Is there a reason NOT to enable the sb mixer mode? And is there a command-line parameter to pass to cmmix to auto-enable it? I couldn't find any documentation on the parameters it generates in autoexec.bat.

I've only tried Doom 1/2, Duke Nukem 2 and 3D (2 to confirm missing adpcm) and Lemmings. Only issue thusfar is that, as mentioned in the ctrl-alt-rees video, FM audio volume is a bit low. But I'm very happy that I can play Duke3D with 16-bit mixing and bug-free midi. And sure these games generally have low-quality sound effects, but they still sound a lot better than on my old Aztech card.

I also have to add that the Windows drivers are good, it's a bit strange that you have to pick between the SB16 and WSS audio devices (though it makes sense), but on other cards I've had issues like DOS/Windows breaking each other, nothing like that here.

Yesterday I did some more testing in Windows, I did notice that at the default (high) volume the card distorts, which can be heard well on the Windows 98 startup sound. So I recommend decreasing the volume a little. Haven't had the that problem in DOS, it seems the default mixer settings there use a lower volume.

The card offers its own soft synth in Windows which is interesting to use, sometimes it sounds good, but often it sounds a bit 'hesitant' and not as dynamic as the OPL3 mapping. DOS games always use the MPU401 if that is chosen in their settings, they aren't remapped to the Windows setting.

Oetker wrote on 2022-07-04, 06:47:

Is there a reason NOT to enable the sb mixer mode? And is there a command-line parameter to pass to cmmix to auto-enable it? I couldn't find any documentation on the parameters it generates in autoexec.bat.
[...]

sorry for not replying sooner , I missed your post
on the CMMIX command line change the very last /S parameter to look like this: /S10200 and this will enable SB Mixer
indeed there is no docs/help for this which is weird/lazy 🤣

according to CMEDIA's user manual:

P.S.: We set default SB mixer emulation functions to disable. It fits to almost applications and GAME. If there is any applications using SB panning functions to separate left and right sound channel, you can set this functions to enable.

I have found that if the SB MIXER is not enabled then the CMISPK program cannot re-enable speaker output once the card's driver is run. In all my tests I had it enabled , did not notice anything weird going on - but would be interesting to know if something is affected by it.

Additional tip: in Duke3D, in SB16 mode stereo is reversed. In SBPro 2.0 mode it's not...

Set it to mono. Fixed! 😀

Kahenraz wrote on 2022-07-09, 16:49:

Set it to mono. Fixed! 😀

Duke Nukem 3D has an option to flip the stereo channels, so no need to set it to mono for that game at least. 😀

where patch to replace sfx with adlib phart noizes?

🤣 🤣 🤣

keropi wrote on 2022-07-09, 17:56:

where patch to replace sfx with adlib phart noizes?

🤣 🤣 🤣

That would be all ESS cards after they removed their otherwise perfect ESFM synthesizer.

Ola guys!

Really really happy with my MK8330 so far 😀

I am currently using the regular drivers that are available on the card's website, but will switch to Unisound with the latest changes. This brings up one question to me.
The official drivers write the SET BLASTER as T4, SB Pro afaik. I expected a T6, the card being SB16 capable.

- Is there a good reason the official drivers set a T4?
- I was always under the impression that "what can do more can do less" applied so T6 should still allow to pick SB Pro in a game's sound setup and sound as expected, but now it got me wondering if that's really the case. Are there some games were T6+SBPro setting is different/worse than T4+SBPro setting?

It's always been pretty obscure to me how the SET BLASTER really behaved, and also noticed it is very dependent on each game's specific implementation...happy to learn more, if there's something to learn 😀

good question, I think that it is CMI's omission not to have T6
the BLASTER variable is not anything that important really, it is there to tell software that reads it about the resources the soundcard uses so you don't have to enter them manually
but we all know 9 out of 10 times this is baloney 🤣
I never found a game in my SB16 days that needed T4 to work with SBPRO setting
could be interesting to hear back from anyone that found something that actually is hindered by T

I imagine T4 is most compatible but games are supposed to ask the DSP its version and act accordingly and most probably do just that and not care at all about the T setting.

In addition to Tiido's comment, I'd bet that there is software that uses the older format of the BLASTER environment variable, where anything after Dx is ignored. There is also a good deal of software that ignores environment variables altogether, and depends instead on its own probing routines. For Sound Blaster cards, part of that usually involves a DSP reset, followed by reading the DSP version.

In fact, there is one player that I use that works in exactly that way. In spite of the CMI tools' settings, it finds a 4.x DSP version, decides that it's a Sound Blaster 16 of some form, then doesn't work. If I force SB Pro mode, it plays just fine.

Got the card and it looks very nice. Like it was mentioned already, the connector is definitely oversized to the point of being dangerous to remove from motherboards. Is it safe to shave inner edges of the connector down a little to make it fit less tightly? The forces required for insertion and removal are insane right now.

yes it is safe to trim inner edges
on my test mobos it was indeed tight but not insane, guess it depends from isa slot to isa slot....
sorry for the tightness ...

yup, no particular worry here. it's a good tight fit but nothing extreme 😀

Does anyone else have the issue where the card produces noise and distorts in Windows at high master/wave volume? If I set the volume that high, I hear a hum and playing the Windows startup sound has clear distortion.

Oetker wrote on 2022-07-14, 14:48:

Does anyone else have the issue where the card produces noise and distorts in Windows at high master/wave volume? If I set the volume that high, I hear a hum and playing the Windows startup sound has clear distortion.

personally I have not noticed anything that bad and on my test rig my logitech 2.1 speakers are on max volume
if I max out everything ofcourse there is some humming but it would unrealistic to operate the card/speakers at that level
do you have something else connected? wt board or line-in device?

Hmm with the card at max volume I have to set my speakers very low (small Edifier speakers) or it's too loud for my ears. So it seems the card is very loud. I'll do some more tests soon.

max settings are not really good anyways but let's see what further testing reveals 😀

keropi wrote on 2022-07-14, 14:18:

yes it is safe to trim inner edges
on my test mobos it was indeed tight but not insane, guess it depends from isa slot to isa slot....
sorry for the tightness ...

No worries! I'll just trim the thickness of a sheet of paper and I'm sure it'll give me enough slack. I just freaked out a bit when I tested it on a spare motherboard and it was so tight that the motherboard started flexing. 😜