zatara wrote on 2021-08-05, 13:05:I'm in the process of building a p54c era machine and due to local and money restraints these are the only boards I could buy: […]
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I'm in the process of building a p54c era machine and due to local and money restraints these are the only boards I could buy:
·A SB32 CT3600, already with two memory modules, although the seller does not specify how many megs (I'm guessing worst case scenario would be two 1meg modules?).
·An AWE64 value CT4500
What I'm looking for: Decent DOS games compatibility, AWE32 support on games, low noise, maybe mt32 emulation.
A few questions tho:
1 - Does the SB32 really support the MT32 compatible games?
2 - Are both on par with 16-bit 44.1khz playback?
3 - Being an Vibra-ish SB does this specific SB32 model (or ANY SB32 model) support chorus and reverb?
Worst case on an SB32 CT3600 is two 256k modules. As the CT3600 doesn't come with onboard RAM, even 2*256KB makes sense on that card.
The SB32 hardware does not support either GM or MT32 games. But the SB32 assists a software emulator that can emulate MT32 or GM or even GS. This software emulator is part of the SB32 drivers, and it is called AWEUTIL. The support of MT32 games is basic. That means: The SB32 can play back the default instruments of the MT32.
The real MT32 can do more than just play back its default MIDI instruments: You can redefine how the MIDI instruments are mapped to the internal waveforms stored in the MT32, and create new custom sounds by remixing the waveforms. The SB32 doesn't contain the base waveforms of the MT32, it only contains wavetable samples that imitate the sound of the default instruments. Any custom instrument setup will be ignored by AWEUTIL, and games making use of custom instrument parameters will sound strange or aweful on the SB32.
The SB32 and the AWE64 are on par with digital sound playback and recording. This part of the card is (nearly) unchanged since the later SB16 revisions.
Every SB32 supports chorus and reverb on music synthesized by the AWE wavetable synthesizer chip (the EMU8000). Some SB AWE32 versions route the OPL3 (emulated) FM synthesized sound also through the EMU8000, and those AWE32 versions do also support chorus and reverb on FM-type music. The CT3600 does not support applying chorus and reverb to FM music. The CT4500 most likely does, but I couldn't find a definitive source for that claim.