AWE64 CT4380 Muffled Audio Output Advice \ VOGONS

AWE64 CT4380 Muffled Audio Output Advice

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First post, by Totempole

Posted on 2011-10-27, 23:00

Totempole Offline

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Ok, so I've finally found a Retro-Gaming-PC config that I'm happy with, but I'm not entirely happy with the Sound Quality of my AWE64 CT4380 Card.

Basically the wave output sounds like it's 8-bit, but the card claims to be 16-bit. I didn't have this problem with the AWE64 CT4520 I had back in 2001.

For example: If I playback an MP3, sounds like ultra-low quality streaming audio.

However: If I swop out the AWE64 for a cheap C-Media CMI8738 everything is crystal clear.

So I'm wondering, is this a driver or configuration issue, or is it just that the CT4380 is an AWE64 Value?

I thought the only difference between the CT4520 and the CT4380 was the color coded ports and the 1mb RAM vs 512K.

Is there something I'm missing here?

Please Help

Oh and I'm running Win98SE btw.

Thanks. 😀

Reply 1 of 8, by AdamP

Posted on 2011-10-27, 23:30

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What is your IRQ, DMA, and I/O port setup for your AWE64?

Try using the same DMA channel for both 8 and 16 bit.

Also try moving the AWE64 to another ISA slot if you have one.

Reply 2 of 8, by Totempole

Posted on 2011-10-28, 14:03

Totempole Offline

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Hi, Thanks for the reply,

It's currently on Port 220, IRQ 5, 8-Bit DMA 1, 16-Bit DMA 5.
I've tried changing the ISA slot, but it doesn't help. 🙁

How do you change the DMA in Windows?

Just to clarify, I have no compatibility issues whatsoever with this card in DOS or Windows Games, it's just an issue of audio clarity being substandard.

Reply 3 of 8, by AdamP

Posted on 2011-10-28, 14:13

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You can change the resource settings in the Device Manager (System icon in Control Panel). Be sure to uncheck the automatic settings checkbox.

Reply 4 of 8, by 5u3

Posted on 2011-10-28, 14:14

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Try Creative's DIAGNOSE.EXE utility under DOS to check if the hardware is OK.
If it passes these tests, look at the driver installation in Win98, maybe de- and reinstalling the drivers will fix it.

Reply 5 of 8, by Jorpho

Posted on 2011-10-28, 16:50

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A silly question, perhaps, but are you sure you're plugging your speakers (or headphones?) into the right jack?

As I recall, there's quite a bit of crosstalk between the various channels – perhaps you're plugged into the microphone jack. Have you needed to turn the volume all the way up?

Reply 6 of 8, by sklawz

Posted on 2011-10-28, 17:44

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in the multimedia control panel for audio->advanced properties->performance there is an option for
sample rate conversion quality (win98se).

does that make any difference for the mp3s you are
playing?

bye

Reply 7 of 8, by Jorpho

Posted on 2011-10-29, 01:30

Jorpho Offline

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Here's something else you can try: do you have a passthrough cable running from your CD-ROM drive to your sound card? If so, does analog CD audio also get distorted?

If I'm not mistaken, analog CD audio does not get resampled by the card at all, so if that doesn't work, it's very unlikely to be some kind of driver problem.

It also occurred to me that we had a thread very much like this before, but it also came to no solution:
Awe64 Gold 16-Bit Distortion (CT4540)

Reply 8 of 8, by Jolaes76

Posted on 2011-10-29, 03:53

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The PCI CMI8738 can play back 48 kHz source so high quality mp3, FLAC, AC3 (DVD audio) is no problem. However, this is a serious issue for ISA cards that lack this feature and proper Directsound acceleration features in Windows.

Make sure your audio source for testing is 44 kHz mp3 at most and try switching to wave output in Winamp instead of Directsound.

"Ita in vita ut in lusu alae pessima iactura arte corrigenda est."

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