some things to bear in mind about that: you can only install the yamaha drivers from windows, but you can only use the soundcard from dos (as far as i can tell). essentially this means running windows 9x and booting in dos mode, but you might be able to copy across the drivers manually to an installation of DOS
i also do not get sampled sound out of it in any DOS sample trackers with it.
the plus side is that the OPL sound is fantastic and works. but maybe it is a little more hassle than it is worth. i only chose this because my spare pc had pci slots. i am happy enough for fm tracking (just use dosbox now though) with it
I have one of these, and I can't get the FM to work at all because the PC I put it in doesn't have the PC/PCI link header…
So my Sound Blaster 16 arrived, but it ended up being a CT2740 instead of the CT1740 I ordered. Is anyone aware of any difference in sound quality between these two? Should I get another?
So my Sound Blaster 16 arrived, but it ended up being a CT2740 instead of the CT1740 I ordered. Is anyone aware of any difference in sound quality between these two? Should I get another?
You should be ok... the 27xx can still grouped up with the 17xx series. May just have different configurations in terms of scsi, cd-rom etc.... the sound qualities should be the same.
Just remembered about this zip file I made a little while ago, so I updated the main page:
Here is a tiny album I made containing some useful Adlib Tracker II stuff. It includes 34 instruments I created and 2 songs demonstrating them.
The zip file contains:
-All the instruments in one file ("O2INST.a2m") -Individual Instrument folder (Adlib Tracker instrument format) -2 songs demonstrating the instruments provided in Adlib Tracker song format and mp3 format
Hey guys so i found a nice sound comparison for the OPL3 soundblaster 16.
make sure to listen to with a decent set of headphones or speakers.
So here is the word. The first card is using the sound blaster awe 32 which didnt have an opl3 chip and was more of an add on. The sound is noticably thin thought it has a clean signal.
The next card is the original soundblaster 16 with the opl3 chip that isnt combined with another to save money like the latter Vibra versions. The bass and clarity is fantastic. Models that fall into this category are:
The easiest way to tell if you are buying a good sound blaster 16 card is to check the size. the original SB16 is huge compared to the vibra models do to cutting down on production costs. Also you should be able to find the opl3 chip on a original SB16. The Vibra doesnt have this original chip that you can see out in the open.
from what i understand the awe32 had some models with opl3 but most just emulated the sounds via Vibra chips/whatever else. From what i gather the sound is thin but clear. based off of the other soundblaster 16s with vibra chips that would make sense compared to the real opl3. The awe 32 basically was a soundblaster 16 with extra stuff with additional support for midi synthesis and waveguide synthesis if i remember correctly.
anyways there was a value version released and a really budget one that went as the Sound Blaster 32. i am going to assume those used the vibra chips. i think the original used opl3. if you look at pictures of the early boards you can see that they clearly do have a real opl3 soldered on at the bottom middle (isa contacts facing down). the later ones some have a huge vibra chip smack dab in the middle and others just dont have it. best way i can think of to judge is just looking at the board its self.
I have been looking at pictures of different models to look for the opl chip. i can say that CT3900 CT2760 CT3780 deff have it
cards i know that dont have a real opl CT3990 CT3600
the cards that go by sound blaster 32 models are listed below:
But most of the ones i have looked at that dont have the opl as far as i can tell look like this:
The awe 64 just added more polyphony i think. truthfully i dont know too much about it other then it was smaller then the awe 32 and it was supposed to have a less noisy sound then the 32 though the 32 was supposed to be pretty quiet to begin with. From what can recal there is no opl3 on those. the emulate the sounds. they came in 2 flavors i think. the gold and the normal vesion. the gold was supposed to sound better.
Thats about all i got. I am having issues findimg images of some of the models for the awe 32 so there is no way for me to check the rest. blaaaaaaaahhh sigh*
great great topic!!! I've recently got a ymf724 pci-soundcard but I haven't got success with the drivers on Windows XP, I think I should install Windows 98 or DOS to make use of the legacy drivers.
But my major curiosity: Anyone could play OPL3 sounds through a Midi Keyboard?
