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Sound Card Advice

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First post, by Smack2k

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I am setting up a Windows 98SE / DOS machine to be able to play most Games from 96 - 2001(02) using the following setup so far:

Board - ASUS CUV4X
Processor - Pentium III - 1 GHZ (Maybe a Tualitin 1.2 GHZ down the road if I can find the adapter)
Memory - 768 MB
Video - GeForce Ti4600 alsong with Voodoo2 SLI

Planning on using Phil's tweaks to get the machine running properly in DOS mode as well.

My question concerns the Sound Card, what do you recommend for me to be able to play both Windows 98 as well as DOS Games on this system?

I was originally going to put an Audigy 2 ZS with Front Panel Bay in it using Windows 98 Drivers for the Card as well as the Audigy2 Patch (http://mpxplay.sourceforge.net/) for DOS Drivers. But I dont know if that patch affects the card when in Windows in terms of working right?

Any recommendations on what to use? Should I got with multiple Sound Cards? Set it up the way I mentioned above? The board doesnt have ISA Slots, so something like an AWE64 is out.

Reply 1 of 13, by gdjacobs

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You could certainly install an ISA card. The SB on that motherboard should also work fine with ESS PCI cards and possibly Yamaha PCI cards.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 2 of 13, by schmatzler

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Smack2k wrote:

Should I got with multiple Sound Cards?

I am very happy with two sound cards to fulfill all of my audio needs.

For old DOS titles that need SoundBlaster or Adlib support I use an Opti 82C929 MAD16 PRO that has very beautiful sound.
For newer games that need DirectSound or EAX I am using a SoundBlaster Live! Value (CT4670).

Theoretically, the Mad16Pro can run all of my later DirectX games. There are Windows 95 drivers available, which work on 98SE, too.
It's not powerful enough to drive my Force Feedback joystick via the MIDI port while playing sounds at the same time, though.

So it depends on the type of games you want to play or if you need additional hardware connected to the card. I go DOS and Windows and I need these two cards for the best sound.

"Windows 98's natural state is locked up"

Reply 3 of 13, by derSammler

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Did you guys read this:

The board doesnt have ISA Slots, so something like an AWE64 is out.

He can't install an ISA sound card without having ISA slots. 😉

Multiple sound cards make no sense if all you have is PCI anyway. A SB Live!, Audigy, or a Yamaha YMF72x/YMF74x is probably a good choice.

Reply 4 of 13, by cyclone3d

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derSammler wrote:
Did you guys read this: […]
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Did you guys read this:

The board doesnt have ISA Slots, so something like an AWE64 is out.

He can't install an ISA sound card without having ISA slots. 😉

Multiple sound cards make no sense if all you have is PCI anyway. A SB Live!, Audigy, or a Yamaha YMF72x/YMF74x is probably a good choice.

Multiple sound cards still make sense with only PCI as long as one of those cards is a Yamaha YMF7x4 based card or some other card like an ESS Solo-1 based that has good FM for real-mode DOS.

A SB Live!, Audigy, or Audigy2 card is better for Windows if you want soundfont support, EAX, 5.1 or higher audio, etc.

You could really even go with 3 PCI sound cards for that matter if you want an Aureal Vortex 2 based card in there for real A3D support.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 5 of 13, by derSammler

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Solo-1 has no real OPL3, unlike the Yamaha. So why would one add a Solo-1 for FM..?

Reply 6 of 13, by cyclone3d

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derSammler wrote:

Solo-1 has no real OPL3, unlike the Yamaha. So why would one add a Solo-1 for FM..?

Well, if you don't have a Yamaha card and you have an ESS card, ESFM is pretty good.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 7 of 13, by EricBaka

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He can't install an ISA sound card (16 or 32) without having ISA slots.

Any sound blaster model is fine. For DOS games as well.

Last edited by EricBaka on 2018-08-30, 22:18. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 8 of 13, by gdjacobs

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derSammler wrote:
Did you guys read this: […]
Show full quote

Did you guys read this:

The board doesnt have ISA Slots, so something like an AWE64 is out.

He can't install an ISA sound card without having ISA slots. 😉

Multiple sound cards make no sense if all you have is PCI anyway. A SB Live!, Audigy, or a Yamaha YMF72x/YMF74x is probably a good choice.

Yeah, I skimmed over that. I actually thought CUV4X boards usually were equipped with at least one ISA slot.

Dual sound cards can be handy if you want both A3D and EAX more advanced than something like Sensaura can give you.

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 9 of 13, by firage

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FM isn't a major concern for the late DOS stuff in that c. 1996 era; General MIDI is a bigger priority. I think a Vortex2 with a GM daughterboard or external module is a pretty legit single PCI card solution for Win9x + DOS. The Audigy 2 ZS should do you, too, with SB16 support and weaker MIDI in DOS, or I believe you can get SB Pro and SF2/external MIDI support in a DOS prompt using WDM drivers. (The Creative PCI cards are a huge mess with their shaky Win9x and legacy drivers, though.)

AWE64 would've been nice.

My big-red-switch 486

Reply 10 of 13, by Smack2k

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I actually took another look, and never noticed I do have one ISA slot on the board, so I will use the AWE64 for DOS gaming. For Windows, I have a bunch of the cards you all listed, and would like to use the Audigy 1 Platinum card, but I cant find the full Windows 98 Drivers, only the update driver from Creative....will the update driver have everything or do I need the full driver set? The only full sets I can find are for 2000/XP.....even on the Vogons drivers page. My other option is going with a Live! 5.1 Digital card for Windows as I have all the needed drivers for that....

Reply 11 of 13, by cyclone3d

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I think the driver update package should have everything you need. I may have an Audigy 1 CD or ISO at home. I'll check.

You should also be able to use the Audigy 2 drivers if I remember correctly.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 12 of 13, by Radical Vision

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Put some Creative AWE 64 Gold, or only AWE 64 Value it will do the thing...

Mah systems retro, old, newer (Radical stuff)
W3680 4.5/ GA-x58 UD7/ R9 280x
K7 2.6/ NF7-S/ HD3850
IBM x2 P3 933/ GA-6VXD7/ Voodoo V 5.5K
Cmq P2 450/ GA-BX2000/ V2 SLI
IBM PC365
Cmq DeskPRO 486/33
IBM PS/2 Model 56
SPS IntelleXT 8088

Reply 13 of 13, by firage

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Smack2k wrote:

For Windows, I have a bunch of the cards you all listed, and would like to use the Audigy 1 Platinum card, but I cant find the full Windows 98 Drivers, only the update driver from Creative....will the update driver have everything or do I need the full driver set? The only full sets I can find are for 2000/XP.....even on the Vogons drivers page.

cyclone3d forgot he already uploaded his release version Audigy driver CD for us last year, right here: Looking for the original Audigy 1 driver CD with the dos drivers 😀
The disc seems to be from some dual language European OEM packaging, but looks like a more complete backward compatible set than the later CD rev on VogonsDrivers.

My big-red-switch 486