Did you also take Aztech sound cards into account for your decision?
I picked only those cards available locally with affordable price (around $10). At the time i last checked there were no Aztech cards.
But i must report update on this topic, swapped the ESS 1688F for some OEM Yamaha YMF719E card, which is almost identical to Yamaha Audician 32 (its missing cd-rom interface).
This card sounds superb! Installation from Audician CD is as straightforward as it can be, i only had to move jumpers to disable onboard amplifier and disable all the 3d sound effects. Output is crystal clear + WSS compatibility makes it even more awesome! Obviously MPU-401 isnt bugged to hell like SB16: no hanging notes problem, no stuttering in build engine games and more importantly, MPU-401 doesn't hang my computer in Ecstatica
