Unisound is the game changer here; I would use anything compatible with it since you don't have to deal with the vendor's drivers or configuration utilities

I admit, I have not looked into unisound much as I like to use orginally intended settings for retro HW but open to explore since I am introducing modern pieces like Picogus to my collection.

How would unisound help though depending what I select for a sound card? Can you give me an example?

It sets IRQ, DMA, etc. on soft-configured or ISAPNP sound cards without spraying your config.sys and autoexec.bat with drivers or TSRs like CTCM.

Do you have room for multiple sound cards? If so, I would just install a couple sound cards, for example the Yamaha and AWE32.

If you can do three, I'd add the PicoGUS for GUS support as well.

yeah thats what I am thinking, Yamaha with Dreamblaster to get General Midi and SB Pro support, AWE 32 for only games that support it, Picogus for Gravis Ultrasound emulation for games that support it and mod players / tech demos.

The Ensoniq Soundscape is quite tempting too but it might be too much including managing resources.

I'll start playing with unisound. If I have multiple cards, does it autimatically assign resources ?

if it helps, in my 486 system i installed an ensoniq sondscape vivo 90 along with the sound blaster 16 that was already installed and i am very happy with it, although it was a nightmare for me to have both configured and running at the same time but with unisound i was able to do it.

I am planning to get a picogus soon and maybe i will try to configure all 3 at the same time but i have the ensoniq mainly for the fake intelligent mpu-401 mode that the picogus can do better so i am doubting if discarding it for a different project.

For nostalgic reasons (the first sound card i bought with my own money) i am tempted to get an awe32 but here in Japan is not that easy to get.

Awe+picogus

You seem to be looking for the same characteristics as I did, and the same wide variety of use cases - late DOS games, external MIDI, module players, demoscene. For my pure DOS Pentium, my favorite combo is Yamaha + PicoGUS. I would recommend that pair, along with that Dreamblaster S2.

My 2nd place combo would be CT3990 + PicoGUS. Perhaps a distant 2nd though. I have done many recent comparisons in DOS rotating between Yamaha OPL3, PicoGUS and SB32/AWE32.

I have a soft spot for the SB AWE32 (specifically, my original SB 32 CT3600, I also have a CT3990 and RAM) but there are too many quirks that make the experience a pain and/or disappointing. Bad/flawed external/header MIDI support, the on-board IDE port tends to cause resource conflicts for me, limited native AWE32 MIDI support in DOS games, no SB Pro stereo support, CQM instead of real OPL on many cards, and the conventional memory hit using AWEUTIL.

I typically run the Yamaha @ Port 220, IRQ 5, DMA 1, and PicoGUS in GUS mode @ Port 240, IRQ 7.
The PicoGUS has fantastic MPU-401 support. For DOS games, I often use that paired with a Roland Sound Canvas (SC-55 usually) and digital sound via Yamaha as SB Pro.
PicoGUS in GUS mode for games with module-based music (OMF 2097, Pinball Fantasies, Epic Pinball, etc)
Some module file players also support WSS (E.g., Cubic Player) which adds 16-bit support to the Yamaha card (port 530). The hardware mixing of the GUS is the better choice, except for modules with large samples that don't fit in GUS RAM.

The PicoGUS is quite flexible - very easy to switch modes/config. With all of the added SB-modes, it technically might be the most versatile choice, but I like having some real (non-emulated) hardware to support the difficult software.

I do not recommend more than 2 ISA sound cards.

I need to revisit Unisound - I forgot that Yamaha OPL3SA mixer/utility always modifies CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT, and puts things in the wrong spot of my boot menu.

Hopefully that helps.

AWE32 + PicoGUS with Dreamblaster S2 will be my advice. You can use the PicoGUS as an intelligent mode MIDI Interface and route its output to AWE32 line input. You can also use PicoGUS as GUS when you really want to. That gives you OPL3, General MIDI, AWE and GUS in one machine. The 32MB RAM will probably be wasted but oh well..

Fazeshift wrote on Yesterday, 13:32:

I do not recommend more than 2 ISA sound cards.

There is nothing wrong with more than 2 ISA sound cards if enough hardware resources are available for configuring them. I've had as many as 6 ISA sound cards all running concurrently in a system.

For early-to-mid 90s DOS era, there were so many different sound standards that one could easily run 3 or 4 sound cards just to cover all the bases (OPL FM, SB Pro, SB16/AWE32, General MIDI, GUS, etc.).

I just realised the AWE32 is CT3900 not CT3990 so its superior and has genuine Yamaha OPL, I think I will be going with that plus Pico for GUS emulation.

I still wont have SB Pro though ... so ... maybe I'll use the ESS card as that works very well and has also clean sound.

thanks all !

Omarkoman wrote on Today, 02:49:

I just realised the AWE32 is CT3900 not CT3990 so its superior and has genuine Yamaha OPL, I think I will be going with that plus Pico for GUS emulation.

I still wont have SB Pro though ... so ... maybe I'll use the ESS card as that works very well and has also clean sound.

thanks all !

PicoGUS can emulate an SB Pro 2.0, so you are covered.

For a socket 4 build I would only use period correct parts. And I think that is more important for a socket 4 build than for anything else. You just have to experience the very expensive system with all the bugs (those first buggy PCI IDE controllers etc) and socket 4 differences to other systems at the time (try to find a PCI graphics card from 1993, not easy and no VLB on Intel boards).

But since you mention VLB and PCI, you must have non-Intel chipset so the build is going to be a lot different than mine (I want only what was available in 1993, so for sound cards that would be something like PAS16, GUS classic and Roland SCC-1).

But from your list of sound cards... Go with something that does not have DMA clicking bug (since this seems to be slowest of your builds). So basically anything but SB16 or AWE (Vibra is fine here). Perhaps just use least noisiest of your clone cards?

Shponglefan wrote on Yesterday, 15:32:

There is nothing wrong with more than 2 ISA sound cards if enough hardware resources are available for configuring them. I've had as many as 6 ISA sound cards all running concurrently in a system.

For early-to-mid 90s DOS era, there were so many different sound standards that one could easily run 3 or 4 sound cards just to cover all the bases (OPL FM, SB Pro, SB16/AWE32, General MIDI, GUS, etc.).

That is true, and I have done 3 for some time. Perhaps I should clarify - I don't recommend more than 2 PnP ISA sound cards. That is simply my personal opinion on the sweet spot. Beyond that, resource management and configuration starts becoming time consuming. That is especially true if the sound cards have an on-board IDE CD-ROM interface.

The OP already has most if it covered in the collection, and the PicoGUS can fill in the rest.

Omarkoman wrote on Today, 02:49:

I just realised the AWE32 is CT3900 not CT3990 so its superior and has genuine Yamaha OPL, I think I will be going with that plus Pico for GUS emulation.

I still wont have SB Pro though ... so ... maybe I'll use the ESS card as that works very well and has also clean sound.

thanks all !

The PicoGUS has SB Pro support. SB16 support was recently added too - I haven't had a chance to try that yet.

The SB16 support on the PicoGUS is pretty good! I posted about my experience along with a video link comparing the audio output over in the PicoGUS thread.

I also am running a mid/late DOS sound setup with a PicoGUS (with X2GS) and an AWE64. It covers pretty much everything except for EAX/A3D support in Windows 98, but I have been pretty happy with it so far. Using an external mixer helps a lot, but one could use the AWE64's Line In output for the PicoGUS without too much trouble; it would just take a bit of judicious mixer use.

I use Unisound to configure the AWE card to Port 220, IRQ 7, DMA 3/5, MPU 330, and the PicoGUS is set up as Port 240, IRQ 5, DMA 1/1, and MPU 320. It's pretty novel being able to play TIE Fighter or Tyrian with SB16 sound and GUS music, and to have a bug-free MPU implementation on the PicoGUS to enjoy the X2GS.