I recently bought a lot of computer parts from a local guy, and I've gotten my old WIN98SE system up and running again. In the lot was a pair of ISA sound cards. I don't know what to do with them, though
The cards are shown below
Insert them into an isa slot?
The AWE will definitely be picked up by Win98, probably the Aztech will as well.
but think I need new glasses as the photo is blury as hell so cant make out model numbers
In Win98SE you won't notice a major difference, but under DOS this is a perfect pair:
The AWE64 does SB16 digital audio, CQM FM synth and AWE wavetable, but buggy MPU-401, no SBPro2 and no true OPL3. The AZT2320 (I believe that's a Packard Bell Rocky 2.5 card) does SBPro2, real OPL3 and bug-free UART mode MPU401.
I'd put the Aztech on A220 I7 D1 T4 P300 and the AWE on A240 I5 D3 T6 H6 P330, and SET BLASTER to the Aztech settings.
AWE64 MPU-401 should be fine as they should all have DSPv4.16. If you can confirm any AWE64 models using an earlier version, please let us all know. The other two flaws are, unfortunately, all too true.
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
AWE64 does not have a buggy MPU-401. You only have to live with bad OPL3 emulation and SBPro2 in mono only.
I posted better photos of the cards
wrote:AWE64 MPU-401 should be fine as they should all have DSPv4.16. If you can confirm any AWE64 models using an earlier version, please let us all know. The other two flaws are, unfortunately, all too true.
I wasn't referring to the hanging notes in older DSPs, but to the slowdown/pauses all SB16/32/64 have when playing high quality PCM at the same time as using MPU-401.
I'm actually in the same boat - got an Aztech and a AWE64 and I'd like the Aztech for the OPL3 music but I have NO idea how to configure it as such. Music always gets sent to the AWE64 and I can't seem to find a way to prevent that. Any ideas?
Retro game fanatic.
IBM PS1 386SX25 - 4MB
IBM Aptiva 486SX33 - 8MB - 2GB CF - SB16
IBM PC350 P233MMX - 64MB - 32GB SSD - AWE64 - Voodoo2
PIII600 - 320MB - 480GB SSD - SB Live! - GF4 Ti 4200
i5-2500k - 3GB - SB Audigy 2 - HD 4870
wrote:wrote:AWE64 MPU-401 should be fine as they should all have DSPv4.16. If you can confirm any AWE64 models using an earlier version, please let us all know. The other two flaws are, unfortunately, all too true.
I wasn't referring to the hanging notes in older DSPs, but to the slowdown/pauses all SB16/32/64 have when playing high quality PCM at the same time as using MPU-401.
Ah, yes, DMA bugs and such.
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
What I really need to know is how to hook it all up alongside my WIN98 sound card. Do I need cables to interconnect the cards I have? When I hook up speakers, do I need to constantly be switching out the speaker cable in the back of the machine?
Line Out of Aztech into Line In of AWE. (Or vice versa. Your choice.) Extra points if you connect them using header pins instead of a loop cable on the back.
That or look into an external mixer.
All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder
wrote:Line Out of Aztech into Line In of AWE. (Or vice versa. Your choice.) Extra points if you connect them using header pins instead of a loop cable on the back.
That introduces a ton of noise - it's why I ordered a €50 mixer. Major benefit is that you can control MIDI/FM and sound effects on the fly.
Retro game fanatic.
IBM PS1 386SX25 - 4MB
IBM Aptiva 486SX33 - 8MB - 2GB CF - SB16
IBM PC350 P233MMX - 64MB - 32GB SSD - AWE64 - Voodoo2
PIII600 - 320MB - 480GB SSD - SB Live! - GF4 Ti 4200
i5-2500k - 3GB - SB Audigy 2 - HD 4870
wrote:That or look into an external mixer.
Yep, that's the best way to go - although it can snowball out of control with multiple systems, some with multiple sound cards *and* some MIDI modules as well. When I bought my Behringer 8-way stereo mixer I thought it was complete overkill. Now I'm contemplating buying a second one for my speakers' second input.
That is actually a third solution: get speakers with two inputs. I have a very nice Microlab set with - for their price - decent sound and two inputs.
