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If you have to keep one soundcard, which one would it be?

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First post, by Jonas-fr

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Which one of those soundcards from this list you'd keep and why? More than the rarity or the asked price (not that they don't matter) maybe some matters more because they're not well emulated or their chipset haven't been reverse yet (especially for the clones ones)? The only OPL2 of the lot (COVOX Sound Master Plus) is totally unknown for me and this is why I would keep it. What about you?

PCI :
- Aztech PCI288 (Trident 4DWave-NX)
- Ensoniq Audio PCI 3000 A697296 / ARATEC CREATIVE LABS 64 V (Creative ES1370 + AKM AK4531AVQ) - 1997
- Ensoniq (Ensoniq ES1370 AUDIO PCI + AKM AK4531-VQ) - 1997
- (C3DX HSP56 CMI8738)
- ZH201231 (Yamaha XG YMF744B-V)
- Creative SB PCI128 9836

ISA :
- [FCCID:JZ5SC-60G / Voicon System Inc Sound Card SC-60G] (Compumedia ASC-9408A+ Analog Devices AD1846JP Soundport)
- AV305 (Analog Devices AD1846JP Soundport + CREP CMI8328)
- ExpertColor MED3931 v1.0 (OPTI 82C931)
- VER 1.2 (OPTI 82C931)
- [FCCID:IXW-PAS16P] Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum PAS16P K0233018 v1.0 (Yamaha YMF262-M)
- [FCCID:IXW-PAS16] Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 (Yamaha YMF262-M)
- [FCCID:138-SN96116] MM PRO16V-A HP5064-2620 (Aztech AZT2320)
- SOUND 16B SRS 3D (Aztech AZT2320)
- [FCCID:IEW30601211] (Yamaha YMF262-M + Mozart OTI601 + CS4231-KL)
- Guillemot Maxi Sound 64 Home Studio / SC8500 V1.6T (Crystal CS4236-KQ + DREAM SAM9407)
- [FCCID:IPLS32-S23] MAGIC S32/S23 (Yamaha YMF262-M)
- [FCCID:K33IFISP16R20] PCBISP16 (Media Magic + Crystal CS4248-KL)
- Mozart S601410-E (Yamaha YMF262-M + Mozart OTI601 + Crystal CS4231A-KL)
- A-Trend ATC-6631 (Yamaha YMF719E-S)
- [FCCID: E5X1853] (ESS Audiodrive ES1868F)
- [FCCID: GYBDCS8305I] 8305I-SC (ESS Audiodrive ES688FC)
- [FCCID: E5X1855E] (ESS Audiodrive ES1869F)
- [FCCID: CNT75MXZ47] Compaq Premier Sound ES1869 Audio Feature Board - Model X071 (ESS Audiodrive ES1869F)
- COVOX RU469 V1.3 (Yamaha YM3812) - 1991
- Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold CT4390
- Sound Blaster AWE64 CT4380
- Sound Blaster Pro 2 CT1600
- 2x Sound Blaster AWE32 CT3670
- Guillemeot MAXI Sound 64 PnP / SC8600 LITE (ESS ES1868F)
- [FCCID: 138-SN96116] Aztech N270 / HP 5064-2620 (Aztech AZT2320)
- SOUND 16C SRS 3D (Aztech AZT2320)
- Sound Blaster AWE32 CT2760 (Creative CT1747) - 1994
- [FCCID: IBACT-SB32PNP45] Soundblaster 32 PnP CT3670
- [FCCID: LWHA02150] (ES1688F)
- Soundblaster AWE64 Gold CT4390 - 1996
- Sound Blaster AWE32 CT3670
- [FCCID: MSQI-A16C] ASUS A16C / Vibra 16C
- [FCCID: IBACT-SBPRELUDE] Vibra 16C CT2960 - 1995
- SRS 3D Stereo Packard Bell (YMF262-M)
- 2 x [FCCID: LWHA151A00] A151-A00 (YMF719E-S)
- Sound Blaster Vibra 16XV CT4170
- [FCCID: LWHA151A00] A151-A00 (YMF719B-S)
- [FCCID: IXW-JAZZ16] Mediavision Spectrum Rev. A (JAZZ16 MVD1216B)
- Sound Blaster AWE64 CT4500
- Sound Blaster CT4180 (Vibra 16C) - 1997
- [FCCID: MGYPRO16/32PNP+] PRO16/32PNP+ Rev:2 (AvanceLogic ALS100 Plus+)
- [FCCID: MA5ASOUND] Asound Card (Avance Logic ALS100)
- [FCCID: MGYPRO16PNP] PRO16PNP-4 (Avance Logic ALS100)
- SC8500 V1.6 with 4MB SIMM (Dream GMS963200 / Dream SAM9407 / Crystal CS4236-KQ)
- 16bit soundcard (OPTI 82C931)
- [FCCID: IBACT-SB16PROP49] CT2950 - 1995
- [FCCID: I38-MMSN822] (Yamaha YMF262-M)

Last edited by Jonas-fr on 2026-01-04, 12:19. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 1 of 13, by wbahnassi

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SB Pro 2, it's the standard for pre-16-bit audio. Whenever there is doubt about 8-bit or OPL correctness or quality, compare to this. So for me this is definitely a keeper.
I'm not an expert on PCI sound cards.. so I can't comment on which one should be kept.

Turbo XT 12MHz, 8-bit VGA, Dual 360K drives
Intel 386 DX-33, Speedstar 24X, SB 1.5, 1x CD
Intel 486 DX2-66, CL5428 VLB, SBPro 2, 2x CD
Intel Pentium 90, Matrox Millenium 2, SB16, 4x CD
HP Z400, Xeon 3.46GHz, YMF-744, Voodoo3, RTX2080Ti

Reply 2 of 13, by RandomStranger

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The AWE32 CT2760.
A decent middle ground between usability and rarity.

I'm not interested in excessively rare sound cards or chipsets. They can be hard to deal with and iffy with compatibility.

sreq.png retrogamer-s.png

Reply 3 of 13, by maxtherabbit

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I'd keep the awe64 gold. Sure it's got CQM so the FM sounds like shit but it looks cool and MIDI

Reply 4 of 13, by RetroPCCupboard

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I would pick CT3670. Similar to Awe 32, but more easily expandable memory. I think it is bug free and fairly quiet. No genuine OPL3 though.

Probably would pick CT1600 for OPL3 and excellent game compatibility. Though a relatively noisy card.

Reply 5 of 13, by badmojo

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A151-A00 (YMF719E-S)

- WSS
- SB Pro 2
- Real OPL3
- Onboard amp can be disabled
- Can be modded to sound almost exactly like a real SB
- Clean sound
- Bug free MPU401
- Labway cards are well made

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 6 of 13, by DaveDDS

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I'd probably pick SBPRO(2)

Simple to setup/configure

Has worked well with "most everything" (at least for me)

Easy/simple to access in my own code.

Dave ::: https://dunfield.themindfactory.com ::: "Daves Old Computers"->Personal

Reply 7 of 13, by Living

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no live and aureal Vortex? they make damn good 9x and xp cards (provided you use the correct driver)

Reply 8 of 13, by Jonas-fr

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badmojo wrote on 2026-01-03, 03:41:
A151-A00 (YMF719E-S) […]
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A151-A00 (YMF719E-S)

- WSS
- SB Pro 2
- Real OPL3
- Onboard amp can be disabled
- Can be modded to sound almost exactly like a real SB
- Clean sound
- Bug free MPU401
- Labway cards are well made

Interesting, do you have more info on the mods?

Reply 9 of 13, by Jonas-fr

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Living wrote on 2026-01-03, 12:08:

no live and aureal Vortex? they make damn good 9x and xp cards (provided you use the correct driver)

Not on the list I fear, which is more DOS oriented if not for some PCI cards on it.

Reply 10 of 13, by zyga64

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Jonas-fr wrote on 2026-01-03, 19:16:

Interesting, do you have more info on the mods?

Yamaha YMF71x SB Pro Mixer Bug Issue Fix


8088@8 /640k /Genoa CGA /ALS100
286@20 /4M /CL-GD5422 /CMI8330
486DX33 /16M /TGUI9440 /GUS+ALS100+MT32PI
K6-2@400 /64M /MGA-2064W+3dfx /YMF718
P!!!750 /256M /MX440 /Vibra16s+SBLive!
I5 3470s /8G /GTX750Ti /HDA

Reply 11 of 13, by Jonas-fr

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zyga64 wrote on 2026-01-03, 21:46:
Jonas-fr wrote on 2026-01-03, 19:16:

Interesting, do you have more info on the mods?

Yamaha YMF71x SB Pro Mixer Bug Issue Fix

Thanks, so that definitively makes it a nice card to keep on the list with these mods (I believe the first one (SB=1) is just a software mod with a global variable to be put in autoexec.bat?). I'm curious about how it sound on Doom E1M1 (my goto song for comparing soundcards), I'm going to look for a sound sample.

Reply 12 of 13, by badmojo

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Jonas-fr wrote on 2026-01-04, 12:15:

(I believe the first one (SB=1) is just a software mod with a global variable to be put in autoexec.bat?). I'm curious about how it sound on Doom E1M1 (my goto song for comparing soundcards), I'm going to look for a sound sample.

That part isn't a mod, it's just the way you set the card up using the DOS mixer that came with the card. It's worth noting that Unisound doesn't allow this (from what I can tell) so I wouldn't recommend using it with this card.

And the hardware mod simply enables a low pass filter, like the original SB Pro has - this can be turned off again via software, same as the original card.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 13 of 13, by Jonas-fr

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Thanks for the clarification

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