I would grab a Voodoo3; it has nice 2D quality, cheap, available, and should (IIRC) perform as well as 2 Voodoo2s in SLI.
I'll leave sound to more knowledgeable people but I'm happy with my Yamaha OPL3-SAx and clone MIDI daughterboard. 😀

Why would the crystal chipset sound bad? which chip number is it, CS4236? These chips have potentially the best signal to noise ratio compared to any competation from that time.

@TheLazy1: Well, the v3 would definitly be faster since I'm opting for a single v2. However, how good is compatibility with older games?
@gerwin: I don't really know. I posted a screenshot of the device manager.

Why would the crystal chipset sound bad? These chips have potentially the best signal to noise ratio compared to any competation from that time.

It's only as good as the implementation on the motherboard, though. I've had a few different systems with a CS4236 onboard, and some of 'em were OK, but others were horrible.

Same goes with the ESS chip. It's on par with the Crystal chips, and some cards with the ESS chipsets are quite good, but others... not so much.

Okay, what soundcard should I get?

Svenne wrote:

Okay, what soundcard should I get?

Tell us then, does it matter to you to have good Midi and or FM in pure Dos, or not really? What kind of Midi synth do you prefer?

General MIDI support would be appreciated, it allows for much better music than SB/Adlib. I don't really know much about soundcards, though.

I think probably simplest route for SB+FM+GMIDI is an ESS 18xx ISA card with a DB header. The DB header actually works properly on these cards and they also have excellent OPL3 and SBPro compatibility.

Info
http://web.archive.org/web/20000301065841/htt … io/isaaudio.htm

I recently ran through a boatload of sound cards in my recording thread and this was probably the easiest setup imaginable because you don't need drivers at all. You may need to use the ESS mixer program to setup the volume of the DB, however. But that's no big deal. If your motherboard lacks PNP support you may also need a PNP configuration program.

Also, Windows 98 (and later) has drivers for these cards built-in and they work fine.

You'd need to find a DB and a ESS card that's large enough to fit a full size DB. Compare a picture of a CT1740 SB16 to the ESS card to get an idea of the size you need.

I'd prefer a single-slot setup, and installing drivers isn't a problem.

That's an advantage of using a MIDI daughterboard. And the ESS cards seem to be about as compatible with games as a real Sound Blaster Pro card.

You can attach a DB like a Yamaha DB50XG/DB60XG or Roland SCD-10/SCD-15.

A lot of the ESS ISA cards are rather slim and won't fit the usual daughtercards. Note how this one has a PCB that is about as wide as the slot bracket. That's similar to a SB16 card and is what you need. The DB header is at the top of the card near the center.

You can custom make a cable to use daughterboards on small or low profile cards, just be 1000% sure everything lines up and it will work fine.
Mounting it on the other hand...

One sound card I REALLY like is the OPTi 82C929A. It's SoundBlaster Pro compatible(actually works BETTER than a real SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 as for whatever reason, I got that sound card to work with the SoundBlaster sound option in the floppy disk edition of X-Wing, but for some reason that I just can't figure out, it just REFUSES to work with any sound option other than AdLib with the floppy disk edition of X-Wing, which REALLY sucks), has a wavetable header(don't know how good it is since I don't have a wavetable) and depending on the sound card, has an authentic Yamaha YMF262(be advised that some OPTi 82C929As use cloned YMF262s often labeled as LS-xxx along with a cloned YAC512 DAC also labeled LS-xxx, and I've never listened to the sound produced by those cloned YMF262s). Certain OPTi 82C929As like mine will sometimes have a sound amp for the YMF262 that roughens up the bass notes, and while I like that sound, I'm sure certain others won't be too fond of it.

If you want an OPTi 82C929A to work properly with DOS games, make sure you install the DOS drivers ONLY. DO NOT install any Windows drivers or you'll get some sound issues(again, we'll take the floppy disk edition of X-Wing as an example: using both the MS-DOS and Windows 95 drivers for the OPTi 82C929A, it would only work with the AdLib sound option in X-Wing, but the 82C929A works with both the AdLib and SoundBlaster sound options when only the DOS drivers are installed)

And of course, you can follow Swaaye's suggestion and get an ESS AudioDrive sound card. The one flaw I noticed in its FM Synthesis is some slight differences in the output of white noise(or whatever is used to produce percussion), but other than that, it's a really solid sound card.

You could also use some of Creative's very late ISA sound cards: the AWE32 or AWE64. They don't have wavetable headers, but they make use of interchangeable soundfonts, which is a good thing, as the default soundfont is rather crappy. You'd have a little more flexibility with the AWE32 since it's got slots for SIMM RAM sticks whereas the AWE64 has a header for proprietary Creative RAM modules(you can buy what's called the SIMMConn to use SIMMs on the AWE64). And there are some really nice SF2 soundfonts you can get such as Chorium, and you can also get a soundfont based off the Roland SC-55, which is missing the percussion, but you can add in the percussion from another soundfont using a soundfont editor like Creative's own Vienna soundfont editor. Be sure to get an AWE64 Gold if you go with a SoundBlaster AWE64, since those have more on-board RAM than the other models(my SoundBlaster AWE64 Value has a measly 512KB of RAM - I need to figure out how I can use a 16MB SIMM on the AWE64 without having to purchase the SIMMConn).

Be advised that both the AWE32 and AWE64 use cloned YMF262s made by Creative which have issues with the white noise and certain incorrect notes. But with either sound card, you'll get SoundBlaster 16 compatibility(not SoundBlaster Pro, on the other hand. It works, but only in Mono).

And I'll suggest one more sound card: the Aztech AZT2320(more commonly known as the HP AZT1008, which is how Windows 95 recognizes the AZT2320 as). This is a SoundBlaster Pro compatible card, and one of the best ones I've ever used. It does have some slight issues with digital sound(in the floppy disk edition of X-Wing, certain digital sounds stop too soon), but the clarity of this sound card is spectacular. It also has a direct replica of the YMF262 integrated within the single chip on the sound card that sounds IDENTICAL to the real YMF262 aside from not sustaining notes as long as the real YMF262(that's one thing I noticed about these "ASIC-based YMF262s," as I call them). The digital sound is also sometimes TOO clear on this sound card, as certain sounds can come out rather weird, and you'll get fully unfiltered audio out of the YMF262. This sound card unfortunately does not have a wavetable header since, from what I can tell, it has a wavetable integrated within the chip.

Take note that this sound card has some rather weak audio output for the FM Synthesis and SoundBlaster digital sound.

EDIT: Here's another sound card that came to mind - the Yamaha YMF719. This sound card is SoundBlaster Pro compatible, has authentic OPL2 and OPL3 FM Synthesis thanks to a true YMF262 integrated within the YMF719 chip, and has a wavetable header(again, don't know how good it is. Also, certain YMF719s have no wavetable headers, but instead have what I assume is a ROM with a wavetable in it). I don't know how the FM Synthesis sounds like on the YMF719, but from what I've heard from other people who've had experience with Yamaha's ISA sound cards, there should be very little or no filtering on the FM Synthesis.

EDIT 2: Just a note on Crystal sound cards - my IBM Personal Computer 300PL has a Crystal CS4235 integrated on the motherboard, and that this is HORRIBLE! The FM Synthesis has NUMEROUS incorrect notes and has the gain set so high it gets HORRIBLY distorted. To top it all off, its DOS game support is EXTREMELY bad, the worst of any sound card I've ever used(might have been a problem with the drivers I used). If I played one game using the CS4235, when I would try to play another game, I'd get no sound. I also could not get the CS4235 to work with games that I KNOW give me no problems with other sound cards(again, might have been a driver problem). Either way, the FM Synthesis sucks, the SoundBlaster support seems practically non-existent and it works very badly with DOS games. I'll just stick with my OPTi 82C929A, thank you very much.

It all depends on how much effort you want to go through.

The AWE cards have ROMs with one of the worst patch sets you'll ever hear. 😀 They aren't bad cards though but their soundfont capability with DOS games is quite limited (only within Windows).

+1 That it's pretty terrible, a 2MB sound font is much better but still far from perfect.
2MB Is all I can test, all my SIMMs are MIA and I'm just playing with the card for shits n' giggles. 😀

[edit]
NINJA!

You do know there's a soundfont out there(2MB in size) that replicates the Roland SC-55? I tried running a modified version of said soundfont(a mix of the AWE64's default General MIDI soundfont and the SC-55 soundfont), and from what I was able to tell, it sounded just like the SC-55. The one problem is that the soundfont is missing the percussion, so you'd need to get the percussion off of another soundfont.

Here's where I found the SC-55 soundfont: http://soundfonts.homemusician.net/collection … nvas_tuned.html

I really like the sound of the SC-55, and I would most certainly love to get it to work on my AWE64, but with the measly 512KB of RAM and no way for me to use my 16MB SIMM, I can't use the soundfont. And I'm also too cheap to buy the SIMMConn. 😉 I prefer DIY solutions, that's why. Is there a good DIY solution for using SIMMs on a SoundBlaster AWE64?

Yeah I have the SCC-1 soundfont around. I'm not that big of a Roland fan though. There are soundfonts out there that blow that old hardware out of the water. But you need more RAM than will run on an AWE to use them. However you can find <28MB soundfonts that sound amazing. I like the Synergi 8MB and E-Mu 8MB sets.

I really wonder if those Roland soundfonts are accurate. There's a lot of intricacies to MIDI patch sets and how the sounds work and are played. There's also the question of whether the E-Mu hardware works anything like the Roland hardware. Maybe it doesn't really matter though.

I don't think AWE cards are that great as DOS cards. You can only use soundfonts in Windows 9x and some DOS games will not work there. In pure DOS you're stuck with the ROM. And also the software emulation of MPU-401 is not foolproof and it uses a good bit of DOS RAM. There are a lot of games that support AWE directly but not older games.

Ugh... don't remind me about the ROM. The only games I think sound good with the ROM are Star Wars TIE Fighter and Doom.

And I assume there's no easy DIY solution for using SIMMs on an AWE64? Am I gonna have to purchase an AWE32 or AWE64 Gold to use bigger soundfonts(it's easier for me to get either sound card than the SIMMConn)?

Oh I forgot to post about that. Yeah you should probably just see if you can get a AWE32 or SB32 for super cheap. 😀 I have heard of adapters for the AWE64 but really I have no idea where to find them.... Nothing DIY.

The Yamaha YMF719 seems like a decent card. It does 16-bit stereo sound, right?
EDIT: 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.

I also need to know if I should keep the pentium. I'm not really using it, and it's just taking up space.