The differences are so small for me I'd go with the sentimental option of the SB32.
I don't think CQM is that bad and may well be given you've grown up on CQM, you'll find OPL sounds "wrong"
but the PAS16 has true OPL if needed anyway.

I agree the SB16 offers no benefits.

It depends. Do you like Doom? 😀

CQM can break on that one with some songs and the percussion sounds different.

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-24, 05:03:

Hey all, this is my first post, but I've followed Vogons for ages. Anyways I'm fixing up my teenage era rig and have a dream cho […]
Show full quote

Hey all, this is my first post, but I've followed Vogons for ages. Anyways I'm fixing up my teenage era rig and have a dream choice of sound cards to put inside. My intent is to have a DOS and Win 98 setup.

Specs: AMD K6-2 350mhz, 64 mb RAM, Ati Rage Fury AGP 3d card. DVD/CDRW Drive, SD Card Reader, 1.2mb and 1.44 floppy drives.

I would like to enjoy the simple joys of MIDI music in DOS games and to be able to either play them with FM synth or Wavtable music. I am lucky to still have my childhood SB 32 PnP CT 3600 as well as a Mediavision PAS 16. I also bought a SB AWE32 CT2760. I also have a SB Live installed for more modern games in Win 98 that can use EAX.

My question to you guys, is: do I go with the nostalgic childhood SB 32 PnP or the SB AWE 32? I have a hard time deciding which one I should pick? I know OPL3 and CQM are very similar. I do remember watching a video a long time ago of comparisons between various SB 32 models and noticed that the AWE 32 2760 has the ability to add reverb to FM Synth in DOS games. I do not remember the SB 32 PnP having this ability with the CQM chip.

I still plan to have the Mediavision installed along with one of the Sound Blaster. Oh I also have a SB 16 CT2230 available, but do not think it would be a good contender for my dream rig considering I have better cards available.

Please post your opinions and advice, I will love to hear from all of you! Ultimately I think I will have to record MIDI on all the cards and do a comparrison.

Thank you all!

No idea if you need to buy said card but you can find AWE 32 cards that have OPL on them if that's your thing, the CT3900 is one of them.

For me I went with a Ess1869F with a X2GS, I always liked the ESS cards and with the X2GS it pretty much does everything I want and ESSFM sounds pretty nice compared to CQM. I could also use a Yamaha YFM719 with the X2GS and itll sound just as good, both cards are highly compatible but the Yamaha did need a little rework to fix its stereo channels and boost its mixer a bit. My X2GS will soon be replaced by a X16GS Waveblaster .. mostly so I can play around with some Roland soundbanks.

If you already have the cards then the AWE 32 is a very nice card.

Edit - Just checked and the SB AWE32 CT2760 has OPL3 on it .. you may need to check but itll has a chip on it labeled as such, if yours does have OPL then use that card and throw 16mb of memory at it and load up some nice Roland sound banks for it.

Hey guys thank you for the replies! I believe we all agree that the SB 32 has CQM while the AWE32 has OPL-3? I have both cards actually, so there is no need to purchase one. I'm just trying to get a feel of which card has preference with all of you? I know both are really similar. The only consideration is that the SB32 has sentimental value. If I was to keep it, I could always have my Pro Audio Spectrum 16 providing true OPL-3 MIDi music.

Does the AWE32 CT2760 have any advantage to the SB32 3600 when it comes to reverb/chorus effects in DOS games?

I already have 32mb on the SB32 3600 so the issues with SoundFonts on it is not an issue, considering the AWE32 has built in RAM.

I was always told that the AWE32 is the genuine premier Sound Blaster 32 of that era and that I should avoid the regular 32 or the 32PNP/Value editions...but honestly besides the AWE32 having OPL-3 and onboard RAM, are there any other advantages?

Thanks you all for your responses. I look forwards to hearing more comments.

leileilol wrote on 2025-02-24, 06:28:

It depends. Do you like Doom? 😀

CQM can break on that one with some songs and the percussion sounds different.

I love DOOM! I grew up playing Doom with CQM for a short while....and by Doom 2 I played with the SB 32 WAV based music, so most of my Doom memories are that from the SB 32 wav effects.

The AWE32 only has 512Kb onboard RAM, so you would want to move the 32MB to is from the CT3600.

CQM is really bad on some games.

I would go with the CT2760.

Since you already have both, you can swap them out easily to see which one you like better.

For Windows, you could also get an Audigy or Audigy 2 as those have better output. You can also install the Audigy drivers with the SB-Live and get somewhat better output.

At worst CQM is just mid in some games. There are much worse FM implementations.

cyclone3d wrote on 2025-02-25, 23:18:

The AWE32 only has 512Kb onboard RAM, so you would want to move the 32MB to is from the CT3600. […]
Show full quote

The AWE32 only has 512Kb onboard RAM, so you would want to move the 32MB to is from the CT3600.

CQM is really bad on some games.

I would go with the CT2760.

Since you already have both, you can swap them out easily to see which one you like better.

For Windows, you could also get an Audigy or Audigy 2 as those have better output. You can also install the Audigy drivers with the SB-Live and get somewhat better output.

I do have a cheap SB Live! installed for EAX in Win 98 games. It was also my very first 4.1 surround and EAX card as a kid, so once again nostalgia! I understand the Audigy is a much better card than Live!?
Yeah I supposed I should test the SB 32 and AWE 32 in games and see which one I prefer.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-02-24, 08:00:

No idea if you need to buy said card but you can find AWE 32 cards that have OPL on them if that's your thing, the CT3900 is one […]
Show full quote

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-24, 05:03:

Hey all, this is my first post, but I've followed Vogons for ages. Anyways I'm fixing up my teenage era rig and have a dream cho […]
Show full quote

Hey all, this is my first post, but I've followed Vogons for ages. Anyways I'm fixing up my teenage era rig and have a dream choice of sound cards to put inside. My intent is to have a DOS and Win 98 setup.

Specs: AMD K6-2 350mhz, 64 mb RAM, Ati Rage Fury AGP 3d card. DVD/CDRW Drive, SD Card Reader, 1.2mb and 1.44 floppy drives.

I would like to enjoy the simple joys of MIDI music in DOS games and to be able to either play them with FM synth or Wavtable music. I am lucky to still have my childhood SB 32 PnP CT 3600 as well as a Mediavision PAS 16. I also bought a SB AWE32 CT2760. I also have a SB Live installed for more modern games in Win 98 that can use EAX.

My question to you guys, is: do I go with the nostalgic childhood SB 32 PnP or the SB AWE 32? I have a hard time deciding which one I should pick? I know OPL3 and CQM are very similar. I do remember watching a video a long time ago of comparisons between various SB 32 models and noticed that the AWE 32 2760 has the ability to add reverb to FM Synth in DOS games. I do not remember the SB 32 PnP having this ability with the CQM chip.

I still plan to have the Mediavision installed along with one of the Sound Blaster. Oh I also have a SB 16 CT2230 available, but do not think it would be a good contender for my dream rig considering I have better cards available.

Please post your opinions and advice, I will love to hear from all of you! Ultimately I think I will have to record MIDI on all the cards and do a comparrison.

Thank you all!

No idea if you need to buy said card but you can find AWE 32 cards that have OPL on them if that's your thing, the CT3900 is one of them.

For me I went with a Ess1869F with a X2GS, I always liked the ESS cards and with the X2GS it pretty much does everything I want and ESSFM sounds pretty nice compared to CQM. I could also use a Yamaha YFM719 with the X2GS and itll sound just as good, both cards are highly compatible but the Yamaha did need a little rework to fix its stereo channels and boost its mixer a bit. My X2GS will soon be replaced by a X16GS Waveblaster .. mostly so I can play around with some Roland soundbanks.

If you already have the cards then the AWE 32 is a very nice card.

Edit - Just checked and the SB AWE32 CT2760 has OPL3 on it .. you may need to check but itll has a chip on it labeled as such, if yours does have OPL then use that card and throw 16mb of memory at it and load up some nice Roland sound banks for it.

I've never rocked an ESS card...but found out that I have one that is brand new/mint in box that I could try just for the hell of it! I think I'll give it a shot and play some DOS games with an ESS card to see how it sounds. This will be real fun! Thanks for the suggestion!

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-25, 23:09:

Does the AWE32 CT2760 have any advantage to the SB32 3600 when it comes to reverb/chorus effects in DOS games?

I've never enabled those features and definitely wouldn't call them a deal breaker.

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-25, 23:09:

I was always told that the AWE32 is the genuine premier Sound Blaster 32 of that era and that I should avoid the regular 32 or the 32PNP/Value editions...but honestly besides the AWE32 having OPL-3 and onboard RAM, are there any other advantages?

AWE32 was the flagship product of the day which is why it's so highly regarded.

AWE32 Value just lacks the ability to increase the RAM, no big deal if you're just using the default soundfonts.
I knew I would be one of these people so got a much better price on a Value card with OPL chip then if I was to get a "full" card.

Some people actually prefer the SB32 as it's based on the Vibra which has less issues and slightly better snr rating. (it's still a Creative ISA card, it's still not going to be amazing)

I understand many of us dreamed of getting an AWE back in the day, I was one of them, But I didn't know about external MIDI, Roland, Yamaha and the like.
I can still understand people wanting to make their dream build and wanting that full version AWE and nothing less will be enough.
But the cold hard truth is the AWE is a good but does have a lot of limitations. (All ISA cards do) and just about all of the time the SB32/Value 32/64 can perform just as well as the full AWE can.

Yeah you are correct, I've always regarded the AWE32 as the flagship. The SB32 I have does have that Vibra CQM chip and ram expandable capability. The AWE 64 in this case is even less desirable....since none of them had OPL chips, yet people love the AWE64 Gold for some reason!

I think I'll have a blast comparing the SB32 and AWE32 and maybe make a retro Youtube video comparing the two with various games and midi files recorded directly from the sound card.

I appreciate everyone's imputs here on Vogons...this community is so amazing.

Not sure if anyone is interested, particularly Russian speaking folk but I just found this awesome vid describing the differences between AWE 32, SB 32 and AWE64 with some real nice music samples by the content creator: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u72Uz8eaJrQ&l … ndex=37&t=1058s

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-26, 00:43:

Yeah you are correct, I've always regarded the AWE32 as the flagship. The SB32 I have does have that Vibra CQM chip and ram expandable capability. The AWE 64 in this case is even less desirable....since none of them had OPL chips, yet people love the AWE64 Gold for some reason!

64's much less noisier than the 32.

leileilol wrote on 2025-02-26, 02:07:

buzzice wrote on 2025-02-26, 00:43:

Yeah you are correct, I've always regarded the AWE32 as the flagship. The SB32 I have does have that Vibra CQM chip and ram expandable capability. The AWE 64 in this case is even less desirable....since none of them had OPL chips, yet people love the AWE64 Gold for some reason!

64's much less noisier than the 32.

I did notice that the sample rate of people playing the AWE 64 was crisper and more "wide" than the AWE32. But I suppose its not really something I care for. AWE64 Gold cards look really $$ online too, maybe if I keep my SB32 I can sell the AWE32 and get an AWE64 instead? So many choices!

Is there a thread on Vogons to sell old cards? I have 2 brand new RAdlib cards (Adlib clone remake) and a few other sound cards I want to sell to fellow retro enthusiasts. Also I am going to do an unboxing of an unopened brand new MediaVision Pas 16 one of these days and probably auction it off with the proceeds going to charity.

There is no selling on vogons. Best bet is eBay.

Personally, I would keep the AWE32, but I am a collector and like OPL3 much more than CQM. I also own every model of the AWE32 except the "value" versions (no RAM slots) as well as the AWE64 models including the original 28MB upgrade module.

There are some other fun models of the AWE32/SB32 such as the CT3930(Vibra 16) and the CT3670(AWE64 chip with RAM slots - supposedly could also come with OPL3 though I have not seen one with OPL3).

It is also possible to de-CQM (replace with OPL3) some Creative cards with CQM.