VOGONS


First post, by Red_Machine

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I just put together a Pentium II retro battlestation. I originally intended to use my SB Live! Value, but I couldn't get any sound from it despite the drivers being installed and Windows believing it was working fine. I replaced it with an SB 16 WavEffects which, while it produces sound, is having some major issues. Intially, maybe once or twice a minute there would be some crackling from the speakers, which after a couple of hours was replaced by a persistent hiss. After a few more hours, there was some major crackling and the hissing stopped, and after a while I realised there was no sound coming from the left channel. The hissing returned again a while later, along with sound from the left channel, only to disappear again after a while. So I am only getting sound from the left channel (with persistent hiss) on and off. Has anyone experienced anything like this before? I do not know the provenence of the card, nor can I recall where and when I obtained it, so it's possible that a previous owner disposed of it after it developed this problem. I am using the latest driver from Creative's website, on Windows 98SE.

if nobody is able to help me resolve this issue, could someone please recommend me a good card to replace it with? I'm not particularly fussed about the brand, as long as it's a "proper" sound card and not using emulation like the Ensoniq-based cards. As long as it has decent compatibility with Windows 98 and games of that vintage, that's fine with me. Thanks.

Reply 1 of 11, by KCompRoom2000

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As far as the crackling and hissing goes, it might be from trying to use amplified/powered speakers on the line-out jack when the JP2 and JP3 jumpers are set to use the card's built-in amplifier. going by the actual manual here you locate jumpers JP2 and JP3 to make sure they're pointing up (usually on an area labeled "LIN OUT"), if they're pointing down (on "SPK OUT) then the jumpers must be moved to point up. I'm not 100% sure if this fixes the issue you're having but I did have to do this before installing a CT4170 into my P1 rig, maybe test the speakers on another computer?

If you want suggestions for a replacement card, a Sound Blaster AWE32 or AWE64 would be a nice fit for a Pentium II system, especially for DOS and 9x gaming.

Reply 2 of 11, by badmojo

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Welcome to the forums! Yes given that the WaveEffects isn't a great card anyway, I'd just toss it and try something else.

Depends what you're intending to do with this machine but Vortex2 based cards are fun for Win9X games, or an ES1688 based AudioDrive is a good cheap option. Also agree that an AWE64 is a good way to go - the Value models go for ~20 bucks.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 3 of 11, by Red_Machine

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Okay, I moved the jumpers to the LIN OUT position, and while it does affect the sound output (I have to turn up the sound volume in Windows), there is still hiss from the left channel accompanied by loud crackles and such. I'm thinking this card is borked and needs to be tossed, which means I'm trawling eBay for a new card.

EDIT: Apparently AWE64 cards go for silly money now in Britain. How's a Crystal CS4235-based card as a suitable alternative for Win98 gaming?

Reply 4 of 11, by badmojo

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Yes those Crystal CS423x chipsets are good in my experience - nice sounding SB Pro support and WSS. The OLP3 clone can sound pretty awful though - I think they fixed that with the CS4237 chipset.

If you're in the market for a decent sounding OPL3 clone the the AudioDrives do a good one, or you can just get yourself a Vibra16 with a real OPL3 - should be a cheap option.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 5 of 11, by gdjacobs

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It should be possible to find an inexpensive CS4237. As Mojo said, these are more refined than the CS4235.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 6 of 11, by peklop

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What WavEffect card of two different product You have?

Vibra16X based CT4170 with small chip
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7 … 6waveffects.jpg

or AWE64 based - CT4520 with deleted ROM and RAM
http://www.pixelatedarcade.com/tech_attribute … und-blaster-16/

Reply 9 of 11, by mkarcher

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dnewhous wrote on 2020-07-21, 10:01:

Is Waveffects the designation for soundblaster 16's with a waveblaster port?

No. The WavEffects designation means that the card is shipped with a license to use the WaveGuide software synthesis for 32 MIDI voices. It's the same software that expands the AWE64 to "64" voices, that consist of "32" wavetable voices from the EMU8000 and 32 extra WaveGuide voices from a software synthesizer. It's possible (i.e. I don't know) that the windows driver is able to tell SB16 WavEffect from standard SB16 apart (e.g. using PnP IDs) and only enables the WaveGuide synthesizer if a genuine SB16 WaveEffects is installed.

The WavEffects designation does not mean anything for usage with DOS applications or games.