I recently compared ESFM vs. generic OPL3 in Siedler 2 (Settlers 2) and it seems to me that it supports ESFM because it sounds more brilliant and superior to my ears.

https://youtu.be/Bpk3vkreSsA

I'm also interested to know other games with ESFM support for more comparisons!

pc-sound-legacy wrote on 2021-01-17, 23:23:

I recently compared ESFM vs. generic OPL3 in Siedler 2 (Settlers 2) and it seems to me that it supports ESFM because it sounds more brilliant and superior to my ears.

https://youtu.be/Bpk3vkreSsA

I'm also interested to know other games with ESFM support for more comparisons!

i've been loving the uploads lately, keep them coming 😀

pc-sound-legacy wrote on 2021-01-17, 23:23:

I'm also interested to know other games with ESFM support for more comparisons!

Some late-era DOS games which use the Miles Sound System have "ESS Technology ES688 FM Audio" as a music setup option. I know that WarCraft 2 as well as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 support this, but there are probably even more games that do.

Note that there is also a separate "ESS Technology ES1688, 1788, 1888 Enhanced FM Audio" option which differs quite a bit from the ESS688 option. From my experience, implementation varies from game to game. It sounds ok in Heroes2 but kinda bad in WarCraft2, at least on my 1868F card. I'll see if I can make some recordings later today.

I have also tested it with Warcraft 2 and with many ESS Audiodrives all the way to 1869. And there are like some sounds missing, or the implementation is broken.

PS. My favourite meat and potatoes sound card.

Tracks recorded and uploaded. I also added an OPL3 version for comparison purposes. Hardware used: Yamaha YMF724F-V for OPL3; ESS AudioDrive ES1868F for ESFM and ESFM Enhanced. Game versions used: Heroes of Might and Magic 2 + Price of Loyalty expansion pack + patch 2.1; WarCraft 2 + Beyond the Dark Portal expansion pack + patch 1.50. Everything was recorded in-game, not from setup menus or by playing MIDI files externally. Operating system used: DOS 6.22.

• Heroes2 OPL3
• Heroes2 ESFM
• Heroes2 ESFM Enhanced
• WarCraft2 OPL3
• WarCraft2 ESFM
• WarCraft2 ESFM Enhanced

I was very impressed with how nice ESFM Enhanced sounded in Heroes2. You can really tell how big the difference is around 0:30 of that track. There seem to be a lot more instruments in the ESFM Enhanced version. On the other hand, WarCraft2 sounds broken on ESFM Enhanced. Possibly a developer oversight since digital sound is also broken when using the ESS AudioDrive option.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-01-18, 06:51:

pc-sound-legacy wrote on 2021-01-17, 23:23:

I'm also interested to know other games with ESFM support for more comparisons!

Some late-era DOS games which use the Miles Sound System have "ESS Technology ES688 FM Audio" as a music setup option. I know that WarCraft 2 as well as Heroes of Might and Magic 2 support this, but there are probably even more games that do.

Note that there is also a separate "ESS Technology ES1688, 1788, 1888 Enhanced FM Audio" option which differs quite a bit from the ESS688 option. From my experience, implementation varies from game to game. It sounds ok in Heroes2 but kinda bad in WarCraft2, at least on my 1868F card. I'll see if I can make some recordings later today.

I think that's logical that ES688 is separated as it actually has no built in FM synthesizer and it relies on an external one. And it may vary from Yamaha chips to different clones.

Bondi wrote on 2021-01-18, 11:27:

I think that's logical that ES688 is separated as it actually has no built in FM synthesizer and it relies on an external one. And it may vary from Yamaha chips to different clones.

Good point.

It also appears than the ES688 music option is a sort of "catch all" for ESS cards, at least judging by the description. Not sure if there are any differences when using that instead of "SB Pro" or "Generic OPL3" for music with an ESS card. Doesn't seem like it at first glance, but I haven't done any extensive testing.

Man, that "enhanced" Warcraft... Let's make it regular one, ok? 😁

Srandista wrote on 2021-01-18, 15:06:

Man, that "enhanced" Warcraft... Let's make it regular one, ok? 😁

I wonder if Blizzard did any QA testing on ESS cards for that game.

Digital sound in AudioDrive mode is extremely muffled and distorted, but thankfully it works fine in SBPro mode. And as you can hear, ESFM Enhanced sounds like they are pushing music intended for a completely different sound device to the ESS card.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-01-18, 12:40:

Bondi wrote on 2021-01-18, 11:27:

I think that's logical that ES688 is separated as it actually has no built in FM synthesizer and it relies on an external one. And it may vary from Yamaha chips to different clones.

Good point.

It also appears than the ES688 music option is a sort of "catch all" for ESS cards, at least judging by the description. Not sure if there are any differences when using that instead of "SB Pro" or "Generic OPL3" for music with an ESS card. Doesn't seem like it at first glance, but I haven't done any extensive testing.

That's correct. ESFM Starts with the ES1688. Earlier models like the ES688 does not feature ESFM. These external FMs are original Yamaha OPL3 or 100% clones like the LS212.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-01-18, 10:30:

Tracks recorded and uploaded. I also added an OPL3 version for comparison purposes. Hardware used: Yamaha YMF724F-V for OPL3; ES […]
Show full quote

Tracks recorded and uploaded. I also added an OPL3 version for comparison purposes. Hardware used: Yamaha YMF724F-V for OPL3; ESS AudioDrive ES1868F for ESFM and ESFM Enhanced. Game versions used: Heroes of Might and Magic 2 + Price of Loyalty expansion pack + patch 2.1; WarCraft 2 + Beyond the Dark Portal expansion pack + patch 1.50. Everything was recorded in-game, not from setup menus or by playing MIDI files externally. Operating system used: DOS 6.22.

• Heroes2 OPL3
• Heroes2 ESFM
• Heroes2 ESFM Enhanced
• WarCraft2 OPL3
• WarCraft2 ESFM
• WarCraft2 ESFM Enhanced

I was very impressed with how nice ESFM Enhanced sounded in Heroes2. You can really tell how big the difference is around 0:30 of that track. There seem to be a lot more instruments in the ESFM Enhanced version. On the other hand, WarCraft2 sounds broken on ESFM Enhanced. Possibly a developer oversight since digital sound is also broken when using the ESS AudioDrive option.

Very nice, thank you for the records! Enhanced ESFM sounds great in comparison.

some specs

pc-sound-legacy wrote on 2021-01-18, 20:42:

Very nice, thank you for the records! Enhanced ESFM sounds great in comparison.

Cheers! If you want to check which other titles might support it, here's a list of games which use the Miles Sound System:

https://www.mobygames.com/game-group/sound-en … offset,0/so,1a/

I'm not sure when the ESS 1688 card first came out, but some versions of its datasheet have 03/95 listed as the publication date, so it's probably a good idea to start with games that came out in 1995 and later.

pc-sound-legacy wrote on 2021-01-17, 23:23:

I recently compared ESFM vs. generic OPL3 in Siedler 2 (Settlers 2) and it seems to me that it supports ESFM because it sounds more brilliant and superior to my ears.

https://youtu.be/Bpk3vkreSsA

I'm also interested to know other games with ESFM support for more comparisons!

Descent and Screamer do.

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-19, 08:25:

Descent and Screamer do.

Descent does support ESS688 for digital sound, but it has no native ESFM support for music. At least not in version 1.4 that I'm using.

ESFM was late to the game, so no real support, everybody was moving to full digital(software based MOD) and CD audio, so all those Roland and Gravis stuff was getting obsolete after like 95. Lets be honest even the OPL3 was under utilized by game industry, it was mainly used as a stereo OPL2. Hey even Warcraft 2 had CD audio option, so no need for OPL/GM or anything like that. But yes I think that ESFM would have made General Midi devices run for their money.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2021-01-19, 08:39:

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-19, 08:25:

Descent and Screamer do.

Descent does support ESS688 for digital sound, but it has no native ESFM support for music. At least not in version 1.4 that I'm using.

My memory failed I guess.

I vaguely remember Tomb Raider 1 also having an ESS option?

appiah4 wrote on 2021-01-19, 09:40:

My memory failed I guess.

I vaguely remember Tomb Raider 1 also having an ESS option?

Yup, many games support ESS cards for digital sound, including Tomb Raider.

However, only a few games seem to natively support Enhanced ESFM for music. We're trying to figure out which ones do it properly and which ones butchered the implementation like WarCraft 2.

Have you tried a newer ESFM.MDI driver? Maybe that will fix the music.