VOGONS


Sound cards - from best to worst

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Reply 260 of 330, by sprcorreia

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Cyberdyne wrote:
Does someone have AZTECH AZT2320 […]
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Does someone have AZTECH AZT2320

It has many names:

WaveRider Pro 32-3D
Pro16 III-3D

How is its DOS Sound Blaster compadibility, and can you use the wavetable feature in DOS, GM or MPU401 emulation?

Ok, I ask, I answer:

Card is good, but Drivers are a mess! Wavetable only works in Windows ......... useless, no DOS games support.

So i treat it as a Sound Blaster PRO, no more, no less.

I have an Aztech with wavetable but i need to check the model. I can use the wavetable in DOS.

Reply 261 of 330, by dank0

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I will little bit contribute with my sound experience 😀 I am a gamer, so I'm using the HW for good functionality and pleasure. My old machines are connected to Yamaha Z11 receiver with High-End Speakers, so when you play games you really hear the noise. Over the years I found few very good sound-cards that gives me pretty decent sound output. I'm not the guy who is comparing OPL3 vs Clones. i just want to play and enjoy the game experience and this is the list and pictures of the cards that I would like to recommend.

For Legacy DOS I recommend this two beauties:

Sond Blaster Pro 2 CT1600
ct1600.jpg
(this is not my picture - I have the card in the computer so i downloaded the picture from the interner)

Roland SCC-1
roland_scc1.jpg

with these two guys I have decent FM and great midi and mpu-401 controller. I have connected MT-32 to the SCC-1. I have to say that Dune on Mt-32 or Gabriel Knight on SCC-1 are really great music experience. Just love it 😉

For People who doesn't have any ISA motherboard but they still want to play DOS games I will recommend FM801 sound-card. This card has decent DOS drivers that emulate OPL3 pretty well and noise level is very good.

FM801
fm801a.jpg

And if you are more into windows gaming and sometimes you want to play some DOS game, Diamond Monster Sound MX300 is your pick. The DOS drivers are so so, but it is possible to make it work and the sound quality in the windows is excellent.

Diamond Monster Sound MX300
mx300.jpg

I'm also using with Diamond XR385 daughter-board (yamaha DB60XG clone)

XR385
xr385.jpg

I have few other cards - few AWE32, SB16, SB16 Vibra, some ESS and SB AWE64 GOLD and Value editions.
All those are pretty noisy.

Please excuse my English.

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Reply 262 of 330, by Davis

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The other day, I stumbled on a Logitech Soundman 16 on the German ebay.
This was my first sound card ever in 1993 and I positively remember it was a clone of the Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum (PAS) 16 - easily noticed since that is what it said on the chipset.

It acted as a PAS/PAS16 in games that supported it, could record 16-bit 44.1 khz in dos and had some native support as well (ROTT comes to mind). All-in-all, great card, probably still have it in the attic.

Just mentioning, because I haven't seen this bit of info here at vogons (or in the ISA card overview - great info btw) and it might be useful for anyone interested in the PAS card.

Reply 263 of 330, by Mau1wurf1977

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dank0 wrote:

For Legacy DOS I recommend this two beauties:

Sond Blaster Pro 2 CT1600

Roland SCC-1

Indeed, two fantastic cards that work together flawlessly. Great recommendation.

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 264 of 330, by Scylla

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
dank0 wrote:

For Legacy DOS I recommend this two beauties:

Sond Blaster Pro 2 CT1600

Roland SCC-1

Indeed, two fantastic cards that work together flawlessly. Great recommendation.

Shame that the SCC-1 is so hard to find. Nothing to surprise anybody, considering its fame, but I deeply regret not buying one back when they weren't so scarce.

Reply 265 of 330, by FGB

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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

Indeed, two fantastic cards that work together flawlessly. Great recommendation.

I second this, Maulwurf. It's just a great and flexible combo for most of the gamers needs. I just love it!

www.AmoRetro.de Visit my huge hardware gallery with many historic items from 16MHz 286 to 1000MHz Slot A. Includes more than 80 soundcards and a growing Wavetable Recording section with more than 300 recordings.

Reply 267 of 330, by FGB

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which revisions are you exactly referring to?

//btw: I got a Turtle Beach Tropez Plus for my testing rig today.. It is an awesome sound card, It has:

- Crystal CS4232 codec for SB Pro 2.0, SB, WSS
- Yamaha OPL3 for 4OP FM, OPL2/3 stuff like AdLib
- Wavefront 4MB ROM Synth with Yamaha YSS225 effect processor
- Excellent SNR, crystal clear output

Effects are user definable in DOS and Windows. This card surely is a winner.

Last edited by FGB on 2013-04-05, 00:10. Edited 1 time in total.

www.AmoRetro.de Visit my huge hardware gallery with many historic items from 16MHz 286 to 1000MHz Slot A. Includes more than 80 soundcards and a growing Wavetable Recording section with more than 300 recordings.

Reply 268 of 330, by sliderider

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Scylla wrote:
Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
dank0 wrote:

For Legacy DOS I recommend this two beauties:

Sond Blaster Pro 2 CT1600

Roland SCC-1

Indeed, two fantastic cards that work together flawlessly. Great recommendation.

Shame that the SCC-1 is so hard to find. Nothing to surprise anybody, considering its fame, but I deeply regret not buying one back when they weren't so scarce.

I think we all regret that. They have held their value well over the years. It is a purchase that you would not have later regretted.

Reply 269 of 330, by FGB

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I think the highest prices are yet to come. Well when the SCC1 came out it was 1000DM in Germany, roughly 500 Euros. It sells for ca. 150 Euros today. So it is still a good deal I think.

www.AmoRetro.de Visit my huge hardware gallery with many historic items from 16MHz 286 to 1000MHz Slot A. Includes more than 80 soundcards and a growing Wavetable Recording section with more than 300 recordings.

Reply 270 of 330, by dank0

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to FGB:

//btw: I got a Turtle Beach Tropez Plus for my testing rig today.. It is an awesome sound card, It has: […]
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//btw: I got a Turtle Beach Tropez Plus for my testing rig today.. It is an awesome sound card, It has:

- Crystal CS4232 codec for SB Pro 2.0, SB, WSS
- Yamaha OPL3 for 4OP FM, OPL2/3 stuff like AdLib
- Wavefront 4MB ROM Synth with Yamaha YSS225 effect processor
- Excellent SNR, crystal clear output

I have question - is it possible to use this card just with SET BLASTER, or you have to initiate the card with driver to be recognized as SB?

Reply 271 of 330, by FGB

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No, SET BLASTER is not sufficient.
The Crystal CS4232 does the SB Pro part for sample playback, the OPL3 does the FM-music part. The CS4232 requires initialization before you can use it. The program does not stay in the memory, it quits itself after the initialization.

www.AmoRetro.de Visit my huge hardware gallery with many historic items from 16MHz 286 to 1000MHz Slot A. Includes more than 80 soundcards and a growing Wavetable Recording section with more than 300 recordings.

Reply 272 of 330, by dank0

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No, SET BLASTER is not sufficient.
The Crystal CS4232 does the SB Pro part for sample playback, the OPL3 does the FM-music part. The CS4232 requires initialization before you can use it. The program does not stay in the memory, it quits itself after the initialization.

hmm that sounds like interesting sound card. I have to get one 😀
BTW: I like your site 😉

Last edited by dank0 on 2013-11-19, 17:41. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 273 of 330, by sprcorreia

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FGB wrote:
which revisions are you exactly referring to? […]
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which revisions are you exactly referring to?

//btw: I got a Turtle Beach Tropez Plus for my testing rig today.. It is an awesome sound card, It has:

- Crystal CS4232 codec for SB Pro 2.0, SB, WSS
- Yamaha OPL3 for 4OP FM, OPL2/3 stuff like AdLib
- Wavefront 4MB ROM Synth with Yamaha YSS225 effect processor
- Excellent SNR, crystal clear output

Effects are user definable in DOS and Windows. This card surely is a winner.

There are two versions of the CT1600. The original one and a revised one.

Here:

m_s_p_33662_2.jpg

CT1600.jpg

Reply 274 of 330, by Xolares

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I have the Following
4x Soundblaster 16 Original ISA
2x Soundblaster 16 Vibra ISA
9x Soundblaster 16 Gen3 ISA
4x Soundblaster 16 AWE64 Value 512KB ISA
2x Soundblaster 16 AWE64 Standard 1MB ISA
2x Soundblaster 16 AWE64 GOLD 4MB ISA
3x Soundblaster 32 8MB ISA
4x Soundblaster AWE32 4MB KIt ISA
2x Soundblaster AWE32 28MB Full kit
3x Soundblaster AWE32 Addon Card + Ram 8MB
1x Gravis UltraSound 2000
2x Gravis UltraSound MAX
7x Avance Logic Waveblaster ISA
10x Soundblaster Live! 24bit and 5.1
3x Soundblaster Audigy
2x Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
3x Yamaha ALS100 ISA
6x Soundblaster PCI Value
2x Ensoniq PCI
4x Soundblaster 16 PCI

I collect parts as a hobby off Ebay and local sources! and as i post this i am waiting for two more Voodoo 5 cards, 5 Soundcards, 3 USB cards, DVD roms and afew Mobos and CPUs

2x P3 800MHZ - 1GB PC133 - 3DFX Voodoo 5 5500 64MB - Soundblaster AWE32 28MB 32Pin ISA & Music Quest ISA MIDI I/O + Roland SC-88 Pro - 2x IDE to CF 16GB Flash HDDs-Win98SE SP3 137GB+-Windows 2000 SP4R2-17" CRT NEC MultiSync 1600x1200

Reply 276 of 330, by gerwin

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"The Value, CT4500 & CT4520, version came with 512KB RAM.
The Standard, CT4380, version had 1MB of RAM."
source: Nerdly Pleasures

The CT4380 may have an IDE connector mounted.

--> ISA Soundcard Overview // Doom MBF 2.04 // SetMul

Reply 277 of 330, by AlucarD86

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I need quick help to choose a decent soundcard for my Win98SE system ! I was thinking going for a Creative card since those carry great soundquality, but I can't decide between two models mainly the

CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER LIVE 5.1 - EMU10K1 - JFF

600477w.jpg

or the

Creative SB Audigy 2 SB 0160

73678.jpeg

which one of these two would be the better choice or can perhaps anyone other suggest some other card which would be great for a Win98SE system ?

Cheers !

Last edited by AlucarD86 on 2013-08-05, 23:24. Edited 2 times in total.

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot

Reply 278 of 330, by Mau1wurf1977

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Well the Audigy is the newer card so it "should" be a little bit better.

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 279 of 330, by AlucarD86

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Thanks a lot ^^ so the Audigy would be a wiser choice, anyway I will try to see if I can get them cheap I will get them both since it seems creative cards arent that hard to track down.

PC Setup: Mainboard ASUS CUBX | CPU Intel Pentium III-S Tualatin 1.4 GHz | Memory 780 MB SDRam | Soundcard Creative SB Audigy SB0160 | GPUs Nvidia FX5900 Ulta Matrox M3D PCI | HDD 2x40 GB WD/Seagate | OS Win98SE and WinXPSP1 in dual boot