Geon106 wrote:

Like an idiot though I only realised after it dispatched that there are also a few variants of AWE32 cards, this one is a CT3990 which turns out lacks true OPL3 and according to LGR(Lazy Game Reviews) sounds awful.

CQM vs OPL3 is overblown and LGR is hardly a hardware guru; just enjoy your AWE32, it's a fantastic piece of hardware, genuine OPL3 or not.

I've never heard the difference between CQM and OPL3 side by side so will try both. Everyone seems to hate on the CQM cards though and sing praises for the true OPL3 cards.

I still may take the 8MB RAM from the CT3990 and put that on the CT2760, sell the CT3990 and grab a Sound Canvas. I don't know though. I will try both when they arrive and think it through 😀

Thank you though, I'm glad I've made the right choice going for an AWE32 and know either of them will be good cards.

It's not a perfect card, and may not be an ideal card to use with a Sound Canvas. Do a google search on AWE32 models and their MIDI bugs. I personally use it with a daughterboard without major issues, but some people can't stand the occasional hiccup.

Is CQM really not that bad? I'm looking to buy a Sound Blaster 16 variant and I heard CQM was terrible, so I was thinking to go for a OPL3 variant, though I do not hear that much difference on YouTube comparisons myself. The CQM variants definitely seem to go for a lot less on eBay compared to their OPL3 counterparts though. What is your opnion on this? 😀

My opinion is that while CQM isn't as good as OPL3, the difference is definitely overblown and the vast majority of the time, if you are not explicitly looking for the difference, you probably won't notice it.

I am also sure someone will point out a particular game that CQM makes an absolute mess of, but most games sound perfectly fine with CQM.

Strahssis wrote:

Is CQM really not that bad? I'm looking to buy a Sound Blaster 16 variant and I heard CQM was terrible, so I was thinking to go for a OPL3 variant, though I do not hear that much difference on YouTube comparisons myself. What is your opnion on this?

If you do decide to get a CQM variant, I will have one to sell in a few days 😉

canthearu wrote:

My opinion is that while CQM isn't as good as OPL3, the difference is definitely overblown and the vast majority of the time, if you are not explicitly looking for the difference, you probably won't notice it.

I am also sure someone will point out a particular game that CQM makes an absolute mess of, but most games sound perfectly fine with CQM.

I can imagine that's true and that you won't be able to tell the difference if you're not explicitly looking for it. Which brings up the dilemma; how much would you like to pay extra for a sound card that sounds just a little bit better? 😕

Geon106 wrote:

If you do decide to get a CQM variant, I will have one to sell in a few days 😉

That sounds interesting; I might send you a message about this later today! 😀

Strahssis wrote:

Geon106 wrote:

If you do decide to get a CQM variant, I will have one to sell in a few days 😉

That sounds interesting; I might send you a message about this later today! 😀

No worries 😀

Strahssis wrote:

I can imagine that's true and that you won't be able to tell the difference if you're not explicitly looking for it. Which brings up the dilemma; how much would you like to pay extra for a sound card that sounds just a little bit better? 😕

I wouldn't say they are indiscernible, the two have fairly distinct sounds and I can tell them apart in blind testing. CQM is a much less filtered and more metallic solution compared to OPL3. The right way to put it would be to say that the difference does not inherently make CQM worse or wrong. Especially considering this (which I have also said before): Not all OPL3 is OPL3. There is no one true OPL3 sound the way there is one true OPL2/Adlib sound. OPL3 in Sound Blaster Pro cards with static lowpass filter sound worlds apart from OPL3 in SB16 cards that have dynamic brickwall filtering. Then there are the OEM cards which have from absolutely no filters to cards that are improperly filtered and have absolutely no bass response. A well built ESS Audiodrive and its ESFM implementation sounds way better than most OEM OPL3 cards and genuine OPL3 SB16s to me, for example.

appiah4 wrote:

Strahssis wrote:

I can imagine that's true and that you won't be able to tell the difference if you're not explicitly looking for it. Which brings up the dilemma; how much would you like to pay extra for a sound card that sounds just a little bit better? 😕

I wouldn't say they are indiscernible, the two have fairly distinct sounds and I can tell them apart in blind testing. CQM is a much less filtered and more metallic solution compared to OPL3. The right way to put it would be to say that the difference does not inherently make CQM worse or wrong. Especially considering this (which I have also said before): Not all OPL3 is OPL3. There is no one true OPL3 sound the way there is one true OPL2/Adlib sound. OPL3 in Sound Blaster Pro cards with static lowpass filter sound worlds apart from OPL3 in SB16 cards that have dynamic brickwall filtering. Then there are the OEM cards which have from absolutely no filters to cards that are improperly filtered and have absolutely no bass response. A well built ESS Audiodrive and its ESFM implementation sounds way better than most OEM OPL3 cards and genuine OPL3 SB16s to me, for example.

Hope you don't mind that I've taken inspiration from your signature

appiah4 wrote:

Strahssis wrote:

I can imagine that's true and that you won't be able to tell the difference if you're not explicitly looking for it. Which brings up the dilemma; how much would you like to pay extra for a sound card that sounds just a little bit better? 😕

I wouldn't say they are indiscernible, the two have fairly distinct sounds and I can tell them apart in blind testing. CQM is a much less filtered and more metallic solution compared to OPL3. The right way to put it would be to say that the difference does not inherently make CQM worse or wrong. Especially considering this (which I have also said before): Not all OPL3 is OPL3. There is no one true OPL3 sound the way there is one true OPL2/Adlib sound. OPL3 in Sound Blaster Pro cards with static lowpass filter sound worlds apart from OPL3 in SB16 cards that have dynamic brickwall filtering. Then there are the OEM cards which have from absolutely no filters to cards that are improperly filtered and have absolutely no bass response. A well built ESS Audiodrive and its ESFM implementation sounds way better than most OEM OPL3 cards and genuine OPL3 SB16s to me, for example.

SUBJECTIVELY SPEAKING:
Quite true, but having both in-hand and trying them one after the other, I can honestly say that I have never heard anything that sounded better on CQM than a decent OPL2/3-based solution.
CQM at its best is close to it's OPL counterpart, but at its worst sounds tinny, metalic and hollow.
If you're planning on building a proper retro DOS machine, a good OPL3-based card is the way to go for FM.
I have an AWE64 Gold with a 32MB simconn upgrade and don't even use it due to this issue. I stuck with my AWE32 CT2760 v3.

Nothing will really sound better in CQM, because when people were composing FM music they were working with OPL, not CQM. However, some folks like the chorus/reverb effects that the AWE64 can apply to its FM.

If I choose an AWE/CQM over an SBPro/OPL, it's because I value the other features of the AWE more than the difference between CQM and OPL, not because I like the sound of CQM better than OPL (I don't).

dr_st wrote:

Nothing will really sound better in CQM, because when people were composing FM music they were working with OPL, not CQM. However, some folks like the chorus/reverb effects that the AWE64 can apply to its FM.

If I choose an AWE/CQM over an SBPro/OPL, it's because I value the other features of the AWE more than the difference between CQM and OPL, not because I like the sound of CQM better than OPL (I don't).

What about an AWE/OPL combo? Like the CT2760

Wouldn't OPL3LPT adapter, be a good alternative for OPL3 games ?

Geon106 wrote:

What about an AWE/OPL combo? Like the CT2760

It's the ideal thing, although probably a bit noisier than an AWE64, and has the hanging-note bug for external MIDI devices, but that's only relevant if you plan to connect external MIDI devices.

dr_st wrote:

Geon106 wrote:

What about an AWE/OPL combo? Like the CT2760

It's the ideal thing, although probably a bit noisier than an AWE64, and has the hanging-note bug for external MIDI devices, but that's only relevant if you plan to connect external MIDI devices.

You could combine it with a HardMPU card and that solves the hanging note problem.
You could also use SoftMPU (with many games) in SERIAL mode where you can connect an SC-55 mkII or later device to a COM port and bypass the Sound Blaster completely for MIDI.

dr_st wrote:

Geon106 wrote:

What about an AWE/OPL combo? Like the CT2760

It's the ideal thing, although probably a bit noisier than an AWE64, and has the hanging-note bug for external MIDI devices, but that's only relevant if you plan to connect external MIDI devices.

SB16s also have a couple other audio quality bugs that can manifest themselves. Still, I think SB16 cards are very much the best option for the Crusader games 😁 .

I say give the CQM a go and see if it really bothers you.
I have a AWE64 in one of my machines and the CQM in that is fine for everything I play.

With later game using the SB16 part of the card for sound and the AWE part for music anyway, so it makes no difference which chip it uses.

Honestly, with an AWE32 I don't know why you would bother with OPL3 at all. The extra RAM is really useful — I highly advise you to play around with soundfonts. You might not need an external GM module after all. So why listen to AdLib music when you have a really capable wavetable device? I know some people really love FM synthesis, but there are very few games that make good use of it.

Also, you could always just install a second soundcard that has true OPL3 and MPU implementation without bugs. Any Yamaha card will do for that just fine. You'll have to work with IRQ conflicts and reroute audio output with an extra cable, but that's about it.