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Thread: what sound card do you use in your old pc?

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    Pear (Level 6) Soviet Conscript's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    Even if it is only for a few games, the design means it isn't a drain on system resources (ie, it's not taking up an ISA slot, or hogging an IRQ), so it's easier to justify.

    I notice a lot of games have an option for "General MIDI"... is that something best done through an MT-32? Or would that sound exactly the same coming out of an AWE32?

    --Zero
    i wouldn't quote me on this but i beleive GM midi and roland mt-32 are two diffrent midi standards. i don't think a mt-32 can do general midi well (or at all) and you would need something like a Roland SC-55 to do general midi, though i'm pretty sure the sc-55 can emulate mt-32

    here, i found this thread about this very topic here when i was trying to figure all this out. http://www.gamehourz.com/Roland-soun...ict232728.html

    Quote Originally Posted by phreakindee View Post
    For a side-by-side comparison of how most of the best sound cards sound, you can check out my short video here. It compares Secret of Monkey Island themes on the sound devices it was ported to.

    Evolution of PC Audio as told by Monkey Island
    neat link. i still like the sound from the MT-32 best
    Last edited by Soviet Conscript; 01-20-2010 at 08:40 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ryaan1234 View Post
    I'm hoping that eventually someone will invent a sort of ISA adapter for new computers that works maybe USB/PCI, or something like that.
    Sure, you can get a ISA to USB adapter right now. My understanding is that actually persuading ISA-era software to use it is a much, much more difficult matter.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Soviet Conscript View Post
    here, i found this thread about this very topic here when i was trying to figure all this out. http://www.gamehourz.com/Roland-soun...ict232728.html
    Wow, thanks for the link... that answered a ton of questions I was just about to ask (namely, what the difference was between all the different Roland devices out there). However, the ultimate conclusion that you need a Sound Blaster and two Roland devices attached is a bit more unwieldy than I plan to go... Seems to me that an AWE32 or GUS would do General MIDI well enough to cut at least one of those Roland units out of the picture...

    Also, I had no idea that the Sound Blaster Live had an SB16 emulation mode... My DOS machine lacks PCI ports, so this wouldn't work for me (unfortunate, since I have two SB Live's sitting around collecting dust)... but is anyone actually using one for this purpose?

    --Zero
    Last edited by Ze_ro; 01-21-2010 at 01:54 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    Also, I had no idea that the Sound Blaster Live had an SB16 emulation mode... My DOS machine lacks PCI ports, so this wouldn't work for me (unfortunate, since I have two SB Live's sitting around collecting dust)... but is anyone actually using one for this purpose?
    As the driver requires an expanded memory driver to be loaded, it is not suitable for everything.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    Wow, thanks for the link... that answered a ton of questions I was just about to ask (namely, what the difference was between all the different Roland devices out there). However, the ultimate conclusion that you need a Sound Blaster and two Roland devices attached is a bit more unwieldy than I plan to go... Seems to me that an AWE32 or GUS would do General MIDI well enough to cut at least one of those Roland units out of the picture...

    --Zero
    yhea, i'm not thrilled about that prospect either.

    i've been useing an awe32 and it sems to work well enough. i've mostly been playing menzoberranzan lately which supports the awe32 and it sounds pretty good, better then my sb16 sounded (at least from what i remember). there does seem to be an issue with the digital voices. when you talk to a major NPC they have voice actong for the text. usully it only gets through a sentence or two then cuts off. origionally i thought this was just a space limitation but alot of the time it cuts off mid sentence or mid word which makes me wonder.

    when i eventually get a mt-32 i'll probibly go back to the SB16 if only for the fact that the awe32 (from all i read) has a very hard time linking up with the mt-32, you need special buggy drivers and what not since creative labs went with some diffrent configuration for the awe32's midi input.

    i'm not completely sure you can daisy chain a SB - mt32 - SC55. which means haveing to use up anouther ISA slot and possibly more convetional mem

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    Kirby (Level 13) Push Upstairs's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    Also, I had no idea that the Sound Blaster Live had an SB16 emulation mode... My DOS machine lacks PCI ports, so this wouldn't work for me (unfortunate, since I have two SB Live's sitting around collecting dust)... but is anyone actually using one for this purpose?

    --Zero
    That is part of the reason why I picked up a SB Live! for my Win98 computer. If I had to run games in pure DOS, I'd still get SB-16 support.

    And my Win98 machine has an open ISA port, but I have no idea what I can use it for. I got sound and video...what else really is there?

    Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!

    You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz



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    Quote Originally Posted by Push Upstairs View Post
    That is part of the reason why I picked up a SB Live! for my Win98 computer. If I had to run games in pure DOS, I'd still get SB-16 support.

    And my Win98 machine has an open ISA port, but I have no idea what I can use it for. I got sound and video...what else really is there?
    You can get an AWE32 or AWE64, and then brag on forums about how you can get sound in DOS games that won't tolerate expanded memory drivers. I guess.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    How about something actually useful? Or was ISA's best use used for sound cards?

    I'm rather happy with the SB Live! card. I should be, I spent a good amount of time researching the perfect one for my needs along with waiting for one to pop up on ebay.

    Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!

    You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz



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    Quote Originally Posted by Push Upstairs View Post
    How about something actually useful?
    If it already does everything you need, what use could something else be?

    I'm rather happy with the SB Live! card. I should be, I spent a good amount of time researching the perfect one for my needs along with waiting for one to pop up on ebay.
    I wasn't aware there was significant differences between them.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    From what I recall the SB16 emulation on the Live! was all software, so you'll take a hit on older games. Get the AWE32 already.
    <Sothy> its the internet <Sothy> who cares

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    This is a classic gaming site and the most active thread is a load of people wanking off to my little pony.

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    Quote Originally Posted by skaar View Post
    From what I recall the SB16 emulation on the Live! was all software, so you'll take a hit on older games.
    What is that supposed to mean? The computer is probably hugely overpowered for anything that would require an SB16 in DOS! And how can a piece of hardware do emulation that's "all software" ?!
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Push Upstairs View Post
    How about something actually useful? Or was ISA's best use used for sound cards?
    ISA was used for EVERYTHING back then. Video cards, sound cards, network cards, modems, you name it. Hell, I think there was even a time when PC's would use the ISA bus for memory expansion... but that would have been before my time. A lot of that stuff is just built into the motherboard these days and we take it for granted, but I remember a time when I had to have a card for a floppy drive interface, another for a hard drive, and another just for serial and parallel ports. Back in those days, the fact that the SoundBlaster cards had a game port on them was a big selling point, because then you didn't need to use another ISA slot for a game port card!

    One of the ISA slots in my DOS machine is being used for a special card that hooks to a separate box for reading Atari Portfolio memory cards. I also have a pair of ISA cards that hook to PCMCIA brakets that can mount in a 3.5" drive bay (Though I don't currently have them installed, since the cables between them are horrendous).

    --Zero
    Last edited by Ze_ro; 01-23-2010 at 11:49 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jorpho View Post
    The computer is probably hugely overpowered for anything that would require an SB16 in DOS!
    It is indeed overpowered for any "old" DOS games. I'm sure the 384MB of RAM would seem like a bottomless well to most "old" DOS games.

    I think It would be cool to get a SB Live Drive to go with my sound card.

    Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!

    You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz



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    Quote Originally Posted by Ze_ro View Post
    ISA was used for EVERYTHING back then. Video cards, sound cards, network cards, modems, you name it. Hell, I think there was even a time when PC's would use the ISA bus for memory expansion... but that would have been before my time. A lot of that stuff is just built into the motherboard these days and we take it for granted, but I remember a time when I had to have a card for a floppy drive interface, another for a hard drive, and another just for serial and parallel ports. Back in those days, the fact that the SoundBlaster cards had a game port on them was a big selling point, because then you didn't need to use another ISA slot for a game port card!

    One of the ISA slots in my DOS machine is being used for a special card that hooks to a separate box for reading Atari Portfolio memory cards. I also have a pair of ISA cards that hook to PCMCIA brakets that can mount in a 3.5" drive bay (Though I don't currently have them installed, since the cables between them are horrendous).

    --Zero
    yhea...i'm learning about this the hard way with my little 486 pc project. those old motherboards have nothing built in, lucky to not have to do RAM via the ISA.

    i have found that DOS on a newer PC tends to run happly with things such as built in floppy/hd controllers as well as video cards running through PCI and others, BUT it does seem DOS gets a bit picky for sound and tends to give the least trouble with the ISA sound cards. IMHO

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    I don't remember much of the 486 I used way back when, but I don't remember ever having too much trouble having sound in DOS. It was an IBM Aptiva computer and I think it had a SB-16 in it.

    The 333 we had didn't seem to have any DOS sound problems, but this was a later computer.

    Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Push Upstairs View Post
    That is part of the reason why I picked up a SB Live! for my Win98 computer. If I had to run games in pure DOS, I'd still get SB-16 support.

    And my Win98 machine has an open ISA port, but I have no idea what I can use it for. I got sound and video...what else really is there?
    you don't happen to remember where you got the drivers for it did you? i've had no luck getting my SB live! 5.1 card to run under win98SE. the drivers for it arn't on the win cd like the awe32/64 are and any drivers i DL from the internet that claim to be for SB live! win9X fail to install or work.

    so right now i'm useing an AWE64 in my win98 machine. not a bad card but still....

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    Quote Originally Posted by Soviet Conscript View Post
    you don't happen to remember where you got the drivers for it did you? i've had no luck getting my SB live! 5.1 card to run under win98SE. the drivers for it arn't on the win cd like the awe32/64 are and any drivers i DL from the internet that claim to be for SB live! win9X fail to install or work.
    I had a hard time finding those too. It seems there's just no substitute for an original driver CD.

    Have you tried http://www.megaupload.com/?d=9FHXIOWI ? It was posted at http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=23018 . No, wait, that's not for 5.1 - never mind.

    I'm pretty sure I saw something appropriate on the VOGONS board once, or at least a link to some Creative forum. Maybe it was http://www.filefront.com/user/creativeiso, posted at http://forums.creative.com/t5/Sound-...-1/td-p/545254 ?
    Last edited by J'orfeaux; 02-13-2010 at 01:14 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Soviet Conscript View Post
    you don't happen to remember where you got the drivers for it did you?
    Oddly enough, Creative still had some.

    But mine isn't a 5.1, it was a Live! X-Gamer. If you know the Model # (either CT#### or SB####) then you (generally) have a good chance finding stuff.

    Possibility is infinity! You must be satisfied!

    You just can't handle my jawusumness responces. -The Sizz



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    well, finally have a mt-32 on the way to get some great sound out of those games. so before it gets here can anyone tell me what all i'm going to need to get this thing running with my dos pc? i have a SB16 installed in the pc so will all i have to do is connect the mt-32 to the joystick port with a midi - joystick adaptor cable and i'll be ready to go? will i need to download any drivers or diffrent patchs?

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    This is an external device, right? I suspect you're going to have to plug it into your audio mixer one way or another, or perhaps the Line In port on your sound card.

    Not sure about drivers or patches.
    "There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." --Bertrand Russel (attributed)

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