VOGONS


First post, by Nikson2981

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I stumbled across this video by Viti95 showcasing their impressive DOOM port a few weeks ago (timestamp relevant):
https://youtu.be/qizwu6dozvc?si=lQKXIxoc1vJRiZxB&t=42
Normally I would watch something like that, think "ah that's neat", and move on with my life, but this one is memorable to me because I noticed that the sound card in their system is an Aztech AZT2320, as is stated by the sound card driver when it loads at the start of the video. Now, I have one of those cards too, but mine sounds nothing like that one. Rather, it sounds just like a regular OPL3 chip. Suppose I can't complain, but now I know it can be better. Why does Viti's sound so different? Any ideas appreciated.

Reply 1 of 3, by Tiido

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There are Aztechs with a Samsung MIDI synth on them (some cards have it rebranded to Aztech too) and some with ICS WaveFront MIDI synth. (I cannot see the video since I am at school right now)

T-04YBSC, a new YMF71x based sound card & Official VOGONS thread about it
Newly made 4MB 60ns 30pin SIMMs ~
mida sa loed ? nagunii aru ei saa 😜

Reply 3 of 3, by dionb

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AZT2320 and a Samsung wavetable? That'll be the MMSN853. Aztech cards were always sold under varying marketing names, but the FCC ID was a reliable identifier.

You can see the Samsung chip and its ROM at the top rear of the card in the video. I have its earlier sibling, the MMSN847, which pairs an earlier version of the Samsung KS0164 with an AZT2316R (non-PnP predecessor of the 2320). It sounds just like in the video: a pretty crude low-end wavetable synth. The good news though is that it is a 100% hardware solution, you just feed the MPU-401 interface of the card MIDI and it does its synth.

Aztech had two older wavetable systems as well, first a very rare (proprietary) expansion board with Ensoniq's OTTO (same as on the Soundscape cards) and later some more common cards and (still proprietary) expansion cards with the ICS WaveFront 2115. That requires a TSR to initialize it, but the sound quality is a lot better - not at Roland/Korg/Yamaha levels, but on par with say Creative's AWE/Emu8k or on OPL4. Added benefit for some corner cases is precisely that it doesn't automatically activate when the card is installed. That means I can use the same MIDI interface for external modules and only initialize the 2115 if I need it.