For SB16 cards, this is the place to look:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1o0_u- … #gid=1663779470
So CT1790 has a real OPL3 and a wavetable header, it might have hanging not bugs or not, depending on the DSP version (4.04 and 4.05 good, later bad), as with all other SB16s, it suffers from slowdowns in MIDI playback when playing high-quality digital sound at the same time, it has no Vibra ringing/hissing, but it does have single-cycle DMA clicking. Finally it may or may not be noisy, depending on the CT1703 version (-TBS or -A is good, -T is noisy).
It's non-PnP, so you configure it using jumpers - set the resources using jumpers, then tell your software to look at those resources, either with the SET BLASTER= variable or when installing the game. In Windows you may have to install manually and tell Windows which resources to use too.
Now, all SB16 cards are buggy in some way or other (see link). How bad that is depends on what you want to do with the card (are you going to experience the bugs) and how sensitive you are to the bugs (subjective).
Most of the bugginess of this one is related to MIDI functionallity - possible hanging notes and slowdowns in music (in games like Tie Fighter and Duke Nukem3D) - and you are only going to experience that if you also have a MIDI device hooked up. If you don't, you can ignore those bugs. Only thing you have left is the SC DMA click and possibly a noisy DAC. Personally I don't hear the DMA clicks, so if the CT1703 isn't a noisy version I'd be fine with this card if I didn't use MIDI.
However I *do* use MIDI a lot and the hanging notes and slowdowns drive me up the wall, so for me this card would be terrible.
As for alternatives, again can be pretty subjective. In Windows, SB16 support is less important than WSS support, so a lot of the cheap simple cards with WSS support for Windows and OPL3 and SBPro2 are fine (Aztech 2316/2320, OPTi 929, 930 etc). If you really want SB16 for late DOS, there are C-Media CMI8330 and Avance Logic ALS100 chipsets that offer full SB16 support with no MIDI bugs (as well as WSS support). Only problemis that the cards are generally cheaply made so could be noisy - except the MK8330 (see its topic on this forum) which is probably the best single-card solution, but costs more than EUR 50.
Personally I'd not pay EUR 50 for this card, but whether it's a good or a bad choice for you depends on what else is available to you (and at what price), and whether you intend to use MIDI, and on whether you want to play games where SB16 adds value.
