gdjacobs wrote:

In all honesty, the SB Pro 2 or something fully SB Pro compatible is probably a better choice for this machine. You will never be using it to play MP3s via MPXPlay or running a game which supports high sample rate audio like Crusader: No Remorse, and no SB16 card supports all the stereo capabilities of the OPL3 chip.

I beg to differ. The Creative SB16 CT 1740, CT1750 and CT1770 (mine) have the EXACT same YMF262-M OPL3 chip as in the SB Pro 2. Also, am a legacy gamer using a Roland LAPC-1 which gives me stunning music and sound effects (for those legacy games that support it) while at the same time hearing digitized voices in those games using only one set of speakers. For the games I play, it is a non-issue. As someone else said on this forum:

"There are very few games that only supports the Sound Blaster Pro's stereo capability (for digital sound playback). The SB16 is in fact stereo FM compatible. That the SB16 being not digitally compatible with the SB Pro is not a big issue. What people need to ask themselves is, what game:
- Supports stereo digital sound effects through SB Pro option
- Does NOT support Sound Blaster 16 directly
You will quickly find that this list is very small, So really, it's a non issue."

The main reason I'd pick the SB Pro 2 over those SB16's is digital sound quality. Early SB16's are noisier and they (as most SB16's/AWE32's) introduce clicks and pops. The CT1600 has a cool sound for a 386 or 286.

SBPro2 CT1600
+1

To me , the CT2600 (SB Pro 2 Mitsumi) sounds even a bit cleaner than all the CT1600 / CT1690 cards I have tested.

siffert wrote:

I beg to differ. The Creative SB16 CT 1740, CT1750 and CT1770 (mine) have the EXACT same YMF262-M OPL3 chip as in the SB Pro 2. […]
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I beg to differ. The Creative SB16 CT 1740, CT1750 and CT1770 (mine) have the EXACT same YMF262-M OPL3 chip as in the SB Pro 2. Also, am a legacy gamer using a Roland LAPC-1 which gives me stunning music and sound effects (for those legacy games that support it) while at the same time hearing digitized voices in those games using only one set of speakers. For the games I play, it is a non-issue. As someone else said on this forum:

"There are very few games that only supports the Sound Blaster Pro's stereo capability (for digital sound playback). The SB16 is in fact stereo FM compatible. That the SB16 being not digitally compatible with the SB Pro is not a big issue. What people need to ask themselves is, what game:
- Supports stereo digital sound effects through SB Pro option
- Does NOT support Sound Blaster 16 directly
You will quickly find that this list is very small, So really, it's a non issue."

IIRC, stereo OPL3 is not accessible via the SB I/O channels (0x220). In addition, certain PCM modes are not available. It's frustrating because this seems mostly like a firmware limitation. If only CL hadn't skimped on the DSP.

I don't have any great prejudice against the SB16. I run a SB2770 (three jack version) in my socket 7 retro rig. However, I don't see an upside for using a SB16 on an older, slower machine such as yours.

Well, I spent a day playing with my Compaq 286e switching between the SB CT1320 (SB1.5), CT1600 (SBPro2) and CT1770 (SB16 SCSI). The clear loser was the SB1.5 in sound and with no line in to hook up my Roland LAPC-1 to it, you need two sets of speakers for that. I will admit the SBPro 2 FM music and digitized Vocs in my games (mostly Microprose games which support Roland) sounded about 10% better than the SB16 (though Roland LAPC-1 music and sound effects sounded the same for both) but lost major points in Win 3.1 which locked up after installing the Winsetup. The SB16 was the overall winner due to much easier and polished use in Dos and Win 3.1. None of the cards had any crackles, clicks, pops or hiss noise that I could tell on my JBL Studio Monitors.

I probably would have kept the SB Pro2 in it had it not been so problematic in Win 3.1. Still, with the games I play in a 286, the differences in sound between the SBPro2 and SB16 is very minor.

btw-I have Compaq Deskpro 286e, DeskPro 66M (486 w/ CT1770) ) Deskrpo XL 6200 (with CT1770), Deskpro 6333, Deskpro EN 6800...all in like new condition and all running like clockwork (save for an occasional power supply replacement etc.) in my "Compaq Legacy" computer room. Next time I'll talk about the Creative X-Fi's in my Dell "Extreme" computer room, lol.