I assume you are using DOS as your operating system, not Windows?
Do you have any other sound devices in your PC?

IIRC the CT2800 doesn't have a jumper for MIDI, only a jumper to set the base IO address... it's all done through diagnose.exe

OS = W95. I installed the SB16 driver kit [1994 Win3.1 full install] via an MS Dos Prompt, and it seemed to go in fine - edits boot config files, sets up program group, etc. No other audio devices on the PC. I feel like I'm missing an elementary step here. Or it's a hardware problem..

Well under Win95 you don't need the DOS drivers in autoexec.bat or config.sys (unless you are restarting in MS-DOS mode)

Download and install the windows 95 drivers and you can go through device manager to change the IO address settings.

I'll also try running diagnose in a restart to dos just to see what happens. The only drivers I have right now are dos/win31 which I thought worked in w95. But getting late here so project for tomorrow - thanks for you help!

yup... no point using those ancient Win3.1 drivers and utils with win95... not that it doesn't work, it's inefficient and doesn't behave properly
you should download the newest win98 compatible drivers... it's on vogons drivers.... my "super" ISO will have everything you need 😀

The SB16AWE Compilation v4.1? Got it. Will try the setups in the WIN95 & WIN9XDRV subfolders. So the Vibra16 is sort of AWE card then? I noticed it appeared in Device Manager as a "SB 16 or AWE 32" card..

EDIT: btw I tried a restart to DOS and ran Diagnose [on the old dos/W31 drivers] and had same red error screen attempting to set the Midi address. Now I'll give the W95-98 drivers a shot.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

jwt27 wrote:

My XR385 died on me, no idea how that happened, anyways I ordered some new ones.

Wow that's a fancy applet! Very cool, though I have no idea what it is you are trying to say 😀

The NEC 385 IS indeed very loud. Most games clip if used on a Roland MPU401AT and that unit doesn't have a mixer at all. So if your gamed doesn't have a volume slider you are out of luck...

Look at the waveforms, the upper wave is the input signal and the lower one is output. Lower frequencies are amplified too much, resulting in clipping, and higher frequencies are filtered out almost completely (-30dB at 20KHz)

Here's a similar applet that shows the frequency response of this circuit:
http://www.falstad.com/afilter/

under File -> Import, paste the following code (including the last newline):

1$ 1 5.0E-6 5 68 5.0 50
2% 0 28853.998118144256
3O 544 160 592 160 0
4g 384 304 384 336 0
5a 320 160 448 160 1 5.0 -5.0 1000000.0
6w 320 176 320 224 0
7c 128 144 176 144 0 1.0E-5 2.5097062204971774
8r 176 176 176 304 0 100000.0
9r 320 224 384 224 0 8200.0
10r 384 224 448 224 0 18000.0
11c 320 272 384 272 0 1.0E-7 -0.3472676040242857
12c 384 272 448 272 0 3.3E-8 -1.1595884337810531
13c 448 160 496 160 0 9.999999999999999E-6 0.02572177449766322
14w 384 224 384 272 0
15w 448 224 448 272 0
16w 320 224 320 272 0
17c 272 176 272 240 0 5.6E-9 1.2169106841010913
18r 272 240 272 304 0 15000.0
19r 224 176 224 304 0 4700.0
20w 176 144 320 144 0
21w 176 304 224 304 0
22w 224 304 272 304 0
23w 176 144 176 176 0
24w 224 176 272 176 0
25w 272 176 320 176 0
26w 448 224 448 160 0
27r 496 160 496 304 0 47000.0
28r 496 160 544 160 0 1000.0
29c 544 160 544 304 0 2.3E-7 0.5267944439799989
30w 544 304 496 304 0
31w 272 304 384 304 0
32w 384 304 496 304 0
33170 128 144 96 144 3 10.0 20000.0 1.325 0.5
34x 45 98 137 102 0 18 DAC output
35x 46 116 183 119 0 12 0.94Vrms, 2.5V DC offset
36x 548 121 655 125 0 18 Wave Blaster
37x 548 140 631 144 0 18 Connector
38x 202 43 478 49 1 24 NEC XR385 Output stage
39o 0 32 0 34 7.15972597961874 9.765625000000002E-255 0 -1
40
41

If the purpose of this circuit would be to amplify the DAC output to 2Vrms, which would make sense as that is standard line-level signal, something like this would be much better:

1$ 1 5.0E-6 5 68 5.0 50
2% 0 28853.998118144256
3O 480 160 576 160 0
4g 208 304 208 336 0
5a 304 160 432 160 1 5.0 -5.0 1000000.0
6w 304 176 304 224 0
7c 112 144 160 144 0 9.999999999999999E-5 2.529436551796219
8r 160 176 160 304 0 10000.0
9r 208 176 208 304 0 6200.0
10w 160 144 304 144 0
11w 160 304 208 304 0
12w 160 144 160 176 0
13w 208 176 256 176 0
14w 256 176 304 176 0
15w 432 224 432 160 0
16170 112 144 80 144 3 10.0 20000.0 1.325 0.5
17x 59 88 151 92 0 18 DAC output
18x 60 106 197 109 0 12 0.94Vrms, 2.5V DC offset
19x 532 250 639 254 0 18 Wave Blaster
20x 532 269 615 273 0 18 Connector
21x 175 43 505 49 1 24 NEC XR385 Output stage mod
22r 304 224 432 224 0 6800.0
23w 432 160 480 160 0
24O 480 224 576 224 0
25x 528 123 593 127 0 18 Line-out
26x 528 141 564 144 0 12 2Vrms
27x 533 286 569 289 0 12 1Vrms
28r 480 160 480 224 0 10000.0
29r 480 224 480 304 0 10000.0
30w 480 304 208 304 0
31o 0 32 0 34 6.2640463352675395 6.103515625E-5 0 -1
32o 22 32 0 34 4.374501449566024 9.765625E-105 0 -1
33
34

I added a separate 2V line-out to bypass the sound card's mixer, and divider for the wave blaster connector to 1Vrms, that might be necessary for some sound cards. The YMF71x for example takes 1V input.

tincup wrote:

The SB16AWE Compilation v4.1? Got it. Will try the setups in the WIN95 & WIN9XDRV subfolders. So the Vibra16 is sort of AWE card then? I noticed it appeared in Device Manager as a "SB 16 or AWE 32" card..

EDIT: btw I tried a restart to DOS and ran Diagnose [on the old dos/W31 drivers] and had same red error screen attempting to set the Midi address. Now I'll give the W95-98 drivers a shot.

the Vibra16 is a variant of the SB16.... it was meant to be a lower cost chip as it is more integrated... earlier SB16 drivers do not work with it as it is a completely different chip as said

my ISO will have all of those 16-bit sound blaster drivers
you will need to install the updates after installing the main apps and drivers... read the readme and index files to find out everything on that CD

Well, making some progress - like I said I'm a rookie with Midi and mult-audio card setups so "million monkeys/million years" applies. First off I realized I needed to hand set Dev Mgr from default configuration 220/5/1/1 to an alternate preset 220/330/5/1/5 to enable the 330 port at all. That done I completed the midi section of Diagnose.exe., ran the sound tests, updated the config, etc.

Quickly tested a few dos games and discovered that 'Roland' is checked as a supported option in some, meaning I suspect that the midi port is functioning even if the XR385 is not the appropriate DB for Roland. I've tried General Midi, but haven't gotten far with actually comparing sounds. Doom Ultimate seems more full-bodied, but I'm not sure yet if thats the XR385 or simply that I've finally activated features [OPL?] on the Vibra16-S that I hadn't previously been aware of. It's DSP 4.13 and I have had notes hang/lockup so far, though if this is the infamous 'hanging note bug' or just improper game audio setup I don't know yet.

EDIT: everything up and running properly with the XR lashed to a CT1750 [DSP 4.05] I had in the parts bin. After the drivers were installed and the card configured with DIAGNOSE/SETMIXER everything was fine. The midi effects are quite impressive in games that can enable itand I've become quite attached to XR so far and I may pick up another for the W98/MX300 box...

Nice thing is driver lines can be deleted from boot config files freeing up a lot of conventional memory as only the SET variables are actually needed. I get 608kb in a W95 dos box and 611 in a pure dos setting..

Sorry to bump this, but I'm having a big problem with my XR385 which finally arrived this morning. I hook it up to the connector on my CT2940 Vibra 16, and turn on my 486. While posting, and randomly during boot, I hear loud static through the speakers, which increases in volume upon loading Mixerset (makes sense since that's setting the MIDI volume higher). Then, it goes quiet, but whenever I try to use General Midi in a game (I've been using Doom to test) I either get static whenever it should be playing music, or silence. Digital effects through the Sound Blaster are still working fine. Oddly enough though, I changed Doom to use the Sound Blaster for music and after a short period, the static came back on top of the FM music.

Anybody have any suggestions or things I could try, or is it probably dead? The midi port is set to 330H, and the board looks fine (I don't see any scratches or missing capacitors). Should I try cleaning it with some water or alcohol or something? Because the packaging it came in was a bit dusty. I just thought of another idea, I'll blow out the connector with compressed air to make sure theres not dust in it preventing contact. That actually was a problem for me once with a Sound Blaster Live, where dust in a PCI slot kept it from working.

I dont know the amount of gear you have but basically id try changing every variable. ( computer, host card, testing mpu-401 with external module, clean connectors ... ) And see if problem persists.

My guess is that the board is faulty. I had a dead one arrive as well but the second one was fine.

Well I think I found the problem. Upon closer inspection (apparently I was blind the first time), the capacitor C9, as well as X1 (not sure what that type of component is called) are both missing. You can see the two components along the bottom side of the card in this picture: http://www.pcang.com/img/xr385_verc.jpg

Guess I get to wait several more weeks for another to get here... yay. Hopefully the seller will replace it for free, but Mau1wurf1977's experience gives me confidence that he will.

As an aside I tried it on my other CT2940 (the only other card I have, I think, that has a midi interface) and had the same issue. But now that I see those parts are broken off I'm sure the card is bad.

Good luck with that Capn', they're great when they work and I've bought three from that dude and they've all been OK.

I vowed to stop messing around with sound cards after my last misadventure (long boring story), but I had my 166MMX open the other day - which has a Roland SCC1 in it for General Midi, and a Sound Blaster (Vibra 16S) in it for FX, etc. That's all great but I have a spare XR385 hanging around and would like to be able to compare the Roland with the Yamaha from time to time, so decided to put the XR385 onto the Vibra.

I have Windows 95 installed on this machine - with which I boot to DOS 7 or whatever Win95 calls it via a DOS boot menu - so the first thing I did was boot to DOS, use Diagnose.exe to set the SB's MPU-401 port to 300 (to avoid the Roland at 330) and off I went, switching b/w 2 general MIDI devices no probs. Diagnose correctly altered my set blaster lines in autoexec.bat (which is what's called when you boot to DOS mode), hooray I said, congratulating myself for being so clever.

But, after booting into Windows 95 and then shutting down the computer, the P300 setting is mysteriously removed from my autoexec.bat, and I'm back to square one. Why would Windows do that? It's none of it's business I say, and I can't even imagine how it does it. It must be the creative drivers I'm using in Windows - do I need to setup the MPU-401 port at 300 in there too?

thanks.

Yes try setting it in Windows to 300 as well! Might fix the problem.

This is one reason why I only have Dos 7 installed on my machine. I like things set, so that when I boot the machine after months of not in use everything just works.

Yes that did it, I altered the card's resources in the device manager to include the 300 IO port and Windows now leaves my autoexec.bat file alone.

It's good being able to switch so quickly b/w the Yamaha and Roland MIDI efforts. The Roland is generally "cleaner" sound to my ears, but the Yamaha is sometimes "cooler" 😀

they are lots of fun.. ordering a 2nd one from the same guy haha...