SScorpio wrote on 2026-02-25, 23:14:

Just any other sound card will work, you don't need a hard that's hardwired for MIDI. A second cheap SB, or a YMF, etc also work. Something that supports PnP to make configuration with Unisound can simplify things.

I like the PicoGUS because it can be set to be a simple port listener without IRQ or DMA, I'm not sure if other sound cards can enable the MIDI port without also taking a bunch of unnecessary resources

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-02-25, 23:25:

I like the PicoGUS because it can be set to be a simple port listener without IRQ or DMA, I'm not sure if other sound cards can enable the MIDI port without also taking a bunch of unnecessary resources

I also have a PicoGUS. Prior to getting one I ran a SB16 and YMF719 card. Using Unisound you can initialize individual pieces of the cards. So you can enable just port 330 for the MPU401 0n one of the cards and nothing else and only that part of the card is operating at that time.

SScorpio wrote on 2026-02-26, 01:11:

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-02-25, 23:25:

I like the PicoGUS because it can be set to be a simple port listener without IRQ or DMA, I'm not sure if other sound cards can enable the MIDI port without also taking a bunch of unnecessary resources

I also have a PicoGUS. Prior to getting one I ran a SB16 and YMF719 card. Using Unisound you can initialize individual pieces of the cards. So you can enable just port 330 for the MPU401 0n one of the cards and nothing else and only that part of the card is operating at that time.

Yes, this is exactly what I use now and it works great. Unisound is a godsend.

jh80 wrote on 2026-02-26, 04:53:

Yes, this is exactly what I use now and it works great. Unisound is a godsend.

Out of curiosity does your YMF card have an issue with Sam & Max MIDI music as described here?

Sam & Max Hit the Road, SC-55 hanging note bug, and Intelligent MPU-401

NeoG_ wrote on 2026-02-26, 07:14:

jh80 wrote on 2026-02-26, 04:53:

Yes, this is exactly what I use now and it works great. Unisound is a godsend.

Out of curiosity does your YMF card have an issue with Sam & Max MIDI music as described here?

Sam & Max Hit the Road, SC-55 hanging note bug, and Intelligent MPU-401

I just checked it. I'll reply in that thread.

Thanks to both of you for the confirmation.

Is this true for any card or some do better than others?

mtest001 wrote on 2026-02-26, 13:58:

Thanks to both of you for the confirmation.

Is this true for any card or some do better than others?

I ultimately opted to pair my AWE64 (for digital sound) with a Vortex 2 (for MIDI with external synth). The pros of this setup are that it works well on ACPI enabled systems where IRQ 2/9 is not readily available. The downside is when rebooting into MS-DOS mode the Vortex 2 needs a TSR to be loaded. Under Windows everything works great. Also, don't use PCI cards for digital sound in Duke3D, it will crash in many areas of the game.

mtest001 wrote on 2026-02-26, 13:58:

Thanks to both of you for the confirmation.

Is this true for any card or some do better than others?

ESS does flawless digital FX and MPU-401 but will be limited to 22khz stereo in DOS games on account of supporting the SB Pro profile and not the SB16 profile. But your AWE card can already do that so that doesn't help. CMI seems to have a SB16/44Khz Stereo compatible card that does simultaneous MPU-401 and SB16 emulation but I haven't tried it myself.

YMF cards are in the same camp as ESS supporting SB Pro profile for DOS games.

The bottom line is that if you want 44Khz Stereo mixing in DOS games and simultaneous MPU-401, having an SB16 with a second card is the most stable solution. But it does require you have two ISA slots.

Thanks for the answers. I have one Ess-1868 card laying around (Formosa MPB-000050), I'll try to pair it with my SB32 PnP and see if this works well... Any advice regarding which card to assign to playing only the MIDI and which card for the rest?

mtest001 wrote on 2026-03-03, 14:28:

Thanks for the answers. I have one Ess-1868 card laying around (Formosa MPB-000050), I'll try to pair it with my SB32 PnP and see if this works well... Any advice regarding which card to assign to playing only the MIDI and which card for the rest?

I guess it really depends on the game more than anything. The ESS card has better sounding FM than the CQM found on the SB32 PnP. Games that suffer from the single-cycle DMA clicking bug on the SB32 won't have this issue on the ESS. For games like Duke 3D that properly support the Sound Blaster 16 (and greater) for digital sound the SB32 PnP is the better choice. Honestly I would set the ESS up with IRQ7 DMA1 HDMA5 and the SB32 with something else.