PAS-16 (Pro AudioStudio) headaches. Help...? \ VOGONS

PAS-16 (Pro AudioStudio) headaches. Help...?

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First post, by DeathAdderSF

Posted on 2026-03-04, 20:37

DeathAdderSF Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 77
Joined: 2013-08-02, 10:01
Location: USA

Hello, all.

I've recently purchased a Pro AudioStudio 16 (650-0060-03-B) & installed in my Unisys CWD-4002 w/486DX-100 CPU: a purchase made solely to make HQ recordings of certain stereo FM music.

The card only outputs sound after running its install program, letting it init the card, then exiting the install program. Then it's working OKish across reboots, i.e. I get FM support -- which, again, is all that I need -- but no SB DAC, which I don't care about anyway.

That would be fine, except I want to SET the EXT, SPEAKER, MIC, PCM, INT to 0 in hopes of getting slightly less noisy recordings. However the PAS.EXE always reports that the MVSOUND.SYS driver isn't loaded... even though the driver indeed loads in via CONFIG.SYS and displays its little copyright message.

The card has two sets of jumpers: One for DMA sharing (currently disabled) and one for card type. I've tried setting card type to 1 (default) and 4 so far, neither has any effect on the situation at all.

Have tried every configuration that the card's installer offers, those doesn't help me either.

So, what to do? I don't have another machine to try the card in.

Help appreciated, thanks in advance.

Cruise by Diskman Presents: filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

Reply 1 of 4, by badmojo

Posted on 2026-03-04, 22:11

badmojo Offline

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Posts: 4337
Joined: 2011-10-11, 04:14
Location: Australia

I've found that driver version makes a big difference with the PAS16 - the wrong version won't tell you it's wrong, just doesn't work properly.

I've had the most success with this version: https://vogonsdrivers.com/getfile.php?fileid= … menustate=66,53

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 2 of 4, by DeathAdderSF

Posted on Yesterday, 05:07

DeathAdderSF Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 77
Joined: 2013-08-02, 10:01
Location: USA

Well whuddya know, it works! Completely, including SB DAC. So that's pretty cool. Thanks for the driver recommendation. 😀

Odd thing is that now, the FM music of Metal & Lace is absolutely blaring: too loud for my recorder (Zoom H2essential) to capture. This wasn't the case when using the previous driver set. It seems this particular game ignores the PAS-16's volume settings? As every other game I tried obeys them.

I can always switch back to the "bad" driver set for games like this. But I'm still curious to know why it happens and if there's a workaround.

Cruise by Diskman Presents: filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

Reply 3 of 4, by TamaMan

Posted on Yesterday, 13:12

TamaMan Offline

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Rank: Newbie
Posts: 45
Joined: 2006-04-06, 19:17
Location: Finland

Hello, a fellow new PAS16 (IXW-PAS16 650-002201-B) owner here as well.

For my DOS game recordings, I've found that switching between old and new driver sets gets the most compatibility. And with the new set, using the mixer PAS.EXE from the separate DOS Utilities For Pro AudioSpectrum Cards V2.0 package provides loading saved mixer settings easily to match recording interface input gain setting.

During my tests, I didn't notice games bypassing mixer settings, I guess my games obeyed the mixer.

Reply 4 of 4, by DeathAdderSF

Posted on Today, 00:58

DeathAdderSF Offline

Rank Newbie

Rank: Newbie
Posts: 77
Joined: 2013-08-02, 10:01
Location: USA

OK, thanks. I'll def switch between the driver sets as necessary.

The wild world of ISA sound cards will never cease to fascinate & amaze me.

Cruise by Diskman Presents: filled with geektastic classic gaming goodness!

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