Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

These are some junior questions. I never used or owned an AWE32 before because the first one I used was an X-Fi Platinum.

The questions are mostly based on AWE32. Wikipedia states: "The Sound Blaster AWE32 included two distinct audio sections; one being the Creative digital audio section with their audio codec and optional CSP/ASP chip socket, and the second being the E-mu MIDI synthesizer section. The synthesizer section consisted of the EMU8000 synthesizer and effects processor chip..."

What is the general role of the EMU8K chip?

It's a samples ("wavetable")-based synthesizer.

If I want to play a '.midi' file, does the AWE32 provide me with option to play using OPL3/EMU8K? If so how do they differ?

That depends on your software, see below.

Are MIDI synthesis and FM synthesis different? I assume FM synthesis is a method to achieve MIDI synthesis. Correct me if I am wrong.

MIDI isn't synthesis, it's a language to describe music. See it like digital sheet music: you tell a certain instrument to play a certain note for a certain duration. Which instrument you play is standardized in General MIDI (if your software and device follow that standard), how the instrument sounds depends on what is playing it.

What is PCM synthesis? Does the SB16, SB Pro, SB AWE32 support it? If AWE32 supports it, is it processed by the EMU8K chip? What about the compatibility of PCM with older cards like SB16 or SB Pro and can the OPL3/OPL2 process it?
What is wavetable synthesis? Does the AWE32 support it? What are some good ISA cards that support it?

You're mixing up quite a few things here, which is understandable as card vendor marketing did that as well.

Your AWE32 supports three ways of making sound:
- PCM: no synthesis. You play back digital audio samples. The actual shape of a wave is digitally encoded with a certain sample rate and resolution (the "16b" of the SoundBlaster 16 refers to that resolution), and is played back by making that waveform. Essentially, all cards with the same specs should sound the same with PCM playback, apart from their noise characteristics and filtering (if used). Traditionally only used for sound effects, because PCM samples take up a lot of space. The main reason sound cards suddenly stopped being relevant at the beginning of the '00s is that storage became so cheap that games moved from complicated, hardware dependent synthesis to plain PCM sound for everything, so (apart from noise floors, which few people cared about) it didn't matter whether you had an expensive card or a simple onboard chip anymore. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation
- FM synthesis: you define some waveforms and the FM synth creates them and lets them intefere with each other to produce a sound. Hardware is key here, the de-facto standard for FM synth is the Yamaha OPL3 (more specifically the YMF262). Other chips sound slightly or wildly different. Creative at first used the YMF262. Then then moved to a low-power version YMF289, which sounds almost the same (miniscule pitch difference audiophiles can get annoyed about), the decided to make their own FM synth to cut costs. This CQM is generally not very well regarded. Other vendors did something similar, with varying results (ESFM and CSFM are generally considered good, DSPs using wavetable for FM sound abominable).
- "Wavetable" synthesis: a complete misnomer. This is sample-based (unlike FM synth which actually uses waveforms), so the samples are recordings of instrument sounds. The quality of your sample set largely determines output quality. Some cards use hardware samples (one or more ROM chips with 512kB-8MB of samples, more is generally better), others like the AWE use software samples. The advantage to using software samples is far more flexibility, you can load different sets for different sounds or effects. Disadvantage is that setup and initialization is more complex and frequently eats more resources. Apart from the samples, the wavetable chip can add various effects.

So, those are the technologies. Then the standards. Each technology can be offered in multiple standards, which may or may not be fully backwards-compatible. This list is by no means exhaustive, particularly the early '90s had a massive explosion of standards and "standards".
- PCM: Creative Soundblaster (8b mono 22kHz), Sounblaster Pro (stereo added), Soundblaster 16 (16b and 44kHz - but stereo handled slightly differently to SBPro, so not 100% backwards compatible), Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum (8b stereo 44kHz), PAS16 (16b stereo 44kHz), Gravis Ultrasound (16b stereo 44kHz) and WSS (16b stereo 48kHz)
- FM synthesis: AdLib (OPL2, mono), dual OPL2 (Soundblaster Pro 1.0/PAS stereo), OPL3 (stereo)
- Wavetable: pre-standard (eg. Roland MT-32/LAPC-I), General MIDI (very widely supported, although sometimes not natively as on AWE and GUS), AWE (Emu/Creative only), GUS and various others.

So, a huge number of options. You can dive really, really far down the rabbit hole. To make sense of it all, it's best to have a clear goal in mind. If you play games from after ~1995, stick to 16b PCM audio and General MIDI, and don't worry about FM. If you play really old stuff (pre 1992), look at the individual games and choose what matters most. If you - like me - like 1992-1994 most, be prepared for lots of cards or hard choices: just stick to SBPro2 (compatible) PCM and OPL3 and add General MIDI.

AWE could do some neat tricks, but specific support was uncommon. Usually is just worked as a (fairly mediocre) General MIDI device.

I really couldn't recommend a "one size fits all" ISA card for you without knowing a bit more, both about what you want to do, how you want to do it (do you prefer authentic hardware or modern replicas or re-imaginings) and how much money you are prepared to throw at it. Note that a lot of people use two ore more sound cards in their build, as there is no perfect card, and a lot of the ones that look good on paper have nasty bugs (all Creative SB16 or AWE cards have MIDI and DMA bugs to some degree which many people find very irritating, so many people pair an SB16/AWE card with something else with bug-free MIDI).

dionb wrote on 2021-06-22, 10:01:

- "Wavetable" synthesis: a complete misnomer. This is sample-based (unlike FM synth which actually uses waveforms), so the samples are recordings of instrument sounds. The quality of your sample set largely determines output quality. Some cards use hardware samples (one or more ROM chips with 512kB-8MB of samples, more is generally better), others like the AWE use software samples. The advantage to using software samples is far more flexibility, you can load different sets for different sounds or effects. Disadvantage is that setup and initialization is more complex and frequently eats more resources. Apart from the samples, the wavetable chip can add various effects.

Both Sound Blaster AWE32 and 64 have ROMs so they can play music without preloading anything to RAM. They should not eat more resources when playing music, except when uploading samples and soundfonts to RAM... and the only games I've tested that use that feature uploaded the soundfont before starting and not while playing.

Later Creative cards (i.e.: Sound Blaster AudioPCI) uses the computer RAM as sample RAM and can be bus hoggers. I remember that a simple SB AudioPCI 64 produced noticeable noises on a Pentium 75.

But be careful... my old Sound Blaster AWE64 drivers allowed to use 32 + 32 channels... the first ones used the EMU (and should not take resources) but the other were made via software (my precious CPU cycles!).

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

If I want to play a '.midi' file, does the AWE32 provide me with option to play using OPL3/EMU8K?

Not all AWE32 cards have an OPL3 chip on board. Some models use Creative's CQM for FM synthesis which sounds different (more metallic) than the real thing. As for the AWE32 mode, when that option is selected in a game's sound setup menu, it uses the card's built-in ROM samples for music playback.

For comparison, here's how Doom E1M1 sounds on all three:

• OPL3
• CQM
• AWE32

Note that the differences between OPL3 and CQM are more prominent in some tracks than in others, depending on the music composition.

One thing I don't see mentioned yet is that the OPL/CQM will pipe through the EMU8K on an AWE 32/64. This lets it apply reverb and other effects which give it a unique sound versus other cards.

Quick and dirty answer.
Think of an AWE as a SB16 (because it is) and the EMU chip as a onboard MIDI module (it's not but fills the same function, namely game music)

Below games are "AWE Enabled" if it's not in the list then by default it'll just act like a SB16
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … pport_AWE_synth

Although the list is not complete as other Bullfrog titles are missing like Hi-Octane
Bullfrog games been one of the few that loaded their own ROM's (instruments) into the AWE's onboard memory rather then the Creative default one.

Lots of people complain abut the AWE but I like it and think makes a lot of sense if your not getting an external MIDI device.
Just as people like to listen to the different MIDI modules by Yamaha, Roland, Dreamblaster, etc. AWE is just a another option.
It's not up to the same standard but even new it never cost as much either.

In simple words..

PCM output.. Plays *. WAV files (digitalized samples) via Pulse Code Modulation.
The The Sega Genesis/MegaDrive has one for playing back sound effects (ring sound, "SEEGA") . The Audio-CD used PCM, too.

FM Syntesizer.. A sound chip (OPL3) that makes sounds using Frequency Modulation.
The Sega Genesis/MegaDrive uses a similar chip for its stereo sound (music).

The EMU8000.. This is a chip that supports various modulation techniques:
It can make complex sounds by modifing PCM samples that it can find in its ROM chip or in its RAM slots.
That socalled "wavetable" capability makes it a RAMpler (as opposed to a ROMpler).
- Because of this, it can play Amiga Tracker Music almost by its own (MOD files).
The Super Nintendo has a module called the "SPC 700", which uses the same technology essentially.

GUS/Gravis Ultrasound.. Essentially the same principle.

MIDI.. MIDI is just a language, a description language, essentially, - just like HTML.
It holds musical notes, and settings for the MIDI devices.
Both FM and EMU8K can play MIDI music if a some sort of synthesizer program assists them.
In most cases, the game itself contains one. On Windows, the supplied drivers do tale care of this.

GM.. General MIDI. Baseline MIDI specification.
Was introduced so that MIDI devices from different manufacturers
have a lowest common denominator.

GM2/GS/XG.. Some standards of MIDI.
They share the same basics, but do differ in detail and capabilities (like effects).
For example, some of the instruments have different numbers.

SC-55.. The MIDI module that introduced the GS standard.
DB50XG.. An internal MIDI module that made XG popular on PC.

MT32/CM32L etc.. An ancient MIDI synthesizer module that uses LA synhesis.
It can upload some sound patches into its (small) internal memory, too.
Because of its flexibility, it is considered a real synthesizer. Predates GM standard.

DX7.. Ancient synthesizer. Not used in PC gaming.

dionb wrote on 2021-06-22, 10:01:

Your AWE32 supports three ways of making sound:
- PCM: no synthesis. You play back digital audio samples. The actual shape of a wave is digitally encoded with a certain sample rate and resolution (the "16b" of the SoundBlaster 16 refers to that resolution), and is played back by making that waveform. Essentially, all cards with the same specs should sound the same with PCM playback, apart from their noise characteristics and filtering (if used). Traditionally only used for sound effects, because PCM samples take up a lot of space. The main reason sound cards suddenly stopped being relevant at the beginning of the '00s is that storage became so cheap that games moved from complicated, hardware dependent synthesis to plain PCM sound for everything, so (apart from noise floors, which few people cared about) it didn't matter whether you had an expensive card or a simple onboard chip anymore. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-code_modulation
- "Wavetable" synthesis: a complete misnomer. This is sample-based (unlike FM synth which actually uses waveforms), so the samples are recordings of instrument sounds. The quality of your sample set largely determines output quality. Some cards use hardware samples (one or more ROM chips with 512kB-8MB of samples, more is generally better), others like the AWE use software samples. The advantage to using software samples is far more flexibility, you can load different sets for different sounds or effects. Disadvantage is that setup and initialization is more complex and frequently eats more resources. Apart from the samples, the wavetable chip can add various effects.

So PCM is just '.wav' files that is digital audio. Any '.ogg', '.mp3', '.flac' files are different qualities/compressions of PCM audio.

If I understand correctly, MIDI playback is possible on FM synthesizers, wavetable synthesizers and old PC speakers and any other given they support MIDI. While PCM is just decompression of digital audio and output mainly.
If MIDI works on wavetable synthesizer directly, without an FM chip, then are there any games/programs which gives us the option to choose between FM synthesis(OPL3/CQM) or wavetable synthesis(EMU8K) or both.

SScorpio wrote on 2021-06-22, 11:54:

One thing I don't see mentioned yet is that the OPL/CQM will pipe through the EMU8K on an AWE 32/64. This lets it apply reverb and other effects which give it a unique sound versus other cards.

Can I disable the EMU8K with AWEUTIL program?

Zup wrote on 2021-06-22, 10:38:

But be careful... my old Sound Blaster AWE64 drivers allowed to use 32 + 32 channels... the first ones used the EMU (and should not take resources) but the other were made via software (my precious CPU cycles!).

Do you mean the AWE ran out of memory because the no of channels you used and thus the card had to take up system memory?

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-06-22, 11:05:

Not all AWE32 cards have an OPL3 chip on board. Some models use Creative's CQM for FM synthesis which sounds different (more met […]
Show full quote

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

If I want to play a '.midi' file, does the AWE32 provide me with option to play using OPL3/EMU8K?

Not all AWE32 cards have an OPL3 chip on board. Some models use Creative's CQM for FM synthesis which sounds different (more metallic) than the real thing. As for the AWE32 mode, when that option is selected in a game's sound setup menu, it uses the card's built-in ROM samples for music playback.

For comparison, here's how Doom E1M1 sounds on all three:

• OPL3
• CQM
• AWE32

Note that the differences between OPL3 and CQM are more prominent in some tracks than in others, depending on the music composition.

If I am not wrong OPL/CQM here is AWE32 with EMU8K disabled while AWE32 is the same but with EMU8K enabled (i.e. OPL/CQM piping through EMU8K for extra effects, as SScoprio said)

chinny22 wrote on 2021-06-22, 11:59:

Quick and dirty answer. Think of an AWE as a SB16 (because it is) and the EMU chip as a onboard MIDI module (it's not but fills […]
Show full quote

Quick and dirty answer.
Think of an AWE as a SB16 (because it is) and the EMU chip as a onboard MIDI module (it's not but fills the same function, namely game music)

Below games are "AWE Enabled" if it's not in the list then by default it'll just act like a SB16
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … pport_AWE_synth

Although the list is not complete as other Bullfrog titles are missing like Hi-Octane
Bullfrog games been one of the few that loaded their own ROM's (instruments) into the AWE's onboard memory rather then the Creative default one.

Lots of people complain abut the AWE but I like it and think makes a lot of sense if your not getting an external MIDI device.
Just as people like to listen to the different MIDI modules by Yamaha, Roland, Dreamblaster, etc. AWE is just a another option.
It's not up to the same standard but even new it never cost as much either.

From this list I can see it uses only wavetable synthesis. Are there any Windows games that run only on FM synthesizers and using EMU8K adds the normal extra effects and reverb? Can I disable the EMU8K for these games so that I get unmodified FM synth?

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

Zup wrote on 2021-06-22, 10:38:

But be careful... my old Sound Blaster AWE64 drivers allowed to use 32 + 32 channels... the first ones used the EMU (and should not take resources) but the other were made via software (my precious CPU cycles!).

Do you mean the AWE ran out of memory because the no of channels you used and thus the card had to take up system memory?

No, the RAM is only used to store the samples before playing.

The EMU is only capable of playing 32 notes at the same time (it doesn't matter if they are playing 32 different samples, the same sample or a mixup). At the same time, other parts of the card (PCM and FM) can be doing their own things and everything is mixed before going to the speakers.

The AWE64 drivers included a soft synthetizer that was able to mix another 32 notes using your CPU and RAM. Then Windows mixed that with the sound effects and send it to the card via the PCM output.

So, if you are playing a MIDI that needs more than 32 notes at the same time, some of them will be played using the EMU (no resources wasted) and other will be played using the CPU. That soft synthetizer could be disabled or not installed, but I don't remember how.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

If I am not wrong OPL/CQM here is AWE32 with EMU8K disabled while AWE32 is the same but with EMU8K enabled (i.e. OPL/CQM piping through EMU8K for extra effects, as SScoprio said)

The OPL3 track was recorded on a Yamaha YMF724.

The CQM and AWE32 tracks were recorded on a Sound Blaster AWE64 Value with no extra reverb/chorus effects applied.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:24:

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

If I am not wrong OPL/CQM here is AWE32 with EMU8K disabled while AWE32 is the same but with EMU8K enabled (i.e. OPL/CQM piping through EMU8K for extra effects, as SScoprio said)

The OPL3 track was recorded on a Yamaha YMF724.

The CQM and AWE32 tracks were recorded on a Sound Blaster AWE64 Value with no extra reverb/chorus effects applied.

How do you define CQM and AWE32, I mean what is enabled in AWE32 mode that was disabled in CQM mode?

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:22:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:24:

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

If I am not wrong OPL/CQM here is AWE32 with EMU8K disabled while AWE32 is the same but with EMU8K enabled (i.e. OPL/CQM piping through EMU8K for extra effects, as SScoprio said)

The OPL3 track was recorded on a Yamaha YMF724.

The CQM and AWE32 tracks were recorded on a Sound Blaster AWE64 Value with no extra reverb/chorus effects applied.

How do you define CQM and AWE32, I mean what is enabled in AWE32 mode that was disabled in CQM mode?

With CQM FM synthesis is used, in AWE32 mode the wave table is used.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

So PCM is just '.wav' files that is digital audio. Any '.ogg', '.mp3', '.flac' files are different qualities/compressions of PCM audio.

Correct

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

If I understand correctly, MIDI playback is possible on FM synthesizers, wavetable synthesizers and old PC speakers and any other given they support MIDI.
While PCM is just decompression of digital audio and output mainly.

Correct

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

If MIDI works on wavetable synthesizer directly, without an FM chip, then are there any games/programs which gives us the option to choose between FM synthesis(OPL3/CQM) or wavetable synthesis(EMU8K) or both.

Yes
If you select Adlib this will force the game to use OPL3

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

Can I disable the EMU8K with AWEUTIL program?

Don't think so, not with Aweutil, but I'm not sure.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

If I want to play a '.midi' file, does the AWE32 provide me with option to play using OPL3/EMU8K?

I think you can set this in Windows?

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

From this list I can see it uses only wavetable synthesis. Are there any Windows games that run only on FM synthesizers and using EMU8K adds the normal extra effects and reverb? Can I disable the EMU8K for these games so that I get unmodified FM synth?

Plenty of games only use FM.
I'm not sure if you can disable the EMU chip? Never tired, but you can turn reveb, etc off in mixer

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:22:

How do you define CQM and AWE32, I mean what is enabled in AWE32 mode that was disabled in CQM mode?

Oetker explained it above.

If you need a real-world example, on the AWE64 card that I mentioned earlier, when I run Doom's SETUP.EXE and select "Sound Blaster" or "Adlib" for music, then CQM will be used. On the other hand, if I select "Sound Blaster AWE32" for music, then the on-board wavetable will be used.

chinny22 wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:34:

Don't think so, not with Aweutil, but I'm not sure. […]
Show full quote

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 08:07:

Can I disable the EMU8K with AWEUTIL program?

Don't think so, not with Aweutil, but I'm not sure.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

If I want to play a '.midi' file, does the AWE32 provide me with option to play using OPL3/EMU8K?

I think you can set this in Windows?

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-22, 04:17:

From this list I can see it uses only wavetable synthesis. Are there any Windows games that run only on FM synthesizers and using EMU8K adds the normal extra effects and reverb? Can I disable the EMU8K for these games so that I get unmodified FM synth?

Plenty of games only use FM.
I'm not sure if you can disable the EMU chip? Never tired, but you can turn reveb, etc off in mixer

AWEUTIL works in DOS AFAIK. Another member on a different thread says that EMU8K needs to be enabled in DOS so that FM passes through it. I believe Windows has both enabled and gives the option to choose what I need

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:49:

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:22:

How do you define CQM and AWE32, I mean what is enabled in AWE32 mode that was disabled in CQM mode?

Oetker explained it above.

If you need a real-world example, on the AWE64 card that I mentioned earlier, when I run Doom's SETUP.EXE and select "Sound Blaster" or "Adlib" for music, then CQM will be used. On the other hand, if I select "Sound Blaster AWE32" for music, then the on-board wavetable will be used.

So that means when you have a multi-synthesizers supported cards(AWE64), choosing the card not having the extra feature of the awe64(adlib not having wavetable synthesizer) will activate their common denominator (FM synthesizer)

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 10:45:

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:49:

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 09:22:

How do you define CQM and AWE32, I mean what is enabled in AWE32 mode that was disabled in CQM mode?

Oetker explained it above.

If you need a real-world example, on the AWE64 card that I mentioned earlier, when I run Doom's SETUP.EXE and select "Sound Blaster" or "Adlib" for music, then CQM will be used. On the other hand, if I select "Sound Blaster AWE32" for music, then the on-board wavetable will be used.

So that means when you have a multi-synthesizers supported cards(AWE64), choosing the card not having the extra feature of the awe64(adlib not having wavetable synthesizer) will activate their common denominator (FM synthesizer)

Well in Doom Setup they put 'Adlib' and 'Sound Blaster' just so people knew what to pick. They mean 'OPL'. Similarly, there's (afaik) a General Midi and Sound Canvas option that do the same thing. OPL is colloquially referred to as Adlib in games.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 10:45:

So that means when you have a multi-synthesizers supported cards(AWE64), choosing the card not having the extra feature of the awe64(adlib not having wavetable synthesizer) will activate their common denominator (FM synthesizer)

The setup options vary from game to game, but generally speaking, selecting "Sound Blaster" or "Adlib" for music means FM synthesis.

What provides that FM synthesis depends on what your card has on-board. Some have an original OPL3 chip, others use proprietary FM synth solutions like CQM or ESFM. In my example, the AWE64 uses CQM for FM synthesis.

Thanks for the explanation, folks! I have a better understanding now. I will be playing early 90s games, do I need an MPU-401 for that? My card for choice is SB Pro 2.0.

Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-06-23, 17:36:

Thanks for the explanation, folks! I have a better understanding now. I will be playing early 90s games, do I need an MPU-401 for that? My card for choice is SB Pro 2.0.

How early is "early"?

In early 1990s the question is: does your MIDI controller need to support intelligent mode, or is UART (serial) mode sufficient? And what MIDI devices do you intend to use?

SBPro2 doesn't have either, so you need something additional in any case. Early MIDI games support MT-32 (pre-General MIDI) and frequently need intelligent mode. If you don't have that but do have MPU-401 UART MIDI, or indeed the Creative proprietary Sound Blaster MIDI on the Pro 2., you can use SoftMPU to emulate intelligent mode in software.

As for the device, later General MIDI devices can partially emulate the MT-32, but don't do a great job of it. If you don't have a (rare expensive) MT-32, a Raspberry Pi running MUNT emulation of the MT-32 would be a better choice.

Truly original hardware would involve the SBPro 2.0 (sought-after and pricey), an MT-32 (downright expensive) and an MPU-401 or MusicQuest clone (all scarce and pricey to downright expensive, unless you happen to find a musician dumping old hardware for low prices)

But this is only needed for really early games that support MT-32 and need intelligent mode. Fast-forward to 1993 and life gets much simpler, with General MIDI and no need for intelligent mode.