Could anyone reflect on the sound differences and tech specs between the X2 or S1 and the XR385? I am considering purchasing the X2 and S1.

I currently have an Audican32 with XR385. Making the cable was a pain, and so was the custom mounting. I also have a PCI Vortex2 card with XR385 that works well in DOS. Anyway, I have another Audican32, 4x AWE64, and an ESS Audiodrive 1868 which could use daughter cards. What would be your recommendation to buy? four units of S1 and one unit of X2? Thanks.

AWE64 does not take daughtercards. At least not as such.

Well, this is what the ordering website says, http://www.serdashop.com/waveblaster ,

Compatible with any soundcard that has a Waveblaster connector, such as soundblaster 16, AWE32, AWE64,...

I haven't looked at my AWE64's in some time, but that does sound familiar that they do not have the daughterboard header. Why does the website mention the AWE64? Did some have the header?

Well the S1 is really terrific value. It's a nice upgrade compared to FM for a low price.

The Audican 32 Plus and ESS AudioDrive cards work great with it. The S1 is tiny, so no issues with size, same goes for the X2, it's smaller than the X1, and fits on the Audician 32 Plus just fine. The X1 was a little bit too long.

I'll let him now about the AWE64 reference on the S1 page, as this card does indeed not have a wavetable header.

feipoa wrote:

Well, this is what the ordering website says, http://www.serdashop.com/waveblaster ,

Compatible with any soundcard that has a Waveblaster connector, such as soundblaster 16, AWE32, AWE64,...

I haven't looked at my AWE64's in some time, but that does sound familiar that they do not have the daughterboard header. Why does the website mention the AWE64? Did some have the header?

It's a typo on the website. No AWE64 or later Creative cards ever had a wavetable header.

stamasd wrote:

AWE64 does not take daughtercards. At least not as such.

You are right, typo corrected on the site immediately !
X2 and S1 should plug on any soundcard that has WaveBlaster Header (is there a 'complete' list on vogons somewhere ?)
But for AWE64, I guess the only option is through the DB15 MIDI connector, so externally --> (for example using the Phil n Chill adapter, or use midi cable + chill interface board).

Would somebody be willing to compare the S1 and X2 against the NEC XR385? I am a novice when it comes to all these ISA sound card options. I didn't really care much about it until recently, mainly because I am running out of things to upgrade.

feipoa wrote:

Would somebody be willing to compare the S1 and X2 against the NEC XR385? I am a novice when it comes to all these ISA sound card options. I didn't really care much about it until recently, mainly because I am running out of things to upgrade.

I've got a NEC XR394 (Yamaha SW60XG) yesterday which to my knowledge should be similar to the daughterboard. I'm just learning these things, but I do want to record some samples once I get my bundle.

Phil listed some DOOM, Duke3D, and Descent recordings from the X2 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJtDla72TCw&feature=youtu.be
I am going to pull out my IBM 5x86-133/2x system, which houses the Audican32Plus w/XR385 and try to compare the sounds the best I can. It would really be ideal, though, to have both recordings in the same format.

There are recordings of the Dreamblaster S1 and X1 on http://www.wavetable.nl. Amoretro also has recordings of the Dreamblaster S1 on his website: http://www.amoretro.de/2014/07/dreamblaster-s … oard-0-5mb.html.
They both have plenty of recordings of other soundcards to compare them to.
I'd make some recordings of the X2 myself, but I currently have little time and too little webspace available. Soon maybe.

I just listened to Phil's X2 recordings of DOOM, Duke3D, and Descent and compared them to the XR385 on my Audican32. I personally felt that the X2 had quite a bit more depth to it, as if more instruments were being played simultaneously. I'm not an audiophile, so excuse my newb terminology.

EDIT: I also compared these 3 recordings with and AWE64Gold. I had no idea how bad the AWE64Gold sounded in comparison. I cannot imagine me ever wanting to use a soundcard without wavetable header again. Aside from compatibility, could somebody remind me why the AWE64 cards are so sought after?

feipoa wrote:

I personally felt that the X2 had quite a bit more depth to it, as if more instruments were being played simultaneously. I'm not an audiophile, so excuse my newb terminology.

EDIT: I also compared these 3 recordings with and AWE64Gold. I had no idea how bad the AWE64Gold sounded in comparison. I cannot imagine me ever wanting to use a soundcard without wavetable header again. Aside from compatibility, could somebody remind me why the AWE64 cards are so sought after?

That's the Chorus effect. The cool thing about the X2 is that the level of Chorus and Reverb is user adjustable, so you can tweak it to your own taste.

The AWE64 is the final ISA card from Creative and has a lot of things going for it. But against a good General MIDI device it struggles of course.

Yamaha XG cards have a very different sound compared to Cleanwave sound fonts which are closer to Roland SoundCanvas modules.

Thats true. There are basically three mainstream makers of soundfonts, each with their very own characteristics:

1. Roland (and CleanWave so some degree as they tried to reassemble / imitate the Roland sound & feel and did quite well..),
2. Yamaha
3. Korg.

There are games that sound better with certain soundfonts but clearly most of the DOS games sound tracks were composed on or for Roland gear because they were first and also had the position of the market leader. But this alone doesn't imply that both Yamaha and also Korg daughterboards or external modules can be excellent alternatives, depending on what games you like / play most.
It's great to have a good variety and I personally don't want to miss one of these big three.

I'd put the Roland and CleanWave in a separate category since they are indeed different sounding, but the CleanWave is very balanced when playing the same midi track that was composed on a Roland.
Generally speaking, both were the "go to" synths/wavetables back in the 90s.

James-F wrote:

I'd put the Roland and CleanWave in a separate category since they are indeed different sounding, but the CleanWave is very balanced when playing the same midi track that was composed on a Roland.
Generally speaking, both were the "go to" synths/wavetables back in the 90s.

CleanWave had very little market share compared to the others. Roland, Korg and Yamaha were much more the "go to" synths back in the day because they were very well established and used by hobbyists and professionals around the globe.
I'd count CleanWave into the Roland category just in terms of the overall sound characteristic. I agree with you that the instrument samples are different sounding, of course. The CleanWave sounds "unremarkable" in a good way, I like it a lot and the name is quite matching. But it still lacks the uniqueness the other very popular soundfonts have.

feipoa wrote:

Would somebody be willing to compare the S1 and X2 against the NEC XR385? I am a novice when it comes to all these ISA sound card options. I didn't really care much about it until recently, mainly because I am running out of things to upgrade.

I don't really have that much to add to the thread but your post made me chuckle. I'm feeling the same way and the price was right so why not. 😀
It helps an aspiring entrepreneur too. Anyone willing to market new hardware for old platforms gets a thumbs up from me.

Kurzweil also had their own sound but unfortunately didn't have much presence in PC hardware.

How does the X2 compare to lets say, a high-end SoundCanvas like the 88-pro or maybe even a DB50XG? Apart from gaming I play keyboard so I find it enjoyable tinkering with diverse hardware. 😀

Speaking of sounding like Roland....

I have this Tango-100 card, that sounds a bit different than the S1 or X1 modules.
And as it was mentioned, that Dream used to rip/steal Roland font's.
Then is my card one of them, with ripped off Roland font's? I think it is from around 94.
Or is my card one of the first with Clean font? (card has a small 512k rom)