I still had the original link in my bookmarks. I just tried it and it didn't work. Good find.....I'll replace my old link.

PCAVTECH.COM went down in early 2009. It was a great site, lots of retro soundcard and general audio info. Sad panda. 😢
They also had other useful stuff, like midi sound comparison: http://web.archive.org/web/20061205232549/www … /MIDI/index.htm

By the way here is another nice sound card signal quality comparison page: http://alasir.com/reviews/soundbench/index.html

Speaking of MIDI recordings here is another one: http://www.crossfire-designs.de/index.php?lan … ndcards&page=13
And moar: http://www.swaaye.com/retro/ powered by you know who

Good links.

I came across that SoundBench place the other day but forgot about it. Good info.

I like how everyone calls the SB16 "scrap". 😁 With its nasty signal quality and its bugged DB header, it deserves the title. More people need to be made aware of it being generally overrated.

There are various SB16s, and they are not all alike. For example, the CT1740 sounds quite poor, but the CT2230 sounds OK. The CT2800 (Vibra chipset) is another model which sounds OK. I tried another recently, I think it was a PnP CT2960, and it sounded poor. I guess some were made cheaply for OEM manufacturers, and others (probably some of the CT2230s) were made for Creative's retail editions.

I wouldn't discount getting either a CT2230 or a CT2800, if the possibility arises. I vaguely recall that the CT2230's (not the CT2800) DB header was either working OK, or the bugged stuck note issue did not arise too often.

SB16s are good cards to test and muck around old hardware as they are cheap and plentiful on ebay and in most machines found on streets or in the bin...

While i don't consider myself as an elitist in any way(far from it 😁 ), i do think anything below AWE64 Gold/SB Live is mm.. meh. 😒
Now if you take an AWE32, or even a fabled GUS PNP card, and turn the volume up a notch the WSSSSSH monsta will rear its ugly head. (not to mention older or cheaper cards.. 😵 )
It is relatively hard to find a soundcard that has decent signal to noise ratio, and is still "retro compatible" enough. 😢

Some AWE3s2 and the AWE64 Gold with SPDIF output is pretty high up there 😀

I believe the AWE32 (that model that has SPDIF) even has OPL3...

Most Games support MT-32 or General Midi anway, so here a AWE64 Gold with SPDIF is ideal for speech and sound effects.

There are games however than only support FM synth, though these older games are often even better on the Amiga or other platforms (e.g. Space Quest 1 on the Applie II).

Pretty much any game I have come across that features a more complex music has midi support. And the ones that don't have rather simple music where the difference of OPL3 vs. Creative Clone is very subtle.

Yeah a SB16 is an easy choice that will "just work" as long as you aren't planning to use a DB. But the facts are that they usually have poor signal quality and that their DB headers are almost always flawed. I personally have not found a SB16 or AWE32 that works correctly with my Roland SCD-15.

BTW, SB16 is apparently also effectively only capable of outputting 12-bit audio due to DAC limitations. It's hard to find details on this.

Signal quality isn't a big deal with very many old games because a lot of them use low quality audio anyway to keep CPU usage and storage requirements down, and because they couldn't assume you had a 16-bit 44.1kHz sound card.

But if you play games that support 16-bit 44.1 kHz music, you will start to notice the difference between the really poor cards and better ones. I tend to notice it quickly in games that use tracker music because some of them can mix at 44.1 KHz or better. You can also hear the difference when using a MIDI DB. The DB output goes through the sound card's circuitry.

Slightly off topic: speakers. What kind to get? Stereo or 2.1? What would work best, for DOS, and also for Win9x?

2.1 definitely, unless you don't really want any lower frequencies, or you're using a home stereo with large speakers.

On my retro PC I have a old set of Altec Lansing ACS48 2.1 speakers. These were quite liked back in 1999. On my main PC, I use Klipsch Promedia 2.1 speakers.

Beyond the sub for the low end, it's also critical to get a set with tweeters or at least some form of separate drivers for midrange and high frequencies. One driver can not do it all.

I never got into the surround sound thing for my PC (my home theater is another question), so I use 2.1 as well. The Altec Lansing 621 setup which I have was one of their best ever. Sadly, the newest Altec lineup is not as good.

One thing to consider is how they measured at PCAVTech. Since Loopback means you get also alot influence by the Line-In of the soundcard. And afterwards it is difficult to split, what is related to Line-Out singal degradation and to Line-In.

Just imagine having a dummy terminal on line out with adapted capacitance and using some better scope could give even more reliable results. On the other hand a good scope is usually not affordable.

Stereo with an amplifier.
I use(khm used 😵 but it shall be reborn!) a Denon PMA-320(retro 😁 ) amplifier, with a pair of rather noname(?) larger speakers and yet they sound MUCH more better than any 2/2.1/5.1(for music) PC speaker setup i ever heard. 🙄 Home audio systems are ageless, and they produced affordable audio equipment in the 80s that is still regarded quite good by modern standards, yet the PC speaker market of the 90s was flooded with sub standard speakers of questionable quality. Even today most PC speaker(and home cinema 😳 ) sets are coprised of several stylish tweeters and a nice little subwoofer with no mid frequency capabilites whatsoever. 😢

Well obviously a big tower speaker that has a few cubic feet of internal volume and nice big drivers will sound better than something designed to fit on a desk next to your monitor, but there are computer speakers that can sound awesome for their size.

My TV gaming/movie/netflix PC is rigged up with an X-Fi on 5.1 channel analog through a not-so-classic Sony receiver (it's only 4 years old and it's not exactly high end heh). I have some nice big 25 year old front speakers that my dad decided he didn't want anymore but I love them. 😀 But I wouldn't stick this setup in front of me in the computer room haha. There's no replacement for displacement? 😁