vetz wrote:Jesolo: How is the Soundblaster compatibility on this card? My card has the FCC ID I38-MMSN803 as you said.
I also tested SoftMPU with the card. It works with the SB MIDI switch 😀
I think your card has the volume control thumb wheel at the back, whereas my card has a full software based volume control.
Apart from that, I think both cards share the same hardware components.
I can't speak for your card since I don't own that particular model but, my card (which utilizes the same chipset) is fully Sound Blaster & Sound Blaster Pro II compatible (apart from the Disney Sound Source & Covox Speech Thing compatibility).
It has the same Yamaha OPL3 chip on board so there's no problem there in terms of FM synthesis.
As for digitized sounds, I've never come across any game where I experienced problems. Even demo's play back perfectly when choosing Sound Blaster Pro
Some sound cards suffered from the so called "reverse stereo" problem but, this card has always played back the digital sounds correctly (pan left to right and not right to left).
However, what I have noticed on some games is that you experience muffled/distorted digital sound playback.
To avoid hearing muffled digital sounds, you have to select the MONO playback option in the sound card's software mixer control utility (although, actual playback will still be in stereo for those games that support it) - I guess it has to do with the onboard mixer.
I've never actually tried SoftMPU on this particular model (due to the fact that it lacks an MPU-401 UART MIDI interface - the only drawback of this card) but, I have tested SoftMPU on both a Sound Galaxy with the AZT1605 chipset (popular models that utilized this chipset were the Sound Galaxy Nova16, Orion16 & Pro16II - I38-MMSN822) & AZT2316/A/R chipset (popular models that utilized this chipset were the Sound Galaxy Pro16II (I38-MMSN845), Nova16II Extra II-3D & Waverider 32+).
Unfortunately, it completely locks up with models utilizing the AZT1605 chipset but, works quite well on models utilizing the AZT2316/A/R chipset.
You can post your test results under this topic: SoftMPU project needs your help! (game & sound card testing)
I do wish to point out that these particular sound card models were designed back in the day when your mainstream PC was a 486DX2-66. So, don't be surprised if you experience weird sounds or lockups on faster CPU's (I noticed that my Basic16 card didn't want to play back on any CPU's that supported write back cache).