Questions about a two soundcard setup

Posted on 2021-05-27, 15:00

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I have a socket 7 build in which I have two soundcards: an SB16 CT2230 and an Aztech SG Pro 16II. These are very similar cards of course. The main reason I got the Aztech was because some games have been nearly unplayable due to very bad single cycle DMA bug behavior out of the SB16. I originally …

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Re: X2GS : Waveblaster board with dual soundbank support, official Dream/Roland licensed GS bank

Posted on 2021-05-25, 17:58

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

dreamblaster wrote on 2021-05-25, 17:19: Lazer42 wrote on 2021-05-25, 17:02: Looking at the patch list, is this essentially a wavetable of the SC-88? Officially i cannot call it like that Let me ask differently then: am I correct that these are the same waveforms or at least the same patch list?

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Re: X2GS : Waveblaster board with dual soundbank support, official Dream/Roland licensed GS bank

Posted on 2021-05-25, 17:02

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Looking at the patch list, is this essentially a wavetable of the SC-88?

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Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Posted on 2021-05-23, 20:12

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Well I am just talking about the file that came with my Win3.1 installation. I didn't download this one in particular and check. Hmm, maybe that version of the file isn't the same as the one with Win98SE so it doesn't have this same issue. Still, good to know that this was just an issue with these …

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Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Posted on 2021-05-22, 19:48

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

That's funny. On my mkii I don't have to specifically turn on GM mode for it to work. It plays Canyon just fine in the factory default. I just double checked the attached MIDIs above. The first one does indeed say No Instrument in normal operation but is fine in GM mode. Have you run the first …

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Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Posted on 2021-05-22, 14:50

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

You know what, that did it! Everything got selected properly once I did that combination and it sounded perfect. Guess that's all it needed for both of these MIDIs. I'm still learning these button combinations across a few synths and I have to say, finding them is a chore as I can't find any good …

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Re: SC-55 mkII "No Instrument" Message With canyon.mid and passport.mid

Posted on 2021-05-22, 02:09

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

In addition to what Falcosoft mentions, I am wondering what you were using to play the MIDI files on these computers. Was it always Windows 3.1, for instance? If so, there might be something off with the MIDI Mapper configuration if it happens to be the same between all of them. Also, in the Windows …

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Re: Fast/Modern Motherboards supporting ESS Solo-1 (ES1938S) Sound Card. VIA KT400?

Posted on 2021-05-21, 19:26

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I got a socket 7 (or super socket 7; I am not 100% sure which) board using the SIS 530/5595 chipset which works great for DOS games and has an ESS Solo1938s built in. The board is a GIgabyte GA-5smm. As noted, it has been working great in DOS without any problems or sound quality issues. The only …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-21, 11:55

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

that's interesting, are you really sure that cap leaked? it's kind of hard to tell much from the pictures you've posted. what device did you use for the capacitor readout? in-circuit measurements aren't that reliable - both that measurement and the idea that a cap of that size would fail to that …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-21, 05:55

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Now I have to ultimately replace the capacitor, though I am not entirely sure I understand why the unit is still working. It's a 2200 uf capacitor reading at 0.4 uf, but other than the incidental damage to the trace everything else is working fine. Failing capacitors do not immediately lead to a …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-21, 05:01

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I finally got it working. The switch is connected directly into an IC via a trace on the board and it operates by a change in voltage. Moving the switch basically adds resistors in serial and the IC reads the voltage to choose the input. What had happened is that a capacitor (C6) which the trace …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-20, 20:41

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

In Test 4, does the LCD reflect the current setting of the switch as its position changes? Progress. The indicator does not change. It is stuck on 232-2 even as I change the switch. Now I need to try to figure out why. I had previously checked the switch and found that continuity changes between …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-20, 16:52

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Cloudschatze wrote on 2021-05-20, 16:43: In Test 4, does the LCD reflect the current setting of the switch as its position changes? Wow, thanks for that: I didn't even notice that part of the test existed. I'll run it again when I get home and report back!

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-20, 16:18

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

The behavior does seem to suggest some sort of issue with the switch. If that's in any position other than "MIDI," any input going into MIDI IN 1 will not route to the internal tone generator. Agreed. Like I said, though, the switch itself, as an isolated component, seems to be working correctly, …

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Re: Sound card with low noise, non-stereo reversed wavetable support?

Posted on 2021-05-20, 16:13

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

So, apparently the clicks and pops caused by high DMA are not the same as the ones originating from single cycle DMA, although the two problems compound each other. This was an interesting read, although the problem seems to be quite permanent: https://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=50071& …

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Re: SC-55mkII with a dead MIDI port - looking to try to find the problem

Posted on 2021-05-20, 15:56

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

I would start by reflowing the connector anyways - there can be hairline cracks that are hard to spot Thanks for the reply. I have more information: although I haven't yet had a chance to try what you suggested (something I plan to try unless this information yields different advice), I did …

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Re: Sound card with low noise, non-stereo reversed wavetable support?

Posted on 2021-05-20, 15:21

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

Thanks for your considerations. Yes, I am also slightly concerned about the two of them playing along nicely, however I'd peg that down to your onboard model not being fully compatible with the drivers/being dependent on BIOS settings for resource configuration (I have a mainboard with onboard …

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Re: Sound card with low noise, non-stereo reversed wavetable support?

Posted on 2021-05-20, 14:10

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

This is not exactly an answer to your question, but something else to consider: I've recently built a similar system and included a CT2230 and the biggest problem I have encountered with it is not the hanging note bug (actually I specifically chose the CT2230 because I thought it didn't have that …

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Re: Sound card with low noise, non-stereo reversed wavetable support?

Posted on 2021-05-20, 12:40

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

This is not exactly an answer to your question, but something else to consider: I've recently built a similar system and included a CT2230 and the biggest problem I have encountered with it is not the hanging note bug (actually I specifically chose the CT2230 because I thought it didn't have that …

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Re: PCI sound cards and Chipsets from various manufacturers...

Posted on 2021-05-19, 15:45

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by Lazer42

in Marvin \ Sound

in Marvin \ Sound

when I check with essolo.com nothing has changed You're supposed to only use the batch file with PCISET, completely omitting the essolo.com (also make sure it's not in your autoexec.bat). What probably happens in your case is: you're initiating & setting the card up the right way, but then …

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