yes, if the game does not mess with the mixer then setting FM to 0 will also mute wavetable header
or you can setup CSMPU@300 controlling WT header
and PCMIDI@330 controlling external ports
and then chose accordingly on game setup

Hi JudgeMonroe, I know having the WTC playing at the same time as your MOC device can be annoying unless you are a mad scientist with his own agenda. Muting WTC might be a way to do it, but the mixer of the Orpheus is not it's best selling point and you might trigger Keropi to do us another lecture about how we should all have external mixer.

I don't know if you considered separating the PCMIDI from the CS4237 if you have available resources ? The P jumper is closed so the PCMIDI is on port 330 and the CS4237 is on port 300. You also want to put WTC on CS and MOC on I. So you can control both device separately, I guess you might want to swap port if you have hard coded software.

I had an opportunity to play around with my Orpheus and this past week and it is excellent! Everything I threw at it worked as expected with the exception of a few surprises such as Duke Nukem 2 for which there is already a workaround. The PCMIDI and wavetable header "just worked" and the X2GS daughterboard sounds fantastic.

I'm very pleased with this product.

Thanks, that helps me understand the use case for dual-MPU configs a bit better.

I have been using Unisound but notice that ORPHINIT has mixer control over the wavetable volume separate to FM, that seems like it should do the trick and not risk getting stomped by games making their own mixer decisions (edit: never mind, this only applies to wss mode?)

I could use an external mixer (and would prefer to use it) since the X2 has its own output.

ElBrunzy wrote on 2021-08-03, 16:21:

Hi JudgeMonroe, I know having the WTC playing at the same time as your MOC device can be annoying unless you are a mad scientist with his own agenda. Muting WTC might be a way to do it, but the mixer of the Orpheus is not it's best selling point and you might trigger Keropi to do us another lecture about how we should all have external mixer.
[...]

🤣 🤣 🤣
guys, you have to understand that the CS4237 has some limitations just like it has some incompatibilities - and these cannot be changed by any software or hardware mod.
I can assure you 640k!enough tried hard to find some (hidden) setting to mute WTC on demand but it is just not possible just like it's not possible to have the CS4237 decode all the SB ADPCM formats.
Having an external mixer or using dual mpu setup is nothing new, it is just solutions to the various DOS game limitations and how sound works under it...
The MIDI routing jumper block was implemented specifically for this reason.

btw there is a nice guide explaining the dual-mpu setup here: Guide for Orpheus ISA Card with optional PCMIDI, X2GS and MT32-Pi simultaneously on DOS and WIN98SE.

and thanks Kahenraz for your kind words! I hope you continue enjoying the card for many years to come! 😀

Wow, congrats, guys! I found your card from an LGR video while searching for something else. It's an amazing sound board, especially with the PCMIDI!

I also found out about this from LGR and placed an order immediately. 😀

Can anyone else confirm how satisfyingly smooth this card slides in and out of an ISA slot? Is that because the contacts are brand new or is the PCB slightly thinner? I usually have to apply a lot of insertion force for old cards but not with the Orpheus.

It's not loose or anything. It actually feels perfect.

it's not really surprising as the pcb thickness is exactly what specs state
and indeed, I too have other older ISA cards (mainly XT-era ones) that are thick and you have to force them into slots...

keropi wrote on 2021-08-02, 06:56:

I have not experienced a similar problem elsewhere, maybe when there was a conflict the sound cut off early but pause before playback never
what other hardware is in the system? other drivers installed? did you try switching to different IRQ/DMA settings for testing? it could reveal a potential conflict under win3x when some other driver passes it's own settings or something
I have tried looking for other CS4237 win3.x drivers but as far as I can see this is the only version that got released for it

Never was able to get that issue fixed with the Orpheus, so I did the next best thing: re-install the old soundcard (an Addonics a151-a00) and use the Orpheus just as a PCmidi card. No more delay issues.

FortMax wrote on 2021-08-08, 23:58:

[...]
Never was able to get that issue fixed with the Orpheus, so I did the next best thing: re-install the old soundcard (an Addonics a151-a00) and use the Orpheus just as a PCmidi card. No more delay issues.

sorry to hear that.... but I genuinely do not know what is going on.
since you installed the Addonics soundcard back perhaps you could move it to some non-standard resources like address 240, IRQ4 etc and just use it for win3x sound leaving the standard SB/DOS values free for Orpheus and never installing any 3x driver for it

Received my Orpheus few weeks ago and finally going to install it this weekend. I've never installed a soundcard before so trying to make everything as simple as possible. Is it as simple as taking out my old ISA sound card and plugging in the Orpheus? Do I have to mess with the bios at all? Do I have to use orphinit or is that optional?

You have to use wither Orphinit or Unisound. Both will work but you only need to choose one. Orphinit is just for Orpheus while Unisound can work with several different sound cards.

I kept a file UNISOUND.BAT in my C directory which I run whenever I swap between sound cards. It makes configuration very easy all from one application.

Kahenraz wrote on 2021-08-13, 02:32:

You have to use wither Orphinit or Unisound. Both will work but you only need to choose one. Orphinit is just for Orpheus while Unisound can work with several different sound cards.

I kept a file UNISOUND.BAT in my C directory which I run whenever I swap between sound cards. It makes configuration very easy all from one application.

I see, if I plan on leaving everything on the soundcard on its default settings and just use the Yamaha OPL3, no crystal FM can I get away with not using orphinit? When would I want to use the crystal FM over the OPL3?

I think the Crystal FM only works in Windows but I'm not sure. I only use Unisound and everything works for me.

slai50 wrote on 2021-08-13, 02:53:

I see, if I plan on leaving everything on the soundcard on its default settings and just use the Yamaha OPL3, no crystal FM can I get away with not using orphinit? When would I want to use the crystal FM over the OPL3?

Because of the design of the Orpheus card, you generally have to use some sort of software to configure and initialise the card, especially for DOS-based usage. Beyond just assigning the card's resources in a predictable way, you need the correct mode to be selected and the mixer to be set up. Even if your system has a PnP BIOS, I wouldn't make any bets about the resources it will assign. Whether you use UNISOUND, ORPHINIT or the (terrible) Crystal CWDINIT is your choice.

If your card has that option, the only part that doesn't need any software to get working is the PCMIDI portion.

For the record, both UNISOUND and ORPHINIT allow you to choose whether you want genuine OPL3 or Crystal FM in real DOS. Generally, OPL3 is preferred, and you would only use Crystal FM as a curiosity; to experience something a little different.

For how long do I have to wait if I order now? Will WP32 McCake work with the Orpheus?

General_Prilla wrote on 2021-08-13, 18:24:

For how long do I have to wait if I order now? Will WP32 McCake work with the Orpheus?

there are already pcbs on order and almost completed
I would estimate 45 days? something like that as the queue processing is not done yet..
McCake works fine with the Orpheus (and every other wavetable-capable card out there)

keropi wrote on 2021-08-13, 18:38:

there are already pcbs on order and almost completed
I would estimate 45 days? something like that as the queue processing is not done yet..
McCake works fine with the Orpheus (and every other wavetable-capable card out there)

Ok, will there be a bundle with the McCake or do I order Orpheus without X2GS?

General_Prilla wrote on 2021-08-13, 19:48:

Ok, will there be a bundle with the McCake or do I order Orpheus without X2GS?

there are no plans to bundle the McCake with the oprheus atm, sorry!

Yeah!

It came today - Thanks a lot!

Patrick