isn't there some kind of bug when using a GM daughtercard with these AWE32 model

You are right. You need to look up posts here by Cloudschatze and try Tie Fighter and the ilk. ALL CREATIVE CARDS are inferior DB carriers, including those that are seemingly unaffected by the hanging note bug. They will ALL falter or fail in the end. Cheapskate Creative solutions will not cut it, if you want a near 100% DB solution.

The bug is only a problem with certain games, and when the FM synth is used in conjunction with the wavetable. If only one is used, there is no problem. And the majority of the problem games are from late DOS era. If you must use an awe32 (which is one of my favorite cards), and you really want to play a game with the bug, and you want to use both FM and wavetable, then have a second soundcard for FM and a cheap external mixer.

I think the issue might be with Tie Fighter here. It causes hanging notes in DOSBox and VirtualMIDISynth. But this is just something others have mentioned to me, but worth considering.

I can tell you though that the AWE64 Gold for example doesn't have any hanging notes. I mostly use it with a SC-55, but also MT-32. You can externally connect wavetable boards too now, there are adapters available 😀

j^aws wrote:

I've seen this marketing speak in other literature - they just add up the 2 numbers and call it 64 polyphony. IIRC, there was a command switch to choose either MIDI playback source, EMU8K or DB/ external, so they don't play simultaneously. They seem to use the word "combination" just to add the numbers up. This isn't how the AWE64 gets it 64-voice polyphony, IIRC, a combination of hardware EMU8K (32) + software (32).

I can take two random external synths with 32 polys each and say I have 64 polys - they are not going to play a 64 poly track without dropping notes. The synths need something call MIDI Overflow via SysEx to achieve something like this, i.e. the dropped notes get passed to the second synth, in order to maintain a total of 64 polys.

It should be mentioned that you need music software that is aware of of both synths. The "Sound Blaster AWE64" was just a AWE32 plus a soft synth (which is only available in windows.) The AWE32 is effectively the better card because of the upgradeable ram and waveblaster header. However it depends on which card (the early AWE32's have bugs with the waveblaster.) I wish I kept mine 20 years ago. All PCI cards are all terrible for DOS games.

All PCI cards are all terrible for DOS games.

Not ideal, I agree. But one or two are pretty decent, I think. I had no serious issues with my Vortex 2 cards and the Yamaha 72x, 744, 754 cards. They have their drawbacks, I know... and many times, a DOS box under Windows 9x works better than plain DOS for GM.

I had both CT2760 and CT3900 (As well as S version) and I found it pleasant to use Voice Crystal Sound Font on it to playback Duke Nukem (and variations), Warcraft 2, Final Fantasy and other MIDI files. When it comes to playback quality for the most part its as good as Roland SC-55 MKII.
NEC DB60XG clone, the XR385, is pretty good, but when it comes to classic playback programs, such as cake walk 5, the experience differs from song to song and I am not educated enough to fix those midies for correct instruments 😁 .

Let me borrow this thread for a related question: What was the best you could do with an AWE32 or 64 card back in ~1997 and back, in terms of expansions and soundfonts? Does limiting the OS to DOS or Win 3.1 change the answer a lot?

Why borrow an old thread? New threads are free.

Could you rephrase your question? Is it in aid of something? Or just a vague 'lets talk about AWE'? Are you interesting in music? Why would you limit the OS to Win3.1 in '97?

I already made this thread that no one replied to: Sound Blaster sample-based OST list?

I am making such a list for DOS games, as part of a retro sound chip/device tribute page highlighting the best use of each device. I didn't realise you could make earlier games play midi music using AWE32/64 when making the thread, but such examples are also interesting. However, I'd like to keep the list retro focused (~1990-1997 or "16-bit" era in gaming) so I ask what could be done back then. I've seen several YT examples with RAM expansions and soundfonts used, and I don't know what could be used back in the day.