Well yes....but this is not some kind of hack but just how AWE32/AWE64 works in MIDI emulation mode. It just works under Win98 with soundfonts, under DOS you need to do aweutil /EM:GM to load soundbanks. You can also apply reverb/chorus.
The big advantage of midi emulation mode over native AWE is it can utilize the RAM expansion slots on the AWE32...so you can load up to 24MB soundfonts and then use them for midi synth. It's pretty cool. Under DOS you are basically limited to a standard 2MB soundbank file, which still sounds pretty good.
BUT of course Win98/DOS is not such an either/or proposition...for example under Win98 I can load a niec 8MB SoundFont on the AWE64...but it is still seen by DOS games running in a DOS window at 330. I imagine the PCMIDI would work fine for DOS games under windows as well no?
The option is I can connect a little toggle switch to the address jumper on the PCMIDI then drill it into the case, I just thought it might be a handy little thing to have on the PCMIDI card itself.