I posted earlier in a related thread (Need help deciding between two SB16 cards for my 386...) that, when I originally got my AWE32 PnP (CT3980), I tested this on a Gigabyte GA-6VXC7-4X Socket 370 motherboard with an Intel Celeron 900 MHz CPU (100 FSB) CPU and an ATI Radeon 8500 64 MB AGP Graphics Card. On this PC, I could clearly hear "pops and clicks" when playing back any digital sounds (not just in specific games). By disabling the high DMA channel, the problem disappeared (this phenomenon did not occur on my AWE64 on the same PC).
So, I decided to test both my Sound Blaster 16 PnP (CT2950) & the above mentioned AWE32 PnP (CT3980) on a Gigabyte GA-5AA Super Socket 7 motherboard with an AMD K6-2 450 MHz CPU and an ATI Radeon 8500 64 MB AGP Graphics Card.
I tested it with Day of the Tentacle (CD-ROM talkie version), since I then had a reference to the sound samples on the Nerdly Pleasures blog.
However, I had some trouble to get this game running:
- The first issue was related to sound card settings. The game wouldn't go past the credits screen if I set up my sound card at IRQ5, but it sometimes did go on if I selected IRQ7 - in the end, I had to use Setmul to disable the L1 cache on the CPU to slow it down to roughly 486DX-40 speeds.
- The second issue related to the sound patches that I had to apply (that was released and that addressed speed related issues on faster systems). If not, then the game would freeze as soon as the two Tentacles jumps out and Purple Tentacle starts talking (this is regardless of whether you disable the L1 cache).
This game definitely does not run well on fast systems and was meant for 486 or slower systems.
My findings as follows:
Although not as apparent to me, I must agree that the "pops and clicks", related to the "single-cycle DMA bug", is definitely present on both cards in this game.
However, when you launch the game using DOTT.EXE, you can change the configuration and there is a setting where you can increase or decrease the buffer size.
When I selected a lower buffer size (8), then it sounded to me that there were more "pops and clicks" as to when I selected the maximum buffer size (64). However, I didn't play the intro over and over to draw a foregone conclusion on this.
Also, since this game doesn't run well on fast systems, it might also be a good idea to test this in a much slower system (say a 486DX-33 or even a 386DX-40) to confirm that there aren't perhaps any speed related issues that could be a contributing factor in the game's sound playback.
PS: The "pops and clicks" phenomenon, that I referred to in my first paragraph, did not seem to present itself on my CT3980 when I tested this on the AMD K6-2 configuration. So, this is most likely motherboard (or chipsets) related.