I've just run the E-Wave and QWave renditions of Descent Level 1 in sync, and the results are in... buy both 😁

https://youtu.be/y5btYkdyjGo
https://youtu.be/4Z36Tix2z6g

RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2022-02-13, 19:45:

I can only imagine how great a Yamaha XG synth would sound with today's board designs and components. If we could get the full performance of the SW1000XG with daughterboards in a compact Waveblaster or external box synth, it would be phenomenal!

Oh boy. Y-Wave, please!

Pierre32 wrote on 2022-02-14, 07:14:

RetroGamer4Ever wrote on 2022-02-13, 19:45:

I can only imagine how great a Yamaha XG synth would sound with today's board designs and components. If we could get the full performance of the SW1000XG with daughterboards in a compact Waveblaster or external box synth, it would be phenomenal!

Oh boy. Y-Wave, please!

Unfortunately, there is presently no way to get Yamaha XG outside of the sole XG VSTi that we are now using, which is based on an early version of XG tech. The XG hardware and software was only available through Yamaha, with no licensee that didn't use either of those in their products. It might be possible for DREAM to license XG soundbanks, but I don't know if their DSP design and software is compliant with any of the 3 XG levels, as they only implement basic GM and full GS, with no GM2. The best we could probably hope for, without involvement from Yamaha, is a cracked version of the S-YXG100-PVL soft-synth in VSTi format and I don't think anyone has made any progress on that.

I made this a while back : TB60XG, enhanced Yamaha DB60XG based MIDI module
Which is about as good as it'll get for the time being 🤣

QS1000 does sound a lot better than I anticipated, I quite like how it manages to be its own thing and not another Roland clone *coughDreamcough* 🤣

I tried to get a DB50XG/NEC whateveritis on eBay, but I only found one and it was going for over $300 and I had no interest in paying that much for a low-end XG hardware synth that can't compete with the freely available S-YXG50 VSTi that out-performs it in every way and is already installed in my PCs. Someone from China is mass-selling the Serdaco boards and using the names of various old Waveblaster boards to do it, so I had to wade through dozens and dozens of listings before I found one that actually had the Yamaha card.

Hey also for WarCraft 2 : Orc Theme 1, the comparison :
E-Wave : https://youtu.be/w6xreQ7G7dI
QWave : https://youtu.be/txrB-REBSu8
X2GS : https://youtu.be/yM6BhWjypeU

QWave sounds rather impressive. Changes my preconceptions about how good such a small ROM can sound. The timbres, the EQ balance, everything is punching so far above it's weight. Very well done on this product.

Shreddoc wrote on 2022-02-14, 21:50:

QWave sounds rather impressive. Changes my preconceptions about how good such a small ROM can sound. The timbres, the EQ balance, everything is punching so far above it's weight. Very well done on this product.

The problem with Waveblaster boards was always that - apart from being difficult to obtain and rather expensive - the soundcards with Wavetable headers were usually not good enough to actually use them to their fullest, because the setup relies on the soundcard's own hardware to pump out the audio. This is why external modules were always preferred, as they could put out better quality sound than the soundcards themselves and their cost reflected it. Now, we have external Waveblaster cases and new retro-PC soundcards, which have HQ audio outputs, so everything sounds far better with these new and old boards, which is also why you can't even get an old Waveblaster board now, due to people buying up the few that were in circulation and using them with the new output options.

dreamblaster wrote on 2022-02-08, 19:43:

I added QWave Warcraft II demo, and shop link (see links in first post)
Crystal Blaster C2 will come soon as well (estimated 1 - 2 months)

Is this going to be in a kit form?

looks like i missed the opportunity to buy this board

I made a video with over 30 (mostly DOS) game music tracks on the Qwave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU_F4nd2db4

Super Street Fighter 2 on the QWave. This really is a nice pickup if you want something a little different from the typical modules:
https://youtu.be/ohevl4_dSmA

For something a little different, here's Konami's Lagrange Point (Famicom) on the QWave: https://youtu.be/EEhlrD0YmZ8

SuperDeadite wrote on 2022-08-03, 16:54:

For something a little different, here's Konami's Lagrange Point (Famicom) on the QWave: https://youtu.be/EEhlrD0YmZ8

This is one of my all-time favorite soundtracks, so it’s interesting to hear it here. The instruments do sound a bit off, but I have to imagine that’s because the VRC7 used different instruments vs. the OPLL.

Nikita Lita wrote on 2022-08-03, 18:28:

SuperDeadite wrote on 2022-08-03, 16:54:

For something a little different, here's Konami's Lagrange Point (Famicom) on the QWave: https://youtu.be/EEhlrD0YmZ8

This is one of my all-time favorite soundtracks, so it’s interesting to hear it here. The instruments do sound a bit off, but I have to imagine that’s because the VRC7 used different instruments vs. the OPLL.

VRC7 uses embedded OPLL. Intrument differences you hear are just the raw results of real-time OPLL to MIDI translation. It's never going to be completely accurate without custom programing.

I tried most of my modules and results were all over the place. Dreamblaster S2 was probably the closest, but the drums sounded awful. Oddly enough, the McFly did very well and gave it a very alien oppressive tone.

SuperDeadite wrote on 2022-08-04, 00:07:

Nikita Lita wrote on 2022-08-03, 18:28:

SuperDeadite wrote on 2022-08-03, 16:54:

For something a little different, here's Konami's Lagrange Point (Famicom) on the QWave: https://youtu.be/EEhlrD0YmZ8

This is one of my all-time favorite soundtracks, so it’s interesting to hear it here. The instruments do sound a bit off, but I have to imagine that’s because the VRC7 used different instruments vs. the OPLL.

VRC7 uses embedded OPLL. Intrument differences you hear are just the raw results of real-time OPLL to MIDI translation. It's never going to be completely accurate without custom programing.

Sure, but the VRC7’s OPLL implementation has significantly different instruments vs the stock OPLL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj4E52CaT5M