If you disconnect the analog audio cable or mute the cd volume, does the spinning noise at least go away? Might be able to use digital cd audio playback with the right drivers.

Try a different CD audio cable first. If that doesn't help, make sure the cable is correctly aligned on both ends.

If you look at the back of the CD drive, there should be some markings above the CD audio connector, usually "RGGL". Those need to be aligned to the pins on your sound card. So, if the red wire of your cable connects to "R" on the CD drive, it should also be connected to "R" on the sound card.

Usually, this doesn't matter much and simply reverses the stereo channels if the cable isn't connected properly. However, in some cases, an incorrectly hooked up cable can result in more noise.

Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 09:03:

If you disconnect the analog audio cable or mute the cd volume, does the spinning noise at least go away? Might be able to use digital cd audio playback with the right drivers.

I'll try to disconnect the cable but I already can say that muting the CD audio or lowering the slider makes the noise go away.
It's ironic, I always wanted to stick with IDE optical drives just to have CD music in games that support it... Are you telling me I could go with a SATA DVD drive and still have that?

DeadnightWarrior wrote on 2021-02-23, 09:58:

Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 09:03:

If you disconnect the analog audio cable or mute the cd volume, does the spinning noise at least go away? Might be able to use digital cd audio playback with the right drivers.

I'll try to disconnect the cable but I already can say that muting the CD audio or lowering the slider makes the noise go away.
It's ironic, I always wanted to stick with IDE optical drives just to have CD music in games that support it... Are you telling I could go with a SATA DVD drive and still have that?

I'm not versed in the particulars of YMF drivers but generally you need WDM drivers for digital cd audio.

See this thread, it contains interesting info: Re: When did optical drives stop support cd audio despite still having the connector for it? How to avoid buying one?
1) Apparently there's cd drivers with a non-functional audio connector
2) there's WDM drivers for YMF744 (not sure how similar that is to 724) cards that let you have audio over the digital cable, but apparently it doesn't work with all games?

you didn't say anything about it so I have to mention it. The pinouts of the audio are silkscreened RGGL on header 3. Then check the back of your CD player and make sure its RGGL the same. If not than you need to rewire your cable.

Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:13:

1) Apparently there's cd drivers with a non-functional audio connector

Well, great... and I just happen to have one of those! The manual for my drive states that the "connector is not supported"! 🤦

Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:13:

2) there's WDM drivers for YMF744 (not sure how similar that is to 724) cards that let you have audio over the digital cable, but apparently it doesn't work with all games?

I'm actually using Vxd drivers. Would Wdm break any DOS based game?

DeadnightWarrior wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:34:

Well, great... and I just happen to have one of those! The manual for my drive states that the "connector is not supported"! :fa […]
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Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:13:

1) Apparently there's cd drivers with a non-functional audio connector

Well, great... and I just happen to have one of those! The manual for my drive states that the "connector is not supported"! 🤦

Oetker wrote on 2021-02-23, 10:13:

2) there's WDM drivers for YMF744 (not sure how similar that is to 724) cards that let you have audio over the digital cable, but apparently it doesn't work with all games?

I'm actually using Vxd drivers. Would Wdm break any DOS based game?

Wow what are the chances, well that explains your problem then, and the cable is just acting as an antenna that's picking up noise.
I think wdm vs vxd dos game support depends on the sound card in question (i.e. how much effort the developers put in) but I'm not sure and I'm not knowledgeable on YMF cards.

If I had to guess, some CD ROM drives have ground loops on their analog CD audio outputs. (Either that, or the ground terminals in the CD-ROM cable form one between the drive and the sound card.)
I often leave my CD-ROM drives' CD audio connectors disconnected for this reason, which is hella sucky for games that play redbook audio.

Also, the YMF7x4 WDM drivers will indeed break DOS sound to pieces and throw each piece into a fire.

OK so I tried WDM drivers and disconnected the analog audio cable.
Fired up Quake and Quake II and:
- before with VXD: sound effects OK but no music.
- now with WDM: music OK but no sound effects!
🤦