Looking on Ebay for these generally shows the Value much cheaper than the Gold variant, but how do they compare in terms of sound quality (both digital sound effects and MIDI), and is it worth expanding the soundfont RAM? Are there any good comparison vids available between the two?
Value AWE64 without expansion is horrible, AWE64 Gold with 4mb soundfont is more or less decent. Adding more RAM on top of that certainly improves things, but it's still miles away from modern solutions like Dreamblaster X2, X3M or even old professional MIDI from Roland and Yamaha.
I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.
wrote:Value AWE64 without expansion is horrible, AWE64 Gold with 4mb soundfont is more or less decent. Adding more RAM on top of that certainly improves things, but it's still miles away from modern solutions like Dreamblaster X2, X3M or even old professional MIDI from Roland and Yamaha.
All the above is correct if you plan to use these cards as General MIDI devices, in Windows.
In pure DOS, with no soundfonts, using only the SB16 digital audio portion + built-in AWE synth with the 1MB ROM, there is no difference between the Value and the Gold.
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This would be mostly for sound & music in games, not so much listening to a lot of MIDI music. Would there be much difference between Value and Gold if they both have the same size RAM upgrade (e.g. from a SIMMconn)? I've also seen the CT3670 variant of the '32 suggested as an alternative?
I don't think there is any difference in sound output quality between Value and Gold, and I think CT3670 uses the same components (except 0 RAM), so it should be fine as well.
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Hmm, now the choice is CT3670, or CT4520 with SIMMconn. They both have a geeky visual appeal to me, I just have to decide 🤣
Gold is less noisier in my experience. CT3670 can be quite buggy, mine just refuse to work properly in Windows 98.
I must be some kind of standard: the anonymous gangbanger of the 21st century.
I think I'm leaning towards CT4520, now. I can improve it with a SIMMconn and re-use that later if I'm feeling flush enough for a Gold.
I have never had problems with CT4520. I still use it in my K6-III+ pc and even if it is not gold, I would never call it horrible. Even with low amount of memory you can still improve the experience with soundfonts.
wrote:I don't think there is any difference in sound output quality between Value and Gold, and I think CT3670 uses the same components (except 0 RAM), so it should be fine as well.
The AWE64 Gold has a better s/n ratio over the Value; 90db vs "better than 80db" on the Value
wrote:wrote:I don't think there is any difference in sound output quality between Value and Gold, and I think CT3670 uses the same components (except 0 RAM), so it should be fine as well.
The AWE64 Gold has a better s/n ratio over the Value; 90db vs "better than 80db" on the Value
Is this proven? Because it was plastered on Gold boxes everywhere but I've never seen it put to the test. Trusting Creative marketing is like trusting the Devil. For all I know the gold plated RCAs and the different PCB are snake oil.
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