Audigy2 has much better digital and SPDIF sound output. AWE64 will be more compatible for DOS games. I have not used soundFonts on a ZS before, but they work well on the AWE64 with an (expensive) adapter.

It's really just compatibility of ISA vs features of PCI card.

Also is there something that the AWE64 offers that I would not get out of an Audigy 2 ZS?

Better FM music, although not ideal too.

As an ISA card, the AWE64 is natively compatible with DOS games. The Audigy is a PCI card which means that it uses some form of emulation in order to achieve DOS compatibility. In short, DOS games will have fewer issues with the AWE64 than with the Audigy.

Concerning soundfonts, the Audigy has a fairly big advantage there. The size of the soundfonts that you can use on that card is only limited by your system RAM. In contrast, the AWE64 has on-board memory which ranges from 512 KB (value models) to 32 MB (of which 28 MB are usable) if you buy an expansion module. For reference, larger soundfonts provide better sound quality. Also, loading a 28 MB soundfont can take up to a minute or two on the AWE64. On an Audigy, loading the same soundfont only takes a couple of seconds.

Lastly, FM synth emulation of the Audigy/SBLive cards sounds more artificial than CQM which is used by the AWE64. And both are inferior to genuine OPL3. Here's a comparison: OPL3 vs. ESFM vs. CQM vs. SBLive

Grayshazzle wrote on 2020-12-31, 08:51:

And lastly, what is the difference overall between the AWE64 and Audigy 2 ZS, the core element that really makes it?

Very basically and not 100% correct but think of the AWE as a enhanced Sound Blaster 16
Things that use Adlib (OPL or clone) and FM (sound fx) will be exactly the same as a SB16
The "AWE" bit (The EMU chip we'll see later on) allows instrument to be loaded into its memory and in theory music should sound better then a standard SB16.

Sound Blaster Live! further developed the EMU chip to support EAX The Audigy 2 uses the 3rd generation EMU chip based off the live so you could call it a SB Live! 3 technically.
These soundcards have nothing in common with the ISA cards which is why no one recommends them for dos.
Those dos drivers emulate the OPL or CQM adlib chip of a true SB16 and you'll also loose the advanced AWE features. Not to mention they have fair few incompatibility's with games and more of a last resort option

PCI cards have better snr ratios, this gets important in windows games where sound recordings were much higher quality.
Using a ISA card in Windows can sound, well a bit crap. In dos you dont notice as much as the sound recoding themselves were highly compressed and low quality to fit on disks

Personally I tend to install 2 soundcards on dual boot systems
Usually a Audigy 2 ZS for Win9x
and a ISA card of some type for dos.

I'd like to support prevous posts - for Win9x & Win 9x dos prompt, dual card setup would be probably optimal (Audigy 2ZS + ISA sound with genuine yamaha OPL3). Please also keep in mind that 2ZS drivers are emulating SB16, so it could rather make sense to pair it with SB PRO compatible ISA card.

In pure DOS however, 2ZS has a lot of constraints, though I managed to set it up. Most disappointing is that line in and midi ports are not working, and you won't be able to set volume levels (at least I am not aware about existence of DOS mixer software for 2ZS). I'm considering downgrade to Audigy 1 Platinum because of this (since it has unofficial mixer for DOS) but didn't try it yet.

chinny22 wrote on 2020-12-31, 10:08:

Very basically and not 100% correct but think of the AWE as a enhanced Sound Blaster 16
Things that use Adlib (OPL or clone) and FM (sound fx) will be exactly the same as a SB16

Not strictly true, the AWE can apply reverb/chorus effects to OPL which is a not-insignificant reason why some people value them (especially the AWE32 with genuine OPL3).

The Audigy 2 uses the 3rd generation EMU chip

Not really. Audigy 2 is just a mild revision of 2rd gen EMU chip aka EMU10K2. Hence why Audigy DOS drivers can work fine on Audigy 2 family - it's the same chip.

Thank you all guys for the info. I appreciate it! 🙂

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-12-31, 09:12:

As an ISA card, the AWE64 is natively compatible with DOS games. The Audigy is a PCI card which means that it uses some form of emulation in order to achieve DOS compatibility. In short, DOS games will have fewer issues with the AWE64 than with the Audigy.

Concerning soundfonts, the Audigy has a fairly big advantage there. The size of the soundfonts that you can use on that card is only limited by your system RAM. In contrast, the AWE64 has on-board memory which ranges from 512 KB (value models) to 32 MB (of which 28 MB are usable) if you buy an expansion module. For reference, larger soundfonts provide better sound quality. Also, loading a 28 MB soundfont can take up to a minute or two on the AWE64. On an Audigy, loading the same soundfont only takes a couple of seconds.

Lastly, FM synth emulation of the Audigy/SBLive cards sounds more artificial than CQM which is used by the AWE64. And both are inferior to genuine OPL3. Here's a comparison: OPL3 vs. ESFM vs. CQM vs. SBLive

Hey man thanks for the info, I still have some questions. For now to keep it simple I will be using 98/9x DOS mode and then pure (built in 7.1 boot mode) if needed. First if I use digital SPDIF for Audigy and then analog for AWE64, is it possible to use both cards at the same time since my DVD-ROM drive shows both inputs for digital and analog SPDIF? And how do I configure what is digital and analog for each card in Windows 98/DOS? Also my plan is to use both Audigy and then AWE64 in 9x DOS windowed mode as that supports sound fonts (Audigy) (not pure), and also how I will be able to do this with specifying which device (ports/midi samples) is read by DOS to get them to work together on a recommended level. And for 9x window mode, do I need AWE64 9x drivers, like PhilsComputerLab or something?. Like I said I am sooooo new to this and a little nervous because I do not know much about all the commands and such and want best of both worlds for each DOS and 98. Also for pure I will probably just be using the AWE64 as sound fonts aren't supported in pure meaning Audigy for me will not be needed very much, I want to know how to disable Audigy in this mode so I can just use the AWE64. Lastly for the most part, how do I link two soundcards together via aux so that I can just plug my speakers into one of them and have both playing whenever their mode is selected in say a DOS or 9x game. Everything in my build has been understandable but the sound card part has been the struggle for me to understand, I am trying to gather this knowledge so when my build is done I have a plan basically. If you have read all of this then I appreciate you for making it this far into my question-based rants 🤣. Thank you and I hope to hear some good feedback from you soon. Have a good night!

Honestly, setting up an Audigy2 ZS with a second sound card is not something that I would recommend to someone who is still new to all this. If you want to try, I can give you some pointers, but it's a fairly complicated process.

First, you need to free up as many resources as possible. In the BIOS, disable the serial and parallel ports, and even the USB port if you're not using it. If you have a USB 2.0 card, you need to physically pull it out of the system since it will take up at least three separate IRQs. At the end of the day, you need to have the following resources free, before even attempting to install both cards: DMA 1, DMA 3, DMA 5, DMA 7, IRQ 5 and IRQ 7. Additionally, ports 220, 240, 300, 330 and 388 need to be free as well.

To ensure that all those resources are free, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information. Once there, click on Hardware Resources and then check the IRQ and DMA sections. Note that these resources must be used solely by the sound cards and cannot be shared with any other devices.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-01-01, 08:02:

Honestly, setting up an Audigy2 ZS with a second sound card is not something that I would recommend to someone who is still new to all this. If you want to try, I can give you some pointers, but it's a fairly complicated process.

First, you need to free up as many resources as possible. In the BIOS, disable the serial and parallel ports, and even the USB port if you're not using it. If you have a USB 2.0 card, you need to physically pull it out of the system since it will take up at least three separate IRQs. At the end of the day, you need to have the following resources free, before even attempting to install both cards: DMA 1, DMA 3, DMA 5, DMA 7, IRQ 5 and IRQ 7. Additionally, ports 220, 240, 300, 330 and 388 need to be free as well.

To ensure that all those resources are free, go to Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Information. Once there, click on Hardware Resources and then check the IRQ and DMA sections. Note that these resources must be used solely by the sound cards and cannot be shared with any other devices.

Ok, thank you for the extensive info and all. I will take your advice and for now just stick to the Audigy with the emulation. Most games I will be playing will be using Sound fonts in 9x mode so that should be a good start. I appreciate the info, thank you 😀