canthearu wrote on 2021-09-30, 01:27:

georgel wrote on 2021-09-30, 01:18:

Owing something doesn't mean you can design or make it 😉 People own land but does this mean it is good to destroy/devastate it ? Or is it their own at all (maybe it belongs to Nature!). Destroying a no longer produced vintage card is stupid. It is common now but will it be common tomorrow?

Land is a different class of ownership than most other products though. Even so, you have a lot more leeway with what you can do on your land vs what you can do on public or other people's private land.

That said, for items like sound cards and computers in general, people are allowed to change/modify/destroy it in any manner they see fit. It is really a YOU problem if you feel that you need to control what other people do with the general property they own.

but you didn't buy it you bought a license to it that you agreed to and some licenses forbid tampering with hardware

twiz11 wrote on 2021-09-30, 01:30:

but you didn't buy it you bought a license to it that you agreed to and some licenses forbid tampering with hardware

I don't recall ever being dragged out the back and forced to sign a contract to agree to this when buying any computer hardware.

He

Didn't

Destroy

It

georgel wrote on 2021-09-30, 01:18:

Destroying a no longer produced vintage card is stupid.

Allow me to offer fair warning: the moderators tend not to take too kindly to people referring to others or their actions as "stupid". I would suggest that you word your posts a little more appropriately if you intend to continue participating in these forums. Repeated arguments and/or insults eventually have consequences. You don't like the fact that he borrowed (it is reversible, after all) a part from a potentially-already-defective AWE64 Value for an experiment. Fine, you're entitled to your opinion, but that's all it is, and there are many more diplomatic ways to express it.

Also, I think it is a useful discussion. The old Sound Blaster cards do have some desirable features, and are useful for experimentation, but they were poorly designed and excessively noisy. Finding a viable way to tame the noise is a worthwhile endeavour, and may lead to someone locating a cheap DAC that is readily-available and quiet, so that the transplant can be completed without having to resort to a donor card.

Lastly, there wasn't anything particularly special about the line of synths used on the AWE line, and the lack of a thriving development community is largely due to Creative's greed. No documentation was ever released, because they wanted people to pay unreasonable prices for their developer kits and tools. Furthermore, they continue to ignore all requests relating to community projects, even though their chips (and Creative itself) are largely irrelevant now.

😀 I appreciate the opinions, good read

Warlord wrote on 2021-09-29, 22:51:

Also it doesn’t have bugs just like the aw64.

No hanging notes, and no slowdown when using a wavetable board like the X2?

I have a SB16 CT2290 and also a SB AWE32 CT3900, both of which exhibit hanging notes and slowdown with a connected wavetable board... 😭

Not to mention audio garble when booting into Win98se.

IcySon55 wrote on 2021-09-30, 13:57:

Not to mention audio garble when booting into Win98se.

If you mean audio crackling under Win9x (e.g. when the Windows startup sound plays) I found that Creative cards usually don't exhibit any problems there, while clones (like ESS and OPTi) sometimes do.

However, it may also depend on your system specs. For example, my OPTi card produced crackling under Win9x on my Celeron 466 and my AthlonXP 1700+ systems, but not on my Pentium MMX 166. Same card, same drivers same DirectX and Windows versions.

IcySon55 wrote on 2021-09-30, 13:57:

No hanging notes, and no slowdown when using a wavetable board like the X2? […]
Show full quote

Warlord wrote on 2021-09-29, 22:51:

Also it doesn’t have bugs just like the aw64.

No hanging notes, and no slowdown when using a wavetable board like the X2?

I have a SB16 CT2290 and also a SB AWE32 CT3900, both of which exhibit hanging notes and slowdown with a connected wavetable board... 😭

Not to mention audio garble when booting into Win98se.

You mean the type 2 hanging note? I find that much less annoying than the more known type 1 hanging note and the single-cycle DMA clicking bug. The only issue I had to deal with the SB AWE64 was the MPU-401 stuttering with higher sample rates on Build based games. All of the issues around the MPU-401 on SB16 based cards only happens when you use the same card for both MIDI music and digitized sounds.

Funnily enough I have an Aztech Sound Galaxy Washing 16 (AZT-2316) sound card and while the DOS and Windows 3.x support is decent, the Windows 9x drivers are mediocre compared to the Creative ones. With the speakers turned on it also does an annoying loud pop when restarting the computer or shutting it down.

I've gone away from using those two cards for the most part, at least on the main DOS rig I'm building since I want an all-in-one solution for sound.

Digital audio without clicks and pops.
Legit OPL3.
MPU-401 Intelligent Mode + Dream Blaster X2GS.

Basically I'm in line to pick up an Orpheus which I plan to pair with an ASUS P5A sporting a Pentium 233 MMX.

Currently just waiting on the sound card and a heatsink (5cm) that fits on the P5A without blocking the 20-pin power connector.

In the mean time, I'm using a Yamaha Audician 32 Plus with a Dream Blaster X2. So far this card has provided the cleanest audio output with most of the features I want.

@IcySon55 Pretty similar reasons as to why I use ISA ESS AudioDrive cards over most of Creative's offerings in my builds. For my finicky and particular gear, the ESS cards just work without giving me a ton of headache. Plus I've grown quite fond of ESFM's unique spin on OPL3.

Mind you I am not making any sort of objective endorsement here, as I'm sure ESS cards aren't everyone's cup of tea. I do have a CT1600 Sound Blaster Pro and a neat Jazz16 knock-off card for the rare things that don't like ESS so much.

Cool mod. I don't get why someone calls this card noisy. Mine is dead silent when it comes to background noise and I am very particular about that.

I personally maybe would not offer an awe64 but who am I to judge what you do with your own possessions.

Look forward to more like this.

Joakim wrote on 2021-09-30, 19:33:

Cool mod. I don't get why someone calls this card noisy. Mine is dead silent when it comes to background noise and I am very particular about that.

You're apparently among the few who take the time to appropriately configure their cards. Good on you.

Yeah, everybody forgets the N=FALSE in the SET BLASTER string. 😉

There's also the mistake of using the SPK OUT connector (or not disabling the amplifier on certain SB16 based cards) which was meant for unpowered speakers.

Where was George when they “destroyed” 100s of aw64 for the awe64 remake cards. Quite frankly awe64 cards are overhyped. I can see it if I was taking chips of a gold but even a rare card. But awe64 value is neither rare or will it ever be valuable even if they ever get scarce cuz truth is besides them Emu which sucks because low ram on value the cards are garbage and no one serious wants them cuz cqm and pnp and drivers. Every one seems to want one but once you have one you realize how defiecent they are at retro gaming. It’s why all the time people say only thing that matters is Sbpro and opl3 on a quiet card without bugs and cards like ess get recommended so much

how about all the butt savages on ebay melting down pentium pros for scrap gold? go after them instead

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-09-30, 23:36:

how about all the butt savages on ebay melting down pentium pros for scrap gold? go after them instead

tbh the gold is worth more than the Pentiums, ngl but recycling/destroying hardware is the only way to preserve it because hardware don't last forever

twiz11 wrote on 2021-09-30, 23:42:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2021-09-30, 23:36:

how about all the butt savages on ebay melting down pentium pros for scrap gold? go after them instead

tbh the gold is worth more than the Pentiums, ngl but recycling/destroying hardware is the only way to preserve it because hardware don't last forever

you are now my sworn enemy

kneel before the glory of the gold top pentium pro and repent

FWIW, the SB AWE64 cards has the DSP version 4.16 which has fewer bugs compared to older SB16 based cards. I understand why the OP hates Creative and have experienced how bad CQM is in comparison to the real OPL3 or ESFM.

Hi....I figure certain individuals would record straightforwardly out of the OPL3 chip's yields on the SB16.

SB16s have a ton of clamor, similar as CD drives. That irritating fluffing combined with somewhat of a ring.

Fortunately I have one of my SB16s coordinated into the quiet locally available sound of my PC. So I can quiet/unmute the SB16 anyway I please.

With two soundcards, cool stuff occur.