SimonV wrote:Well I did google a bit about DOS and sound ... and therefore I just made this topic about two soundcards I actually have ( Well I have more but the ESS seems to be compatible with more or less everything and the only one with an IDE connector on it ). Just one question ... "General Midi" is that like the dreamblaster or are we talking about a Sound Canvas in that case ? Or are both compatible ?
General MIDI is a standard that describes which instrument is at which position so music for one device will play similarly on another - not the same as the sounds of the instruments themselves can and will differ, and different devices can (or can't) do various effects.
Roland's Sound Canvas SC-55v2 was the first General MIDI device, the Dreamblaster is a modern GM device. They fulfill the same role. Both are pretty highly regarded, but it's a matter of taste which is better. Also, as the Dreamblaster gets mounted on a sound card, the quality (SNR) of the output is dependent on that card, where the SC-55v2 is a standalone module with good quality output.
I own several GM devices, from some really crappy soundcards with equally crappy onboard 'wavetable' up to a sublime Yamaha MU50 XG module, and enjoy listening to the differences between them. As already stated, DOS sound cards are a big rabbit hole you can go down, the same applies to MIDI devices 😉
Oh, and as for your original question: why not both? Two sound cards in one machine is usually pretty easy to configure, just put one (the ESS1868F) at A220 I5 D1 P330 and the other (the AWE64) at A240 I7 D3 H5 P300. That way you get both SBPro2 and SB16 support, and you can use game settings to decide which one to use.