I think that extra clarity is what makes the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 sound tinny compared to my 82C929A, and I'm not particularly fond of the type of clarity the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 has. I've always heard filtered sound coming from all sound cards I had(I used the SoundBlaster AWE64 more than any other sound card before I found out how to stop my OPTi 82C929A from outputting garbage from the YMF262 on fast computers), so the sound of the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 sounds worse to me than those SoundBlaster Pro/SoundBlaster 16 clone cards I have and the later SoundBlasters.

Well and that's the good thing with PC Retro gaming, we have a choice! Can't argue with personal preference 🤣

We made some recordings and this might help other to make a choice in selecting their favorite retro sound card!

I'm happy I participated in this project, I learned a lot and the discovery of the output filter really made my day. I will report back once my SPDIF gear is up and ready!

I've still got many more sounds to upload to YouTube of X-Wing and other DOS games using these sound cards:

-HP AZT1008 with Aztech AZT2320 chipset
-OPTi 82C931
-Diamond Multimedia Monster Sound MX300 with Aureal Vortex 2 chipset
-Avance Logic ALS4000
-ESS AudioDrive ES1868F
-ESS Solo-1
-Ensoniq AudioPCI ES1370
-SoundBlaster 16 WavEffects model CT4170
-AOpen AW32 Pro with Crystal CS4236B chipset and Crystal CS9233-CQ wavetable

That's just what's left for X-Wing. For TIE Fighter and other DOS games, I'll need to go back to the sound cards I've already tested with X-Wing.

SoundBlaster 16 WavEffects model CT4170: Looking forward to this one. According to Wikipedia the final revision (highly integrated) of Sound Blaster 16.

The PCI cards should also be interesting. Well I'm subscribed to you channel!

The SoundBlaster 16 WavEffects, from the little I've used it, is identical to the AWE64 minus the integrated MIDI, which means stuck PCM in X-Wing and the use of Creative's cloned YMF262. And it has one of the buggy DSP versions. Don't remember which, though.

4.16 I believe...

Sounds like the Sound Blaster that ended up with the worst of everything and his little going for it 🤣 Definitely worth testing 😀

PS: I tried the "midi recording" function of DOSBox. Works great! CTRL+ALT+F7, launch your game and play along. When you are done there is a midi file sitting in your capture folder!

Captures all the custom patches and everything. Quite handy...

Mau1wurf, I think I'm getting used to the sound of the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0, and the more I listen to it, the more I feel like replacing the OPTi 82C929A in my primary MS-DOS box with the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0. Sure, its digital sound isn't as good as that of the 82C929A to my ears, but the FM Synthesis is something else. The 82C929A might be adjusted for rough, distorted FM Synthesis, but the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 is made with bass-heavy FM Synthesis that's got lots of character in mind. And with a good mixer(I'm using the Windows 95 mixer that comes with Microsoft's SoundBlaster Pro drivers for Windows 95), that thing becomes so loud I have to turn down the volume of my TV a notch compared to what I normally use. With that bass-heavy sound and a mixer that allows for loud audio output, I get a little of the 82C929A's sound along with very heavy bass out of the YMF262. Like I said before: the one thing I'm not particularly fond of is the digital sound, but I'll get used to it. I'm already loving the FM Synthesis more and more. I'm going to reveal a spoiler and say that Part 20 of "The Many Sounds of: Star Wars X-Wing" will feature the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 in all its heavily-filtered glory. Awesome.

Say, what DOS mixer allows the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 to output the loudest audio possible? Since I'm thinking of using this on a DOS computer rather than a Windows 95 computer, I need a DOS mixer to make the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0's sound output louder.

EDIT: The video is up. I'll post a link to the clip on the original post.

I use this utility SBP-SET.EXE which sits in the SBPRO folder. I got the SB Pro installation disks from Mailks driver site. Only 2 floppy disks. After installing these and rebooting I also installed an update which I got from the Creative support website.

SBP-SET.EXE allows you to set the mixer to your liking. I made a screenshot with all the options one or two pages back. I simply put a long line in AUTOEXEC.BAT which sets the filter to my liking:

Sound Blaster Pro Control Version 1.21 Copyright (c) Creative Technology Pte Ltd, 1991. All rights reserved. […]
Show full quote

Sound Blaster Pro Control Version 1.21
Copyright (c) Creative Technology Pte Ltd, 1991. All rights reserved.

Usage: SBP-SET /switches

/Q Run SBP-SET in quiet screen mode
/R Reset mixer
/M:l,r Master volume control ( l/r = 0 - 15 )
/VOC:l,r Voice volume control ( l/r = 0 - 15 )
/FM:l,r FM volume control ( l/r = 0 - 15 )
/CD:nn CD volume control ( nn = 0 - 15 )
/X:nn Microphone mixing control ( nn = 0 - 7 )
/ADCF:xx Recording frequency ( xx = LOW/HIGH )
/ADCS:xx Recording source ( xx = MIC/CD/LINE )
/LINE:l,r Line volume control ( l/r = 0 - 15 )
/ANFI:[on/off] ON/OFF input filter
/DNFI:[on/off] ON/OFF output filter

You can set them from 0 to 15. Funny thing although I set FM to 0, you can very faintly hear it with headphones 😁 But at that volume once speech kicks in you have lost your hearing 🤣

I like to set up my Creative Drivers the way Creative envisioned it. Yes there are quite a few lines in CONFIG and AUTOEXEC which some deem unnecessary but I don't mind you never know when they are needed.

What I did is install each Card (GOLD 64 and PRO) and I copied the CONFIG and AUTOEXEC into CONFIG.AWE and AUTOEXEC.AWE and CONFIG.P20 and AUTOEXEC.P20.

So when I swap cards I just copy the files around e.g. COPY AUTOEXEC.P20 AUTOEXEC.BAT...

Only card I don't use any drivers is the 1.5 as it doesn't have a mixer at all...

I just got two new sound cards to test out:

-SoundBlaster Vibra16 model CT2260(this is one of the SoundBlaster 16s with a discrete YMF262)
-Yamaha YMF724

I could have also picked up a SoundBlaster AWE32, but there were no SIMMs inserted into the slots and it was one of the models that makes use of Creative's cloned YMF262, so I left it(besides, I don't even know if. I'll wait until I find an AWE32 with the CT1747 or a SoundBlaster 32, preferably with some SIMMs installed because I don't have any spare 30-pin SIMMs, just one spare 16MB 72-pin SIMM. Maybe I'll pick it up another day.

But anyways, I'm gonna get some drivers for the SoundBlaster Vibra16 and Yamaha YMF724 and report back on how they sound.

EDIT: Just tried the SoundBlaster Vibra16, and it seems as though it has less filtering than the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0. It sounds a little clearer and not as bass-heavy as the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0.

Now tell me something: does DSP version 4.13 suffer from hanging notes on any MIDI daughterboard or external MIDI device?

Personally I don't trust any Sound Blaster 16 for wavetables or external MIDI. There are reports about some DSP versions working, but then someone tried a few cards with the same DSP and got the same issue.

Now just so you know this issue only appears when you are also playing digital speech / sound effects. So if another card does the speech / sound effects, then any Sound Blaster 16 should hande wavetable boards and external midi modules just fine.

However none of the Creative MIDI controllers are MPU401 Intelligent compatible (meaning a ton of MT-32 games won't even start). So if you are serious about MIDI get a Roland MPU401 card or a compatible such as the Midiman MM401.

The AWE64 however is great for external General Midi devices. Other clone cards are also great for General Midi wavetable boards and external modules.

I wouldn't trust the SoundBlaster 16 for MIDI either. I was just curious to know if DSP version 4.13 has the hanging notes bug.

And it seems the YMF724 is dead. I inserted it into my test box and the computer doesn't even POST. Either it's dead or incompatible with the motherboard. I'll try in my primary MS-DOS computer.

EDIT: Nope, the YMF724 is dead. DAMN IT! The one Yamaha sound card I've found doesn't work. ****!!! Well, tomorrow, I'll exchange it for either another Yamaha sound card(ISA or PCI, it doesn't matter) or the SoundBlaster AWE32 I left behind. Or if the seller has either one of these, an early SoundBlaster or any clone with a Yamaha YM3812.

Ace wrote:

I was just curious to know if DSP version 4.13 has the hanging notes bug.

Yes, it has the bug. Bug-free versions are <=4.05 and 4.16. The bug always affects both wavetable and external MIDI (joystick) ports

Lame! Either way, I'm not one to use MIDI very often, so I don't really care.

What DSP version would I be expected to find on the SoundBlaster AWE32?

Early AWE32 cards (CT2760) have 4.12, later ones have 4.13 DSPs. Maybe there are SB32 cards with 4.16, but these wouldn't come with the real OPL3.

Can you tell me what DSP is in these models of the SoundBlaster AWE32 and SoundBlaster 32:

-CT3900
-CT3780
-CT3930(this is a SoundBlaster 32)
-CT3980

These are 4 I've found with either the CT1747 or a real YMF262(the CT3930 uses a discrete YMF262)

EDIT: I think the SoundBlaster 32 uses DSP version 4.13 since it uses the same Vibra chip as my SoundBlaster Vibra16 model CT2260.

I only have got a CT3900 and a CT3980, both with 4.13 DSP. For some obscure reason, the bug occurs more frequently on the CT3900 (noticeable within a few minutes) than it does on the CT3980 (on this it takes hours of playing MIDI until a note gets stuck). However, other users get different results with the same card models.

Have you checked if the bug depends on the ISA clock speed?

If you are after a cheap MIDI controller card for an external General Midi module, I can suggest the AWE64. They are PnP and you can disable all the features apart from the MPU401 port...

So FM, speech, EMU, joystick can all be disabled...

I'm looking more for a good card to put an MIDI daughterboard on it or with built-in customizable MIDI like the AWE32, and I do have an AWE64, but due to how little RAM my AWE64 has(512KB... LAME!), I can't really use it that much because I don't like the default soundfont for General MIDI. AWE32 MIDI, as it's called in LucasArts' SETMUSE program, generally sounds better, but the default MIDI from the AWE32 and AWE64 is nothing to write home about.

I just wish someone would put the pinouts of the damn AWE64 RAM header! I want to solder a 16MB 72-pin SIMM to my AWE64, damn it!

Say, does the hanging notes bug on the AWE32 affect everything producing General MIDI or only wavetables and external MIDI devices? If the on-board wavetable isn't too badly affected, I might exchange my broken Yamaha YMF724 for the SoundBlaster AWE32 I found yesterday(forgot its model number, but it's one with Creative's cloned YMF262).

Yes the bug affects all of these ports. External and wavetable...

AWE64 GOLD does come with 4MB but my recommendation for General Midi is and will always be a Roland Sound Canvas. Apart from the classic SC-55 there are a ton of other Sound Canvas modules: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Sound_Canvas

Because the unit is external you are very flexible. Can be used with DOSBox through a USB adapter, on PCI or ISA machines, doesn't matter...

It is the original and everything else just tries to replicate it. Most fail miserably...