First post, by swaaye
OMG.
I've spent about 12 hours now trying to figure out the best soundcard setup for a PPRO rig I have. I've discovered that the SB16s have one horrible MPU401 waveblaster header. Stuck notes, off key nonsense, and more. I tried 2 PnP SB16s and a AWE32! Nevermind that the sound quality is notably inferior to what I hear when I stick this SCD15 onto a Vortex-based PCI card.
I really wanted to have the option of 16-bit audio for DOS. But I'm done with SB16. Oh, and the AWE32s have the same problems! And those cards are damn near useless for DOS MIDI unless you can put a DB on them. Too bad nobody ever wrote a SF2 loader for DOS!
I also have a selection of Ensoniq boards at my disposal, but the Roland SCD15 just sounds so much better than even the Sounscape Elite. And the Soundscapes stutter in 9x.
So, right now, my recommended DOS sound card (if you need to use a DB) is the Diamond Monster Sound MX300! What's up with that ?! A Vortex 2 for DOS?! Heh. They sound great and they just work! They sound a lot better than Creative's ISA cards. Too bad about the digital audio being only SBPro compatible though. But 99% of DOS games aren't using 16-bit audio anyway.
I've only been testing with Wing Commander III and Dark Forces though. So I'm sure there are plenty of titles that will not like Vortex 2. Just because, of course.
Turtle Beach Montego A3D (Vortex 1) has a bum joystick port, btw. Too bad about that. Nice card otherwise.
Oh, and get this: if you want to use a SB16 w/ a DB and have a CH Products Flightstick, you will have to cut pin 12 off the joystick's plug! Otherwise if you plug in the joystick, the DB stops playing! Apparently it conflicts with the MIDI receive on the SB's joystick/midi out jack (it's dual purpose after all). Nice! It took me forever to figure that one out. Thanks Google Groups! But, still, don't use SB16 for DBs.
What a nightmare! Welcome back to DOS! 😀