sf2 soundbanks under real dos? \ VOGONS

sf2 soundbanks under real dos?

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First post, by Doppler

Posted on 2016-09-16, 22:21

Doppler Offline

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Ok. I have a totally noob question.

I found a fine sounding 4MB GM soundfont in .sf2 format. Now I want to have it playing in DOS, but few questions have emerged.
1. Which ISA/PCI card should i look for, which would let me load this sf2 soundfonts into rom?
2. Does the sf2 must be loaded manually every time I'd boot the PC? or is it flashed to rom and loads automatically?

I'll repeat what's most important: IT MUST WORK UNDER REAL DOS. So NO windows legacy mode or anything similar.

Reply 1 of 6, by Jorpho

Posted on 2016-09-16, 22:41

Jorpho Offline

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You'll need an AWE32. (You could get an AWE64, but the memory modules for that are not easy to find.)

And yes, you have to load it every time the PC is booted. It might be retained if you just soft-boot with Ctrl-Alt-Del, but it only takes seconds to load anyway.

Reply 2 of 6, by Doppler

Posted on 2016-09-16, 22:54

Doppler Offline

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1. Is it possible to load it automatically from autoexec.bat?

2. Which model of awe32 would you suggest?

3. Does it accept cheap EDO RAM sticks?
(found answer about AWE32 RAM compatibility in this topic Awe32 ram. What kind, and where to get it? )

Reply 3 of 6, by Jorpho

Posted on 2016-09-16, 23:03

Jorpho Offline

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Doppler wrote:
1. Is it possible to load it automatically from autoexec.bat?

Well, yes, why wouldn't it be?

2. Which model of awe32 would you suggest?

The one you can find. 😒
http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.ca/2012/07/so … 64-options.html

Reply 4 of 6, by gerwin

Posted on 2016-09-16, 23:20

gerwin Offline

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Before you invest, you might want to take note that it is not easy to get Soundfonts working for DOS games in pure DOS:
AWE64 Gold, Soundfonts and General MIDI in MS-DOS

--> ISA Soundcard Overview // Doom MBF 2.04 // SetMul