First post, by LSS10999
I don't know if there were any discussions about this before, but recently I noticed some particular games' FM music sounding noticeably different after I substituted my YMF718-based sound card with an ALS007-based sound card. The ALS007 is said to be SB16 compatible to some extent.
I thought it might have something to do with the FM clone (so-called LS262) on the ALS007, so I then substituted it with an actual Sound Blaster 16 (CT2950) that uses a real YMF289 (the same core as YMF71x series). The music of the game in question sounds the same as that of ALS007, different from YMF718, so I ruled out the possibility that the FM clone on ALS007 being inaccurate.
The difference is very noticeable, just like how MIDI can sound different when using different soundfonts in Windows. I recall there were some other DOS games that also behaved this way, so I wonder if some games are using different FM configurations for SB Pro and SB16 sound cards (and compatibles) for some reasons.
In some cases I prefer the SB Pro version... so I'm not sure how to actually make these games behave as if I've installed a SB Pro rather than 16. The answer might be hidden inside the games' executables.
It may be a good idea to try DOSBox to see how the games behave when I set the sound card to SB Pro instead of 16, though.
EDIT: Just checked the format the game in question used... actually the game used MIDI. So it might be just that SB Pro and 16 behave differently when playing MIDI...