Jumper on "MFBEN"? If such excists. Then remove.

schadenfreude1 wrote:

I think you're onto something! The unit I have looks like this one. Though it says CT4520 on the top and has "Creative" written on the big chip and the board, the main chip lacks the AWE logo and "Sound Blaster AWE64" stamp emblazoned in the left corner. Wow, I can't believe I never noticed this! So assuming this is actually an SB16 and not an AWE64, why didn't it get a unique model number from Creative? Did the OEM remove the AWE64 chip but forget to update the board?

Whoa, a castrated CT4520! This card definitely lacks wavetable ROM, 512k of onboard RAM and memory upgrade connector, and does not have an AWE label on main chip, so I think it can work only as plain SB16, not a AWE64. Pretty weird 😵

by the way, can you provide a hires photo of upper left corner of card?

This card was mentioned earlier:
AWE64 Platinum deluxe

wbc wrote:

by the way, can you provide a hires photo of upper left corner of card?

I've attached the image to this post.

brostenen wrote:

Jumper on "MFBEN"? If such excists. Then remove.

The result is the same, whether I leave the jumper on or remove it.

Here is a recording of what the Duke 3D title screen music sounds like. I recorded this with the Creative mixer and game music settings at full volume and also with my speakers at full volume. You can make out the melody of the song (assuming you're familiar with it!), but it sounds extremely tinny, like picking up a distant radio station with your FM radio.

I've checked music playback in other games and get a similar experience. Since sound effects always work but music sounds like it's busted, I'm assuming the card itself is busted.

Can you check to see whether there is any damage (bent/touching pins) on the large chip on the card? It sounds like you are only getting percussion at very low volumes, and all the other instruments are silent. This could happen if the OPL address or data lines aren't connected correctly - although in a big IC like that one you'd think those same pins would be used for PCM address and data as well, so maybe it's something less easy to fix like static electricity damage from a previous owner handling the card improperly.

schadenfreude1 wrote:

I've attached the image to this post..

10x!

Really? Why isn't that resolution sufficient?

Malvineous wrote:

Can you check to see whether there is any damage (bent/touching pins) on the large chip on the card?

Nope, everything looks clean and connected to me.

This sounds crazy, but do you think I might need to set a jumper somewhere on the board to amplify the music signal? I see several available pins, but because the card is a freak and doesn't have a "real" model number, I can't find any information about these ones. I've found jumper information about other Sound Blasters, but the configurations are different. I suppose I could find one that looks similar and try it.

[quote="schadenfreude1"]Really? Why isn't that resolution sufficient?[/quote]
10x -> thanks 😀

Ah, you got me! 🤣