How much on-board RAM does the AWE64 Gold have? I've got one of those laying around that I've never really played with. Disappointing to hear that soundfonts can't be loaded via DOS.
wrote:How much on-board RAM does the AWE64 Gold have? I've got one of those laying around that I've never really played with. Disappointing to hear that soundfonts can't be loaded via DOS.
I think the Gold version has 4, and the regular has 1. Does the value model have 512Kb I wonder? You can add more to the AWE64 using Creative's own memory module, but I cannot remember what its max capacity is. Something like 20 meg, or similar...?
EMU8000 can only use 28MB (32-4) of soundfont RAM and that's what all of the AWE cards use.
What is preventing a DOS sound font loader?
Time? Nobody cares anymore? Or some technical reason?
wrote:What is preventing a DOS sound font loader?
Time? Nobody cares anymore? Or some technical reason?
my take written here: Can't find AWE banks loader for DOS :(
--> ISA Soundcard Overview // Doom MBF 2.04 // SetMul
Interesting info gerwin.
Just came across that post. Kind of sad.
wrote:I'm still not certain wich voodoo card I should get. I'm leaning towards the v3, but I don't know how good compatibility is. Will NFS II SE work on it? I'm quite sure NFS 3 and later does.
NFS 2 SE still works on Voodoo 5, so it should be fine on a Voodoo 3.
wrote:wrote:What is preventing a DOS sound font loader?
Time? Nobody cares anymore? Or some technical reason?my take written here: Can't find AWE banks loader for DOS :(
Well that's lame! Whenever possible, I try not to use pure DOS since I really don't like it, but it's still really crappy for there to be no way to load an SF2 soundfont in DOS on any SoundBlaster AWE sound card.
wrote:I think the Gold version has 4, and the regular has 1. Does the value model have 512Kb I wonder? You can add more to the AWE64 using Creative's own memory module, but I cannot remember what its max capacity is. Something like 20 meg, or similar...?
That is 100% correct. Standard AWE64 has 1MB of RAM, AWE64 Value(like my CT4500 SoundBlaster AWE64) has 512KB of RAM and the AWE64 Gold has 4MB of RAM. And as was already pointed out by Swaaye, AWE sound cards can use up to 28MB of RAM. Which leads to this question: are there any soundfonts that exceed 28MB in size? I've yet to see a soundfont bigger than 20-something MB(the Chorium soundfont, to be more precise).
Say, is there an MIDI daughterboard that can output similar sound to the Roland SCC-1?
There are many larger soundfonts. Once you get to a Live! you can load huge soundfonts that are hundreds of MB.
One of my favorites is SGM-180 which is 180 MB, I think. 😀 Taiji Generation 4 SE is good too and it's around 50MB. Chorium is good as well yes.
The Roland SCD-15 (SCB-55) and SCD-10 (SCB-7) daughtercards put out the same sound in games as a SCC-1. SCD-15 is has the GS sound set too which is only useful for musicians AFAIK.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas
wrote:are there any soundfonts that exceed 28MB in size?
Yes. Timber.sf2 is 32mb, WeedsGM3.sf2 (guess who) is 52mb and the overrated Fluid is 141mb
Well damn! It shows I don't know much about MIDI(I'm a sucker for FM Synthesis and typically find MIDI to sound rather crappy, but with the MIDI sound output by certain DOS games, this opinion is about to change. But I do like FM Synthesis a lot, and that's a fact that will never change).
I think I'll keep an eye out on the SCD-15 and SCD-10. Once I find one for cheap, I'll pick it up and attach it to my OPTi 82C929A. I already have authentic(albeit rough) OPL2 and OPL3 FM Synthesis with the 82C929A; all I'm missing is a good wavetable to plug into the wavetable header.
You might like the Yamaha DB50XG too. I got one recently and I think it's pretty nice.
There's nothing wrong with FM synthesis. 😀
I found two listings on eBay for rebranded Yamaha DB60XGs(they're rebranded by NEC), and they seem to be well within my price range for an MIDI daughterboard(I'm not paying more than $25 for an MIDI daughterboard). Might have to pick one up. I listened to your recordings of Doom made using your DB50XG, and wow, does it sound AWESOME. What I like most about the DB50XG from those recordings is how strong the percussion is. I love the sound of that percussion.
As for the FM Synthesis, I never said there was anything wrong with it. It's just that since people seem to generally make mention of MIDI's superiority to FM Synthesis, I feel like an inferior DOS gamer to those guys(and I outright refuse to use DOSBox unless I'm playing DOS games on my laptop, which runs Windows Vista. Using the Microsoft software wavetable as a soundfont for General MIDI usually sounds very nice to my ears, but there are other times where it's either lacking or complete crap). But hey, I like my FM Synthesis, and I like it as rough as it is on my OPTi 82C929A. In fact, I prefer the overly rough FM Synthesis of the OPTi 82C929A to the INCREDIBLY bass-heavy FM Synthesis of the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0. And the hell with sound cards that use YMF262 clones; if I'm to play games using FM Synthesis, I demand nothing more than a sound card with a discrete YMF262 or a YMF262 clone that sounds identical to the original(certain sound cards come REALLY close, but what I noticed is that most sound cards with what I call "ASIC-based YMF262s"(no YMF262 on the sound card, but rather integrated within another chip and all notes sound just like the real YMF262) don't hold their notes like a true discrete YMF262, so they tend to last for a shorter period of time. I wonder if the ESFM of the ESS AudioDrive and ESS Solo-1 holds the notes like a real YMF262. I know one thing for sure: some of the white noise sounds different than a real YMF262, but it surpasses Creative's cloned YMF262 used on certain SoundBlaster 16s and on both the SoundBlaster AWE32 and AWE64 since that cloned YMF262 not only has altered white noise, but also has certain other notes that don't sound right). For cloned YMF262s, ESS' ESFM is the best of the cloned YMF262s I've heard. It's not perfect, but if you're not a person who demands 100% authentic FM Synthesis, ESFM will get the job done for you.
I'm just so used to FM Synthesis after having played numerous games for the Sega Genesis(and emulated numerous arcade games that use FM Synthesis for their music), and that's why FM Synthesis is my preferred choice for sound in MS-DOS games.
Although I never realized until I started picking up multiple different PCI and ISA sound cards just how different the sound is from one sound card to the next. It still amazes me to this day(and I only got into MS-DOS gaming in June this year. Before, I avoided DOS games like the plague expecting games that would use the PC speaker to produce sound and make my ears bleed), and it also amazes me just how bad certain sound cards can be(Crystal CS4235(heavily distorted FM Synthesis and VERY buggy DOS support), SoundBlaster Live!(HORRIBLE emulation of the YMF262), SoundBlaster Vibra128 + the entire AudioPCI line(NO FM SYNTHESIS!), ESS Maestro-2(it's not too terrible, but the OPL3 sucks and OPL2 hits numerous false notes), C-Media CMI8738(it has perfect FM Synthesis, but the SoundBlaster 16 part just doesn't work), OPTi 82C931(one of the worst YMF262 clones; listenable, but really off).
wrote:I have heard of adapters for the AWE64 but really I have no idea where to find them.... Nothing DIY.
I just found a post on Vogons from elianda, and he mentioned this website:
On it, they sell AWE64 memory adapters. I would like to buy one some day. It would be interesting to know if this website still sells them. The website site says last updated 21 Sep 2010, so maybe it's still possible to get one.
They still have them. I just ordered one last week. The guy who replied my emails seemed like a nice person, so don't hesitate to ask him questions. You can contact him by the e-mail that figures on the page.
Thanks! 😀
wrote:out on the SCD-15 and SCD-10.
I'm a huge fan / supported for external Roland midi modules like the MT-32 and SC-55. Main reason is because you can use them in your Retro machine but also on a modern PC with DOSBox because there are Midi adapters for Retro and modern PCs...
You also avoid running the music through the rather basic mixer of whatever sound card you are using and most Roland modules have a headphone out socket at the front.
SC-55 is just one option, there are a ton of compatible modules. Look for Sound Canvas" and you will find 10+ modules that fit the criteria.
On Retro PCs you hook them up with a joystick / Midi cable and on a modern PC with a USB Midi cable which you then can use with DOSBox and ScummVM
wrote:Thanks! 😀
Just be patient as him doesn't seem to reply too fast.
FM vs MIDI: The only reason FM is arguably inferior to MIDI in most DOS games is because most game developers composed DOS game soundtracks for MIDI synthesizers (MT-32 or GM/SC-55 usually) and then wrote OPL/Adlib/SoundBlaster drivers to play those MIDI tracks via FM, thereby limiting the FM synths to the role of a second-tier MIDI synthesizer.
Consoles like the Sega Genesis that used FM synthesis as their main means of producing music had games with soundtracks that pushed that hardware much farther and really showed what was possible with FM synthesis.
wrote:I'm a huge fan / supported for external Roland midi modules like the MT-32 and SC-55. Main reason is because you can use them in […]
wrote:out on the SCD-15 and SCD-10.
I'm a huge fan / supported for external Roland midi modules like the MT-32 and SC-55. Main reason is because you can use them in your Retro machine but also on a modern PC with DOSBox because there are Midi adapters for Retro and modern PCs...
You also avoid running the music through the rather basic mixer of whatever sound card you are using and most Roland modules have a headphone out socket at the front.
SC-55 is just one option, there are a ton of compatible modules. Look for Sound Canvas" and you will find 10+ modules that fit the criteria.
On Retro PCs you hook them up with a joystick / Midi cable and on a modern PC with a USB Midi cable which you then can use with DOSBox and ScummVM
I ended up buying SC-88 and MT-32 synths from eBay several years ago and have been very happy. I haven't missed playing with soundfonts and such, and they work great with DOSBox in Win7 x64 using a USB MIDI interface.
