Scali wrote:

Cloudschatze wrote:

That wasn't in reference to the gold plating at all; just the applicable bit about the Gold being marketed as a "high-end audiophile card." As far as the gold-plating is concerned though, it seems like the majority of that hype was generated by lesser-informed newsgroup participants, rather than through any significant mentioning by Creative.

What I meant was that the fact that the card is gold-plated at all.
That alone gives off some sense of 'high-end'/'quality'.

This archive concurs that it was treated as high-end regardless of build quality. It isn't just a sense, but a stated feature of the card as per Creative marketing.

As a teenager I watched this video demo of the Utopia soundfont in RadioShack or Fry's (can't recall where...). I never heard a soundfont before and it blew me away. I wanted one after that...
[edit]
Another note: Finally found out why they called the SB 5.1 Live! the Live! "So Real It Has To Be Live!". I always wondered where that name was derived.
...
Hmm the page for the SB Live 5.1 states "Capable of processing, mixing, and positioning audio streams using up to 131 available hardware channels"...any clue where they came up with that number? I could have swore it only had 32 available.

ZanQuance wrote:

This archive concurs that it was treated as high-end regardless of build quality. It isn't just a sense, but a stated feature of the card as per Creative marketing.

Ah yes, thank you! They make all these claims about audio fidelity and high-quality components. Once you hear that card, compared to something like a GUS, you know those are hollow claims.

carlostex wrote:

If you check my earliest videos you'll notice i'm playing a different guitar, its an Ibanez RG-507.

Ah yea, my second guitar was an Ibanez RG570CT. I use it in a few of my videos as well, such as this one. Still one of my favourite guitars.

In your video it seems you are playing an Ibanez S model. I liked the S models when i tried one, very light, very little string resistance and extremely easy to play with a very fast neck as well.

Yes, mine is an S7320, so a 7-string. It's actually quite heavy, partly because of the cheap grade mahogany they use, and partly because of that huge tremolo system they put on there 😀
Another 7-string I have is an Epiphone Les Paul 7. I really like that one, if only because of the 'wtf-factor' when you pull it out of the case 😀

carlostex wrote:

You should check Guthrie Govan as well. The guy is so good that is actually ridiculous.

Yup, Govan has actually been a big inspiration to me in recent years, when I try to cross over more into fusion/jazz territory.
My original inspiration for that was Steve Lukather, like what he does in the outro of Rosanna, or the solo in Animal.

Well done on your tapping licks on Tyrian btw!! 😎

Thanks!

ZanQuance wrote:

This archive concurs that it was treated as high-end regardless of build quality. It isn't just a sense, but a stated feature of the card as per Creative marketing.

There isn't any disagreement on this point, just in case it appears otherwise. All of Creative's marketing descriptions of the AWE64 Gold include specific verbiage about it being of "professional quality," with one particular statement even boldly declaring that, "The AWE64 Gold analog electronics have been carefully designed and tested to produce the highest level of audio quality achievable while maintaining full Sound Blaster compatibility within the PC environment."

Based on first-hand experience, I think everyone is in agreement that the analog output is far from professional quality.

carlostex wrote:

Shameless propaganda but here's some videos of me playing. If someone is interested.... 🤣

Scali wrote:

To stay somewhat on-topic with game music, here's a video of me playing along to a Tyrian track.

I think it's probably fair to say that my playing style isn't exactly exciting in comparison... 🤣

Some purchasing decision making process from back in the day...

The Internet wasn't around yet, so the main source of information was PC magazines. I believe PowerPlay and PC Player (that's where the PC Player Benchmark comes from). After getting burnt when trying to save some money, and getting "compatible gear" in the form of a SPEA V7 Media FX, I got myself a stock standard SB 16. Everything worked. When the AWE cards came out, I remember listening to what the magazines said, and they all advised to keep the SB16 and invest in a Sound Canvas instead. So I did, and that combo lasted me all the way into the Windows 98 era / Voodoo 2. It was only until "recently" that I got AWE cards. To the average gamer they offered little, and a SB16 + SC wavetable board was the way to go.

Looking back at the PC speakers, me and my friends had, I doubt anyone would have noticed a difference in noise 🤣

Now we have better gear, and a card like the Yamaha Audician 32 Plus is much better for listening to OPL3. But that card has other, small "uniqueness" that you just don't get with a Creative card, they "just work".

Some more interesting stuff. With my YT videos, the AWE64 Gold Doom soundtrack, is a measly 18 views ahead of the GUS version. But both are more than 5x behind the SC-55 version 😊