VOGONS


First post, by Condor.07

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Hi everyone,

I need a list of sound cards that are as compatible as possible and have simple drivers, primarily for MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11, but also work with Windows 9x (3D capability if possible).
The sound card must be PCI and installed on an X58 motherboard.
Please refrain from discussing ISA or similar sound cards; I already know...

Thanks in advance.

Reply 1 of 8, by megatron-uk

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For DOS, depending on the actual audio codec implemented on the X58 board, it's entirely possible that the ICH10 interface, or the HDA component may be supported by VSBHDA or SBEMU:

https://github.com/Baron-von-Riedesel/VSBHDA
https://github.com/crazii/SBEMU

In which case, that's likely to give you better compatibility than most add-in PCI cards, since on such a late board / chipset you won't have access to the DSDMA/SBLink functionality used on many earlier motherboards to give PCI sound cards Dos compatibility.

I'd suggest trying both of them and see how you get on. Pure DOS compatibility with PCI soundcards on such a late board is probably going to be poor.

My collection database and technical wiki:
https://www.target-earth.net

Reply 2 of 8, by MagefromAntares

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Hi,

Unfortunately it seems that Intel's original X58 chipset webpage is no longer available, but if the information available to me is correct and you don't mind that a TSR needs to be running under DOS the Creative Sound Blaster Live! should be good for this. For 3D capability there was a 5.1 version.

Reply 3 of 8, by onethirdxcubed

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There are (hobbyist made) drivers for HD Audio on Windows 3.1 and 98se but may or may not work with your specific hardware.

The Sound Blaster Live is likely to work in Windows but I don't think the DOS driver can run without DDMA support from the chipset. I think the only PCI sound card that will work on very new platforms that don't support DDMA and without EMM386 or JEMMEX running is the Aureal Vortex. But the Adlib emulation is not the best so you may be better off with VSBHDA some of the time.

In general you will likely have issues with every possible speed sensitive game and would be better off using DOSBox or virtualization instead of trying to run old OSes on the bare metal.

Reply 4 of 8, by MagefromAntares

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I did some research both by doing internet searches, reading technical specs and asking some friends that I was able to reach in this time frame and got to this conclusion, which confirms what onethirdxcubed said:

The Creative Sound Blaster Live!'s DOS emulation does require DDMA even though the official documentations don't mention it anywhere, so that is unfortunately not a possibility 🙁 (There were also some other cards rebranded as Sound Blaster Live!'s by Creative mostly as "value" models, but I expect their compatibility to be even worse than the "true" Sound Blaster Live! cards).
The Aureal Vortex is the best bet with X58 motherboards, however even the Aureal Vortex doesn't have a 100% success rate on that chipset, some X58 motherboards are incompatible even with that card.

Also note that during my research I have found that the compatibility with DOS games of that chipset is not very good, even considering the speed issues that onethirdxcubed said, so if a DOS game is not speed sensitive, it might still have issues with that chipset, so I wouldn't recommend motherboards based on that chipset as a DOS machine.

Reply 5 of 8, by Condor.07

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I currently have an Aureal Votex 1. It works perfectly on Windows 9x. I managed to install the drivers on MS-DOS, but only Music works (not all games), but SFX doesn't work, and from what I understand, the problem is DDMA-related.
Windows 3.11 installs it, but there's a problem with the VXD driver and it won't load anything.
I wanted to know if anyone has found a compatible sound card with these features. If not, I'll upgrade to the Aureal Votex 2 as soon as I can, knowing that I'll always have limitations in MS-DOS.
I've created a PC that allows me to boot MS-DOS, Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10, and 11 without any problems, and everything works!

Reply 6 of 8, by wbahnassi

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I have my HP Z400 which is just that ICH10 X58. I agree with the Aureal Vortex but I don't recall it having Win3.1 drivers.. only DOS amd Win9x.
However due to its lackluster OPL, I go for the Yamaha YMF744. DSDMA works fine, and the card's compatibility is really quite high and you get original OPL sound. It also doesn't have Win3.1 drivers though, so I think you should look for something else if that feature is a deal breaker for you.

I keep both cards available (Vortex and YMF744). I put the Vortex only for the games where the YMF744 fails (e.g. Crusader No Remorse).. but the YMF744 is the most prevalent option for me.

Turbo XT 12MHz, 8-bit VGA, Dual 360K drives
Intel 386 DX-33, Speedstar 24X, SB 1.5, 1x CD
Intel 486 DX2-66, CL5428 VLB, SBPro 2, 2x CD
Intel Pentium 90, Matrox Millenium 2, SB16, 4x CD
HP Z400, Xeon 3.46GHz, YMF-744, Voodoo3, RTX2080Ti

Reply 7 of 8, by Condor.07

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Yamaha YMF744 does both music and sfx work well? In MS-DOS 6.22 on an X58 motherboard? If so, I'll try to buy one.

Reply 8 of 8, by myne

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I just tested this to a small extent on a h55.

HD Audio Driver for Windows 98

X58 is quite close, but the codec probably matters more.
What mobo and codec?

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