First post, by zaphod77
Most of the old cards i am are aware of are isa, for purposes of native DOS. I don't have a computer with an ISA slot anymore.
MS-DOS compatibility is not a requirement at all here, but actual wavetable synthesis for standard midi file playback IS.
Here's the sort of stuff i'm looking for.
1) a pci or pci express sound card equivalent to most onboard audio, but also has a wave blaster connector. This would let me attach say a db50xg or scb-55. ideally it would also have some nice yamaha FM soundchips on it as well, or maybe a CQM chip from creative, as those aren't actually emulated yet.
2) a pci or pci-e card that's a standalone midi card with windows 10/11 drivers, that lets you passthrough the onboard audio to handle wavetable midi playback. Ideally i'd want actual GS compatibility (roland patchset, and full GS sysex and midi controllers including all GS chorus, reverb, and time variant filter) or real XG level 1 compatibility here. I know there are old yamaha pci cards that in theory work here, but they are hit or miss, and i'm not sure they work on modern desktops.
3) a really cheap usb enclosure that will accept a waveblaster card, and do similar audio passthrough from the speaker output (this would be for laptops). If the latest GS dreamblaster actually supports the TVF and all chorus/reverb/sysEx, i'll probably want one of them at some point, since syxg-60 is pretty much good enough to do XG.
It would also be nice if it was possible to get a cool soundcard that works in modern boards and has the chips to support a lot of standards (cms/opl4/opn/opm/tandy/etc.), and could be used as a passthrough in dosbox, and likewise accepts input from the speaker out on a modern onboard soundcard.