Those should be functionally equivalent. The ones to avoid at all costs are the cut-down versions that have no RAM and no connectors for expansion module. Those cannot load soundfonts and there's nothing you can do about it.

stamasd wrote:

Those should be functionally equivalent. The ones to avoid at all costs are the cut-down versions that have no RAM and no connectors for expansion module. Those cannot load soundfonts and there's nothing you can do about it.

I disagree, you get at least bug free mpu-401 midi with the AWE64 so at least its a good soundcard to pair up with external midi, who doesn't want an sc-55/MT-32?

Also, when used for pure DOS, soundfonts are not relevant anyway.

dirkmirk wrote:

stamasd wrote:

Those should be functionally equivalent. The ones to avoid at all costs are the cut-down versions that have no RAM and no connectors for expansion module. Those cannot load soundfonts and there's nothing you can do about it.

I disagree, you get at least bug free mpu-401 midi with the AWE64 so at least its a good soundcard to pair up with external midi, who doesn't want an sc-55/MT-32?

You would have to use SoftMPU to get intelligent mode for use with the MT-32.

As long as they have the 1MB sample ROM, the cards are still capable of producing AWE synthesized music in DOS. The problem is there are some cut-down versions that don't even have that, and still say CT4520 on the PCB:
AWE64 problem-- no music in DOS

These should definitely be avoided.

If you are looking to use the card for Windows games as well, and want to experiment with soundfonts, you definitely should get one with expansion slots, as 512KB on the Value (or 0KB on the SB32) is not enough for good soundfonts. AWE64 Gold with 4MB may be OK, but the card itself usually goes for a much higher price that is hard to justify.

dr_st wrote:

As long as they have the 1MB sample ROM, the cards are still capable of producing AWE synthesized music in DOS. The problem is t […]
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As long as they have the 1MB sample ROM, the cards are still capable of producing AWE synthesized music in DOS. The problem is there are some cut-down versions that don't even have that, and still say CT4520 on the PCB:
AWE64 problem-- no music in DOS

These should definitely be avoided.

If you are looking to use the card for Windows games as well, and want to experiment with soundfonts, you definitely should get one with expansion slots, as 512KB on the Value (or 0KB on the SB32) is not enough for good soundfonts. AWE64 Gold with 4MB may be OK, but the card itself usually goes for a much higher price that is hard to justify.

Totally agree with your recommendations.
I actually have an AWE64 Gold, the CT3670 (SB32 with the AWE64 chipset), the CT4380 and these two models.

I have someone looking for an AWE64 and that was actually the main reason for my initial post.
Which one of these two would be better to part with? I just wanted to make sure that they are both the same before parting with one that could prove useful in future.

Well, from what I can see, your CT4500 lacks the second CD Audio connector, so I would part with that one first. 😀