HandOfFate wrote on 2020-08-28, 23:14:
To get music at all I have to select General MIDI (at 330h) instead of "Sound Blaster" like normal, in DOS. But the music sounds completely different then, wrong even. In Doom E1M1's music instruments are missing even.
I think two things are happening here:
1. you are using WDM drivers which often don't provide FM synthesis in games launched under the Win9x DOS prompt. This is why selecting "Sound Blaster" for music in Doom setup doesn't work under Windows, but selecting "General MIDI" does
2. by selecting General MIDI in Doom setup, you have activated either the Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth or the ESS FM Synthesizer, depending on what's chosen as the preferred device in the Windows Control Panel. Both of the aforementioned options will sound different than FM synth
For comparison, check this video starting at 7:35 to hear how Doom sounds using the ESS FM Synthesizer as a General MIDI device under Windows. And here is how Doom sounds using Microsoft GS Wavetable SW Synth. Lastly, over here you can listen to how an ESS card sounds using FM synth (Sound Blaster music option) under pure DOS.