wave blaster is close but roland wins. but its all wave table dependent though for creative cards. my soundblaster awe64 pumps out some great tunes in midi format.
also i loved the snuckeys 4th theme it was the elevator classics series that played when you were in talkin to the novelty goods salesman in day of the tentacle

How do you access the MT32 set. GSPLAY mt32? Is the bundled software for that WB1 still available for DL somewhere? I just got a CT1740 and a WB1 bundle, naked of course...

I did also some recordings from the WaveBlaster here: http://www.voodooalert.de/board/index.php?pag … &threadID=17133
In my opinion the samples are quite decent and it plays songs well if they don't use effects too much.
As soon as it comes to heavy effect use and need for more voices other solutions take the lead.

ratix: Yes, I think his name was Dwayne and he was failed furniture designer or st. of that kind 😁 I also love this music theme. It's my favorite from both DOTT and Sam & Max. Also the Trixie's theme from S&M is great, with that sad sax melody.
😳 Roland wins? I can't help myself, but the Roland's oboe playing the main theme sounds soo metalic and unnatural that it almost burst ear. Even the strings are very flat and synthy. WB's oboe is so smooth and sweet and the strings f.e. at 0:44-0:54 so lively. Even the choir fits in the mix somehow better and the instruments have overall better volume balance. Maybe on SC-88 it would sound much better, it's hard to tell, but on the SC-55 it's a big dissapointment, and the oboe is simply terrible.

ux-3: As far as i remember it was: WBMODE /MT32
Or in Windows via Wave Blaster Control Panel. But you need the software. Anyway, MT-32 mode is pretty useless, it just doesn't sound right. But I found two games - Flasback and the second one I can't remember - somehow supporting MT-32 mode of Wave Blaster and it sounded great. But for other 99% cases it's almost useless. I could send you the content of WB installation floppy if you want.

elianda: Great comparison!! Really nice. I was surprised how badly SCB-55 and Yamaha sound in orchestral stuff. And I was pleased (but not surprised 😊 ) that the first person replying in your article said: "I like the the Wave Blaster sound best."
You're right about the effects. However it's possible to apply them additionally or route WB through an external box and then it sounds gorgeously.

WBMan,

Thanks for the link to your WB1 page... loved hearing those tunes again through the good old WB1.

I too am quite fond of my old WB1 😀 Although it's still operational, the PC that it's installed in is currently stored away -> http://www.cmoo.com/snor/weeds/Weeds_486DX4-100.htm .

P.S. A little something that I posted here a while back:

I have a WaveBlaster (the first edition, *NOT* the crapola "WaveBlaster II"). […]
Show full quote

I have a WaveBlaster (the first edition, *NOT* the crapola "WaveBlaster II").

---snip---

I was never happy with the sound of the 1meg ROM on the AWE32, but purchased it back in the day to add SIMMs to it (and an EMU SoundFont). The WaveBlaster 1 on the other hand sounded great 😀 Had 4 megs of compressed ROM samples, and was based on the Proteus 1 line of MIDI modules.

I remember buying a WB2 when it first hit the market, as the EMU8K on that DB provided reverb and chorus effects. I was drooling on my way home thinking about it; as, although the WB1 sounded super, it was "dry" as a bone... no reverb or chorus.

After installing the WB2 and giving it a whirl, I thought something must be wrong with my ears; as the WB2 - even with the reverb and chorus - sounded like pure crap compared to my WB1. I then quickly discovered that the WB2 only had 1 meg of ROM samples <argh>!

Packaged it up, and money refunded the exact same day!

Anyhow, love you WB1 tribute page 😀 Hehe BTW, are you familiar with the shareware program "WBMan" <LOL>? 😀 Who the heck was the author of that utility (Herman Schieb (SIC))?

rfnagel,

Thanks! 😀 I'm glad you like my site. Btw. nice computer photos 😀. It's great to see the other WB user with good ear, who is able to hear all the great sound details and qualities of Wave Blaster that other GM cards so lack.

You wrote it perfectly thrutfully. But imagine that there are people who deprecate WB1 and say that WB2 is far better, and that WB1 is total crap. It's annoying me every time. Have you read the "History of PC Game MIDI" article? It's really sad reading.

🤣 WBMan (Wave Blaster Manipulator) application - I googled it now, I had no idea - what a strange coincidence. Now it might seems I parasite on its name. 😲
I will try to update some music on the WB site soon..

WBman wrote:

I could send you the content of WB installation floppy if you want.

That would be very kind. I was very happy to dig up a waveblaster. But many older games sound weird if MT-32 is chosen.

So, in what games does WaveBlaster beat Roland?

Also, is WaveBlaster the same with AWE32 wavetable? In Descent, Yamaha SW60XG beats AWE32 hands down. I guess it should be the same for WaveBlaster, shouldn't it?

WaveBlaster II is AWE, the original WaveBlaster is completely different.

Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman: In many, for example - Dark Forces, Shannara, Azrael's Tear, Lands of Lore, Warcraft 1, Al-Qadim, Betrayal at Krondor.. But as elianda said, don't confuse it with WB2 or AWE. Here are two WB1 Descent2 tracks - intro and credits:
http://sites.google.com/site/waveblastergm/De … t2intro-WB1.ogg
http://sites.google.com/site/waveblastergm/De … credits-WB1.ogg

The WB site is now updated with new music examples and the installation disk for ux-3 or other WB1 users without the software.

elianda wrote:

WaveBlaster II is AWE, the original WaveBlaster is completely different.

Waveblaster: 4 MB instrument ROM
Waveblaster II: 2 MB instrument ROM
AWE32: 1 MB instrument ROM

Yeah I meant more the DSP engines, though the ROM size differs also.

elianda wrote:

Yeah I meant more the DSP engines...

This is technically incorrect anyhow - the Proteus, Wave Blaster, and EMU8000 all share E-mu's same "G-chip" DSP core.

Also, when discussing the ROM size differences, keep in mind that the (2 MB) Wave Blaster II has the General MIDI and GS/MT-32 waveforms/patch-data in ROM, whereas the (1 MB) AWE32 only has all of the waveforms necessary for the General MIDI patch-set in ROM.

A side-by-side comparison of the two will likely reveal that most (if not all) of the patches are exactly the same. I suppose I could do this...

Cloudschatze wrote:

This is technically incorrect anyhow - the Proteus, Wave Blaster, and EMU8000 all share E-mu's same "G-chip" DSP core.

Interesting, is there detailed info available somewhere?
So disabling (or not using) some features of the Emu8K will make it sound identical to a Waveblaster I? (Same soundfont assumed)

elianda: Absolutely not. DSP is DSP, it has not much to do with the sound itself. It's just a technical solution, no more, no less. I think Cloudschatze talks about WB2 and AWE, that they sound almost identical. The most important is the soundset. WB2 and AWE have similar soundset, as well as AWE-64 or Live! (although stored as SoundFonts). WB1 has waveforms delivered from the E-mu Proteus 1 sound module, which are different than in the rest of CL sound cards.

Cloudschatze: WB2 has no MT-32 sounds stored. The emulation doesn't work this way. It contains just reprogramming of for-GM-stored waveforms - there are no special waveforms for the MT-32.

WBman wrote:

elianda: Absolutely not. DSP is DSP, it has not much to do with the sound itself. It's just a technical solution, no more, no less.

Well the DSP renders the output and the midi engine running does influence the result.
Check a Roland Sound Canvas vs. a Dream SAM9407 using the Roland licensed soundfont. While you hear that the soundfont is indeed the same, the effects sound different. The Dream brings 64 to 38 voices (depending on activated features) but having a weaker reverb f.e..

OK, I expressed it roughly. The DSP surely can alter the sound, but it has nothing to do with the basic sound itself. The Dream is fairly modified Roland set. I'm not saying they must sound exactly the same. The important is that the Dream has a Roland licensed soundset - but the E-mu Proteus sounds are vastly different than those used on later E-mu 8000 cards - just another samples. WB2, AWE32/64 and Live! have sound similarities, because the basic waveforms used are identical. But WB1 soundset sounds different, because it uses completely other sound samples (i mean the sounds of sampled instruments). Maybe they all share some similar DSP core, but that won't result in similar sound, because of WB1's different basic sampled waves.

WBman wrote:

Absolutely not.

I believe elianda's question was whether or not the EMU8000 can emulate the Wave Blaster, if supplied with a "Wave Blaster" SoundFont - implying use of Proteus waveforms, the Wave Blaster's GM patch-configuration data, etc. I'm not aware of a Wave Blaster SoundFont, but since there are already "official" Proteus SoundFonts that achieve like results, I believe the answer is likely yes.

DSP is DSP, it has not much to do with the sound itself. It's just a technical solution, no more, no less.

🙄

WB2 has no MT-32 sounds stored. The emulation doesn't work this way.

I'm well aware of how the MT-32 "emulation" works - you've misunderstood what I've written.

Let's try this again...

The (2 MB) Wave Blaster II ROM contains all necessary waveforms for the General MIDI, GS, and MT-32 soundsets.

The (1 MB) AWE32 ROM contains a smaller set of waveforms. The necessary patch-data and additional waveforms are contained within the respective SYNTHGM.SBK (patch-data only), SYNTHGS.SBK, and SYNTHMT.SBK SoundFont files.

...there are no special waveforms for the MT-32.

SYNTHMT.SBK does, in fact, contain a few waveforms not present in ROM that are used by the MT-32 patch-data.

Any more absolutes that you'd like me to disprove? 🤣

gerwin wrote:

Waveblaster II: 2 MB instrument ROM

Whoops, there was a little typo in my first post in this thread (I meant to say 2 meg of ROM samples, not 1.).

WBman wrote:

It's great to see the other WB user with good ear, who is able to hear all the great sound details and qualities of Wave Blaster that other GM cards so lack.

I (like what you posted previously) LOVE the oboe and strings on the WB1. That Proteus 1 synth really did a fine job with all of the orchestral presets 😀

WBman wrote:

Have you read the "History of PC Game MIDI" article? It's really sad reading.

Yes, I have. Agreed.

WBman wrote:

🤣 WBMan (Wave Blaster Manipulator) application - I googled it now, I had no idea - what a strange coincidence. Now it might seems I parasite on its name. 😲

Hehe, I just figured that someone with a user name of "WBMan" (who was a fan of the WB1s) would, well, know what the Wave Blaster Manipulator was 🤣! 😀 That piece of software was GREAT! I remember back in the day manually adding reverb to a lot of the presets on my old WB1, but quickly discovered how extremely fast that ate up polyphony.

Cloudschatze wrote:

I'm not aware of a Wave Blaster SoundFont, but since there are already "official" Proteus SoundFonts that achieve like results

Heh, I remember back when I bought my first AWE32 card purchasing two of the three "Proteus Collection" SoundFonts ("Proteus 1 Presets" and "Proteus 2 Presets"). I forget offhand why I didn't buy the third one, but remember really wishing that they were GM compatable so's I could recreate the sound of my old WB1.