Ah. Managed to figure it out. Not just for the SB16, but also CDBQ. 😁

1SET CDBQ=C:\DOSPRO\CDBQ
2SET CPUSPD=C:\DOSPRO\CPU\CPUSPD
3SET ALIEN=D:\DOS\ACCLAIM\TRILOGY
4
5REM Skip executing SB commands already loaded
6IF %SBLOAD% == TRUE GOTO CDSPD
7
8CALL C:\GOODIES\SCRIPTS\SBLOAD.BAT
9
10:CDSPD
11
12REM Skip executing CDBQ commands already loaded
13IF %CDSPD% == TRUE GOTO FINAL
14F:
15DIR/W
16D:
17%CDBQ%\CDBQ /P2 /DM /S1200
18SET CDSPD=TRUE
19
20:FINAL
21
22%CPUSPD%\CPUSPD c2d
23%ALIEN%\NOVERT.COM
24CALL %ALIEN%\TRILOGY.EXE
25%ALIEN%\NOVERT.COM /U
26%CPUSPD%\CPUSPD c2e

1SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T4
2SET SB=C:\PROGRA~1\CREATIVE\SBLIVE\DOSDRV
3
4%SB%\SBEGO.COM
5%SB%\SBEMIXER /MA:255 /VO:255 /MI:255 /MT:255
6SET SBLOAD=TRUE

I appear to have run into another snag. This time with Little Big Adventure. Again. I suspected I may have some new issues to deal with this time round. I didn't realise the game had redbook audio as well as MIDI music. So, that means I need to use the SB16. And for that - EMS mode. The game apparently doesn't like it. What's weird though is that it will load the first time, but if I quit and try to load it again, it goes through all the audio loading, but then just stops. I have no choice but to reboot. I've yet to try loading the game in normal DOS mode without any drivers or EMS. At least, I think I've yet to try. I might well have done and it just refused to get passed the Adeline splash screen due to not being able to set up the audio.

I did try using UMBPCI instead, but the SB16 just won't initialise without EMS. The next thing to try will be replacing DOS4GW with DOS32A and see if that helps.

This thread is making me realise how much better it is to have non-PnP sound cards.. No init apps or TSRs that depend on certain memory configurations

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-01-29, 07:32:

This thread is making me realise how much better it is to have non-PnP sound cards.. No init apps or TSRs that depend on certain memory configurations

Yep... This is the reason I still have about 1/2 dozen SBpros and SB16s kicking around .

I was debating on getting a Sound Blaster 16 or a Pro 2. Maybe I still should.

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-29, 09:33:

I was debating on getting a Sound Blaster 16 or a Pro 2. Maybe I still should.

I've had good luck with both - "most everything" old works with them, and I've written a fair bit of code to interface to and control them directly as well.
... definitely my "favorite" sound cards! (butI I've never really looked-at/gotten-to-know much else)

DaveDDS wrote on 2026-01-29, 09:49:

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-29, 09:33:

I was debating on getting a Sound Blaster 16 or a Pro 2. Maybe I still should.

I've had good luck with both - "most everything" old works with them, and I've written a fair bit of code to interface to and control them directly as well.
... definitely my "favorite" sound cards! (butI I've never really looked-at/gotten-to-know much else)

I think I will get one at some point. If anything, it'll be good to have as a backup for if/when the Yamaha does pack up.

Regarding the matter at hand though, I've just realised... Because of all of these different configurations, depending on the situation/game, it does cause a lot of confusion. But actually, I should just take the CD audio cable out of my SB and put it into the Yamaha. >_< It's only the S/PDIF cable that needs to be in the SB to daisy-chain the two cards and use redbook audio when I'm in Windows.

That should solve the problem regarding loading a game, like LBA, without EMS mode, but whether the game allows me to reload it after quitting, I'll have to see.

If the CD drive has analog and digital output, you can run the analog cable to the yamaha and the digital cable to the SB Live. They will typically output from both at the same time.

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-01-29, 11:40:

If the CD drive has analog and digital output, you can run the analog cable to the yamaha and the digital cable to the SB Live. They will typically output from both at the same time.

I don't believe it has digital, just analog and S/PDIF.

S/pdif is digital.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF

'Sony/Phillips Digital Interface'

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 12:05:

S/pdif is digital.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S/PDIF

'Sony/Phillips Digital Interface'

...

...

Of course. I mean, the clue is in the name of it. ^^; For some reason I didn't think it was. Probably due to the confusion of still using VxD drivers instead of WDM. I thought it was the latter that could only do digital.

Is there something I'm missing here...? I've connected the CD audio cable to my Yamaha, but for some reason, the CD music is too quiet. Even if the volume slider is at max on the CD drive, and even if I've cranked the volume to full in a chosen mixer. Both with Unisound and SetYMF, the CD audio is cranked to full, but it still sounds too quiet. This is in Quake and LBA. Of course, if I crank the master volume up, eardrums explode due to the SFX being affected, too. With Unisound, I've tried putting Master and CD to 99 and wavetable/SFX volume as low as 10. At which point I get no SFX at all. If I crank it up even a little, to say, 15 - mega loud!
With SetYMF, it looks as though it's using the SB's Mixer, which is quiet when I played a track from the CD. Muting it there has muted it in the game, too. But it doesn't appear to use the upper volume controls, which sound right. Is this expected if not using digital...? That it will revert to using the SB's mixer and therefore be much quieter? This is definitely not an issue I've run into in the past.

Are there any jumpers for the preamp on the card?

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 20:56:

Are there any jumpers for the preamp on the card?

Ooh. I'm not sure. I'll check... The only jumpers I can see are here, but I'm not sure what they do.

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume.

I'll look for your yamaha.

To save me from reading 11 pages, can you tell me *which* yamaha this is?

For SoundBlaster cards, Phil has this up.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/uploads/3/7/ … audio_cards.pdf

In which the amplifier jumpers are listed.

The preamp is an option for old unamplified speakers, and makes the card output speaker level signals, instead of line-level signals.

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:21:

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume. […]
Show full quote

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume.

I'll look for your yamaha.

To save me from reading 11 pages, can you tell me *which* yamaha this is?

For SoundBlaster cards, Phil has this up.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/uploads/3/7/ … audio_cards.pdf

In which the amplifier jumpers are listed.

The preamp is an option for old unamplified speakers, and makes the card output speaker level signals, instead of line-level signals.

I see. It’s the Yamaha YMF719E-S

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:37:

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:21:

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume. […]
Show full quote

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume.

I'll look for your yamaha.

To save me from reading 11 pages, can you tell me *which* yamaha this is?

For SoundBlaster cards, Phil has this up.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/uploads/3/7/ … audio_cards.pdf

In which the amplifier jumpers are listed.

The preamp is an option for old unamplified speakers, and makes the card output speaker level signals, instead of line-level signals.

I see. It’s the Yamaha YMF719E-S

The images are dead, but YES, those are the preamp.

YMF719E-S jumper settings

(And or)

Yamaha YMF-719 issues

Like them, I'd disable the preamp, so the internally generated sounds are at the same level as the redbook audio.

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:39:

The images are dead, but YES, those are the preamp. […]
Show full quote

DustyShinigami wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:37:

wierd_w wrote on 2026-01-29, 21:21:

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume. […]
Show full quote

At least for genuine soundblaster cards, there are jumpers to set the preamp volume.

I'll look for your yamaha.

To save me from reading 11 pages, can you tell me *which* yamaha this is?

For SoundBlaster cards, Phil has this up.
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/uploads/3/7/ … audio_cards.pdf

In which the amplifier jumpers are listed.

The preamp is an option for old unamplified speakers, and makes the card output speaker level signals, instead of line-level signals.

I see. It’s the Yamaha YMF719E-S

The images are dead, but YES, those are the preamp.

YMF719E-S jumper settings

Like them, I'd disable the preamp, so the internally generated sounds are at the same level as the redbook audio.

Awesome. Thank you. 😀 Is that for both jumpers?

According to Tiido (who knows their stuff), putting JP1 and JP2 in the 2-3 position disables the onboard amp.

Great. Thanks. I'll report back on the results. 😀