Reply 20 of 35, by AlessandroB
dionb wrote on 2022-12-24, 12:17:Am I correct in saying you already have other systems beside these IBM ones? […]
Am I correct in saying you already have other systems beside these IBM ones?
If so, you don't need to worry about basics and can be a bit adventurous here. The obvious - and actually workable - choice would be what IBM themselves would have installed. That would probably have been mWave cards, most likely the IBM 'Dolphin'. They have a bit of a bad rep, but are actually usable under DOS and pretty good under Win98SE. Maybe it's just me but I've never, literally never, been able to get one to work under Windows 95.
For DOS, the SB Digital audio is fine. The OPL3 is... well... amusing 😉
In Windows you have a full and decent MIDI synth available.If you do want to have as broadly useful sound as possible, I'd suggest setting up the 486 for legacy stuff, so with real OPL3 and SBpro2 - and bug-free MIDI, and the P200 for newer games. There the CT3670 would be ideal, but even the pretty ubiquitous and cheap CT4520 AWE64 Value would be doable. I'd recommend a second card next to it for bug-free MIDI though (AWE64 doesn't have hanging note isues, but does suffer from MIDI slowdowns when 16b audio is being played, which is exactly your P200 use case). That second card could be exactly the same as the card in the 486. Any generic OPTi 929/930, Aztech 2316/2320 or similar would fit the bill.
And then you still have the P60. Stick the mWave in there anyway 😜
Hi, very thanks, I have other computers but mainly MAC that I use for work, so the retro computers I would like to use are just these 4 plus a 5150 when I have time. I think I have all the systems I need, I just need to experiment with expansion cards.
Having said that, in a certain sense reading you all, I am always thankful for having found this forum populated by highly knowledgeable people on the subject of retrocomputing, I have changed my mind a bit and now the goal is:
DX4 -> SBPro2.0
P60 -> SB16 CT2770
P200 -> experimenting with MIDI music, whether it's wewatable or on expansion of ram on the card I haven't figured it out yet, but surely I won't fit another limited OPL3 card, I already have other computers equipped with this type of card.