VOGONS


Reply 20 of 136, by Jo22

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PARUS wrote:

I told not about native OPL3 but S/PDIF. But if you want digital OPL nobody disturbs to try change 64Gold to AWE32. AWE32 plays FM by S/PDIF.

I once saw a youtube video about it. Someone attached an LED to it in order have Toslink support (optical S/PDIF).
Can't remember whether this was a SB32 or an AWE32, though. I only remember that this was somehow related to TTL compatibility (to drive the LED).

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In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 21 of 136, by PARUS

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Oh God! TTL is only amplitude size (volts) which is 2-5 volts usually. COAX is 0,5-1 v. TTL and COAX are both S/PDIF signals. Place resistors correctly (or spdif bracket) and you'll get COAX from TTL. There is no problem.

Reply 22 of 136, by ZanQuance

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I just finished coding a new DOS mixer utility for the Aureal Vortex 2 cards, It will let you output on the S/PDIF in DOS now.
So this might be a potential solution as well for you, they are PCI boards though. If you want to test it, it's over in the new releases group linky.

Reply 23 of 136, by gdjacobs

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PARUS wrote:

Oh God! TTL is only amplitude size (volts) which is 2-5 volts usually. COAX is 0,5-1 v. TTL and COAX are both S/PDIF signals. Place resistors correctly (or spdif bracket) and you'll get COAX from TTL. There is no problem.

Some coax inputs (like my receivers) accept TTL level signals. This makes connecting CD-ROM drives as CD audio transports dead easy. 😎

All hail the Great Capacitor Brand Finder

Reply 24 of 136, by PARUS

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OK. I see you all didn't understand me. I solved this problem 100%. Analog sources like daughterboards/mt32 etc are working by ADC->S/PDIF. Now I'll show my connecting scheme:
scheme-jpg.90873
I use ISA riser. AWE64 Gold can be changed to any AWE32 or Goldfinch.
Here is resource allocation:
table1-jpg.90874
or
table2-jpg.90875
IRQ9 is used by SoftMPU for getting IRQ2. But main is S/PDIF here!

Reply 25 of 136, by PARUS

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ZanQuance, great work! Thank you! When I'll find a time I'll try it. I want to ask you about DOS mixers 😀

As I found there is only the card which has TWO spdif in channels that can work both simultaneously. It's a Live! card. (Audigy1/2 are too but now we have not at least spdif out working in DOS.) I checked in Windows, both IN channels are playing from their connected spdif sources at the same time. The sound is good. Now the question: is it possible to enable both them in pure DOS? If it will be reality we'll can get much more with digital sound in pure DOS. Only one nuisance poisons the joy - EMM386, many thanks to Crazy Creative.

So, would you like to think about enabling two S/PDIF IN channels on SB Live! cards in pure DOS? It would be great.
I offer my S/PDIF decision as most multi-format digital sound system in pure DOS (except some analog cards which haven't digital equals, like GUS, MT-32). And if we can change the AV310 to SB Live! we can get not one but two spdif in channels and able to mix different digital signals from other cards.

Reply 26 of 136, by PARUS

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For information: I have CT4670, SB0060, SB0220. CT4670 and SB0220 both play S/PDIF with newer driver. Parameter DigitalEnable=True/False from CTSYN.INI doesn't matter, S/PDIF is working always. SB0060 doesn't play S/PDIF, parameter DigitalEnable doesn't matter.

Reply 27 of 136, by ReeseRiverson

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I was on the same quest, myself. Even for my external midi devices through modification, if possible.

Though thus far, my end solution was my CT3980 with an S/PDIF header. ( https://www.facebook.com/ReeseRiversonPage/po … 647335308849176 ) I utilize digital for all midi/OPL3 needs, and analog for everything else on the same card. Then run things through my Roland M-1000. ( https://twitter.com/reeseriverson/status/700477063405305856 ) -(on my iPad all day, otherwise I would just properly post pictures I have.).

Now, the trick to keep the analog from outputting the same thIng as the S/PDIF output is quite simple. Under DOS for the sound blaster mixer, just mute/turn midi all the way down. And in games like Wacky Wheels, in the game setup, turn down the music to off. This only effects the mixer analog side. Digital is uneffected. 😎

You can do the same for the AWE64 Gold, but with a slight risk of still having PCM slip through for anything that uses the 44.1khz 16-bit output. Though I'm not aware of any DOS game that does use that quality.

Reply 28 of 136, by PARUS

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I checked awe64 gold many times. Most of games (very many, all or almost all) don't use 16/44. And the only alternate «sb 16» for spdif is AV310. And SB Live too. But now we don't have working spdif in on it. AV310 has.

Reply 29 of 136, by ZanQuance

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PARUS wrote:

ZanQuance, great work! Thank you! When I'll find a time I'll try it. I want to ask you about DOS mixers 😀
[...]Now the question: is it possible to enable both them in pure DOS? If it will be reality we'll can get much more with digital sound in pure DOS. Only one nuisance poisons the joy - EMM386, many thanks to Crazy Creative.
So, would you like to think about enabling two S/PDIF IN channels on SB Live! cards in pure DOS? It would be great.

Thanks! I need the feedback on the utility to make fixes and improvements so that it supports the features everyone wants.

For modding the Live!'s, unfortunately I don't know much about the internal registers of the Live!'s well enough to do something like this. It should be possible though, not sure how well their DOS drivers play with multiple cards.

Reply 30 of 136, by PARUS

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There is no that thing at all which everyone wants.

DOS drivers play with multiple cards, why doubts? I have shown my picture with FOUR cards and they all work properly together. In pure DOS.

Reply 31 of 136, by ZanQuance

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PARUS wrote:

There is no that thing at all which everyone wants.

Not a single universal want, but individual requested features which would be useful to the user.

PARUS wrote:

DOS drivers play with multiple cards, why doubts? I have shown my picture with FOUR cards and they all work properly together. In pure DOS.

Are any of the cards you've shown PCI like the Live! is? I believe the PCI card drivers don't play nice with two of the same card.

Reply 32 of 136, by PARUS

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Well I did think if the current topic came at this site and people are shown so many interest in it... any good idea about uncommon S/PDIF in DOS will be welcome. But if it is not right so be it.

By the way I didn't think about stable work SB Live! and ISA cards together. Thank you for your note. Need to check!

Reply 33 of 136, by Kamerat

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Wanted to test the SPDIF output of my Forté Media FM801-AU PCI sound card. My reciver detects a SPDIF signal of 44.1KHz when the CFG801.EXE DOS utility initializes the FM801 for MS-DOS use. Haven't tested it much, but worked nice with the few titles I tried.

The FM801 works best when running in DDMA mode, have a look at my compatibility chart "DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets": https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cvhr6 … dit?usp=sharing

DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets
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Reply 34 of 136, by Stretch

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Kamerat wrote:

Wanted to test the SPDIF output of my Forté Media FM801-AU PCI sound card. My reciver detects a SPDIF signal of 44.1KHz when the CFG801.EXE DOS utility initializes the FM801 for MS-DOS use. Haven't tested it much, but worked nice with the few titles I tried.

The FM801 works best when running in DDMA mode, have a look at my compatibility chart "DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets": https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cvhr6 … dit?usp=sharing

Which has better FM quality the ESS 1938 or CMI 8738?

Win 11 - Intel i7-1360p - 32 GB - Intel Iris Xe - Sound BlasterX G5

Reply 35 of 136, by Stretch

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Also, the CS4630 has CrystalClear Legacy
Support FM according to this pdf CS4630 - Cirrus Logic So I'm not sure it is emulation.

If someone has VxD drivers for a Fortissimo 3 I can see if there are FM ports exposed.

Win 11 - Intel i7-1360p - 32 GB - Intel Iris Xe - Sound BlasterX G5

Reply 36 of 136, by Kamerat

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Stretch wrote:
Kamerat wrote:

Wanted to test the SPDIF output of my Forté Media FM801-AU PCI sound card. My reciver detects a SPDIF signal of 44.1KHz when the CFG801.EXE DOS utility initializes the FM801 for MS-DOS use. Haven't tested it much, but worked nice with the few titles I tried.

The FM801 works best when running in DDMA mode, have a look at my compatibility chart "DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets": https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1cvhr6 … dit?usp=sharing

Which has better FM quality the ESS 1938 or CMI 8738?

I haven't compared them and don't think my ears are the right ones to do so, but ESFM and CMI's FM should be some of the better ones.

Stretch wrote:

Also, the CS4630 has CrystalClear Legacy
Support FM according to this pdf CS4630 - Cirrus Logic So I'm not sure it is emulation.

The CS4630's FM sound real shitty compared to those I listed as FM. The stereo mode of the FM doesn't work right too.

DOS Sound Blaster compatibility: PCI sound cards vs. PCI chipsets
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Reply 37 of 136, by PARUS

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ZanQuance wrote:
PARUS wrote:

DOS drivers play with multiple cards, why doubts? I have shown my picture with FOUR cards and they all work properly together. In pure DOS.

Are any of the cards you've shown PCI like the Live! is? I believe the PCI card drivers don't play nice with two of the same card.

I've launched SB Live, Terratec EWS64 and GUS Ace together. The drivers are not conflicting. All cards play nice. In pure DOS.
I didn't mean "two same PCI cards", it is purposelessly.

Reply 38 of 136, by PARUS

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16colortiedye wrote:

I'd like to put together a system for playing games in pure DOS (no Win9x) using 100% digital audio output over S/PDIF (that is, no D-A conversion until after the sound has left the system to an external interface).

For the highest fidelity and widest compatibility, the system would ideally include an OPL-based FM synth, a Roland Sound Canvas MIDI synth (via MPU-401 if necessary), and Sound Blaster-compatible stereo sound effects. But mainly, I just want to get FM, MIDI, and sound effects all over digital.

Is such a system even possible with existing ISA sound cards?

Now I finally made TWO active digital in channels on SB Live simultaneously! Look at this:
016-jpg.132725
The Live! revision is CT4670. As you see there are some cards that don't have digital connection at all. I've put them on analog in channels of Terratec EWS64XL (expect XR385, it has spdif mod by jwt27). Now I'm working on enabling all three analog inputs, both digital inputs, and digital output on all Live/Audigy cards in pure DOS.

Work in progress.

Last edited by PARUS on 2019-01-23, 05:36. Edited 2 times in total.

Reply 39 of 136, by PARUS

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It is necessary to disable FM on GUS Ace and Terratec EWS64, and mute FM on SB Live!
FM will play from CT1747 on AWE32, true digital.

EWS64XL - IO=530 IO=220 IRQ=7 DMA=1 FM=100 MIDI1=300 MIDI2=320
AWE32 - IO=260 IRQ=9 DMA=3 DMA=6 FM=388 8k=640 MIDI=330
Live - IO=240 IRQ=5 DMA=0 DMA=5 FM=muted MIDI=any but (300, 320, 330)
GUS Ace - IO=250 IRQ=3 DMA=7 FM=disabled