Yamaha did the YMF724/744/754 chipsets for PCI. Unlike the SW1000XG, you may actually be able to find such cards for decent prices 😀

Also it can never hurt to take a look at the freely available S-YXG50 softsynth for Win2K/XP. Now I see on Wikipedia it actually says GM synthesis with YMF cards is "unacceptable" on 2K/XP for whatever reason. I find at least the softsynth to be really close to a DB60XG. Well, then again there is also listed the fabled "standard" AWE64 with 1 MB RAM... 🙄

there is software 100 xg

Well, I was fortunate enough to pick up a SW1000XG and DS2416 combo a while ago, and I have a few PCI slots spare on a twin Win98 build - so tested them briefly and liked what I heard. I don't mind playing with soft-synths too, but I'm wondering what else is around, hardware-wise, that work with Win98 and PCI slots...?

SB Live!/Audigy with soundfonts.

So you own such a card and just tested it briefly? ........seriously? 😉

I have an Hoontech YMF744. I can provide you with some recordings if you want 😀

@distortion: I've got Audigy 2/4 pencilled in - though I consider those cards more general purpose than dedicated MIDI cards. And yeah, only just briefly tested the SW1000XG; it's too easy to get distracted by all this stuff - I'm trying to nail the hardware down so that I don't have to change it anymore, and keep to only 2 boxes!

@Stojke: Yeah, I don't mind - does that card have a digital output? Can you compare against a SW1000XG for reference with the same material? The Hoontechs I was referring to had 2x Dream 9707/ 9407 synths.

I have an SW1000XG but its still in Slovenia. Actually i have two 🤣.
I can get some MIDIs that you can try on your SW1000XG and see the difference. YMF744 is a software synth and you can get exact sound with sound fonts. I have already recorded one MIDI you can hear:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54462712/Retro/MIDI/ … omation16b.flac
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/54462712/Retro/MIDI/ … utomation_1.mid

This is the card:

http://blog-imgs-24.fc2.com/h/o/t/hotgeorgiax/DSCI0285a.jpg
http://www.hoontech.de/images/iphonexg_large.jpg

It does have SP DIF and Digital. Also sampling rate 44.1kHz.

Thanks for those recordings. The YMF744 recording sounds similar to the MIDI file running on the SW1000XG. There are some minor differences - kinda hard to put into words though. It's a good thing having that digital output - I can feed it into the DS2416 for some crazy effects too. The bad thing is that I only have about 4 PCI slots free - two of those look to be permanently filled by the SW1000XG and the DS2416 at the moment...

Can you recommend Win98 drivers for the YMF7x4 chipset? I picked up a YMF724F-V with SPDIF on a single card. Got SBLink cable working, with DDMA as well for DOS. But I'm having trouble with drivers in Win98: I've tried various drivers, but none can detect everything on the card - I think it's missing the FM and MPU401 drivers. Got the XG synth working with SPDIF, and it sounds better than the recording above. Also nice in DOS too. Any input appreciated.

Fixed driver issue - YMF724F-V drivers knocked out the SW1000XG and DS2416 drivers. They just needed re-installing afterwards. Did some quick MIDI comparisons with both cards and they both indeed sound similar with subtle differences: The main thing I noticed was that the YMF724F-V sounds 'softer', whilst the SW1000XG seems to have better stereo imaging...