Go for a CT2940, It has good bass and clear audio versus other SB 16s

Noticed thats a Vibra? Does it have CQM or OPL3?

Vibra, but I've heard it has less signal noise than other cards

"gerwin wrote:Know that the CT2890 has a full size OPL3, and the CT2940 has solder spots for both a Creative CQM Chip and a small size OPL3-L. The OPL3-L has a different shape compared to a normal OPL3. So this is not gonna work unless you find an OPL3-L with DAC"

All depends on your sb 16 audio preference. I also like the Awe32 since it's driver lets you switch between sb 16 and awe32 midi modes. The awe32's midi is AMAZING.

Hmm, wonder if I can find one with the OPL3-L, I can settle for that.

Here's a similar thread that may give you some ideas.

It just got posted today as well.

Which soundblaster should I buy.

Hmm, based on that (Your recommendation) the CT2230 seems more suited for A good Sound Blaster 16, especially since its confirmed
OPL3 and not potentially CQM or a low power OPL3.

Since both that CT2230 and the CT17xx's are Creative Sound Cards, what's different between the two sets that makes it cleaner/clearer
for audio output?

CT2800 Vibra's have a real YMF-262 OPL-3 on them, and are quiet and usually forsale for cheap.
Also theres another thread asking the same question.

If you are referring to Which soundblaster should I buy. then no its not. Its regarding a Sound Blaster in general for CD audio and FM.

Sound Blaster 16 Clones also doesn't count, because its going into clones that seem to have oddball FM and not good SB16
compatibility or aren't clean. Plus apparently that's closed to "bringing up Creative Labs hardware in my own Clone-Only topic" And
I'm fine with a normal Creative SoundBlaster 16 card.

I'm asking for Sound Blaster 16 specifically, for clean audio.

Then that CT2800 Vibra would be the way to go, I guess, its one of the most neutral cards from Creative I have in my collection.
Clean audio seems to be hit and miss with SB-16\AWE32 even between people using the same model, mostly due to age I'm sure.

You could also consider A Yamaha 71x card then too, very clean sounding.

Both use real Yamaha OPL chips and run the same amp (TEA2025B). My CT2230's have the updated CT1745A-S mixer as opposed to the CT1740's CT1745A. Besides this the only other difference is the DSP versions. Both have DSP CT1741 but the CT1740 uses DSP version 4.05 as opposed to the CT2230 using DSP 4.11 or DSP 4.13.

Further to that, I'd recommend that you ask the seller to check whether their SB CT2230 has the CT1745A-S mixer and DSP 4.13 before purchasing as creative have always had a habit of making odd sound cards with different variations. I don't really believe I've got lucky though as many people would recommend the CT2230 as one of the best SB16's out there. For $20-$30 you can't go wrong!

I'd recommend against the Vibra models though. These were creatives budget cards which lacked real OPL from what I know. Not 100% sure about all the Vibra models though. Either way, cost isn't really an issue these days so there's no need to go Vibra when there are better options out there.

EDIT: Oops! Missed AlphaWing's post about the CT2800 having real OPL. Learn new things everyday 😀

The CT2800 definitely has a real OPL3

One thing about it (well atleast mine) is that all the time there is a low level whine. Not a big issue
but if the speakers are turned up loud you can hear it with no sound playing

Do you know if that occurs on Line Out/Disabled AMP as well?

I have a CT2940 with an OPL chip and it's a very nice card (for a creative).

smeezekitty wrote:

The CT2800 definitely has a real OPL3
One thing about it (well atleast mine) is that all the time there is a low level whine. Not a big issue
but if the speakers are turned up loud you can hear it with no sound playing

With some games I found that the whine is a leftover of the last played sample. A bit like a hanging note. The pitch and volume varies. It is not that noticable, only if you focus on it, or use quality amplifiers + speakers.

gamax92 wrote:

Do you know if that occurs on Line Out/Disabled AMP as well?

Never tried it.
The whine starts the moment I flip the power switch
Although there are times when the frequency varies a bit

I have both Vibra 16S card from creative CT2940 i guess that is, the SB16-PRO-PnP CT2950 and the SB16-ValueEdition CT2770.
The value is almost dead, yet from what I rember from back in the days, when my first Value worked, it was one of the best for the price.
Really low interferance from the computer (good shielded i gues) and really clean sound. The one I have now is shit I tell..

Anyway.
The Vibra 16S is good, and the only downside's are that it is PnP and no treble/bass controll. (can be solved by a stereo system).
The SB16-Pro-PnP is good too. Treble/bass controll present, shielded from interferance from motherboard and deep bass.

Later this month, my new purchases will arive.
I just bought an AWE32 CT2760, wich is great because it is a NON-PnP card. Actually the first AWE32 edition.
I bought a hardware package, containing a CT2910 wich is a SB16 that are NON-PnP too.
Really looking forward to hear those two cards. I can test those out and report back how they sound.

For a good SB16 card, my first rule is, that it must be one of those were you select IRQ/DMA and I/O by jumpers.
When it is a PnP card, then there are all sort of strange editions made by Creative.
Then you really need to know a little bit about Creative soundcards, not much, just enough to know that
you really need to awoid SB16's that do not have real OPL chip's. Well... Unless it is a AWE32 (with ram slots) or
an AWE64 (gold, regulair or the illusive AWE64-D-PCICard )

smeezekitty wrote:

Never tried it.
The whine starts the moment I flip the power switch
Although there are times when the frequency varies a bit

Uhh....
I had the same problem back in 1994/95, when I had an Aztech 16 bit card (only SB-Pro compatible).
When I bought a real Creative card, the hush/noise went away.

I found out that it is interferance from poor shielded motherboard/controllers/hardware in general, wich
will go straight into the soundcard when the soundcard it self is not shielded enough.
Just now, I remember that I never ever had to look at the HDD-Led when I had my Aztech.
I could just hear when the harddrive was working. 🤣