Pierre32 wrote on 2020-10-31, 00:10:Don't be misled here - most soundcards will list MPU401 but as a rule they will only support UART mode, not Intelligent Mode. Ca […]
Show full quote
Unrealcpu wrote on 2020-10-30, 19:47:
how is the sbpro 2.0 sound for old dos games and I see it has MPU401 full support.
Don't be misled here - most soundcards will list MPU401 but as a rule they will only support UART mode, not Intelligent Mode. Cards that support Intelligent Mode are:
- An original Roland MPU interface card & breakout box (rare and expensive)
- An original Music Quest PC MIDI card (as above)
- A modern reproduction of the PC MIDI card (see Keropi's signature)
- An Orpheus sound card with the PC MIDI option (see Keropi's signature)
- A HardMPU card (another VOGONS project, you can occasionally find them assembled for sale on ebay - search item number 274550075882)
Of these, only the Orpheus is a fully integrated card that covers all sound & MIDI functions. Most are MIDI only cards that need to be installed alongside a sound card.
You will need to run SoftMPU with all of your existing sound cards, as well as with any SB / SB compatible card you can buy - with the exception of the Orpheus.
Does hardmpu support intelligent mode? I own a few SBpro 2.0 cards and would prefer just to invest my money into a hardmpu card but will I have the same issues with game bugs?
So just to be clear I want to test my AWE64 card tomorrow along side my SBpro 2.0 . The AWE 64 will of course will go to the mt32 using the uhart.. I understand I will have to still use softmpu for intelligent based games. And I believe there is only 1 bug in tie fighter which causes minor slow down with this card.
Will I be able to run all the sierra games with the awe64 and will some regular games that do not need the intelligent mode , i assume will be automatically picked up by the mt-32?
It would seem the orpheus is a nice card with everything built in but what i understand it is a REAL OPL 3 "not emulated", I think the original SBpro 2.0 had OPL3 but is somewhat superior to other cards out there for some reason , especially in speech/FM on older games as well.
So it would seem the orpheus is an all in one solution for midi games.
My other option was the Sound Card ES1868F audiovox which has been raved about on vogons. This card is PNP which I guess can be crutch but can be fixed and has outstanding OPL 3 support which I assume is a real OPL 3 not emulated.
I will still have to use softmpu to get the 58 intelligent games working and picked up by the mt-32, however I would get 16bit sound with the Sound Card ES1868F audio vox vs the sbpro 2.0. I guess only a few games out there may cause issues with adlib on this card?
My other option is just run the AWE 64 but how good is this card when compared to a real SB 16? I also researched that the SB16 has several mpu-401 bugs in games vs the Sound Card ES1868F.
Maybe there is a better alternative to a second sound card? I do not plan on running a 386 computer or even a 286 computer so I do not see the benefit of having a pure mpu-401 interface card unless there is alot of games not working on compatible mpu-401 sound cards i.e. awe64 or Sound Card ES1868F .
I have yet to find a full list of games for intelligent mode vs mpu-401
also I could not get Ultima 6 or F-117A to work and would assume i need to use a sound card with MPU-401 support since we all know the SBpro 2.0 does not support it.
Thanks for your writeup Pierre32!Does hardmpu support intelligent mode? I own a few SBpro 2.0 cards and would prefer just to invest my money into a hardmpu card but will I have the same issues with game bugs?
So just to be clear I want to test my AWE64 card tomorrow along side my SBpro 2.0 . The AWE 64 will of course will go to the mt32 using the uhart.. I understand I will have to still use softmpu for intelligent based games. And I believe there is only 1 bug in tie fighter which causes minor slow down with this card.
Will I be able to run all the sierra games with the awe64 and will some regular games that do not need the intelligent mode , i assume will be automatically picked up by the mt-32?
It would seem the orpheus is a nice card with everything built in but what i understand it is a REAL OPL 3 "not emulated", I think the original SBpro 2.0 had OPL3 but is somewhat superior to other cards out there for some reason , especially in speech/FM on older games as well.
So it would seem the orpheus is an all in one solution for midi games.
My other option was the Sound Card ES1868F audiovox which has been raved about on vogons. This card is PNP which I guess can be crutch but can be fixed and has outstanding OPL 3 support which I assume is a real OPL 3 not emulated.
I will still have to use softmpu to get the 58 intelligent games working and picked up by the mt-32, however I would get 16bit sound with the Sound Card ES1868F audio vox vs the sbpro 2.0. I guess only a few games out there may cause issues with adlib on this card?
My other option is just run the AWE 64 but how good is this card when compared to a real SB 16? I also researched that the SB16 has several mpu-401 bugs in games vs the Sound Card ES1868F.
Maybe there is a better alternative to a second sound card? I do not plan on running a 386 computer or even a 286 computer so I do not see the benefit of having a pure mpu-401 interface card unless there is alot of games not working on compatible mpu-401 sound cards i.e. awe64 or Sound Card ES1868F .
I have yet to find a full list of games for intelligent mode vs mpu-401
also I could not get Ultima 6 or F-117A to work and would assume i need to use a sound card with MPU-401 support since we all know the SBpro 2.0 does not support it.
Thanks for your writeup Pierre32!