Just a few pointers as there is TONS of very detailed information on Vogons and other sites.

SB 2.0 needs a -5V PSU.

Did you mean CMS / Game Blaster compatibility? Yes the 2.0 can be upgraded. There is a thread about this. You need 3 chips in total. Comes with OPL2.

SB 2.0 is MONO, no mixer, no MIDI port.

Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 is a fantastic card. No MPU401 MIDI so here you will need another card if you want to use SoftMPU. OPL3 chip. There is an issue with reversed Stereo. Hence many games have a setting to swap it.

Sound Blaster 16. Not a big fan because of the hanging note bug and usually can be quite noisy.

AWE64 Gold is my other favourite card. Yes it has no OPL3, but has AWE synth, no hanging note bug and an excellent card to use with SoftMPU and Roland MT-32 and Sound Canvas. Very quiet and works well on newer machines.

In general all Creative cards are highly compatible meaning every game should produce sound 😀

Yes I ment Game Blaster compatibility.
- BY a -5v PSU you mean an AT PSU?
- Isn't the Sound Blaster Pro as noisy as a SB16 could be?
- Also, is it possible to have both a Sound Blaster Pro and the SB16 + daughter card in the same computer?
Maybe not working at the same time, but choosing the one you prefer depending on game.

thanx for the answeers Mau1wurf1977!

Yes I ment Game Blaster compatibility.

- BY a -5v PSU you mean an AT PSU?

Can be ATX, or modded ATX, but needs to have -5V. An AT based machine will likely come with such a PSU right away. Alternative: Sound Blaster 1.5 doesn't need -5V and works happy in a ATX Slot 1 machine.

- Isn't the Sound Blaster Pro as noisy as a SB16 could be?

No it's not. At least the cards I have in the machine I have tested.

The noisy factor is quite dependent on what machine you have, the quality of the wired, if you have a ground loop and things like that but having played with many parts the Sound Blaster Pro 2 is one of the quietest Creative cards.

- Also, is it possible to have both a Sound Blaster Pro and the SB16 + daughter card in the same computer?
Maybe not working at the same time, but choosing the one you prefer depending on game.

Yes and no. The Adlib will always be shared and this can cause issues with some games not being able to detect the SB and failling back to Adlib. Old Sierra games do this. So personally I recommend against such a configuration but some are happy with it and have found ways around it.

I have also tried the "as many sound cards as possible" in a single machine. Always ends in long nights and dramas 😀

E.g. Game Blaster is something you listen to a few times and then you go back to Adlib. It's nice and interesting but I doubt anyone actually plays games with it if they have a Sound Blaster or Roland.

My two main setups are:

SB Pro 2 with a Roland MPU401AT and SB AWE64 Gold with SoftMPU.

Both are fantastic builds with "it just works" compatibility. Once you have MIDI gear, the missing OPL3 is not an issue IMO.

I have also tried the "as many sound cards as possible" in a single machine. Always ends in long nights and dramas 😀

hehe true that!

I'm going to try Sound Blaster Pro2 + Roland Mt-32, and maybe I'll get an SC-55mkII in a near future.

Pingaloka wrote:

I'm going to try Sound Blaster Pro2 + Roland Mt-32, and maybe I'll get an SC-55mkII in a near future.

What will you drive the MT-32 with though? There's no MPU401 on the Pro2. I have a machine with a Pro2 and an OPLSAx card in it; the OPLSAx having as many functions disabled as possible and acting as the MPU401 interface. Details here:

Another 486, just for fun.

IMHO though you already have a great setup with the SB16 CT2330 + NEC XR385 + Roland MT-32, and you're not going to improve it by messing around with multiple cards, etc.

I agree with badmofo. You already have a great setup. Why exactly would you like to switch to the Pro2?

Yes guys, happy enough with my setup. Great setup indeed.
Just investigating and fun...there are lots of things I don't know yet!
Thanx to you guys I'm learning quite a lot!

Pingaloka wrote:

Just investigating and fun...there are lots of things I don't know yet!

Yes that's half (or maybe more?) of the fun isn't it! I've come to accept the fact that I'm more interested in broken computers than I am in working ones.

A -5v rail was removed since ATX 2.0 standard. It is relatively easy to say whether an ATX PSU has a -5v rail. First, it should be in a characteristic table at PSU side. Look at Zalman ZM300B-APS, a quiet and reliable ATX PSU I have:

Second, there's a socket within ATX connector that carries -5v. If that socket is missing, then you have no -5v.

Here's an older ATX connector with -5v:

Here's a newer ATX connector without it:

So, if you're in a desperate need for -5v rail in ATX case, you might go for an used or new-old-stock ATX PSU, or a brand new server PS/2 type that's compatible with ATX cases. I myself got a Zippy PS/2 EPS one, which is very reliably built but quite noisy.