Cloudschatze wrote:

In addition, SoftMPU will work with the AWE32 in the current configuration, so if I decide to either attach a CM-64, or plug into my MIDI network at some point, most software should work with the SB MPU interface regardless. If I go the latter route, I'll have to change the title to something more presumptions, like "God of MIDI," or "Supreme Overlord of MIDI" or somesuch. :)

Ok, I get it.
If you use external synthesizers, you can make mt32 and sc-55 outward, releasing isa for some more interesting boards.
Did you think about terratec ews64xxl?

Cloudschatze wrote:

He will be ten weeks old this Thursday.

Congratulations to you. This is a happy time "where put, there found". I managed to resolder 68060 processor, while the baby sleeps.
My child is 11 months old, and since he started crawling - need constant attention. No longer a full hour of free time. :)

Cloudschatze wrote:

Q: Why use the joystick port on the GUSPnP? […]
Show full quote

Q: Why use the joystick port on the GUSPnP?

A: It seemed like the most natural host for this:

Nice! It's interesting to see that there is a NEC-branded version with differently coloured D-Pads.
To be honest, I never use mine because they have a problem shared with most vintage gamepads: It's almost impossible to press one direction without inadvertently hitting one of the lateral directions. 😒

...and congrats on the baby of course! 😉 Despite the warning, while watching the video, I automatically removed my headphones to check if mine was crying. 🤣

Congrats all round. I've built 2 486's and 2 kids in the last 5 years and raising the kids has been the more challenging project all things considered. In saying that though my 486's only have 1 sound card each - trying to cram 6 cards into them may have tipped the scales 😀

Wow. Incredible! Just hearing the MIDI General operate so effortlessly gives me goosebumps all over. And to think I once considered something like this an impossibility.

Once again, well done Cloudschatze. You have proven that, with careful planning and perseverance, anything is possible. My hat's off to you, sir!

PS: Congratulations on the new addition to the household. May he follow on his daddy's footsteps.

Awesome video!

Too bad there aren't any more slots left for your AdLib Gold 1000!

carlostex wrote:

Awesome video!

Too bad there aren't any more slots left for your AdLib Gold 1000!

That venerable card belongs to the earlier time period, it can't do any General MIDI.

^I know, but OPL sound is important too.

carlostex wrote:

^I know, but OPL sound is important too.

Now that would be the job of "The Frequency Modulator", featuring something like the Adlib Gold, old SB Pro or PAS for dual OPL2, AWE32 with CT1747, AWE64 with CQM, ESS18xx with ESFM, etc... 😉

A great video and amazing to having all these cards going at the same time. But I also get the impression that the games have been picked carefully. I doubt that you can get every game to play on every card simply because games cannot be configured that flexibly...

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

I doubt that you can get every game to play on every card simply because games cannot be configured that flexibly...

That wasn't really the point (as explained further up in this thread). Sometimes just watching the movie isn't enough, you'll have to read the book as well. 🤣 (sorry, couldn't resist 😊)

easy_john wrote:

Did you think about terratec ews64xxl?

I certainly wouldn't mind a Terratec EWS64XXL, but after trying to obtain one a few years ago, I haven't put much effort into it since.

Outfits like this are ridiculous. Of course it's a baby! 🤣

carlostex wrote:

Too bad there aren't any more slots left for your AdLib Gold 1000!

An Ad Lib Gold inclusion would certainly add style points (especially snuggled up beside that oh-so-sexy GUSPnP...), but it wouldn't add anything from a functional perspective, and might cause additional problems besides, given its "phantom" control registers at 0x38A and 0x38B.

If I really wanted to go all-out with this build, I'd throw the AVM Summit behind the SoundScape Elite, and run a MIDI cable from either the AWE32 or SCC-1 over to the MIDI network, where, among other things, the SC-55mkII and "Wave Blaster Rack" live. 😀

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

But I also get the impression that the games have been picked carefully.

Don't read too much into the game selection. Gameplay snippets seemed like a nicer alternative to additional command-line "test" playback routines. Besides featuring native (digital audio) support for the respective card being demonstrated, the choices were really just a matter of:

Quest for Glory IV, for being my favorite game,
System Shock, for being a new acquisition and something popular,
And Dragon Lore, for being one of the first computer games I'd ever bought, and one that I'd originally played using a SoundScape VIVO besides.

But yeah, what 5u3 said. 😀

Cloudschatze wrote:

easy_john wrote:

Did you think about terratec ews64xxl?

I certainly wouldn't mind a Terratec EWS64XXL, but after trying to obtain one a few years ago, I haven't put much effort into it since.

Isn't EWS64XXL's Waldorf synth useless for games?

bristlehog wrote:

Isn't EWS64XXL's Waldorf synth useless for games?

Yes, but it's quite useful for electronic music production. 😀 (I'd wanted one for my other MIDI rig...)

5u3 wrote:

Now that would be the job of "The Frequency Modulator", featuring something like the Adlib Gold, old SB Pro or PAS for dual OPL2, AWE32 with CT1747, AWE64 with CQM, ESS18xx with ESFM, etc... 😉

And for that matter an IBM Music Feature card as well!! 😎

I know with my own time machine, I have a CM-32L, MT-32 Rev 0, SC-55mk2, MU80, AWE64 Gold, with plans to add a GUS. I do have to say, that is a damn nice MIDI machine for games and I never knew the PAS had the ability to intercept PC Speaker calls, do games that use "RealSound" like Mean Streets work ok with it? I noticed the GUS you have is an AMD based one, don't they have problems with some games?

Also, I'd try and maybe make some cards external to free up ISA slots, like swapping out the SCC-1 for an SC-55, and the SW60XG for one of the Yamaha MU series. Have you also considered adding Roland LA synths, like the MT-32/CM-32L for older games?

One more question, do you have any configuration issues/conflicts running these cards in the same machine?

carlostex wrote:

5u3 wrote:

Now that would be the job of "The Frequency Modulator", featuring something like the Adlib Gold, old SB Pro or PAS for dual OPL2, AWE32 with CT1747, AWE64 with CQM, ESS18xx with ESFM, etc... 😉

And for that matter an IBM Music Feature card as well!! 😎

Or a Yamaha FB-01, which is the external version.

wocko1 wrote:

...I never knew the PAS had the ability to intercept PC Speaker calls, do games that use "RealSound" like Mean Streets work ok with it?

I don't know that the particular PAS variant that I'm using in this system provides the best representation of Real Sound support (especially since toggling the "Real Sound Support" mixer option makes absolutely no difference with this card), but here's a recording:

http://www.symphoniae.com/soundcard/MediaVisi … P3/MEAN_PAS.WAV

I noticed the GUS you have is an AMD based one, don't they have problems with some games?

"Paddan1000" identified some half-a-dozen games that he was unable to get to work properly with his GUSPnP. I've tested two of these thus far, and with Mega-Em loaded, heard the supposedly non-functional MIDI-based music without any issues whatsoever. That's not to say that there aren't any legitimate incompatibilities elsewhere, but given that the Interwave chip allows all 32 audio channels to play at the full, 44.1kHz resolution, any such problems are an acceptable trade-off, in my opinion.

Also, I'd try and maybe make some cards external to free up ISA slots, like swapping out the SCC-1 for an SC-55, and the SW60XG for one of the Yamaha MU series. Have you also considered adding Roland LA synths, like the MT-32/CM-32L for older games?

There is an inverse relationship between the impressiveness of the build and the number of free slots. I'm not sure what there is to be gained by removing that which was intentionally placed. 😀

In any event, my primary 486 build was purpose-built for both older and "newer" games, and has access to a number of LA synths. As mentioned earlier, by running a single MIDI cable from the Dell system into the MIDI network, it too would have the same external access to everything the Gateway system does, so there's nothing that would need to change internally with the existing build to accommodate the additions...

But that's not the intent here. 😀

One more question, do you have any configuration issues/conflicts running these cards in the same machine?

Not as configured, no. I'd certainly have to shuffle resources around to get 8-bit PAS digital-audio support to work properly, and likewise, some games purportedly require the use of lower IRQ and DMA channels for Ultrasound support, but that's about the extent of things, and using software-configurable cards makes this easy to do besides.

Oh, and Creative's CTCM seems to want to investigate some system device that it has no valid reason for looking at, and so throws an error message that I get to ignore. 😀

No CM unit? Or maybe you've a LAPC-I stashed away.

@Cloudschatze

Do you play the keyboards? I'd get me a MIDI guitar and then we could have a MIDI jam at your place. 🤣

A Haken Continuum would look awesome in there! Too bad is so expensive...

bjt wrote:

No CM unit? Or maybe you've a LAPC-I stashed away.

Not for the Dell build, no, but the Gateway 486 system (linked-to above) hosts an LAPC-I.

carlostex wrote:

Do you play the keyboards?

My piano skills are hardly advanced, but I enjoy noodling around. I haven't really done much in the past few years, but here are a couple of older snippets to give you an idea:

http://www.symphoniae.com/elw/synth/synthgruv.mp3
(Realtime layered Roland XV-5080, JD-990, and Yamaha MU100 synths)

http://www.symphoniae.com/elw/synth/ptemp_2.mp3
(Realtime Roland XV-5080 w/SRX-02)

I primarily play fingerstyle guitar (steel string) though, and, unlike the piano, with at least some semblance of proficiency. 😀

You have ALL that gear just for "noodling around"? 🤣

Anyway, really impressive system you got there! The 486 CPU puzzled me for a bit, but if you need six ISA slots I guess you don't have much choice. Also I wonder, since music production is your goal, is there any software that can use all these cards together? (and... is a 486 fast enough to run that?)