YMF719 is a great option, most ESS Audiodrives ES1688 onwards, and of course anything the Orpheus guys produce. McCake is small enough to fit on half height cards so no problems there.

For me personally it's a MK8330.
This setup covers nearly all sound/music needs.
Complete SB line from SB1.0 up to SB16 for sound effects.
From Adlib to MT-32 + GM (with different soundfonts) for music.
Additionally I also have a GUS PnP clone and with that setup I always can have best sound effects/music in every game.

If you consider that some games require a Roland intelligent mode MIDI interface, perhaps a combination of an ISA sound card and a HardMPU-wt card is a better choice.

badmojo wrote on 2024-09-16, 23:28:

YMF719 is a great option, most ESS Audiodrives ES1688 onwards, and of course anything the Orpheus guys produce. McCake is small enough to fit on half height cards so no problems there.

Thanks! It looks like the latest batch of the Orpheus MIDI cards just now closed a couple days ago. UGH. Maybe I can still get one.

crusher wrote on 2024-09-17, 07:52:

For me personally it's a MK8330. This setup covers nearly all sound/music needs. Complete SB line from SB1.0 up to SB16 for soun […]
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For me personally it's a MK8330.
This setup covers nearly all sound/music needs.
Complete SB line from SB1.0 up to SB16 for sound effects.
From Adlib to MT-32 + GM (with different soundfonts) for music.
Additionally I also have a GUS PnP clone and with that setup I always can have best sound effects/music in every game.

It's a bit late for the MK8330 now that they are out of production 🤣.

zwrr wrote on 2024-09-17, 11:13:

If you consider that some games require a Roland intelligent mode MIDI interface, perhaps a combination of an ISA sound card and a HardMPU-wt card is a better choice.

Yeah, I am going to see if I can get one of the Orpheus MIDI cards with Hardware MPU support. Is SoftMPU not a good solution?

Thanks all!

A YMF718 or 719 is a good option as was mentioned. If your game doesn't need Intelligent Mode MIDI support alongside Sound Blaster digital effects, a PicoGUS may also be a good option; it can emulate a GUS or Sound Blaster and a standard MPU-401 simultaneously, and can also do MPU-401 Intelligent Mode while doing Adlib emulation since there's no need for Adlib to use an IRQ. I use a PicoGUS with my X2GS MIDI daughtercard and it works quite well!

LChackr wrote on 2024-09-17, 21:18:

Is SoftMPU not a good solution?

SoftMPU is a great option! It does need EMM386 but I don't know of any games that need intelligent mode and won't work with a memory manager.

I personally use a PCMIDI card with my McCake but that's only because I have an X2GS on my YMF719. If not for that I'd just mount it on the YMF card and use SoftMPU where required. It's worth noting that the McCake also has a GM mode via Fluidsynth, so it really does everything if you can find a GM sound font that you like.

SoftMPU is good, but it is a TSR, and some people may be bothered by it, I am one of them, so I chose its hardware implementation, HardMPU-wt.

Games that require the Roland intelligent mode MIDI interface can be seen in this list.
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_ … _computer_games

In my opinion, the PicoGUS would be one of the best options.

https://picog.us/