that's not a gold, it's a value

the gold has 4MB onboard soundfont memory and that one only has 512kB, that's basically the only difference other than the output jacks

maxtherabbit wrote:

that's not a gold, it's a value

the gold has 4MB onboard soundfont memory and that one only has 512kB, that's basically the only difference other than the output jacks

The box maybe for the Value version..not sure why it doesn't say it, but the card he shows in his other pictures is indeed the gold version.
I mean the card itself seams to be in perfect condition.

Then the statement "The shrink wrap was opened only for the signature on the end of the box" is not correct. Personally, I would not buy it, since it seems a made-up story.

derSammler wrote:

Then the statement "The shrink wrap was opened only for the signature on the end of the box" is not correct. Personally, I would not buy it, since it seems a made-up story.

Yea, personally im only interested in the card itself. The cheapest one is from China and has sean better days which tells me to give it a pass.
the rest range from £120-£250 all with no box no extras but the card on its own. This guy is asking £152 and is the best looking one i have found...
Wish i could have found one with the extra bracket but those go for £200+ which i don't think is worth it anyway.

The prices on these has skyrocketed in the past year or two.

I have a 4390 I got who knows how long ago. Pretty sure it was in a system that was given to me. Then I bought a 4540 for I think $54 a year or so ago.

There are other places besides eBay to look for stuff like this.

In fact, just today I saw a 4390 on eBay for $60.

Just keep an eye out. Looking at past sales, in the past 2 months there have been multiple that have gone for around $50.

cyclone3d wrote:

The prices on these has skyrocketed in the past year or two. […]
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The prices on these has skyrocketed in the past year or two.

I have a 4390 I got who knows how long ago. Pretty sure it was in a system that was given to me. Then I bought a 4540 for I think $54 a year or so ago.

There are other places besides eBay to look for stuff like this.

In fact, just today I saw a 4390 on eBay for $60.

Just keep an eye out. Looking at past sales, in the past 2 months there have been multiple that have gone for around $50.

You know that is the werid thing, I have been looking on ebay for these card for half a year and never saw any listings for under £100..yet in the "completed listings" i see ones sold for way less even boxed.
I dno where people are posting them but I don't find them 🙁
I have looked outside of Ebay but I can't seam to find much difference in price or good condition. Did find a site that was selling one for £150 that came with the SPDIF bracket but tbh id raher pay that kind of money for something that comes in a box or something 🙁

Yep, this would be paying over the odds, and that backstory stinks.

But maybe to backtrack a little...

I am in need of an ISA sound card and of course the one most people tell you to go for is the AWE64 Gold.

Totally depends on what kind of system you have and what you want to do with it. The AWE64 Gold has quite a few big pros, but also some cons.

Pro:
- some of the best SNR on analog out of an ISA card
- digital out for all the stuff the card can do
- EMU8k with 4MB of RAM for AWE and MIDI
- Full SB16 compatbility

Con:
- CQM for FM synth, not real OPL3
- MIDI slowdowns
- AWE GM MIDI isn't great
- only 4MB RAM, upgrades are expensive
- no wavetable header
- no full SBPro2 compatibility
- PnP, with CTCM/CTCU that doesn't like DOS 7 (although there are workarounds)

I have one (which cost me a lot less than these prices, and that was only 6 months ago or so) and it's certainly one of my nicer cards, but by no means my best and I'd say it's a fairly poor choice as a single card in a generic 'play everything' system. I'd sooner go for something with real OPL3, SBPro2 support (with WSS for 16b sound) and no nasty MIDI bugs - or pair it with such a card (Aztech 23xx or Yamaha YMF71x immediately come to mind). If you don't need the digital output, you could go for a (usually cheaper) SB32 CT3670 instead of the AWE64 Gold, which is basically the same chips with no onboard RAM but two bog-standard 30p SIMM slots instead.

dionb wrote:

Yep, this would be paying over the odds, and that backstory stinks. […]
Show full quote

Yep, this would be paying over the odds, and that backstory stinks.

But maybe to backtrack a little...

I am in need of an ISA sound card and of course the one most people tell you to go for is the AWE64 Gold.

Totally depends on what kind of system you have and what you want to do with it. The AWE64 Gold has quite a few big pros, but also some cons.

Pro:
- some of the best SNR on analog out of an ISA card
- digital out for all the stuff the card can do
- EMU8k with 4MB of RAM for AWE and MIDI
- Full SB16 compatbility

Con:
- CQM for FM synth, not real OPL3
- MIDI slowdowns
- AWE GM MIDI isn't great
- only 4MB RAM, upgrades are expensive
- no wavetable header
- no full SBPro2 compatibility
- PnP, with CTCM/CTCU that doesn't like DOS 7 (although there are workarounds)

I have one (which cost me a lot less than these prices, and that was only 6 months ago or so) and it's certainly one of my nicer cards, but by no means my best and I'd say it's a fairly poor choice as a single card in a generic 'play everything' system. I'd sooner go for something with real OPL3, SBPro2 support (with WSS for 16b sound) and no nasty MIDI bugs - or pair it with such a card (Aztech 23xx or Yamaha YMF71x immediately come to mind).

Well right now my retro PC is
PIII 500mhz
512 mb Ram
Voodoo 5 5500
flopp + Zip 750mb Drive 🤣

I also have the Roland MPU-401 fully boxed (missing ISA Card for now) So i plan on getting an MT32 and robably an SC-55Mk2
Bouncing between DOS and windows games.

Auron359 wrote:

[...] […]
Show full quote

[...]

Well right now my retro PC is
PIII 500mhz
512 mb Ram
Voodoo 5 5500
flopp + Zip 750mb Drive 🤣

I also have the Roland MPU-401 fully boxed (missing ISA Card for now) So i plan on getting an MT32 and robably an SC-55Mk2
Bouncing between DOS and windows games.

Nice system!

Be aware that a lot of MT-32 games are speed-sensitive, so you'll have to slow the system down to play them. With games that old you really want old SB and good AdLib support, so I'd say my Aztech/Yamaha suggestion still stands. Then again, late DOS or Windows could use the AWE nicely... there's nothing stopping you running multiple sound cards, apart from time, budget and number of ISA slots.

As for the card for the MPU-401: https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-mif-ipc-b/

dionb wrote:

Nice system! […]
Show full quote

Auron359 wrote:

[...] […]
Show full quote

[...]

Well right now my retro PC is
PIII 500mhz
512 mb Ram
Voodoo 5 5500
flopp + Zip 750mb Drive 🤣

I also have the Roland MPU-401 fully boxed (missing ISA Card for now) So i plan on getting an MT32 and robably an SC-55Mk2
Bouncing between DOS and windows games.

Nice system!

Be aware that a lot of MT-32 games are speed-sensitive, so you'll have to slow the system down to play them. With games that old you really want old SB and good AdLib support, so I'd say my Aztech/Yamaha suggestion still stands. Then again, late DOS or Windows could use the AWE nicely... there's nothing stopping you running multiple sound cards, apart from time, budget and number of ISA slots.

As for the card for the MPU-401: https://texelec.com/product/lo-tech-mif-ipc-b/

Very true, im rather new to retro hardware, got into it watching youtube Druaga1 build his untimate DOS machine and windows 98 PC.
My motherboard only has 2 ISA slots and one will be used by that MIF IPB card.

As for games my main focus is on Sierra games like Quest for glory and kings quest. Cant forget DOOM and Duke Nukem

What is the brand/model of your motherboard? Does it have a PC-PCI / SB-Link header? Either way, you could look at a PCI soundcard such as a Yamaha YMF724 / 744 / 754 based card for most of your needs.

cyclone3d wrote:

What is the brand/model of your motherboard? Does it have a PC-PCI / SB-Link header? Either way, you could look at a PCI soundcard such as a Yamaha YMF724 / 744 / 754 based card for most of your needs.

Its an Asus P3B-F version 1.04

There is the place to install the header in between PCI slots 3 and 4. Even without it, you can use a Yamaha PCI card with ddma. That will get you pretty good DOS support. You get Sound Blaster Pro support and real OPL3. In Windows you also get a nice wavetable setup as well.

You can use SoftMPU to get the intelligent mode for the midi interface to get you full support for the mt-32.