SOUNDCARDS - WHICH TO CHOOSE, HOW TO USE... ?

Hi all.

<Newbie alert !>

- SHORT VERSION:
I've got a bunch of hardware lying around, and am somewhat clueless as to how to make the most of it.
And/or what (hardware)parts I would be missing.

I'm totally oblivious when it comes to midi music, soundfonts, external boxes, sysex etc etc, so be gentle.... 😀

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Ultimate goal is to hear great(er) sound in DOS(and hopefully all types of) games, without compromising general sound and non-midi music listening in the process.

OR, more accurately, to see(hear) what the fuzz is all about...

But, I'm not a 'fanatic' of any kind - my (random)use of mostly Soundblasters should be proof enough... 😜
First card beeing a basic SB16 ISA(part of a multimedia package incl CD player), second a CT4520 ISA(residing in this very machine/BH6).

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3 possible hosts:

A. OLDEST
Minitower Socket 5(?) Pentium 100 with 4-5 ISA slots, 1-2(?) PCI.
MY first computer...

(or 486DX33 ISA and VLB, the oldest usable one)
(or socket 7 Pentium233mmx, 3 ISA/4? PCI, handles 40GB hdd)
(or generic cramped desktop Zenith P90 ISA)
(for laughs: a still working IBM-5150, 5 slots 8-bit ISA only, MSDOS 5, color monitor, 10MB hdd... 1MB free... urk )

B. NOT-SO-OLD
Win98 Abit BH6-BX chipset, 2 ISA, with anything from Celeron-300A to Tualatin 1400mhz(on slotket)
HDD size ok. Still in daily use(!), with the original hdd!!(surely this must fail soon, or?).

C. WHAT-I-CALL-NEW
WinXP/98 Abit IC7-G or ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe, P4/Dothan, i875, AGP, no ISA
(or Abit BD7-II, i845, no ISA)

The Soyo 478 ISA would sure be fun, but oh the cost.... :\

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I'd prefer to use a P4, but the slot1 440BX machine is also an option(has ISA!).
The Pentium100 would be the last resort, but at least I know a lot of the older stuff actually works like intended there.
Even if installing/configuring 'new' hardware certainly will be a pain(no changes made for over a decade).

As for games, pre-1990's is not of much interest, though there are probably exceptions to this.
If there are some unmissable titles, I'm sure you'll enlighten me ?
Otherwise, 1992(?) and up is what I'll be concentrating on.
Though, my first actual gameplay was Larry1 for DOS... then a long break(not really into computers or games then) until Civ1(1992).

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(some of) The available hardware:
- Roland SCD-10 daughterboard
- Yamaha DB50XG daugherboard
- Turtle Beach Santa Cruz PCI (Dell version), wavetable header
- Turtle Beach Montego PCI, tiny Dell version, w/header
- Labway Xwave 128, ISA (no drivers), w/header
- Mediavision Jazz16 650-0066-54A, ISA, volume(?) wheel
- SB16 value CT2770, ISA
- SB LIVE! 5.1 PCI, SB0100 (?)
- SB AWE32(?), CT3670 ISA, simm sockets(empty)
- SB Voodoo2 PCI, CT6670, but I have NO DRIVERS (!?), or cables for that matter
- SB CT4520 ISA
- SB AWE32 CT3600 ISA, simm sockets(empty)
- SB AWE32 CT3620 ISA, w 8MB in SIMMs, loong
- SB AWE64 Gold
- Roland SCC-1(a/b?) ISA
- Diamond Monster MX300 PCI, w/header
- Hercules Game Theater XP PCI, with monstrous cable and bulky breakout box
(- under consideration : Onkyo Wavio SE-200PCI, M-Audio 2496)

Most without any kind of drivers or documentation.
I'm not sure what actually works (apart from the CT4520 and AWE64), the SCC-1 I got for free thru a message board, so....
But let's assume it all does.

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----QUESTIONS:

1. Given the above hardware, what would be my best SOUND CARD set-up within each machine category(A,B,C) ? For best sound, hardware and game compatability etc. Hopefully some set-ups usable in win98/XP as well.
(all cards can be put into 1 machine if neccessary, excluding use in others)

But have in mind that I've never used more than 1 sound card at a time, so I'm not familar as to how that is done in the different environments (DOS,Win98/XP).

I would probably be able to find some missing 'links' on ebay, if there are 'needed' parts I don't have.
(but they should each be $30 or less, preferrably)
But, beeing non-US, other limitations apply as well.

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2. LAPC-I.
I probably don't need it(?), but any point in getting a LAPC-I ?
And that external box is mandatory, or... ?
There seems to have been 1 for sale at ebay(1+ year ago, $25 BiN!!), but I haven't actually seen any myself... :\

Ok, so I noticed the discussion here:
http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESS … 62&topic=2138.0

I'm guessing any answer(s) would be quite similar....

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3. Any other soundcards/DB I should look for ?

As either co-existing or as daugherboard hosts ?
I'm ruling out Gravis at the moment, so...

The SB CT1750 ISA of any use ?
CT3980 (at least it supposedly has a header) ?
What would be so great about a "Reveal SC200 ISA" ?
Turtle Beach Monterey ?

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4. The Roland SCD-10.
Yes, laugh all you want, but that's what I've got ATM.
(of course, if someone are willing to donate or sell me the SCD-15...?)

Does the GS sounds matter much, either in a pure oldie DOS machine, or in the newest machine ?
Would I have to have another card in addition to the mother/daughter combo, or does it not affect 'normal' music/games (much) ?

There's always the SCC-1(if it works), but beeing ISA only.... etc

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5. I have NO midi/patch cables/adapters of any kind.
Which would I need(searchable names/spec/id etc), and where do I find them in stock ?
(ebay links, other ?)
(Or if someone have xtra's for sale)

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6. Voodoo.
Never used it, and don't know how.
But I have in my possession a Voodoo2 card for some reason.
Would be nice in Blood and Redguard, or even Ultima9, it seems.
But not essential - games are fine regardless, or... ?
(as long as they have 'software mode' ? My knowlegde is very limited)

What cables should be used with this ?
Some names/specs I can use to search with ?
(or just point me to an informative site)

Voodoo (DOS?) drivers, some current links that work ?
For the CT6670 perhaps ?

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7. What exactly are these (sound?) 'demos' that are mentioned here and there ?
(for which Gravis cards apparantly are the best?)
"Demoscene " etc... ??

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8. DB50XG vs DB60XG ??
Not sure what the latter sounds/looks like/specs, but the DB50XG is probably not much different ?
(none to be found on ebay at least)

Though, it seems it is an ISA card, probably the full card version of the DB50XG ?

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9. SCB-55(SCD-15)/MPU-401AT.
Any major(or minor) difference between this combo and the SCC-1 ?
Any PCI versions in existance ?
(of course, to actually find either anywhere is another matter...)

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10. Roland MPU-IPC / MPU-IPC-T.
What are these, and what used for? Any fun/good ?
(I'm guessing it's a sound 'card' for the PC-XT or something ?)

Or Roland MPU-401 w/PC Interface Kit MIF-IPC...

I guess 'davesedg' can answer that, seeing as he's buying up all copies before my very eyes... 😎

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11. External modules.
Any point in going for the external modules(considering what I already have) ?
And which one would then be the most adequate ?
(and most likely to be available for purchase!)

? Roland CM32L etc... (not sure what correct names are)

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12. Drivers.
Anyone know somewhere to find DOS drivers for the cards I have ?
Pages/links/ftp-sites... etc

Or have a collected cache themselves I could 'borrow'/download/email ?

And, are there some of the cards I wouldn't need pure DOS drivers for ?

OK, so I admit to not having gone all-out on a google hunt quite yet, but...
(that seriously eats time... hours... sigh)

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13. PC DOS 2000.
Ok, so slightly unrelated, but... could this be of any help for some game related(or other) DOS problems ?
Anyone have any experience with it ?

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Ok, so I should probably continue reading message board postings etc, but after some 100+ pages, I'd still like some specific input on the above/my gear.

Though this tiny post of mine most likely would get better response on queststudios, Tom doesn't seem to wanna register me, so... (or the firewalls on several of my email accounts are extremely selective - who knows)

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OK then, here we go............... postings please !