Silent Loon-

How could I not see a retro enthusiast who's trying to run Star Control 2 and in need of help! I should be repremended. 🙄

So yeah... I had a very similar problem. In fact, I am very embarrassed to say that I can't get Star Control 2 running with a GUS either! I know... shameful.

I don't know if you are having the same problem, but I couldn't get the game to run in ANY form unless I erased the ULTRASND enviornment variable prior to running the executable. Yeah... Star Control 2, the only game that seems to refuse to run outright if you have a GUS... even if you SPECIFY using the /S:sblaster command line switch.

Here's how to get it to work, albeit not WITH the GUS, but at least with a system with a GUS in it...

My bat file:

SET ULTRASND=
SET ULTRADIR=
starcon2.com /S:sblaster
SET ULTRASND=260,6,6,3,3
SET ULTRADIR=C:\ULTRASND

See? It's not enough just to tell the program you want to use sblaster sound... you have to ERASE the Ultrasound enviorment variables. If I don't do that Starcon2 will freeze the system at a black screen. I guess it's hard-wired to check for those variables.

The second set of ULTRAxxx variables is what the ACE is normally set to in my system, chances are that it will be different from yours.

The Starcon.com file is a small TSR that lets you bypass the copy protection (ie... you don't have to look at the starmap). I can send it to you if you want, but the commandline works the same on the starcon2.exe.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for your answer, Riboflavin!

In fact I usually bypassed the "GUS-and-other-soundcard-in one-system"-problem by using a boot menu in DOS 6.2, where there are (in the autoexec.bat.) configurations available, in wich the GUS is not initiated at all (I think this was possible because the Classic and ACE are no PnP-Cards). I think this is generally a good way for everybody who has more than one soundcard in his old case.
Actually I don't have the Classic or the ACE in my retro system, but as far as I remember it worked in the P200 / VX machine with an AWE32 and an EWS64S in it at the same time. I will try this again soon.

What really makes me sad, is that even you were not able to get Star Control 2 work with the GUS. Isn't the Starcon2-sound - the MOD format - the generic format the GUS was made for? (I remember having similar problems with other games with native GUS support - Epic pinball, Archon ultra and Dark Legions).
From somewhere I got the original MOD files from Starcontrol 2 (I don't remember how - maybe by some kind of extraction tool?) and managed to play them in windows (by the EWS-Mediaplayer) - what a difference to the sound you get when you play Starcon2 in soundblaster-mode!

I know, I have to exuse me, that I put such a game specific question at this place - nevertheless this leads to some more general questions, regarding the "Essential Sound Cards":

- As far as I know the GUS is the only classical soundcard that uses a - let's say - unique soundformat in games (MOD) and wich is not emulated by other soundcards - or am I wrong? Is there a non-Gravis sound card existing (without GF1-Chip) that has something like "full Gravis Ultrasound support" written on it's package? (for example I have an old Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro16 that is proud to be "The only soundcard that supports 5 Sound standards!" - Adlib, Soundblaster Pro, Windows Sound System, Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source)

- Don't get me wrong - I like my two Ultrasound cards - great sound quality for the time they where made, and also... the look!
But the reason to get them was mainly to play the few games with native GUS-support - but this doen't seem to work on slightly newer machines. What's the reason for this? An adress / memory conflict? The chipset? Does the GUS finaly need an original 386 ISA PC with 4MB ram to work with it's "own" games?

- Or - to put it a little bit blasphemic - what's the use of the GUS in a retro gaming machine, when it is no able to work with those games, while the midi-support is good but not adhead of the other available options (SB16 /AWE32 with Roland or DB50XG daughterboard, EWS64XL with or without daughterboard a.s.o.).

By the way - there is a good description of the different soundcards mentioned here (sorry if this link was posted allready before and I didn't see it):

http://crossfire-designs.de/index.php?lang=en … ards&print=true

p.s.: Thanks again Riboflavin for offering me this specific game file - I think I have it allready because I have two editions of the game - the original one with the 3.5 disks and the Star Control 3 CD Compilation, (where the file is included)

Some good questions on the GUS. Some I think I know the answers too...

Is there any other card that can emulate the GUS?

Not that I know of. I had heard there were a few OEM versions of the GUS made, but they were still basically Ultrasounds, just green. There are Ultrasounds that can hardware emulate the Sound Blaster (the Extreme), but not the other way around. Manufacturers didn't seem interested, or perhaps it was too difficult to clone the GF1 chip.

The other answer is... YES! DOSbox. 😊

But... um maybe. Other cards keep getting mentioned here that I've never heard of. An Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro16 that can emulate the Disney Sound Source? Neat.

Does the GUS need a 386 ISA PC with 4mb of ram to work with it's "own" games?

Well, Star Control is the uncommon exception and not the rule. While almost all GUS games have some minor "push" to get to work (ranging from running a special sound setup or game executable to even a patch), Star Control 2 is one of the games I've found that seems firmly cemented to the ground. I just flat-out can't figure this one out. You mentioned two more, Dark Legions and Archon Ultra. All three of these games I've had to resort to the Sound Blaster. Epic Pinball I remember having trouble with, but I got it to work after a patch.

But most games aren't that hard, really. Many games work without even a blink (Doom, Descent 2, Dungeon Keeper, Outer Ridge - and come to think of it, I won't want to play these games on a 386).

And nah, I have an Ultrasound Classic in the Soyo P4I845PE ISA, which is a P4 2.8ghz with 1 gig of memory, and it seems to work okay. Probably a portion of older games won't run, but that's the fault of the sheer speed of the machine rather then the GUS, and the good part of the tradeoff is playing the advanced games of the late DOS era in near limitless horsepower (Quakeish games).

The Ultrasound will almost never "save" you... meaning don't expect it to work when the Sound Blaster won't. I thought maybe that would be a good reason for getting one. I learned however that if I couldn't get the Sound Blaster to work in a game, I almost certainly could not get the GUS to work. The single exception to this is a game called Hammer of the Gods. Due to whatever hardware config I have or (probably) the game coding itself, I couldn't get both the music and sound effects to work at the same time with a Sound Blaster (I had to pick one or the other). The GUS allowed me to use both, but this is the only time it came through for me on a game when the Sound Blaster didn't. Demos are another story, however. It's been said before around here, but to paraphrase: If you are into DOS demos and you don't have a GUS, be prepared for a lot of silent movies.

But for the most part, a GUS will let your games sound slightly better than a Sound Blaster if you can get the sound to work at all. The line gets blurry with games with native SB16 or AWE32 support. Often the Sound Blaster will sound better then the GUS in this case, but most of the time it's a toss-up. The true test is if the game has MOD music in it (such as Outer Ridge, Epic Pinball or *sigh* Star Control 2), that's when the GUS shines for sure.

Unless it doesn't work. 😁

A little bit blasphemic - what's the use of the GUS in a retro gaming machine?

A good question! I'm happy to answer that and don't consider it blasphemic even though I love my GUS. It's a mixed bag...

It's CERTAINLY not NECESSARY to have a GUS in your retro machine. Take it off your list if you actually like to PLAY games... the reason is you'll be spending hours and hours tweeking your system and batch files and running sound setups to get it to work when all you are really doing is getting your game to sound (debatably) slightly better.

The exception, once again, is demos... but I don't need to go there again.

So yeah, a GUS is not for you if you don't like encountering and solving audio problems with limited appreciable payoff other than GUS-fandom. If you get a GUS, expect to spend a lot of time installing the bloddy thing, figuring your own ways to tweek config files to get your 2+ cards to coexist, and, of course, messing with game sound setups. You might even risk your relationship with your girlfriend/wife if she starts getting jealous of all the time your spending with your old hardware. 😒

I like to think that a GUS is to old sound hardware what a Voodoo is to old graphics hardware. The mainstream hardware got so good eventually (the AWE, equaliviant to, say, a Geforce) that the essoteric extra features of the Gravis didn't really stand up to the ease and performance of the next generation of common Sound Blasters. But just like early Voodoo games, a handfull of vintage games were at their best with a Gravis. If you are a connisseur and get a kick out of old games at their absolute highest attainable level of quality on vintage hardware and don't mind a lot of trouble-shooting, than a GUS might be for you.

Also, it's kind of fun getting Demos to run as screen-savers on a Dos retro rig. I'm thinking of starting a thread for that. I started doing this just because after disappointments from all those games that didn't work, I was asking myself your very question and finally started wondering "what can a GUS do that a Sound Blaster absolutly cannot that would make this effort worthwhile?".

I hope I didn't rub too many people here the wrong way comparing a GUS to a Voodoo. 😎

Most of the folks here know this already, but I should note also that if you're looking for a serious sound improvement across-the-board for all your games, time would be better spent upgrading your MIDI hardware than finding a GUS. A good MIDI wavetable daughterboard or stand-alone card will make everything that can use it sound undoubtably better, and once it's installed, it has minimal technical glitches and headaches compared to the GUS. The sound of a good MIDI card actually stands a much better chance of impressing the average onlooker as well.

On the other hand, I have yet to find any prod from the Demoscene that uses MIDI. Anyone?

So yeah, Star Control with a GUS. Maybe... someday. 🙄

It is a list of essential sound cards but you forgot sound blaster 16 which is the best sound card ever.

So yeah, Star Control with a GUS. Maybe... someday.

...Riboflavin, well, how should I say it, mhm...

I DID IT!

And here is how: I took my old, old 286 / 12Mhz AT with DOS 5.0 out of his dusty corner, installed the GUS Classic, then Star Control 2, copied the Ultrinit.exe file on the Harddisk, modified the autoexec.bat, rebooted, started Star Control 2 with the /s:gravis command line and then -

OH THOSE NASTY UR-QUANS SMELLED MY ATTEMPT AND PUT THE SHIELD OF SILENCE ALSO KNOWN AS THE BLACK SCREEN AROUND MY POOR OLD 286!

Same old story: system stops, you have to reboot. I thought this was definitly my last attempt, at least I could now be sure that it hasn't to do with the system speed itself. I deactivated the GUS lines in the autoexec.bat and wanted to turn the AT off to pull this red monster out of him and bring everything back in its "native 1990 condition". Well, before turning off, just to have a look, I started a little system analyzing tool, wich should discover the GUS in it's system summary, but - it didn't. Instead it listed an Adlib sound card at port 389h!
I remembered what you wrote in this thread before about the little jumper on the ACE, and installed the ACE, jumper closed, Adlib ports deactivated. I started, but forgot to motify the autoexec.bat again - and that's the trick!

To start Star Control 2 with the Gravis Ultrasound you have to:
- pull out every other soundcard - or - make it somehow "invisible" to the starcon autodetection (the Ur-Quans).
- deactivate the Adlib ports (is this on the Classic also possible?)
- start with a clean autoexec.bat without any "set-" variables, init-commands, GUS-settings a.s.o.

It sounds great, but very loud on my headphones (like being in a techno-club), so here are my general questions:

- is there any mixer utility for the GUS(in "native mode")?
- is there some kind of mixer utility for DOS existing, that works with all the different soundcards mentioned here?
- is there a tool or analyzing-programm existing, that can definitly discover the installed soundcards under DOS?

It is a list of essential sound cards but you forgot sound blaster 16 which is the best sound card ever..

I think Great Hierophant has mentioned the SB16 before. Also the AWE32 is nothing else than a SB16 with the EMU 8000 chip added. As allready said sound quality of the SB16 varies very much. I have one that could be called "Noise 16".

Questions:

What I really wonder is, that the EWS64XL is hardly mentioned.
Is it so uncommon? It was the direct competitor to the AWE64 Gold, same price, I guess, but with far better features. No one uses this card?

Silent Loon wrote:

...Riboflavin, well, how should I say it, mhm...

I DID IT!

*hoists tequila*

Does it sound better with GUS? How about the "stereo effect"? Better than SB?

Silent Loon wrote:

- pull out every other soundcard - or - make it somehow "invisible" to the starcon autodetection (the Ur-Quans).

How to make the other soundcard "invisible", especially in DOS?

Wow! That's awesome, Silent Loon! Very Very Nice work! That's very impressive that you took the extra steps to isolate the problem. A working 286? It's been over a decade since I've seen one.

Thanks for rekindling my interest. I was wondering today if it was the speed of the computer that was doing it. Thanks to your sleuthing that is not the case. Woah... now to trick my machine into thinking the GUS is the only card. Sounds like a challenge.

I guess I'll pull the cards out tomorrow and see if I can get it to run with only an ACE in the machine, then...
... wow, I need sleep. This is great information tho. Thanks! If I can get it to work somehow (with CTCM trickery or something), I'll post it here.

While Star Control 2 might not be the essential sound card, I'm pretty sure it is the essential game. 😊

Does it sound better with GUS? How about the "stereo effect"? Better than SB?

I would say yes! But I'm not sure if the reason is a better build-in amplifier or (my guess) the better chip / sound format. As I've already mentioned - it was a very, very loud experience and yesterday I didn't have the time (and the nerves) to completely unplug my other installations to use anything else than my headphones. I would say the sound is clearer, the beats harder. What do you mean with "stereo effect"? Effects in stereo or stereo music? I think yes, but in fact I didn't pay much attention to this... I fear... I have to listen to it again.... maybe... some day...

How to make the other soundcard "invisible", especially in DOS?

This will be the big challenge. Manipulating the Plug-'n-Play-settings, as Riboflavin has mentioned , might be a way. I use a EWS64XL (oh no Loon, not AGAIN!), that allows you to deactivate i.e. the Adlib-port by using a configuration tool that writes directly on the eprom of the card. If this doesn't work, maybe you can use the cloaking device of DESCENT... 😊

I guess I'll pull the cards out tomorrow and see if I can get it to run with only an ACE in the machine, then...

I hope your machine has no on-board sound, because this could be another big obstacle...
Good luck to you!

Silent Loon wrote:

What do you mean with "stereo effect"? Effects in stereo or stereo music? I think yes, but in fact I didn't pay much attention to this... I fear... I have to listen to it again.... maybe... some day...

I mean the "pseudo-stereo". See, SC2 uses .MOD audio files, which is only available in mono back then. I knew that because my friend manually ripped all the song files from the executable using a hex editor! 😳 And when I played them using ModPlay Pro (MPPRO.COM --a text-based MOD player in DOS), all the songs are mono.

However, whenever I hear those songs within the game, it gives me a "stereo" impression (pseudo-stereo?). I don't know exactly how, but all the songs sound like "expanded" or such; certainly not as "monaural" as when being played through the ModPlay Pro.

Silent Loon wrote:

This will be the big challenge. Manipulating the Plug-'n-Play-settings, as Riboflavin has mentioned , might be a way. I use a EWS64XL (oh no Loon, not AGAIN!), that allows you to deactivate i.e. the Adlib-port by using a configuration tool that writes directly on the eprom of the card. If this doesn't work, maybe you can use the cloaking device of DESCENT... 😊

I see. How about SB PnP manager like CTCM or DWCFGMG?

Silent Loon wrote:

I hope your machine has no on-board sound, because this could be another big obstacle...

But the good thing is that onboard sound can be deactivated from BIOS.

Wow. Star Control 2 works. I heard it through my GUS for the first time. I'm amazed.

Lots of bugs to work out tho. I had to make a special config.sys that didn't initialize any cards or set any variables. That was spot-on Silent Loon.

But I need to go to work. I'm late! Must return to Star Control this evening.

abyss wrote:

It is a list of essential sound cards but you forgot sound blaster 16 which is the best sound card ever.

Mr. Sim, is that you? 🙄

Wow. Star Control 2 works.

Tatatarataa! Congratulations! I already feared it could have been some kind of "lucky punch"!

I mean the "pseudo-stereo". See, SC2 uses .MOD audio files, which is only available in mono back then. I knew that because my friend manually ripped all the song files from the executable using a hex editor! Shocked And when I played them using ModPlay Pro (MPPRO.COM --a text-based MOD player in DOS), all the songs are mono.

Well, Riboflavin might give you the answer now. Anyway - I will listend to my SC2 ripped files (I also "got" some, see above) too - I feel as if they were stereo (stereolike)?
But now I have to go too...

Cloudschatze wrote:

abyss wrote:

It is a list of essential sound cards but you forgot sound blaster 16 which is the best sound card ever.

Mr. Sim, is that you? 🙄

Mr. Sim might be cool enough to say the Game Blaster, "his" own card.

I mean the "pseudo-stereo". See, SC2 uses .MOD audio files, which is only available in mono back then. I knew that because my friend manually ripped all the song files from the executable using a hex editor! Shocked And when I played them using ModPlay Pro (MPPRO.COM --a text-based MOD player in DOS), all the songs are mono.

Mhm... Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman - this is strange: As I told you, I also ripped the original files from the game and converted them to mod-files some time (two, three, four... years?) ago. They are still on one Harddisk in my retro machine. As far as I can see I used a little program called "getfrom.exe ". Don't know how it works... When I play the files with the EWS64 mediaplayer programm (in Win98) they are definitly in stereo (and you can also change the speed... ) but I don't know if this is the original programming or a result of converting the files, or the mediaplayer itself. I'm no expert with those audio files and demos.
Unfortunatly I have already uninstalled my "286-Gus-experiment", so at the moment, I can't listen to the Gus again. In the no-Gus mode (adlib or soundblaster or whatever this Ur-Quan-autodetection choses from my adlib-soundblaster-compatible soundcard) it seems to me very much mono-mono.

Silent Loon wrote:

I mean the "pseudo-stereo". See, SC2 uses .MOD audio files, which is only available in mono back then. I knew that because my friend manually ripped all the song files from the executable using a hex editor! Shocked And when I played them using ModPlay Pro (MPPRO.COM --a text-based MOD player in DOS), all the songs are mono.

Mhm... Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman - this is strange: As I told you, I also ripped the original files from the game and converted them to mod-files some time (two, three, four... years?) ago. They are still on one Harddisk in my retro machine. As far as I can see I used a little program called "getfrom.exe ". Don't know how it works... When I play the files with the EWS64 mediaplayer programm (in Win98) they are definitly in stereo (and you can also change the speed... ) but I don't know if this is the original programming or a result of converting the files

See, in 1993 I tried to open those ripped SC2 .MOD files using a dos program called Mod Editor (MODEDIT.EXE). As far as I knew, when making (or editing) .MOD files with Mod Editor, we just cannot specify the L/R panning of the tracks --there's flag to set the volume (mostly for "fading out" purpose), flag for jumping to a specific portion of the song, etc, but there's simply no flags for stereo panning. I cannot specify that the electric guitar samples I put on Track #3 should only be heard on the left channel, for example. Thus, a .MOD song created by Mod Editor is inherently mono.

And when I opened the ripped SC2 .MOD files with Mod Editor, the program did not indicate "unrecognized flags" or such. It seems SC2 songs do not have L/R panning flags either, so they're inherently mono.

However, advanced versions of .MOD audio player can add "pseudo stereo" to such files --despite the fact they're inherently mono. My guess best is that they do the panning based on frequency. For example, low and "bassy" sounds like bass or bass-drums are being panned to the left channel, while high-pitched sounds like electric guitar are panned to the right channel, and such.

And it seems the Star Control 2 .MOD player routine also performs some sort of "pseudo stereo" to its songs. Back to the topic, I just wonder whether they sound better (stereo-wise) with GUS than with SB.

PS: just call me "KAN"; that will save a lot of typing! 😉

Heh... I don't know how off topic this is, but it's turning into a good example of how messed-up getting optimum sound from a multi-sound-card system can be. 😀

I see what you guys are saying. I had a few minutes to work on this GUS Star Control 2 project last night, but not enough time to really delve into it's mysteries. I was looking at the stereoness of the music also.

But I did notice one thing. Star Control 2 mods seem to be in mono from within the game on my system currently, in both GUS and SB sound. I also possessed, at least at one time, all the ripped MODs from SC2 and used to listen to them in various MOD players (MODplug and Winamp come to mind) -these were definitly in Stereo, although I can't remember if they were slightly reauthored or direct rips.

MOD stuff is mucho complicated. There are many format (S3M, XM) that extend the capacities of MODs, plus MODs themselves can be hacked and altered for the player as KAN mentioned. There is a standard MOD stereo format, however that nearly all MOD players recognize that are stereo-capable. Check out Spacedeb for an example here:

http://home.actlab.utexas.edu/~captain/sounds/mods/

It's in stereo in Winamp and Capamod (a TSR dos gus mod player)

But listening to Star Control 2 last night, everything sounded Mono to me too. Furthur investigation is necessary.

Furthur investigation is necessary.

How right your are...

... I just rebuilded my 286-experimental-station yesterday, and it worked as I have described it. I managed to connect it to some speakers and turned the volume down - I would say it is stereo, if stereo means that the drum is on the right side, and the horns on the left (for example).
Sound is generally better than SB, but with a slight DMA-crackling, that I think comes from the old machine / mainboard.

Problems just returned, when I tried to "transfer" this arrangement on other machines: I failed with the ECS P6BAT-A+ VIA combination (with and without other soundcards, onboardsound disabled), with a P3-450mhz-Slot1-BX-Board, and with a Pentium 200 TX4-Asus AT-Board.
So how does it work in your computer, Riboflavin?
But - you are right - this is very much off topic. As you see,I'm new in this forum, but perhaps this is the right time to open a new thread?
("Starcontrol 2 and Ultrasound - how it works when it works")
Some place where everybody who "did it" can post exactly how?

Silent Loon wrote:

As you see,I'm new in this forum, but perhaps this is the right time to open a new thread?
("Starcontrol 2 and Ultrasound - how it works when it works")
Some place where everybody who "did it" can post exactly how?

Aye. I always wonder how much the disparity between SB and GUS --see, I played SC2 with SB Pro the first time it came around, so I wonder whether GUS is worth it.

This is oddly-on and oddly-off topic. I wonder if Great Hierophant approves. 😦

KAN- that's funny because I faced the same question back-in-the-day. I kept seeing "Gravis Ultrasound" in game sound setup options and wondered "how much better is that card anyway?". Ask and you shall receive, huh?

But yeah, I have stuff to add too that should shed some light on the subject. First is something I noticed yesterday... the other day when I booted the machine in my special config.sys "no-initialize any sound-cards mode" for testing Star Control 2, I was able to get it to work with the /s:gravis command line.

But it was definitely mono, and didn't sound much better, if at all, which is weird because you don't need the ears of a spy to hear the difference between SB and GUS usually. I found out why this was the case....

It was still coming out of the Sound Blaster!!! ARG! I did not realize this. So yeah, no enviornment variables, no ctcm, aweutil, ultrainit... none of that and the game still played out of my Sound Blaster even when specified to use the gravis with the command line!

Heh. Blasted Ur-Quans. This is too tricky even for them. I'm begining to suspect the Talking Pets are behind this.

So I had a lovely time trying different things and crashing my system repeatedly. I feel I'm a bit closer, but it's hard to tell how far away I am. I did find this in the "update.txt" file contained in my game folder:

KNOWN CONFLICTS […]
Show full quote

KNOWN CONFLICTS

Conflict: GRAVIS ULTRASOUND board in combination with SOUNDBLASTER
or ROLAND sound boards.
Symptom: System halts immediately when game is run.
Solution: Remove all sound boards but GRAVIS ULTRASOUND, or
remove GRAVIS ULTRASOUND.

... so this is the gospel from Accolade. Sheesh. I have the actual disk version of the game (which I bought new in the box so many years ago). I've heard the CD version has some fixes. What a time for the Star Control 2 patches page at The Pages of Now and Forever to go down! Seriously! Coincidence?!? I think NOT! All evidence now points to the Talking Pets.

http://starcontrol.classicgaming.gamespy.com/files/

So anyway, congrats on getting it to work on the vintage system Silent Loon. Perhaps it has something to do with CPU speed after all, since Paul Reiche III and Fred Ford seem to have taken it upon themselves to write completely unique sound drivers within their game, possibly during that 6-months hiding in Alaska that they allude to in the update.txt file.

The next logical thing for me to try is pulling cards out of the system (I've been doing all my tests with all cards in it so far). Quite a length to go for this, but I'm pretty close to sticking the whole cheese in the arcade cabinet anyway so it might be time. If I find anything interesting I'll post it.

But to wrap this thing back around to being on topic I think we can draw some conclusing from our adventure, if I may...

Is a Gravis Ultrasound an Essential Card?

For Games... no
For Demos... yes
In General... no

Best Models:
For gamers... ACE
For retro musicans... PnP
For nostalgic purists... Original or Max
For one-sound-card systems... Extreme (very rare) or PnP

Notes:

-This card has great appeal for tinkerers... and retro-computer hot-rodders. The whole concept keeps making me think of the Dodge "HEMI" commercials.

-GUS: The card of choice for nostalgic people who can't get enough tracker music (MOD, S3M, XM, IT, etc). While it supports MIDI music, in general the AWE, Roland and most wavetable options are a better choice. It does sound interesting, however.

-One of the major selling-point advantages of the GUS was its ability to offload the sound and music processing onto a seperate card to add a speed boost to the processor for games. (Sound like early "hardware-accelleration"? It was!) While this was certainly nice at the time, nowadays a retro-pc builder will be more likely to choose a processor that is quite powerful enough to run every game they like at full speed regardless of a sound blaster performance hit. So this doesn't really mean as much unless your retro-system is, say, 486-based or earlier.

-On the other hand, there are still some tricks you can do to impress your friends to take advantage of this "sound sub-computer"... such as running the afore-mentioned Capamod TSR to play your favorite MOD tunes in the background of any game. (It even works in Doom, I forgot to mention this before).

-All models of GUS are getting hard to find. Unless you "were there", have some affinity for it or whatever, it's likely not worth the time it would take to track one down. On the other hand, if a GUS card fell into your hands in an unlikely "sword-in-the-stone" fashion, perhaps you are the chosen one...

-Exercises in frustration... attempting to make this cards work in Win2k, XP, or (HAHAHAHA) Vista.

-This card is recommended for Advanced Dos Users Only! (or someone who wouldn't mind becomeing one in the process)

-This card can drive you nuts.

🙄

Oh, and almost forgot...
-If Star Control 2 worked perfectly with it, that would be much more of an incentive for using a GUS.

Oh... forgot to mention again....

You might already know this, but if you are getting DMA crackling with the Ultrasound, try settting it to a higher DMA. DMA 5 and above are 16-bit, and it's supposedly better. In the GUS manuals, they say basically... "if a DMA of 5 or higher works in your system, you should use it, but if things go wrong, use a lower DMA."

My bat file in an earlier posting was actually from when I was using a lower DMA. My ultrasnd variable is currently...

ULTRASND=260,6,6,7,7

The second and third numbers are the playback-record DMA (best to keep them the same unless you actually plan on using your GUS to record and play sound at the same time, in which case you are insane).

IRQ playback/record is the second 2 numbers, same deal. Once you set this and the ULTRADIR variable, you can run ULTRAINIT and it will try and set your card to use these numbers, so that makes the card resources slightly flexable except for the baseport (260 in my case), which is configured with a jumper on most models.

(So this managed to work out a few bugs for me too... I had forgotten to update my ULTRASND variable back to the current one I use in my Star Control 2 bat. -By the way 260 is not themost compatible choice for a GUS baseport, but I picked it early since I knew it was free, and now I've got too many games configured to use it so it's too late to for me to go back 😒 )