Does the motherboard have a PC-PCI/SBLink connector? If so, another user here at Vogons started a thread a while back testing the compatibility of Yamaha's YMF-724 chip. While it does offer SB emulation through DDMA, using SBLink for DMA and some option for IRQs that is only available when using SBLink for DMA yelded near-perfect SBPro compatibility and true OPL3.

Theoretically all SB cards up to Audigy 2 have DOS drivers.
Not sure about the Audigy 2 ZS...

Why shouldn't it let you use a CD drive?

The Problem is you have to test if the Soundcard works in your Mainboard.

I have SB-LIVE 5.1 with Dosdrivers.
But the card works only in older Mainboards.
In newer Mainboards, the card is not found by the dosdriver.

Ensoniq AudioPCI and ESS PCI cards are a possible solution as well.

sorry for the necro, comic con happened.

alexanrs wrote:

Does the motherboard have a PC-PCI/SBLink connector? If so, another user here at Vogons started a thread a while back testing the compatibility of Yamaha's YMF-724 chip. While it does offer SB emulation through DDMA, using SBLink for DMA and some option for IRQs that is only available when using SBLink for DMA yelded near-perfect SBPro compatibility and true OPL3.

Somehow I doubt it, it's a dell dimension XPS B733r. which might tell you something about compatability, Will an Ensoniq AudioPCI or the ESS PCI give me soundblaster support?

EDIT: I've opened it up, it came eqipped with a turtle beach TBS400-3356-01

Alright, I've popped the computer open and managed to find a set of pins with "PC/PCI" screenprinted next to it with an arrow pointing to it, the pins are layed out as

11
01
11

where 1 is a pin is present and 0 is no pin.

It has PC/PCI. No PCI card will be as good as one based on YMF724. The AudioPCI needs EMM386 for SoundBlaster support, so it won't work with games that do not work with it, besides atrocious OPL emulation.

alexanrs wrote:

It has PC/PCI. No PCI card will be as good as one based on YMF724. The AudioPCI needs EMM386 for SoundBlaster support, so it won't work with games that do not work with it, besides atrocious OPL emulation.

Alright, in that case what should I get to use it and where do I get the dos drivers to use it, also doesn't DOS 6.22 come with EMM386? And can I use the PC/PCI solution with a disk drive?

DECtape wrote:

Alright, in that case what should I get to use it and where do I get the dos drivers to use it, also doesn't DOS 6.22 come with EMM386? And can I use the PC/PCI solution with a disk drive?

1- All you need is a cable and connect the PC/PCI pins on the motherboard to the corresponding ones on the soundcard. They will be in the same "U" shape in the card as well, so you can't really go wrong. Either buy one or make one yourself.
2- I believe VOGONS drivers has drivers for YMF7x4 cards
3- Yes, DOS 6.22 comes with EMM386.EXE, the problem is that some games do not work while EMM386 is loaded, so for those games the AudioPCI will not work. Even with it loaded the compatibility isn't 100%
4- If you mean "does it have an IDE port", then the answer is no, and you should not need it in a modern PCI-only system like a P3 (since that should have two IDE channels already). If you mean "can I play CD áudio", then yes, any PCI card with any degree of DOS support allows that.
5- If you use Windows 9x instead of DOS+3.11 you'll also be able to use General MIDI with the YMF7x4 cards (softsynth). The AudioPCI does offer General MIDI support under DOS, but it is not the most stellar thing ever. If you have an external module I believe the Yamaha chip will let you use them (+SoftMPU for those old MT-32 games that need intelligent mode)
6- There is also a rare SoundBlaster AWE64 PCI, which also uses SBLink/PC-PCI. That thing is bound to be expensive, though.
7- For the AudioPCI I believe the Creative-branded drivers (released after they bought Ensoniq) offer SoundBlaster 16 support instead of SBPro, and slightly less atrocious OPL emulation (arguably), so if you already have that card you can test it with those and see if it works with the games you wanna play before investing in a YMF724 card

what sound card should I get? Does it need to be an ISA card? And keep in mind I'm still pretty new to DOS. Will I need to plug the CD audio cable that currently runs from the drive to the existing sound card? Also where can I get the cable for SBlink?

The YMF-724 + SBLink is, according to another user, just as compatible as the YMF-71x ISA chips, which are pretty good ones. If you have ISA slots, though, you can also get pretty much any ISA SB16 if you don't care about General MIDI or MT-32 (thanks to the hanging note bug). ISA AWE64's are pretty good if you do not want true OPL3, as they also offer GM capabilities and do not suffer from hanging notes. ESS ISA cards are also great, as their OPL3 "clone" is a pretty decent one and a few games even support its extended features. The aforementioned YMF-71x Family of chips is also great. If it needs to be PCI and you want a wavetable header, then you're stuck with the Aureal Vortex2 cards, though they are not as compatible and I think they are better suited for a Windows 98 machine.

If you have both SBLink and ISA slots on the motherboard personally I'd either get a YMF-724 card or an ISA one. Every single card I mentioned can be connected to the CD-ROM drive's analog output - and yes, you need to plug that to get CD audio. And the cable, either make one yourself or search ebay.

alexanrs wrote:

The YMF-724 + SBLink is, according to another user, just as compatible as the YMF-71x ISA chips, which are pretty good ones. If you have ISA slots, though, you can also get pretty much any ISA SB16 if you don't care about General MIDI or MT-32 (thanks to the hanging note bug). ISA AWE64's are pretty good if you do not want true OPL3, as they also offer GM capabilities and do not suffer from hanging notes. ESS ISA cards are also great, as their OPL3 "clone" is a pretty decent one and a few games even support its extended features. The aforementioned YMF-71x Family of chips is also great. If it needs to be PCI and you want a wavetable header, then you're stuck with the Aureal Vortex2 cards, though they are not as compatible and I think they are better suited for a Windows 98 machine.

If you have both SBLink and ISA slots on the motherboard personally I'd either get a YMF-724 card or an ISA one. Every single card I mentioned can be connected to the CD-ROM drive's analog output - and yes, you need to plug that to get CD audio. And the cable, either make one yourself or search ebay.

well the issue is that I don't have any ISA slots, so I'm looking for a way around it. I have a CD audio cable, I have a small pile of them from various pentium 4 and pentium 3 projects i've done, but I don't know where to get the SBlink cable, or what I should use to make one

Also the only Ebay listings for YMF-724 cards I've been able to find were $100 and had to ship from the chezh republic, at which point I could just get a new slot 1 motherboard with ISA slots

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-XG-YMF724F-V-P … =item2ca15cc513

also if I did get an ISA card would I need to plug it in or just mount it somewhere in the case and have it run of SBlink?

I don't need MT 32 grade audio, just enough to be able to run games like sam and max, also, where can I get the oaktech CD drivers? I can't seem to find them anywhere.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aopen-AW724-Yamaha-XG … =item5424f6b764
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Aopen-AW724-Yamaha-XG … =item5424f6b764

Expand your search terms a bit, selles don't Always put YMF7?4 on the title.

Warning: That particular Aopen card does not have the SB-link connector soldered on.

Aureal Vortex 2 cards are actually similar in compatibility to the YMF-724. No SB-Link cable required/supported. No EMM386 required.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sound-Card-Turtle-Bea … =item4d384d76dd
Another warning: Dell Vortex 1 card looks almost like the Vortex 2, but is less desirable.

Another PCI card that often uses the SB-Link connection is the ESS Solo-1.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-PCI-Sound-Card … =item2ca0f6ff74
Oops, I meant to list this one and got mixed up.

Btw, here is the topic from the guy that ran a few tests and found the YMF724 VERY compatible. The chip's compatibility drops dramatically without PC/PCI, though.

What is this?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Labway-LWHA411G7-PCI- … 70/191521870380

Better shot of same card.

http://s192804805.onlinehome.us/images/1/6450/A411-G70-1.jpg

I swear it looks like a Yamaha YMF-7x4 card. Has the XG logo and all. The chip is Xwave QS3000A. Anyone know about it?

Anyways keep looking at eBay I got a few YMF-724 cards earlier this year pretty cheap. You gotta look though. I think I searched for model numbers and just Yamaha underneath sound cards and would look at the pictures to find it.

YMF744 / YMF754 comes as a 128-pin chip.
The Labway-LWHA411G7 card has a 100-pin chip.
Some webpages link it to the Fortemedia FM801, though the FM801 chip is usually smaller.

gerwin wrote:

Warning: That particular Aopen card does not have the SB-link connector soldered on. […]
Show full quote

Warning: That particular Aopen card does not have the SB-link connector soldered on.

Aureal Vortex 2 cards are actually similar in compatibility to the YMF-724. No SB-Link cable required/supported. No EMM386 required.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sound-Card-Turtle-Bea … =item4d384d76dd
Another warning: Dell Vortex 1 card looks almost like the Vortex 2, but is less desirable.

Another PCI card that often uses the SB-Link connection is the ESS Solo-1.

The card you linked, the Vortex 2, is literally the exact same card, same screen printed model number and all, as what came with the system, I'll check is the chip is vortex one or two when I get home from work today but so far it looks like it's the same part. What do I need to do to make it work?