Need to get my input on this.... Know it has been "solved" for the most parts regarding SB emulation....
SB-Live Cards:
Good compatibility in dos, IF emm386-only games is desired.
The best choice on this is General Midi for sound and SB16 for effects.
This is again. If games is only desired, being compatible with these two standards.
Decent MT32 emulation, not great. Just a slightly better one than AWE32/64 cards.
Still a matter of taste though. As it sound's really clear and nice.
This is only for basic MT32 emulation, not for "custom" sound's. Hence monkey-only.
Ensonic cards (including those Creative variants):
Allmost as good as the Live cards. When looking at sound quality. A little below.
It is a pure stereo card though, and thus out-performing live on this.
If pure stereo is wanted. The Live can have some issues on channels vs. stereo
and stuff like that. If you don't mind this. Then the Live is a better choice.
YMF-724:
Though having SB-Link (in most cases, not all), this is the best sollution.
Especially when doing Dos through Win9X, this card just shines and are the best.
The midi-part is just awesomme.... It can have some issues on some mobo's
when using SB-Link. Just not on all. Early SS7 and Late PCI-Only boards tend to have
issues with SB-Link and this card. In Win98 without the cable it runs EMM386 games the best.
In short. Yes. PCI cards have more or less issues. They are not issue-free.
Just a small handfull pci-soundcards can to an extend be used for Dos.
If the goal is a Win98se gaming machine, for Win-games, only playing Doom as the only
dos-game. Yes. Then go for a SB-Live or a YMF-724 card.
Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....
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