VOGONS


First post, by mv_cz

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Hi I currently have three sound cards to use it in two computers. One would be mainly for DOS socket7 setup, the other one will be used in slightly modern Win98 super7 PC. Back at the time, i only had ESS1868 which was fine, actualy more than good, as I've learned few weeks ago from Phil's video, but now I only have these two ISA and one PCI cards:

1) Avance Logic ALS100 PRO16/32PNP+
2) Analog Devices AD1816 (Mediatek card?!?) - this is currently in my super7 PC, works fine in Win98, but the original installation didn't contain DOS drivers (although I see there are some)
3) SB Live! CT4670 - i intended to use this in Win98 PC, but since my super7 board doesn't have plenty free PCI slots (one is for LAN card, on for IDE controller and the last is for audio or video card depending on possible AGP problems..), I could use it someday in the future in other build

So which from the first two cards is better for DOS and why? Thank you in advance.

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Reply 1 of 8, by badmojo

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Both have wavetable headers, so that's handy. I've never thought much of Analog Device based cards so would probably try the ALS100 card out - that thing should give you SB16 compatibility which is rare, but they do hiss horribly in my limited experience.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 2 of 8, by derSammler

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The ALS100 is actually an ALS100 Plus. That one is almost perfect, especially for DOS. It has OPL3 integrated and supports both SB16 and SB Pro 2.0 (Stereo). Also, bug-free MPU-401 interface.

The AD1816 completely fails when it comes to FM music. Worst OPL3 clone I've ever heard, and the SB Live! - well, let's forget about that... PCI doesn't play well with DOS and all sound is upsampled to 48 Khz, which isn't a good thing either.

Reply 4 of 8, by Jo22

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I don't want to be intrusive, but I've written about the ALS100+ in an other thread some time ago.. 😀
ALS120, ALS100 Plus audio fix ?

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 6 of 8, by PARUS

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derSammler wrote:

the SB Live! - well, let's forget about that... PCI doesn't play well with DOS and all sound is upsampled to 48 Khz, which isn't a good thing either.

Well, if you listen the DOS games sound from any ISA card and from SB Live can you detect where is 44-48 conversion present? Can you mark "this is Live 48 kHz" only by your ears? I doubt. Very doubt. I can believe that we can hear a difference when we listen a real "CD Audio" quality sound in Windows, but not always too. And DOS games with their basically 22 kHz samples - it is funny to say that you hear the difference.
mv_cz
In SB16 mode exactly the SB Live has excellent 100% compatibility. But if you use it in older games with SB/SBpro only support you will have problems often. Therefore Live is not good choice for old "SBpro-only" games. And don't forget that Live requires EMM386, some games won't work with this memory manager.

Reply 7 of 8, by gdjacobs

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I was able to years ago with my AXP/KT400 based Linux rig, but it seems that it might have been something specific to that board. The digital output of the AC'97 codec was similarly nasty.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 8 of 8, by derSammler

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PARUS wrote:

And DOS games with their basically 22 kHz samples - it is funny to say that you hear the difference.

Apart from the fact that I wrote "it's a bad thing" and not that I can hear the difference, you don't seem to know what it means to upsample 11/22 KHz source to 48 KHz (and not to 44.1 KHz, which would be less problematic). Sound quality suffers from this, if you believe it or not. (btw: "EMU10K1 and EMU10K1X (Sound Blaster Live!) cards are 48 kHz with really poor internal resampling." - http://www.flaterco.com/kb/audio/PCI/)

PARUS wrote:

In SB16 mode exactly the SB Live has excellent 100% compatibility. But if you use it in older games with SB/SBpro only support you will have problems often. Therefore Live is not good choice for old "SBpro-only" games. And don't forget that Live requires EMM386, some games won't work with this memory manager.

I don't get your statement. So it's only good if you can select SB16 in a game and that game also works with EMM386 loaded..? For me, this is a disqualifier and nothing positive. There's no OPL and the wavetable is completely useless for DOS, too. There's absolutely no reason to choose the SB Live! for a DOS setup when you can go for an ISA sound card instead.