carlostex wrote:

I'm not gonna lie about it, the AWE64 cards do not impress me at all.

😢

I'm currently working on a project / producing a video but I want to do a project / video around the AWE64 Gold and could look into that.

What other Sound Card do you want to pair the AWE64 Gold with? I don't have too many non Creative cards though:

- ESS AudioDrive
- Yamaha card (Audician 32)
- PAS 16

So I guess you want the other card to play FM and speech in games. But still be able to select AWE in Doom or Decent and sound to come out of the AWE?

philscomputerlab wrote:

carlostex wrote:

I'm not gonna lie about it, the AWE64 cards do not impress me at all.

😢

I still think of them as good cards, i'm just not impressed by them. Creative could have done a lot better, but as always they were cheap. The market was already theirs basically, it wouldn't be a huge risk to put out a much superior product.

philscomputerlab wrote:

So I guess you want the other card to play FM and speech in games. But still be able to select AWE in Doom or Decent and sound to come out of the AWE?

This is basically it. Keep in mind that i already do this, my super socket 7 in Portugal already houses a GUS, a SB Pro and an AWE64 Gold. I use the AWE64 for its EMU8k (AWE) capabilities. What i did was to change the AdLib port so that the card doesn't listen to 388h, and put the card on IRQ9 for SoftMPU. It works without any troubles.

I just want to do things a little different now. I'm gonna change to a YMF-719/704C card, a GUS, a PAS and i would still like the AWE64 Gold in there. There are some games where i might wanna be able to play with different synths.

220h - SBPro
240h - AWE64 (if needed)
260h - Ultrasound
388h - AdLib (via YMF card, PAS16 sits here natively too)

IRQ3 - COM2
IRQ4 - COM1
IRQ5 - SBPro (PAS16 SB compatibility needs to be disabled)
IRQ7 - Ultrasound
IRQ9 - AWE64 (if needed)
IRQ10 - PAS16

DMA0 - AWE64 (if needed)
DMA1 - SBPro (PAS16 SB compatibility needs to be disabled)
DMA3 - PAS16
DMA5 - SB16/AWE64 High DMA
DMA7 - Ultrasound

Joystick Ports would be moved/disabled as there is only need for 1.

(Yes i'll have 4 ISA slots) 😎

This is the plan, the AWE64 if needed already has its ports chosen in case there's always need for the SB part to be on. In this case i would use the AWE64 for SoftMPU. The native PAS16 sound actually sits on IRQ 10 DMA 3 for default so its a card that i can make work provided that i don't load its SB resources when i call MVSOUND.SYS

But it would be nice not to load the SB16 part on the AWE64 Gold as i pretty much just want to use its EMU8000. I know about the CT1920 cards, but i would have to solder an analog output jack to the damn thing and it would just be too inconvenient.

I see. Your setup is very complex. I think too complex for me 😒 I would just start to rage trying to sort out the resources.

philscomputerlab wrote:

I see. Your setup is very complex. I think too complex for me 😒 I would just start to rage trying to sort out the resources.

Yeah i like to tinker and make stuff work. Compared to the setup i have in Portugal i'm only adding one more sound card. I think it's doable. I think i could probably place the PAS16 on DMA 6 instead of 3. High DMA is probably a better choice anyway for 16bit native PAS16 sound.

Now i just wonder if i can nerf the AWE64 config down to the EMU8k synth only.

tbh AWE64 cards don't impress me at all as well - but I'm getting this further: not even the EMU8000 part impresses me... I just gifted/sold my 64s and never looked back 😉 🤣
I guess they are OK cards if you don't want to spend a small fortune to get roland and other synths though...

keropi wrote:

tbh AWE64 cards don't impress me at all as well - but I'm getting this further: not even the EMU8000 part impresses me... I just gifted/sold my 64s and never looked back 😉 🤣
I guess they are OK cards if you don't want to spend a small fortune to get roland and other synths though...

I think the EMU8000 is pretty cool, of course its gonna suffer if its playing some GM adaptation instead of a native composition/arrangement. I want it because i wanna play some games with it, Tyrian is such a case. But all in all i agree with you, and it would be the first card i will probably drop.

On Sound Blaster compatibles; Adlib is also at port 220h (or 240h), and some games access it that way.

I've never delved into the sound area much, but I have been lately.

If you were to use the AWE64 for midi stuff, and another card for normal audio, how would you hook them all up to the same speaker? OUT one card and IN the other?

gerwin wrote:

On Sound Blaster compatibles; Adlib is also at port 220h (or 240h), and some games access it that way.

Yes, that is correct.

Thraka wrote:

If you were to use the AWE64 for midi stuff, and another card for normal audio, how would you hook them all up to the same speaker? OUT one card and IN the other?

Mixer.

Thraka wrote:

If you were to use the AWE64 for midi stuff, and another card for normal audio, how would you hook them all up to the same speaker? OUT one card and IN the other?

To expand on that answer, many VOGONS users use an external Audio mixer. I have a slightly different model but something like this: http://www.phonic.com/en/am-105.html

Pretty sure I have this one: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Phonic-AM-240-2x-M … =item2c8f030c21

I wondering if some reduced settings via a .bat file could help as suggested by gerwin in pther thread:

SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0 SET BLASTER=E620 T6 SET SOUND=C:\DOSAPP\AWE (path to installation) CTCM AWEDIAG /S […]
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SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER=E620 T6
SET SOUND=C:\DOSAPP\AWE (path to installation)
CTCM
AWEDIAG /S

When i was looking for an AWE64 Gold, i came across a lot of material saying that it was pretty much crap in sound quality compared to something like Turtle Beach Pinnacle.

In my opinion, AWE64 Gold is an downgrade from AWE32. Extra sound quality means nothing if it does the exact same thing but lacks.
It doesn't have an wave header, it doesn't use cheap memory upgrade (not counting in Simmcon), it still doesn't output Audio trough SPDIF (or i might be wrong here) and it does not have an true OPL3 chip (AWE64 OPL is horrible).
The only good side is that the size is smaller.

With retrogaming compatibility comes first, sound qualtity second. Just avoid anything routed through a TEA2025 amp.

OK i got a little time to check this out.

The reduced settings do work:

SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0 SET BLASTER=E640 T6 SET SOUND=C:\SOUND\AWE64 SET CTCM=C:\CTCM C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE C:\SOUND\AWE64\AWEU […]
Show full quote

SET MIDI=SYNTH:1 MAP:E MODE:0
SET BLASTER=E640 T6
SET SOUND=C:\SOUND\AWE64
SET CTCM=C:\CTCM
C:\CTCM\CTCM.EXE
C:\SOUND\AWE64\AWEUTIL /S

Problem is, volume is extremely low. MIXERSET program complains about SET BLASTER not being correct so it refuses to run. If i try to change SET BLASTER back the way it was then MIXERSET runs.

But.... Card output is way too low. It seems that internal amplification is done by SB16 part and only then signal goes to EMU8000 synth. So no matter what i do, as long as SB16 is disabled on CTPNP.cfg card volume output will be too low. I turn SB16 part on again and BOOM the damn thing is loud again.

Creative and their retarded designs.... 😒

Since you are using a mixer, can't you get the mixer itself to amplify it? Or get a little amp between the line out and the mixer input?

alexanrs wrote:

Since you are using a mixer, can't you get the mixer itself to amplify it?

That is the easiest solution i thought of. Living with the SB16 part is an option too.

carlostex wrote:

That is the easiest solution i thought of. Living with the SB16 part is an option too.

Using the mixer will leave you with more available IRQ/Ports/DMA... IF the bios isn't giving the card the resources it requires anyway. In that case you might just leave the sb16 part on.

alexanrs wrote:

carlostex wrote:

That is the easiest solution i thought of. Living with the SB16 part is an option too.

Using the mixer will leave you with more available IRQ/Ports/DMA... IF the bios isn't giving the card the resources it requires anyway. In that case you might just leave the sb16 part on.

Resources wise there's no problem. I have everything pretty much laid out and every card will have its own resources without conflicts. So i can live with the SB16 part. If i use the Sound Blaster 16 part it will be only for its PCM. I've changed the AdLib port on CTPNP.cfg so the darn thing does not play.

But it's good to know the EMU8k synth still plays, although it needs a kick. For this build to be perfect i should try an find an original dual OPL2 Pro Audio Spectrum.

Doesn't the YMF grab additional resources for its WSS compatibility or you disabled that as well?