For me: AWE 64 Gold + MPU401AT + MT-32 (Old) + CM-32L + SC-55

The missing OPL is not an issue. All the games that are dear to me have MIDI support.

Are we ever going to pry that AWE64 Gold away from you hehe 😉

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

For me: AWE 64 Gold + MPU401AT + MT-32 (Old) + CM-32L + SC-55

The missing OPL is not an issue. All the games that are dear to me have MIDI support.

you know what I actually don't like about the awe64? The RCA jacks. its nitpicking but I don't have a fancy sound setup, I just use PC speakers so Whenever I use a PC with a AWE64 gold in it I have to pull out the RCA to 1/8 jack adapter and its inconvenient.I know, such a minor gripe.

that said though I would probably pick the AWE64 gold as well.

soviet conscript wrote:

that said though I would probably pick the AWE64 gold as well.

AWE64 standard or value then 🤣

I would also go an AWE64. Great sound quality, with SoftMPU you should be able to use an external synth for pretty much any game, and the CQM doesnt sound as bad as people here make it out to be.

Anything with 32-bit float or more. Pretty happy with my alc889 (mobo audio); it's 192khz 24-bit ADC with about 103DB SNR. Works great for analog sources (24-bits is way better than 16; at least it sounds more like analog). Whatever sounds more vinylish.

DonutKing wrote:

I would also go an AWE64. Great sound quality, with SoftMPU you should be able to use an external synth for pretty much any game, and the CQM doesnt sound as bad as people here make it out to be.

Plus, in my humble opinion, chorus and reverb effects to breathe some fresh air into old games:

http://youtu.be/aPI3H6M0r6k?t=12m16s

Holering wrote:

Anything with 32-bit float or more. Pretty happy with my alc889 (mobo audio); it's 192khz 24-bit ADC with about 103DB SNR. Works great for analog sources (24-bits is way better than 16; at least it sounds more like analog). Whatever sounds more vinylish.

I think we are talking about DOS Sound Cards 😀

I would go with an EWS64XL.
It has a combined Codec + Dream Wavetable with loadable soundfonts from DOS that appears as real MPU-401. It also has a second MPU-401 where you can plug a Wavetable or external solution. It has tunable Reverb/Chorus/Echo effects for the Codec and Inputs. Intelligent Mode is no problem with SoftMPU.

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

I think we are talking about DOS Sound Cards 😀

Awe64. It has the best compatibility I've seen and you don't need a midi module right away.

As my primary interest is early Windows 3D games I would say the Aureal Vortex 2. Good SB PRO DOS compatibility, good Windows UI, A3D sound, EAX 1.0, optical out, wavetable header. It's the best all-round card I've come across. The built-in MIDI synth also sounds very good.

If strictly for DOS, early Windows games than the AWE64 Gold.

There are several runner-ups, but I would take an Acer Magic S23 (Crystal CS4232+OPL3).
I don't need a MPU-401AT+Module with that, but instead partner it with a Dream 9233 4MB Midi daughterboard and a GUS PnP.

AWE32 CT3980 for me. First off, it's a majestic card, it is almost full-length ISA 🤣. Anyway, it was gifted to me by Markk, who hasn't posted for a long time around here, a shame, I should call him up to grab a coffee perhaps! I love this card.

Let's see, it has a true OPL3 on-board + chorus/reverb effects if you want to enable them, notable MIDI capabilities that can sound pretty darn good on certain games (check out the AWEstruck thread for that) and you can always expand them using soundfonts (works fine under Windows and it can be somewhat useful in DOS too) + WaveBlaster header for your daughterboard. They only downside is that it can be kinda noisy, but the Line Out is mostly ok.

Nothing against CQM, but it just sounds way worse to me. It is very dependent on the game though, some games sound just fine I reckon. I'm also not into A3D (never got it working properly) or early EAX stuff. Now, EAX 4.0 on the other hand...

soviet conscript wrote:

you know what I actually don't like about the awe64? The RCA jacks.

Here here!

But I have a fairly static room setup, and a full length rca l & r to 3.5mm jack lead that I borrowed from my mini-amp that was used on my vynal turntable. So no major issues.

CT2760, or another AWE32 model with the Yamaha CHIP.
If I only had one that did not produce ridiculous, unbearable noise during output.
It does everything I want, Soundfont support in windows, and true OPL-3 Synth, and Chorus\Reverb can even be used on it.
Doesn't suffer from the TINNY sound the AWE64 produces in some dos games during normal PCM playback. Tiefighter\X-wing Collectors version on the concourse for instance, or Epic Pinball music playback.

The SB32 is a good compromise it doesn't produce this TINNY playback in those games, but no OPL3, has to be paired with a SB-PRO or something.

Sound Blaster Pro 2. No TSRs and is widely supported (SB, SB Pro, AdLib). 😀

Only one sound card? Impossibly. How would my other 3 retro rigs play sound? 😁

If i had to choose. Then SB Live CT4620.
Golden Jacks. Great sound. Avaliability and low price.
For that, I can get SB16 and Roland emulation in DOS.
EMM386 only is no big deal. Only going to miss Dyna Blaster.
All other games that I play are EMS anyway.

squareguy wrote:

So for me, as of right now, I'm going to say the YMF718-S. It sounds nice to me, has real OPL, works in DOS without taking up a lot of memory (or any memory?) and doesn't need Emm386. It has AdLib, SB, SB Pro and WSS compatibility even if not 100%, I am hearing it is very close. And lastly I read it has good SoftMPU support (including IRQ 2/9 support which some games require) for intelligent MPU-401 interface if I should ever get a real Roland MT-32.

I agree...for now...I'm going to say the YMF718-S as well for the same reasons you mention...and the fact that they are fairly easy to find and cheap makes it a good choice. Surprisingly the sound quality is good too, but a little noisy if you don't turn down the volume a bit with utility. I would also go with an MPU401AT and Old MT-32 and CM-32L and SC-55 or SC-50.

If I had to go with something else though, I would choose a SB PRO 2.0 with all the MPU401 and above mentioned external synths still.

The YMF-71x is a great chipset. Too bad that its PCB implementation is cheap and its software is not that great. But the chip is very capable. It can do SB, SBPro and can do stereo 44KHz, something that a real SB Pro cannot do. I was impressed hearing MOD files on this card. It's cheap and works without any issues with SoftMPU.

I like the AWE64 Gold although i mostly want it for the EMU8000 capability. I love FM synthesis so i prefer real OPL. I even became very fond of the Yamaha FB-01 with its OPP chip. CQM is not that bad, but kills the magic of FM synthesis. At the same time its true that there are worst implementations, but again even the ESS Audiodrives sound more real.

Actually maybe a Gravis Ultrasound Extreme wouldn't be a bad choice...

My ultimate soundcard is the Turtle Beach Tropez Plus.

http://www.amoretro.de/2013/06/turtle-beach-t … or-4mb-rom.html

Crystal clear sound from the Crystal CS4232 CODEC (Sorry, no pun intended), true OPL3 that hasn't been filtered, WSS compatibility, absolutely no background noise/hum, decent 4MB ICS wavetable (I do prefer the Yamaha and Roland sounds though) The IDE port can be set to Primary, so hard drives can be attached to it and booted off it. Superb compatibility, I haven't come across a game that doesn't work on it, although the card can be an absolute nightmare to setup properly if your motherboard doesn't assign IRQ's/DMA's correctly. It can also be expanded to 12MB via SIMMs but this card doesn't seem to have very good support in term of soundfonts for it (It doesn't use Creative soundfonts) and it has a Yamaha YSS225 effect processor on it for reverb/chorus etc.

The YMF71X series is my next favourite card.