I was using cheap cables up to Part 5 that are practically falling apart. The 82C929A is not a very noisy card at all. The noise comes from the use of cheap cables and possibly even the motherboard because in other computers, I hear no noise or very little noise.
I'll just recap what sound cards are used in all 19 parts for you:
1- ESS Maestro-2
2- SoundBlaster AWE64
3- OPTi 82C929A
4- SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
5- SoundBlaster AWE64
6- SoundBlaster AWE64
7- C-Media CMI8738
8- C-Media CMI8738 and OPTi 82C929A
9- SoundBlaster AWE64
10- SoundBlaster AWE64
11- SoundBlaster AWE64
12- OPTi 82C929A and SoundBlaster AWE64
13- SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
14- SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
15- SoundBlaster Vibra128
16- SoundBlaster Vibra128
17- SoundBlaster Live! 5.1
18- SoundBlaster Vibra128
19- Crystal CS4235
Mau1wurf1977 wrote:But I struggle with the distortion bit. Might he because I don't know this game that well but seriously how is distortion a good thing? You might prefer it, but is it really authentic?
It's a personal preference because the only experience I had with a sound card containing a discrete Yamaha YMF262 before getting the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 was the OPTi 82C929A, and I always played my games with distorted FM Synthesis thinking it was the real thing. And this is why I prefer distorted FM Synthesis: I got so used to it I can't put it down. I even think X-Wing's music sounds like it's got something missing when played on a sound card without distorted FM Synthesis. Listen to Part 8, which has the closest sound to true OPL3 out of all my sound cards without a real YMF262. I feel there's a little something missing in the music unless it's got the distortion of the OPTi 82C929A.
However, what I really don't like from the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 is the digital sound, like I told you before. It just sounds downsampled; not very pleasing to my ears.
And by the way, I can adjust the level of distortion using the 82C929A's mixer from very heavy distortion to none at all, just like a SoundBlaster Pro 2.0. I did notice weaker filtering on the 82C929A compared to the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 in the FM Synthesis, however. Now, I like bass-heavy sound, but I just can't ditch the 82C929A for the SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 simply because of the damn digital sound.
Mau1wurf1977 wrote:When there is the option of using Midi, why settle for FM.
Because I've been around FM Synthesis almost non-stop for over 4 years playing games on the Sega Genesis and emulating arcade games that make heavy use of FM Synthesis. And sometimes, I really don't like the sound of the MIDI. I actually am not too fond of the AWE64's MIDI, in fact, at times it sounds like absolute crap. General MIDI in X-Wing using the AWE64 is just awful. AWE32 MIDI on the Collector's CD-ROM edition, on the other hand, sounds a fair bit better, but I can't figure out how to reduce the amount of reverb, which is the main reason why I'm not fond of the AWE64's MIDI: it's just too damn echoey and I was only able to reduce the amount of reverb for General MIDI, but not AWE32 MIDI. I prefer my AOpen AW32 Pro for General MIDI. It uses a Crystal wavetable which I like a fair bit, but I get a few garbage notes mixed in with the music on the left audio channel.
I need a Roland SoundCanvas wavetable, damn it!