them...

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

My blog: http://to9xct.blogspot.dk
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