Am386DX-40 wrote:

One condition is that max 1 card (or no card at all) per system, that means that at least one sound card will be left out.

Really? I count 5 systems and 5 sound cards. "No sound card, just pc speaker" is an option, but not a sound card. 😉

It really depends on what games you plan to play on these systems. The XT does not really need a sound card, but if, only the SB Pro makes sense. Otherwise, put that into the 286.

The GUS is probably best fitted into the 486, as that was the time when most stuff utilizing the GUS was created. The SB16 would be ok as well.

The SB32 would go into the P133.

derSammler wrote:

Really? I count 5 systems and 5 sound cards. "No sound card, just pc speaker" is an option, but not a sound card. ;) […]
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Am386DX-40 wrote:

One condition is that max 1 card (or no card at all) per system, that means that at least one sound card will be left out.

Really? I count 5 systems and 5 sound cards. "No sound card, just pc speaker" is an option, but not a sound card. 😉

It really depends on what games you plan to play on these systems. The XT does not really need a sound card, but if, only the SB Pro makes sense. Otherwise, put that into the 286.

The GUS is probably best fitted into the 486, as that was the time when most stuff utilizing the GUS was created. The SB16 would be ok as well.

The SB32 would go into the P133.

Yeah, I was thinking something like that. I don't like the SB32, but it's the only card that provides general midi (at least until I get a proper roland or a munt/VSC machine next to it). I like the idea of leaving the XT without sound card, the games I'll play there probably won't need one anyways. 286 goes with the sbpro for sure. My doubt is where to place the gus, and I was also leaning for the 486. That leaves the 386 and pentium. If we use the SB32, that goes to the pentium and then it's a toss up between the Pro Audio Studio or the SB16 in the 386. Quality Vs. Compatibility. How compatible would that pro audio studio be with 386 era games?

XT - No sound card, just pc speaker
286 - Sound Blaster Pro 2 CT1600
386DX - Sound Blaster 16 MCD CT1750 (the more useful option), or MediaVision Pro Audio Studio 16 XL (the more interresting option)
486DX2 - Gravis Ultrasound MAX v2.1
Pentium - Sound Blaster 32 PnP CT3600

IMO I would find a sound card for the XT. An NEC v20 at 12mhz is practically a 286 class machine. I’d bet it even has a vga card. Probably capable of playing many games that support Adlib.

BinaryDemon wrote:

An NEC v20 at 12mhz is practically a 286 class machine. I’d bet it even has a vga card. Probably capable of playing many games that support Adlib.

Yes, but what would be the reason not to play these games on the real 286 then anyway and only have a sound card there? I would use the XT only for really old games that do not even have sound card support.

derSammler wrote:

BinaryDemon wrote:

An NEC v20 at 12mhz is practically a 286 class machine. I’d bet it even has a vga card. Probably capable of playing many games that support Adlib.

Yes, but what would be the reason not to play these games on the real 286 then anyway and only have a sound card there? I would use the XT only for really old games that do not even have sound card support.

Exactly. The point of the 286 machine would be to play games that support Adlib/Sb and are too old to play on a 386. The XT would be used for very old games that don't support any kind of sound card, or I could use some sort of covox speech thing on it 🤣.

For the XT clone, I'd rather put either an Adlib, or a CT1350B w/ CMS upgrade chips (GAL16V8 + 2xSAA1099), as the original Sound Blaster ("Killer Kard") is practically unobtainium these days...

LPT DACs need some CPU power, therefore they aren't a good match for XT.
A proper card for an XT would be Adlib, or at most SB 1.x/2.0, or clone - anyway, with 8-bit ISA connector.

You can always choose to use PC speaker...

derSammler wrote:

BinaryDemon wrote:

An NEC v20 at 12mhz is practically a 286 class machine. I’d bet it even has a vga card. Probably capable of playing many games that support Adlib.

Yes, but what would be the reason not to play these games on the real 286 then anyway and only have a sound card there?
I would use the XT only for really old games that do not even have sound card support.

My PC/XT clone currently has got a game adapter card (2x DE15) and a HGC clone (with LPT port) installed.
And so far, I'm happy with no VGA card installed, since it wouldn't co-exist very well with the on-board CGA anyway (plus, dual screen is cool 😎).

Hower, if it was something like 1992 and I was into adventure games..
Well, then I likely would consider getting a cheap second-hand XT and try "fixing it" by installing a proper V20/30 processor,
a no-name VGA and a no-name AdLib/SB/GameBlaster/SoundMaster clone. 😀