The nature of FM Synthesis sound is based on sine waves. Sine waves create sound by oscillating at a certain frequency and amplitude. So a sine wave oscillating at a frequency of 440Hz (the pitch) would sound like an A note (A4) hit above the middle C (C4) on the 4th octave of a full 88-key keyboard. But a sine wave in and of itself is not very interesting musically, so FM synthesis modulates two or more sine waves to create a much more complex sound. The sine wave's frequency is programmed into the FM Synthesis chip and the modulation of the two frequency, combined with other methods to shape the waveform such as ASDR envelopes, make a sound more complex and realistic than the Programmable Sound Generators that were used in computer and video game music before FM Synthesis became popular in computer music.
Showing posts with label Sound Blaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sound Blaster. Show all posts
Friday, January 5, 2018
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Windows 3.0 Multimedia Edition - Early Windows Multimedia Gaming
Microsoft Windows 3.0 was the first widely adopted and truly successful version of Microsoft's graphical "Operating System." It was released on May 20, 1990 and came on five 1.2MB floppy disks. It could be purchased in a box and was the first version of Windows that was noted for being bundled with new PCs. It had an incremental update, Windows 3.0a, released on October 31, 1990.
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Who Needs a Sound Blaster? - Deficiencies with Early Emulators
It is the accepted conventional wisdom that if you want to play DOS games from the DOS era (1988-1996) you will need some form of Sound Blaster card or compatible. However, not everyone could afford a Sound Blaster card or felt the need to upgrade to a Sound Blaster from their Adlib or even their PC Speaker.
What was compatible with a Sound Blaster? In the first few years of the line, not much. Software that supported the Adlib or (sometimes) the Game Blaster were upwards compatible with the Sound Blaster, but it did not work the other way around. Early competitors like the original Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum and Covox Sound Master II were not compatible with the Sound Blaster outside Adlib support. MIDI-based devices like the Roland MT-32 and Roland Sound Canvas were never Sound Blaster or even Adlib compatible.
Sound Blaster clones like the Thunderboard and the Aztech Sound Galaxy series either reverse engineered the Sound Blaster or used Creative Labs-supplied chips. The Pro Audio Spectrum Plus/ 16/Studio contained a Thunderboard, so its compatibility with software supporting the Sound Blaster 2.0 or lower was high. Later cards like the Yamaha YMF-71x series also had high Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 compatibility (but would not play all Duke Nukem II ADPCM sound effects, see below). OEMs like Dell, Compaq and Gateway often included no-name cards with Crystal or ESS chips that provided workable Sound Blaster compatibility.
What was compatible with a Sound Blaster? In the first few years of the line, not much. Software that supported the Adlib or (sometimes) the Game Blaster were upwards compatible with the Sound Blaster, but it did not work the other way around. Early competitors like the original Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum and Covox Sound Master II were not compatible with the Sound Blaster outside Adlib support. MIDI-based devices like the Roland MT-32 and Roland Sound Canvas were never Sound Blaster or even Adlib compatible.
Sound Blaster clones like the Thunderboard and the Aztech Sound Galaxy series either reverse engineered the Sound Blaster or used Creative Labs-supplied chips. The Pro Audio Spectrum Plus/ 16/Studio contained a Thunderboard, so its compatibility with software supporting the Sound Blaster 2.0 or lower was high. Later cards like the Yamaha YMF-71x series also had high Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 compatibility (but would not play all Duke Nukem II ADPCM sound effects, see below). OEMs like Dell, Compaq and Gateway often included no-name cards with Crystal or ESS chips that provided workable Sound Blaster compatibility.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Aztech Labs Sound Galaxy Nova Pro16 Extra
I found this card installed in a 386/486 vintage Packard Bell. I took it as it looked interesting.
The card has had the DAC/ADC functionality of a Sound Blaster 2.0, a UART compatible MPU-401, a gameport, a Yamaha OPL3 chip and also is Microsoft Windows Sound System compatible. It has a line in, a mic in, a line out and an amplified out (for headphones or unpowered speakers) and a gameport.
The card is set either via software or EEPROM, which is mostly jumper selectable. All but one jumper has its function marked on the card, and there are four :
J1 - PC Speaker Amplification - Closed = High, Open = Low
JX1 - Microphone Type - 1-2 Closed = Condenser, 2-3 Closed = Carbon
JMPCFG - Configuration Type - 1-2 Closed = EEPROM setting, 2-3 Closed = Software setting
JMPBO - Base Address - 1-2 Closed = 220H, 2-3 Closed = 240H.
There are DOS configuration utilities buried in its Windows drivers. They will be in the directory with the file, EASYSTAR.EXE, which functions as a gateway to the audio configuration and testing programs and the mixer application. If you know the settings, no drivers need be loaded on bootup. The HWSET utility can be used to set the IRQ and DMA values and should be used to set the mixer values, as the EEPROM will not store the mixer values, despite what the MIXTSR program says.
There are headers on the card for CD-in (4-pin white connector), Modem-in (4-pin blue connector), multimedia PC speaker (4-pin header) and a Waveblaster-compatible MIDI card.
The mixer functionality allows for 16 volume levels for the Master Volume, CD/Line In, FM/Wavetable, Sound Blaster Voice (DAC) and Microphone. All but the microphone can have the volume of the left and right channels independently selected.
The UART MPU-401 uses a separate resource setting than the Sound Blaster or Windows Sound System.
The Sound Blaster and the MPU-401 can use either IRQ 2/9, 3, 5 or 7, but will not share an IRQ. The card uses DMA 1 for the Sound Blaster and DMA 3 for the Microsoft Windows Sound System, and neither can be changed. Like a real SB 2.0, it can be set to I/O 220 or 240 only. Similarly, like the SB 16, the MPU-401 port can be set to I/O 330 or 300.
The Microsoft Windows Sound System can be set to I/O 530, 604, E80 & F40. It can use IRQ 2, 7, 10 or 11 and DMA 0, 1 or 3. I believe it uses DMA 3 and IRQ 10. The Galaxy drivers insert the following line in AUTOEXEC.BAT :
SET GALAXY=A220 I7 D1 K10 P530 T6
There are three proprietary CD-ROM interfaces on the card, Panasonic, Sony and Mitsumi.
The Microsoft Windows Sound System, MPU-401 and game port can be disabled.
The 16-bit portion of the card is used only for the extra IRQ and DMA signals for the CD-ROM interfaces. They can use IRQ 11, 12 or 15 and DMA 0 or 3. Otherwise the card should work in an 8-bit slot.
One warning about this card, when it grabs an IRQ, it does NOT like to play nice. If you set its IRQ to the mouse's IRQ, for example, your mouse cursor will stop working. There is a TSR in the DOS utilities to provide for some level of Sound Blaster Pro compatibility, but it will not provide stereo panning support for Wolfenstein 3D. The headphone output is really noisy, with lots of hiss. The game port is as speed sensitive as a real pre-16 Sound Blaster, so in a fast 386 or a 486 system you will probably want to use something else.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sound Blaster 16 - Distinguishing the Endless Models
No vintage PC product line is more complex than the Sound Blaster 16. These cards were extremely common from 1992 to the end of the DOS era (1997). Their basic advance over the Sound Blaster Pro, 16-bit sound, is still the basic standard today. But the cards went through many generations and many OEM models. For the system builder, it is extremely difficult to find the right one without doing the homework. As there are an enormous number and variety of SB16s, I will not try to identify the features of every model. Here are some considerations :
Waveblaster Header
Value and OEM cards generally do not have it, although there may be solder points for it. However, the passive components on the motherboard that assist in implementing the interface may be missing. Waveblaster MIDI daughterboards will suffer from the hanging notes bug, as will MIDI modules connected through the gameport.
Hanging MIDI Notes Bug
It is important to identify games which produce hanging notes as a result of incompatibility with the various DSP versions of the 16-bit Sound Blaster series. : DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, Hexen, Raptor, Hocus Pocus, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood are all examples of games which suffer from this bug. There are other games which may occasionally produce hanging notes regardless of the midi interface being used. Any game using LucasArts iMuse system may be subject to it. This includes Star Wars - X-Wing and Tie Fighter (floppy versions) are good examples of such a game. Only the former are addressed here.
The affected DSPs have been identified as versions 4.11, 4.12 & 4.13. DSP versions 4.04, 4.05 and 4.16 will not suffer from this bug. The bug will only occur when digital sounds and midi are being played. The best fix for the problem is to use another card for MIDI. This bug will not be present in any card using the CT-1747 chip.
ISA Plug N Play
First generation SB16s with the CT1746 Bus Interface chip were strictly configured by jumpers. No software initialization required.
Second generation SB16s with the CT1747 Bus Interface and OPL chip required jumpers to set the I/O range (IOS0 & IOS1), joystick enable/disable (JYEN) and MIDI I/O Select 330/300 (MSEL). However, IRQ and DMA selection were done in software on startup. SBCONFIG.EXE or DIAGNOSE.EXE needed to be loaded in AUTOEXEC.BAT to tell the card which resources to use at boot.
If you have a ViBRA chip, then you may have an ISA Plug N Play card. They are initialized through the software Creative Technology Configuration Manager (CTCM.EXE) and configured and disabled through the Creative Technology Configuration Utility (CTCU.EXE) or in PNP operating system like Windows 95. This allows you to disable the joystick, the MPU-401 MIDI interface, the Adlib Ports, High DMA or the whole card. Unfortunately, if you have to load CTCM, it adds noticeably to the boot time when booting to DOS.
SB16s with the ViBRA chips are be detailed below.
CD Interfaces
First generation SB16s supported Panasonic, Mitsumi or Sony CD Interfaces. One board, the Sound Blaster 16 SCSI, had a SCSI port for a SCSI CD-ROM, and it could not be disabled. The SCSI interface took up an IRQ and did not support booting hard drives. The next generation began to add IDE support. On retail boards, the IDE port should be able to be disabled. On some OEM boards, the CD Interface ports may not able to be disabled by design. The Panasonic interface is harmless because it does not require any resources beyond the I/O range used by the Sound Blaster 16.
QSound Advanced Signal Processor/Creative Signal Processor
Many boards have a CT-1748 ASP/CSP chip or a socket for one. The ASP/CSP was generally upgrade option, which never really caught on and omitted on the cheaper boards. Except for the CT-2502 boards, you will never see the chip or the socket for one on a ViBRA board. TFX is the only game known to support the chip.
True Yamaha OPL3 Synthesis
You will get true Yamaha OPL3 synthesis if your board has a Yamaha YMF-262 or YMF-289 chip or CT-1747 chip. The CT-1747 contains an OPL3 core licensed from Yamaha. If you have a CT-1978 chip or the ViBRA CT-2505 or CT-2511 chips on the board, you will get Creative CQM synthesis.
ViBRA Chips
The ViBRA series of chips sought to achieve a higher degree of integration among the various component chips that made up the original Sound Blaster 16.
CT2501 ViBRA 16
Integrates the Bus Controller Interface, the DSP, the Mixer and the Codec.
Jumper configured
No treble, bass or gain controls in integrated analog mixer
80db SnR
YMF-262
CT2502
I have never seen this chip branded with the ViBRA logo, and it is not a home-grown Creative Labs chip, as it contains technology licensed from Crystal Semiconductor. I think this is also known as the ViBRA Pro.
ISA PNP
Treble, bass and gain controls in integrated analog mixer
85db SnR (best SnR on any Creative Labs ISA sound card, even the AWE64 Gold)
CT-1978 or YMF-289 (less common, but makes for an awesome board)
CT2504 ViBRA 16S
Tends to be found on SB16s integrated on the motherboard.
IRQ/DMA software setting
YMF-262 or CT-1978
80 SnR
No treble or bass controls
CT2505 VIBRA 16C
Tends to be found on SB16s integrated on the motherboard.
See above, except :
ISA PNP
Integrated CT-1978
DSP v4.16
CT2511 ViBRA VX
Was used on the last, cheapest SB16s, especially those branded with the WavEffects logo.
See above, except :
High DMA channels not supported, uses two low DMA channels for 16-bit sound.
Of the ViBRA's, the two potential compatibility issues are the loss of the mixer settings in all but the CT2502 and the DMA channels in the VX. I doubt that games used those settings anyway. As the mixer receives analog signals, this can be replicated to some extent using an external mixer.
As far as the DMA channels in the VX, this will not be an issue unless you select a Sound Blaster 16 in the install of a DOS game and the game requires a High DMA channel. Windows and its games will be fine so long as the proper drivers are installed.
Which One to Buy
The least hassle of the SB16s are the CT1740 and CT1750, which along with the CT1770 were the first retail Sound Blaster 16s. With a 4.05 or lower DSP they will not have the hanging notes midi bug, will output genuine FM, require no software initialization and will not take up extra resources. However, they have the nickname "Noise Blaster" and it is deserved. Everything will sound noisy on the card, moreso than its predecessor the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0. The Waveblaster output is affected and I found the sound from a SCB-55 to be comparatively muffled compared to the same daughterboard on a MPU-401AT. If you can live with the potential hanging notes midi bug, look for the CT2750, which is silkscreened the Sound Blaster 16 EASY, and it has no CD interfaces on it.
If you want the freedom to choose your IRQs and DMAs in software, you could try the CT2230 with jumpers to disable the proprietary CD interfaces or the CT2770 which only has the Panasonic interface. Be wary of SB16s with an IDE port, as the port may not be able to be disabled. Some cards of the same model number have the ports while others only have silkscreening for the header and glue logic.
If you want the least noisiest cards of the bunch, look for the CT2940 with a Yamaha YMF chip. This card has the CT2502 (ViBRA) chip but uses ISA PNP.
If you look at other ViBRA cards, you could try the CT2800 or CT2900 which have Yamaha chips, software selectable IRQ and DMAs and a disable IDE jumper setting.
Three Generations of Sound Blaster 16s Compared
Number One : Sound Blaster 16 MCD CT-1750
CODEC : CT1701
FM Synthesis : Discrete Yamaha YMF-262 OPL3
DSP : Discrete 4.01-4.12
Mixer : Discrete CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : Panasonic, Sony, Mitsumi
Configuration : Jumpers
ASP/CSP : Socket or Soldered
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Jumpers & Volume Wheel
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, PC Speaker In
This is a first generation Sound Blaster 16. Its main weakness is that most 8-bit digitized sound has an audible layer of hiss surrounding the sample playback. This hiss is not observed when playing back FM music. Mixing the audio from the Waveblaster connector sounds muffled. When 8-bit digital samples play there are often pops and clicks in the audio output. Everything is configured by jumpers, and its best to set the Panasonic interface to be the active interface because it does not consume any more resources beyond the Sound Blaster itself.
Number Two : Sound Blaster 16 MCD CT-2230
CODEC : CT1703 or CT1701
FM Synthesis : Integrated Creative/Yamaha CT-1747 OPL3
DSP : Discrete 4.11-4.13
Mixer : Discrete CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : Panasonic, Sony, Mitsumi
Configuration : DIAGNOSE.EXE or SBCONFIG.EXE + Jumpers
ASP/CSP : Socket or Solder Pads
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Separate Jacks
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, MPC-2 CD-ROM, PC Speaker In
This is a second generation Sound Blaster 16. The noise, pops and clicks associated with the first generation are fully gone when paired with the later CODEC. The IRQ and DMA selection is done by software settings on startup. The settings requiring jumpers are the I/O address selection, the MPU-401 MIDI interface enable and address selection and the joystick enable. My card has no headers for any interface other than the Panasonic interface.
Number Three : Sound Blaster 16 PnP CT-2940
CODEC : CT1703
FM Synthesis : Discrete Creative CT-1978 CQM or Discrete Yamaha YMF-289 OPL3-L
DSP : Integrated 4.13
Mixer : Integrated CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : IDE
Configuration : CTCM.EXE + CTCU.EXE
ASP/CSP : None
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Separate Jacks
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, MPC-2 CD-ROM, PC Speaker In, AUX 1, AUX 2, TAD, MBPro
This is a third generation Sound Blaster 16. Most of these cards typically come the Creative CQM chip, but this card comes with a Yamaha OPL3 chip. This card is totally jumper free and adheres to the ISA PnP standard. It can be configured with Creative's utilities or with PnP-supporting operating system like Windows 95. Reportedly, the integrated mixer has the highest signal to noise ratio of any ISA Sound Blaster, even the Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold. My card has no header or circuitry for the ISA interface, so it does not take up any resources. Its only other downside beyond the PnP is that its MIDI interface does have the hanging notes bug.
Waveblaster Header
Value and OEM cards generally do not have it, although there may be solder points for it. However, the passive components on the motherboard that assist in implementing the interface may be missing. Waveblaster MIDI daughterboards will suffer from the hanging notes bug, as will MIDI modules connected through the gameport.
Hanging MIDI Notes Bug
It is important to identify games which produce hanging notes as a result of incompatibility with the various DSP versions of the 16-bit Sound Blaster series. : DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, Hexen, Raptor, Hocus Pocus, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood are all examples of games which suffer from this bug. There are other games which may occasionally produce hanging notes regardless of the midi interface being used. Any game using LucasArts iMuse system may be subject to it. This includes Star Wars - X-Wing and Tie Fighter (floppy versions) are good examples of such a game. Only the former are addressed here.
The affected DSPs have been identified as versions 4.11, 4.12 & 4.13. DSP versions 4.04, 4.05 and 4.16 will not suffer from this bug. The bug will only occur when digital sounds and midi are being played. The best fix for the problem is to use another card for MIDI. This bug will not be present in any card using the CT-1747 chip.
ISA Plug N Play
First generation SB16s with the CT1746 Bus Interface chip were strictly configured by jumpers. No software initialization required.
Second generation SB16s with the CT1747 Bus Interface and OPL chip required jumpers to set the I/O range (IOS0 & IOS1), joystick enable/disable (JYEN) and MIDI I/O Select 330/300 (MSEL). However, IRQ and DMA selection were done in software on startup. SBCONFIG.EXE or DIAGNOSE.EXE needed to be loaded in AUTOEXEC.BAT to tell the card which resources to use at boot.
If you have a ViBRA chip, then you may have an ISA Plug N Play card. They are initialized through the software Creative Technology Configuration Manager (CTCM.EXE) and configured and disabled through the Creative Technology Configuration Utility (CTCU.EXE) or in PNP operating system like Windows 95. This allows you to disable the joystick, the MPU-401 MIDI interface, the Adlib Ports, High DMA or the whole card. Unfortunately, if you have to load CTCM, it adds noticeably to the boot time when booting to DOS.
SB16s with the ViBRA chips are be detailed below.
CD Interfaces
First generation SB16s supported Panasonic, Mitsumi or Sony CD Interfaces. One board, the Sound Blaster 16 SCSI, had a SCSI port for a SCSI CD-ROM, and it could not be disabled. The SCSI interface took up an IRQ and did not support booting hard drives. The next generation began to add IDE support. On retail boards, the IDE port should be able to be disabled. On some OEM boards, the CD Interface ports may not able to be disabled by design. The Panasonic interface is harmless because it does not require any resources beyond the I/O range used by the Sound Blaster 16.
QSound Advanced Signal Processor/Creative Signal Processor
Many boards have a CT-1748 ASP/CSP chip or a socket for one. The ASP/CSP was generally upgrade option, which never really caught on and omitted on the cheaper boards. Except for the CT-2502 boards, you will never see the chip or the socket for one on a ViBRA board. TFX is the only game known to support the chip.
True Yamaha OPL3 Synthesis
You will get true Yamaha OPL3 synthesis if your board has a Yamaha YMF-262 or YMF-289 chip or CT-1747 chip. The CT-1747 contains an OPL3 core licensed from Yamaha. If you have a CT-1978 chip or the ViBRA CT-2505 or CT-2511 chips on the board, you will get Creative CQM synthesis.
ViBRA Chips
The ViBRA series of chips sought to achieve a higher degree of integration among the various component chips that made up the original Sound Blaster 16.
CT2501 ViBRA 16
Integrates the Bus Controller Interface, the DSP, the Mixer and the Codec.
Jumper configured
No treble, bass or gain controls in integrated analog mixer
80db SnR
YMF-262
CT2502
I have never seen this chip branded with the ViBRA logo, and it is not a home-grown Creative Labs chip, as it contains technology licensed from Crystal Semiconductor. I think this is also known as the ViBRA Pro.
ISA PNP
Treble, bass and gain controls in integrated analog mixer
85db SnR (best SnR on any Creative Labs ISA sound card, even the AWE64 Gold)
CT-1978 or YMF-289 (less common, but makes for an awesome board)
CT2504 ViBRA 16S
Tends to be found on SB16s integrated on the motherboard.
IRQ/DMA software setting
YMF-262 or CT-1978
80 SnR
No treble or bass controls
CT2505 VIBRA 16C
Tends to be found on SB16s integrated on the motherboard.
See above, except :
ISA PNP
Integrated CT-1978
DSP v4.16
CT2511 ViBRA VX
Was used on the last, cheapest SB16s, especially those branded with the WavEffects logo.
See above, except :
High DMA channels not supported, uses two low DMA channels for 16-bit sound.
Of the ViBRA's, the two potential compatibility issues are the loss of the mixer settings in all but the CT2502 and the DMA channels in the VX. I doubt that games used those settings anyway. As the mixer receives analog signals, this can be replicated to some extent using an external mixer.
As far as the DMA channels in the VX, this will not be an issue unless you select a Sound Blaster 16 in the install of a DOS game and the game requires a High DMA channel. Windows and its games will be fine so long as the proper drivers are installed.
Which One to Buy
The least hassle of the SB16s are the CT1740 and CT1750, which along with the CT1770 were the first retail Sound Blaster 16s. With a 4.05 or lower DSP they will not have the hanging notes midi bug, will output genuine FM, require no software initialization and will not take up extra resources. However, they have the nickname "Noise Blaster" and it is deserved. Everything will sound noisy on the card, moreso than its predecessor the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0. The Waveblaster output is affected and I found the sound from a SCB-55 to be comparatively muffled compared to the same daughterboard on a MPU-401AT. If you can live with the potential hanging notes midi bug, look for the CT2750, which is silkscreened the Sound Blaster 16 EASY, and it has no CD interfaces on it.
If you want the freedom to choose your IRQs and DMAs in software, you could try the CT2230 with jumpers to disable the proprietary CD interfaces or the CT2770 which only has the Panasonic interface. Be wary of SB16s with an IDE port, as the port may not be able to be disabled. Some cards of the same model number have the ports while others only have silkscreening for the header and glue logic.
If you want the least noisiest cards of the bunch, look for the CT2940 with a Yamaha YMF chip. This card has the CT2502 (ViBRA) chip but uses ISA PNP.
If you look at other ViBRA cards, you could try the CT2800 or CT2900 which have Yamaha chips, software selectable IRQ and DMAs and a disable IDE jumper setting.
Three Generations of Sound Blaster 16s Compared
Number One : Sound Blaster 16 MCD CT-1750
CODEC : CT1701
FM Synthesis : Discrete Yamaha YMF-262 OPL3
DSP : Discrete 4.01-4.12
Mixer : Discrete CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : Panasonic, Sony, Mitsumi
Configuration : Jumpers
ASP/CSP : Socket or Soldered
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Jumpers & Volume Wheel
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, PC Speaker In
This is a first generation Sound Blaster 16. Its main weakness is that most 8-bit digitized sound has an audible layer of hiss surrounding the sample playback. This hiss is not observed when playing back FM music. Mixing the audio from the Waveblaster connector sounds muffled. When 8-bit digital samples play there are often pops and clicks in the audio output. Everything is configured by jumpers, and its best to set the Panasonic interface to be the active interface because it does not consume any more resources beyond the Sound Blaster itself.
Number Two : Sound Blaster 16 MCD CT-2230
CODEC : CT1703 or CT1701
FM Synthesis : Integrated Creative/Yamaha CT-1747 OPL3
DSP : Discrete 4.11-4.13
Mixer : Discrete CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : Panasonic, Sony, Mitsumi
Configuration : DIAGNOSE.EXE or SBCONFIG.EXE + Jumpers
ASP/CSP : Socket or Solder Pads
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Separate Jacks
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, MPC-2 CD-ROM, PC Speaker In
This is a second generation Sound Blaster 16. The noise, pops and clicks associated with the first generation are fully gone when paired with the later CODEC. The IRQ and DMA selection is done by software settings on startup. The settings requiring jumpers are the I/O address selection, the MPU-401 MIDI interface enable and address selection and the joystick enable. My card has no headers for any interface other than the Panasonic interface.
Number Three : Sound Blaster 16 PnP CT-2940
CODEC : CT1703
FM Synthesis : Discrete Creative CT-1978 CQM or Discrete Yamaha YMF-289 OPL3-L
DSP : Integrated 4.13
Mixer : Integrated CT1745
CD-ROM Drive Interfaces : IDE
Configuration : CTCM.EXE + CTCU.EXE
ASP/CSP : None
Waveblaster Header : Present
Amplifier : Separate Jacks
PCB Headers : Creative CD-ROM, MPC-2 CD-ROM, PC Speaker In, AUX 1, AUX 2, TAD, MBPro
This is a third generation Sound Blaster 16. Most of these cards typically come the Creative CQM chip, but this card comes with a Yamaha OPL3 chip. This card is totally jumper free and adheres to the ISA PnP standard. It can be configured with Creative's utilities or with PnP-supporting operating system like Windows 95. Reportedly, the integrated mixer has the highest signal to noise ratio of any ISA Sound Blaster, even the Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold. My card has no header or circuitry for the ISA interface, so it does not take up any resources. Its only other downside beyond the PnP is that its MIDI interface does have the hanging notes bug.
Sound Blaster AWE32 & 64 Options
The AWE32 came in many varieties, starting with the CT2760, but there are several basic cards which a vintage computer enthusiast should consider. In this post, I will discuss the various features that separate the usual cards from each other.
Soundfont RAM
All AWE32s come with 512KB RAM, but the AWE32 Value cards omit the SIMM sockets for upgrading the RAM. Sound Blaster 32s do not have any onboard RAM, but have SIMM sockets to upgrade RAM.
All these boards can support 28MB RAM, and if the SIMM sockets are used, the onboard RAM is disab+
led. Use 30-pin SIMMs, 80ns or faster, with identical memory sizes of 1MB, 4MB or 16MB. You need to populate both sockets. The SIMM sockets on these boards are usually very cheap and the retaining tabs can break easily. Epoxy is your friend, but if you wish a less permanent solution, you can try a strong tie.
The AWE64 came only in two major ISA varieties, with the principal difference being the amount of RAM supported. The Value, CT4380, CT4500 & CT4520, version came with 512KB RAM and you need to solder a 2-pin header for SPDIF output on all these cards. The AWE64 Gold, CT4390 & CT4540, came with 4MB RAM. To upgrade the RAM, you had to purchase expensive, proprietary Creative daughterboards. People used to use AWESIMM to adapt SIMMs, but today people can use SIMMCON, found here : http://simmconn.tripod.com/. Only one 72-pin SIMM is required.
Models without RAM upgradeability : CT3780, CT3910, CT3630
Waveblaster Header
If you want to use a MIDI daughterboard like the Waveblaster, Waveblaster II, Roland SCB-7 or SCB-55 or Yamaha DB50XG or DB60XG on your sound card, stay away from the AWE32 Value, SB32 or AWE64, as they do not support the header.
Models supported : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
SPDIF
Virtually all these cards had a 2-pin SPDIF header, even the budget models but on some of the cheaper models you will need to solder pins or wires. The non-Gold AWE64s are cards where you have to do this.
SPDIF outputs the EMU8000 output. This includes the FM if using a CT-1747 or CT-1978 chip but not a discrete YMF-262 or 289 chip. MIDI audio output (from Waveblaster) and CD Audio sound would not be output through SPDIF on any models. 16-bit digitized Sound Blaster audio will also be output on the AWE64 Gold cards, but this functionality may only work in Windows 95 or better. The non-Gold AWE64 cards almost always have a pair of through holes which you could add a 2-pin SPDIF header.
Note that the AWE32 outputs a 5v TTL digital signal. This is the same signal that CD-ROM drives with a digital audio output header send out. They even use the same 2-pin header. The O is the output pin, the I is the ground pin. Not all SPDIF inputs will accept this signal. Fortunately the CD Digital input header on a Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy will. Moreover, you can connect the pins to an optical/TOSLINK port output, which is accepted by lots of devices. Coaxial SPDIF is designed for 0.5v to -0.5v peak-to-peak signals. This is what the Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold provides.
AWE32 Models supported : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
SB32 Models supported : CT3600, CT3620
AWE64 Models supported : CT4390, CT4540
ISA Plug 'N Play
The early AWE32s did not conform the ISA Plug 'N Play standard. They used jumpers to set the I/O addresses (IOS0 and IOS1), to enable/disable the joystick interface (JYEN), and to select the MPU-401 MIDI I/O (MSEL). However, IRQ and low and high DMA selection was handled by software initialization via SBCONFIG.EXE or DIAGNOSE.EXE, which reads the settings from the SET BLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Later AWE32s, SB32s and AWE64s conform to the ISA Plug 'N Play standard and are initialized through the software Creative Technology Configuration Manager (CTCM.EXE) and configured and disabled through the Creative Technology Configuration Utility (CTCU.EXE) or in PNP operating system like Windows 95. This allows you to disable the joystick, the MPU-401 MIDI interface, the Adlib Ports, High DMA or the whole card. Unfortunately, if you have to load CTCM, it adds noticeably to the boot time when booting to DOS.
All cards have a jumper marked MFBEN. This jumper enables or disables NMI generation for the AWEUTIL.COM utility. This functionality is required when AWEUTIL is emulating a MIDI interpreter in DOS. If you are not using AWEUTIL other than for initialization, you can remove the jumper.
Models without PNP : CT2760, CT3900, CT3780, CT3910
True Yamaha OPL3 FM Synthesis
Non PNP models have a CT-1747 bus interface chip which integrates a licensed Yamaha OPL3 core. They sound true to the AdLib and earlier Sound Blasters, but people have individual preferences of which card they like.
All the PNP models of the AWE32 and SB32 have the option to use Creative Quadrature Modulaton (CQM) Synthesis or Yamaha FM Synthesis. On boards using CQM, there will be a CT-1978 chip. CQM is generally not objectionable to the untrained ear, but it often sounds harsher and more metallic but slightly crisper compared to a Yamaha FM chip. Most boards have a silkscreen for a Yamaha YMF-278 and its DAC (very small chips). Finding boards with the CQM chips are much more common. However, if you find a board with the Yamaha chip, note that you will not be able to run the chip through the EMU-8000 effects processor.
AWEUTIL is used on the AWE cards to initialize the FM Synthesis output and can be used to apply reverb and chorus effects on the CT-1747 cards through the EMU-8000 chip. I am uncertain whether cards with a discrete YMF-278 can do that, and the AWE32 Upgrade cards probably cannot as well.
Models using CT-1747 : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3780, CT3910
Models supporting YMF-278 option : CT3990, CT3600, CT3930
CD Interfaces
Most of these cards come with one, two or three headers for the cable to a CD-ROM. In the early days, proprietary, incompatible standards came from Panasonic, Sony and Mitsumi. Some sound cards support SCSI instead, although no Creative AWE cards are known to have done so. Later AWE cards support an IDE port. If the card is a non-PNP, the IDE, Sony or Mitsumi interfaces can be disabled. The Mitsumi interface is a real hardware hog as it uses an IRQ and DMA. Fortunately the Mitsumi interface can usually be disabled. The Panasonic interface does not use any resources outside the standard Sound Blaster I/O 2x0-2xF, so it is harmless.
Models with Panasonic/Sony/Mitsumi Interfaces : CT2760, CT3780
Models with Panasonic Interface : CT3900
Models IDE Interface (Non-PNP) : CT3900, CT3910
I assume that the IDE interface on PNP cards can be disabled using the CTCU utility, but I have no experience with such cards. It may be necessary to disable the IDE interface to avoid conflicts with IDE ports on the motherboard or I/O cards. Also it should remove any IRQ resource hogging.
On the non-PNP cards with an IDE port, the port can be set to the secondary address, 170-177, tertiary address, 1E8-1EF, or quaternary address, 168-16F or disabled. The primary IDE address is 1F0-1F7.
Hanging Notes MIDI
It is important to identify games which produce hanging notes as a result of incompatibility with the various DSP versions of the 16-bit Sound Blaster series. : DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, Hexen, Raptor, Hocus Pocus, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood are all examples of games which suffer from this bug. There are other games which may occasionally produce hanging notes regardless of the midi interface being used. Any game using LucasArts iMuse system may be subject to it. This includes Star Wars - X-Wing and Tie Fighter (floppy versions) are good examples of such a game. Only the former are addressed here.
AWE64s use DSP 4.16, so there will be no hanging notes midi bug. AWEs prior to that use DSP 4.13 for the most part, and all these DSPs are known to suffer from the hanging notes midi bug. The bug will only occur when digital sounds and midi are being played. The best fix for the problem is to use another card for MIDI. The CT2760 is the card where you will most likely see the 4.11 and 4.12 DSPs. Rev. 3 of the CT2760 probably has the 4.13 DSP. This bug will not be present in any card using the CT-1747 chip.
QSound ASP/CSP
The original AWE32 had, as standard, the CT-1748 QSound Advanced Signal Processor (ASP), later known as the Creative Signal Processor (CSP)., which was an optional upgrade in the Sound Blaster 16s. All full-length AWE32s should have one soldered onto the PCB. The AWE32 Value has a socket for a CT-1748 chip, which could have been purchased from Creative Labs. The SB32s and AWE64s do not have any support for the chip.
All boards with the chip or socket, even if they are otherwise PNP, will have two jumpers to enable or disable the chip.
Models with CT-1748 : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
Models with CT-1748 Socket : CT3780, CT3910
Odd Ducks
The CT3980 is a PNP card, but has a CT-1747 Bus Interface and OPL chip. It is an exception to the almost universal rule that a CT-1747 chip on-board means that the board is not a PNP board. In this instance, another chip is used to provide the PNP functionality, but the CT-1747 is certainly used for OPL FM.
The CT3930 SB32 is a true exception to many of the above categories because it uses the CT2501 ViBRA 16 bus interface chip. As a result, this board has a discrete YMF-262 OPL3, which none of the other boards have. This ViBRA chip lacks controls for treble, bass and gain in the hardware mixer. Finally, there is no PNP or software selectable resource settings, the jumper layout of the original Sound Blaster 16s is used. In other words, you have to set jumpers to set the IRQs and DMAs. While the other main SB32, the CT3600, uses a ViBRA CT-2502 chip, those features were put back in the mixer and PNP functionality was enabled.
CT3630 SB32 and CT4330 AWE32 have no Soundfont RAM. The CT4330 is really a cut down AWE64. The CT3670 is a SB32 with SIMMs, but its main chip comes from an AWE64.
The AWE64 Gold has gold plated mini-jack and RCA connectors, RCA jacks not having been used since the Game Blaster. Some sites claim that it possesses a 20-bit high quality DAC, but that is not quite correct. The SPDIF connector outputs the full 20-bits of the the standard. Additionally, it adds the digital PCM audio output to the signal. Whether the existing 16-bit signals are upconverted to 20-bit or extra bits are just tacked on is unknown.
There seems to be two main versions of the AWE64 Value, the CT4500 and CT4520. The CT4520 does not have separate mixer, CODEC or 558 timer chips. The CT4500 has these, just like all the other AWE cards. It appears that Creative had integrated these functions into the large QFP chip on the CT4520, whether any functionality was lost is unknown.
AWE Upgrade
The CT192x requires its own section. This card was designed as an add-on card for Sound Blaster 16 owners to add most of the AWE features to the PC. It is sometimes known as the Goldfinch board. It contains the EMU8000 chip, 512KB RAM, SIMM slots. It requires its own drivers. Instead of AWEUTIL.COM, it uses AWEUTIL.EXE. Game compatibility with AWE32 supporting games may be uncertain as a result. This board was intended mainly for OEMs like Dell and Micron.
Most CT192x boards only have an 8-pin strip to output audio. A cable would output audio to the a special header on an OEM motherboard or some (OEM) Sound Blaster 16s. Instructions and drivers can be found here : http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php/topic,2747.0.html. CT-192x boards have been reported with Line Out and SPDIF Out jacks. Usually there are solder points for at least the Line Out. Some boards may have the 512KB RAM.
Unlike a regular AWE32, you cannot run FM effects through the EMU8000 or output FM through the SPDIF.
Soundfont RAM
All AWE32s come with 512KB RAM, but the AWE32 Value cards omit the SIMM sockets for upgrading the RAM. Sound Blaster 32s do not have any onboard RAM, but have SIMM sockets to upgrade RAM.
All these boards can support 28MB RAM, and if the SIMM sockets are used, the onboard RAM is disab+
led. Use 30-pin SIMMs, 80ns or faster, with identical memory sizes of 1MB, 4MB or 16MB. You need to populate both sockets. The SIMM sockets on these boards are usually very cheap and the retaining tabs can break easily. Epoxy is your friend, but if you wish a less permanent solution, you can try a strong tie.
The AWE64 came only in two major ISA varieties, with the principal difference being the amount of RAM supported. The Value, CT4380, CT4500 & CT4520, version came with 512KB RAM and you need to solder a 2-pin header for SPDIF output on all these cards. The AWE64 Gold, CT4390 & CT4540, came with 4MB RAM. To upgrade the RAM, you had to purchase expensive, proprietary Creative daughterboards. People used to use AWESIMM to adapt SIMMs, but today people can use SIMMCON, found here : http://simmconn.tripod.com/. Only one 72-pin SIMM is required.
Models without RAM upgradeability : CT3780, CT3910, CT3630
Waveblaster Header
If you want to use a MIDI daughterboard like the Waveblaster, Waveblaster II, Roland SCB-7 or SCB-55 or Yamaha DB50XG or DB60XG on your sound card, stay away from the AWE32 Value, SB32 or AWE64, as they do not support the header.
Models supported : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
SPDIF
Virtually all these cards had a 2-pin SPDIF header, even the budget models but on some of the cheaper models you will need to solder pins or wires. The non-Gold AWE64s are cards where you have to do this.
SPDIF outputs the EMU8000 output. This includes the FM if using a CT-1747 or CT-1978 chip but not a discrete YMF-262 or 289 chip. MIDI audio output (from Waveblaster) and CD Audio sound would not be output through SPDIF on any models. 16-bit digitized Sound Blaster audio will also be output on the AWE64 Gold cards, but this functionality may only work in Windows 95 or better. The non-Gold AWE64 cards almost always have a pair of through holes which you could add a 2-pin SPDIF header.
Note that the AWE32 outputs a 5v TTL digital signal. This is the same signal that CD-ROM drives with a digital audio output header send out. They even use the same 2-pin header. The O is the output pin, the I is the ground pin. Not all SPDIF inputs will accept this signal. Fortunately the CD Digital input header on a Sound Blaster Live! or Audigy will. Moreover, you can connect the pins to an optical/TOSLINK port output, which is accepted by lots of devices. Coaxial SPDIF is designed for 0.5v to -0.5v peak-to-peak signals. This is what the Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold provides.
AWE32 Models supported : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
SB32 Models supported : CT3600, CT3620
AWE64 Models supported : CT4390, CT4540
ISA Plug 'N Play
The early AWE32s did not conform the ISA Plug 'N Play standard. They used jumpers to set the I/O addresses (IOS0 and IOS1), to enable/disable the joystick interface (JYEN), and to select the MPU-401 MIDI I/O (MSEL). However, IRQ and low and high DMA selection was handled by software initialization via SBCONFIG.EXE or DIAGNOSE.EXE, which reads the settings from the SET BLASTER line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT.
Later AWE32s, SB32s and AWE64s conform to the ISA Plug 'N Play standard and are initialized through the software Creative Technology Configuration Manager (CTCM.EXE) and configured and disabled through the Creative Technology Configuration Utility (CTCU.EXE) or in PNP operating system like Windows 95. This allows you to disable the joystick, the MPU-401 MIDI interface, the Adlib Ports, High DMA or the whole card. Unfortunately, if you have to load CTCM, it adds noticeably to the boot time when booting to DOS.
All cards have a jumper marked MFBEN. This jumper enables or disables NMI generation for the AWEUTIL.COM utility. This functionality is required when AWEUTIL is emulating a MIDI interpreter in DOS. If you are not using AWEUTIL other than for initialization, you can remove the jumper.
Models without PNP : CT2760, CT3900, CT3780, CT3910
True Yamaha OPL3 FM Synthesis
Non PNP models have a CT-1747 bus interface chip which integrates a licensed Yamaha OPL3 core. They sound true to the AdLib and earlier Sound Blasters, but people have individual preferences of which card they like.
All the PNP models of the AWE32 and SB32 have the option to use Creative Quadrature Modulaton (CQM) Synthesis or Yamaha FM Synthesis. On boards using CQM, there will be a CT-1978 chip. CQM is generally not objectionable to the untrained ear, but it often sounds harsher and more metallic but slightly crisper compared to a Yamaha FM chip. Most boards have a silkscreen for a Yamaha YMF-278 and its DAC (very small chips). Finding boards with the CQM chips are much more common. However, if you find a board with the Yamaha chip, note that you will not be able to run the chip through the EMU-8000 effects processor.
AWEUTIL is used on the AWE cards to initialize the FM Synthesis output and can be used to apply reverb and chorus effects on the CT-1747 cards through the EMU-8000 chip. I am uncertain whether cards with a discrete YMF-278 can do that, and the AWE32 Upgrade cards probably cannot as well.
Models using CT-1747 : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3780, CT3910
Models supporting YMF-278 option : CT3990, CT3600, CT3930
CD Interfaces
Most of these cards come with one, two or three headers for the cable to a CD-ROM. In the early days, proprietary, incompatible standards came from Panasonic, Sony and Mitsumi. Some sound cards support SCSI instead, although no Creative AWE cards are known to have done so. Later AWE cards support an IDE port. If the card is a non-PNP, the IDE, Sony or Mitsumi interfaces can be disabled. The Mitsumi interface is a real hardware hog as it uses an IRQ and DMA. Fortunately the Mitsumi interface can usually be disabled. The Panasonic interface does not use any resources outside the standard Sound Blaster I/O 2x0-2xF, so it is harmless.
Models with Panasonic/Sony/Mitsumi Interfaces : CT2760, CT3780
Models with Panasonic Interface : CT3900
Models IDE Interface (Non-PNP) : CT3900, CT3910
I assume that the IDE interface on PNP cards can be disabled using the CTCU utility, but I have no experience with such cards. It may be necessary to disable the IDE interface to avoid conflicts with IDE ports on the motherboard or I/O cards. Also it should remove any IRQ resource hogging.
On the non-PNP cards with an IDE port, the port can be set to the secondary address, 170-177, tertiary address, 1E8-1EF, or quaternary address, 168-16F or disabled. The primary IDE address is 1F0-1F7.
Hanging Notes MIDI
It is important to identify games which produce hanging notes as a result of incompatibility with the various DSP versions of the 16-bit Sound Blaster series. : DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, Hexen, Raptor, Hocus Pocus, Duke Nukem 3D and Blood are all examples of games which suffer from this bug. There are other games which may occasionally produce hanging notes regardless of the midi interface being used. Any game using LucasArts iMuse system may be subject to it. This includes Star Wars - X-Wing and Tie Fighter (floppy versions) are good examples of such a game. Only the former are addressed here.
AWE64s use DSP 4.16, so there will be no hanging notes midi bug. AWEs prior to that use DSP 4.13 for the most part, and all these DSPs are known to suffer from the hanging notes midi bug. The bug will only occur when digital sounds and midi are being played. The best fix for the problem is to use another card for MIDI. The CT2760 is the card where you will most likely see the 4.11 and 4.12 DSPs. Rev. 3 of the CT2760 probably has the 4.13 DSP. This bug will not be present in any card using the CT-1747 chip.
QSound ASP/CSP
The original AWE32 had, as standard, the CT-1748 QSound Advanced Signal Processor (ASP), later known as the Creative Signal Processor (CSP)., which was an optional upgrade in the Sound Blaster 16s. All full-length AWE32s should have one soldered onto the PCB. The AWE32 Value has a socket for a CT-1748 chip, which could have been purchased from Creative Labs. The SB32s and AWE64s do not have any support for the chip.
All boards with the chip or socket, even if they are otherwise PNP, will have two jumpers to enable or disable the chip.
Models with CT-1748 : CT2760, CT3900, CT3980, CT3990
Models with CT-1748 Socket : CT3780, CT3910
Odd Ducks
The CT3980 is a PNP card, but has a CT-1747 Bus Interface and OPL chip. It is an exception to the almost universal rule that a CT-1747 chip on-board means that the board is not a PNP board. In this instance, another chip is used to provide the PNP functionality, but the CT-1747 is certainly used for OPL FM.
The CT3930 SB32 is a true exception to many of the above categories because it uses the CT2501 ViBRA 16 bus interface chip. As a result, this board has a discrete YMF-262 OPL3, which none of the other boards have. This ViBRA chip lacks controls for treble, bass and gain in the hardware mixer. Finally, there is no PNP or software selectable resource settings, the jumper layout of the original Sound Blaster 16s is used. In other words, you have to set jumpers to set the IRQs and DMAs. While the other main SB32, the CT3600, uses a ViBRA CT-2502 chip, those features were put back in the mixer and PNP functionality was enabled.
CT3630 SB32 and CT4330 AWE32 have no Soundfont RAM. The CT4330 is really a cut down AWE64. The CT3670 is a SB32 with SIMMs, but its main chip comes from an AWE64.
The AWE64 Gold has gold plated mini-jack and RCA connectors, RCA jacks not having been used since the Game Blaster. Some sites claim that it possesses a 20-bit high quality DAC, but that is not quite correct. The SPDIF connector outputs the full 20-bits of the the standard. Additionally, it adds the digital PCM audio output to the signal. Whether the existing 16-bit signals are upconverted to 20-bit or extra bits are just tacked on is unknown.
There seems to be two main versions of the AWE64 Value, the CT4500 and CT4520. The CT4520 does not have separate mixer, CODEC or 558 timer chips. The CT4500 has these, just like all the other AWE cards. It appears that Creative had integrated these functions into the large QFP chip on the CT4520, whether any functionality was lost is unknown.
AWE Upgrade
The CT192x requires its own section. This card was designed as an add-on card for Sound Blaster 16 owners to add most of the AWE features to the PC. It is sometimes known as the Goldfinch board. It contains the EMU8000 chip, 512KB RAM, SIMM slots. It requires its own drivers. Instead of AWEUTIL.COM, it uses AWEUTIL.EXE. Game compatibility with AWE32 supporting games may be uncertain as a result. This board was intended mainly for OEMs like Dell and Micron.
Most CT192x boards only have an 8-pin strip to output audio. A cable would output audio to the a special header on an OEM motherboard or some (OEM) Sound Blaster 16s. Instructions and drivers can be found here : http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php/topic,2747.0.html. CT-192x boards have been reported with Line Out and SPDIF Out jacks. Usually there are solder points for at least the Line Out. Some boards may have the 512KB RAM.
Unlike a regular AWE32, you cannot run FM effects through the EMU8000 or output FM through the SPDIF.
Why get an AWE32? : http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php/topic,3477.0.html
Which one should I get?
Since I find PNP cards to be more trouble than they are worth, I would stick with the non PNP AWE32s. The best of the bunch, feature wise, would be the CT3980, then the CT3900 and CT2760. However, since the CT3980 is a PNP card, I would pick the CT3900 or CT2760 first. The CT2760 uses the older CT1701 CODEC chip while the CT3900 uses the newer CT1703 CODEC chip. The later CODEC chip has been said to have a cleaner output compared with the older CODEC. I can see people using the IDE port in a system for a CD-ROM drive, but the Panasonic and other interfaces are the very definition of appendices today. The cards tend to get less noisy as they get newer.
Sound Blaster 32s are surprisingly good buys, and as they were found in many OEM systems, they tend to be more common than AWE32s. However, they are truly a great option if you can find a rare one with a YMF chip.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Vintage Gamer's Guide to Sound Blasters (ISA)
Sound Blaster 1.0/1.5
These are the original models of the Sound Blaster. The chief difference between the two is that the 1.0 version has two CMS-301 chips soldered onto the board while the 1.5 version has empty sockets for those chips. The CMS-301 chips are Creative's name (put on stickers) for Phillips SAA-1099 chips. These chips are the only source for stereo output on these cards, and if you can find two of these chips, you can turn a 1.5 into a 1.0. Adding the chips provides for a very good degree of compatibility with Creative Music Systems Card and Game Blaster software. This compatibility is not perfect because some programs and games (Taito) require the presence of a special chip found only on those cards.
These cards contain a single Yamaha OPL2 (YM3812 + YM3014) chipset. This chipset is the exact same chipset the Adlib Music Systems Card uses and is also located at the same I/O range (388/389h), which provides for perfect compatibility with any software supporting Adlib. These chips may be socketed or soldered.
The gameport on these cards can be disabled via removing JP1. It is IBM PC compatible and uses I/O address 201.
I/O addresses ranges include 210-21F; 220-22F; 230-23F; 240-24F; 250-25F; 260-26F.
Available IRQs are 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. The only DMA channel this card can use is 1 and it cannot be fully disabled, despite the DMACTRL jumper.
These cards have no on-board mixer, volume control is done by the application and the volume wheel at the back of the card. The output is amplified for headphones and unpowered speakers.
These cards support line out and mic in, there is no separate line in. The mic in jack is often rusty with these old cards.
The large socketed chip is the Digital Signal Processor (DSP). In earlier cards, DSP V1.05 is usually present. DSP V1.03 is also confirmed to exist. These DSPs will have a sticker label on them. Some later cards use a DSP V2.0. This DSP has an etched silkscreen on the chip. The DSP handles digitized audio and midi I/O. As the chip is socketed, it could be upgraded from a V1.xx to a V2.00. Doing so would allow the card to achieve compliance with MPC-1 standards.
DSP V1.xx supports single-cycle DMA mode, ADPCM modes from 8-4 bits, 8-3 bits and 8-2 bits. It supports 8-bit mono output up to 23,000 kHz or 11,000-13,000 kHz using ADPCM. It supports normal mode midi output. DSP V2.00 adds auto-initialize DMA mode and UART midi mode. The Sound Blaster is totally incompatible with the Roland MPU-401 midi interface, which is what early games that supported midi (generally the MT-32), used.
The gameport also supports midi input/output and can use gameport-to-midi cables.
This card uses T1 (Type 1) in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1
Sound Blaster Pro 1.0
These cards contain a dual Yamaha OPL2 (2 x YM3812 + 2 x YM3014) chipset. The chips may be socketed or soldered. This allows for stereo music output. Game Blaster compatibility was removed to achieve this.
This card supports a Panasonic CD-ROM interface. This interface is incompatible with standard IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM drives and requires special drives. The interface does not use any additional resources beyond the normal I/O address range this card uses.
I/O addresses ranges available are 220-233; 240-253.
Available IRQs are 2, 5, 7, 10. Available DMAs are 0, 1, 3. Using DMA 0 is not a good idea because games assumed DMA0 would be used for refreshing system RAM. However, AT class systems use dedicated refresh circuitry. Using IRQ 10 is also not a good idea, many games will not recognize IRQs higher than 7.
These cards support line out, line in and mic in.
This card uses DSP V3.01 and the CT-1345 mixer. DSP 3.xx adds support for stereo digital output up to 8-bit/22,050 kHz and mono digital output to 8-bit/44,100 kHz. It adds the high speed stereo and mono DMA modes. The CT-1345 supports output mixing in 8 volume steps in stereo for Voice, MIDI, CD and 4 volume steps in mono for the microphone. It has 8 volume steps for the Master Volume. It can also mix PC Speaker output in mono. It has a special register switch for digital stereo modes and a 3.2k output low-pass filter.
The volume control wheel is still present.
Has onboard CD-ROM input connector (white plug) and PC Speaker connector (2-pin).
Note that while this card has a 16-bit ISA slot connector, it is an 8-bit card. The 16-bit portion of the connector only allows the card to use IRQ 10 and DMA 0. It fits and works just fine in an XT machine.
This card uses T2 (Type 2) in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T2
Sound Blaster 2.0
Card uses DSP v2.01 or 2.02. It adds support for mono digital output to 8-bit/44,100 kHz. It adds the high speed mono DMA mode.
Card has two sockets for CMS-301 chips and a third socket for a specially programmed PAL16L8 chip which is required to interface with the CMS-301 chips. Without the PAL chip, which was included in the upgrade kit, the card cannot utilize the CMS-301 chips or provide any Game Blaster compatibility. The PAL has been decoded and GAL chips can be programmed to work in the socket. Boards have been shown to work with GALs manufactured by National Semiconductor and Lattice, but not with SGS Thompson GALs. Boards with a CT1336A chip do not work with the upgrade, even the official upgrade from Creative Labs.
Card has line out, line in and mic out and a volume wheel.
I/O addresses ranges include 220-22F; 240-24F.
This card uses T3 (Type 3) in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T3
Sound Blaster Pro 2.0
These cards contain a Yamaha OPL3 (YMF262 + YM512) chipset. The chips are always surface mounted. Stereo music output is not programmed in exactly the same way on the OPL3 as on the dual OPL2 of the Pro 1.0. Most games that support stereo OPL music support both types of Sound Blaster Pro. DragonSphere and Ultima Underworld are exceptions, the latter only supports the dual OPL2 of the Pro 1.0 and the former supports dual OPL2 much better than OPL3. DSP V3.02 has been seen on these cards, but V3.01 may be more common.
This card uses T4 (Type 4) in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T4
These are the first cards that have OEM versions that support a CD-ROM interface other than the standard Panasonic. The retail version, the CT-1600, has a Panasonic interface.
Sound Blaster MCV/Sound Blaster Pro MCV
CT-5320 & CT-5330
These are the Micro Channel versions of the Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro, respectively for the IBM Personal System/2 computer series. They are full-length 16-bit Micro Channel cards.
The Sound Blaster MCV has identical features to the Sound Blaster 1.0/1.5 except they have no CMS-301 chips or sockets for them, no volume knob and cannot select IRQ2. I/O is selected in software.
The Sound Blaster Pro MCV has identical features to the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 except it has no CD-ROM interface, no volume knob and cannot select IRQ2. I/O, IRQ and DMA are all selected in software.
These cards may not work properly in high speed Micro Channel systems. Like all Micro Channel cards they require .ADF files to configure the cards (partially) when inserted into a Micro Channel system. Compatibility wise they may be a bit more finicky than ISA sound blasters.
The Sound Blaster MCV should use T1 in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T1
The Sound Blaster Pro MCV should use T5 in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I7 D1 T5
Sound Blaster 16
Early cards contain a Yamaha OPL3 (YMF262 + YM512) chipset. Later cards may have true OPL3 functionality included in the CT-1747 chip. Even later cards may use the CT-1978 CQM chip, which approximates OPL FM Synthesis (or improves upon it according to Creative.) CQM in my opinion has a harsher sound than Yamaha FM Synthesis.
Card has line out, line in and mic out.
Has onboard CD-ROM input connector (white plug and/or black plug) and PC Speaker connector (2-pin). Later cards may have AUX or MODEM or TAD connectors.
Many boards have a 26-pin header for a Waveblaster-compatible midi daughtercard.
Early cards still have a volume wheel; these cards also have jumpers that allows the user to disable the on-board amplifiers, making the wheel useless.
Boards frequently support the Panasonic, Sony and/or Mitsumi CD-ROM interfaces or an IDE/ATAPI interface. The Panasonic interface does not take up extra resources, but the Sony, Mitsumi and IDE interfaces require an IRQ and I/O for the IDE. They may or may not be able to be disabled.
Many of these cards have an empty socket for a CT-1748 Advanced Signal Processor (ASP) or Creative Signal Processor (CSP). Some cards have the chip soldered onto the board. This processor, which was supposed to provide surround sound and more, is not known to be used in games other than TFX. There are jumpers to enable or disable the chip if the chip is in a socket.
This card uses DSP (maybe V4.01) V4.04, V4.05, V4.11, V4.12 and V4.13 and the CT-1745 mixer. DSP 4.xx adds support for mono or stereo digital output up to 8-bit/44,100 kHz or 16-bit/44,100 kHz . It scraps the high speed modes of the Pros but allows the other pre-existing single-cycle and auto-init DMA modes to support digitized sound up to 44,100 kHz in 8-bit or 16-bit. If a game uses single-cycle DMA modes, the listener will experience pops and cracks that would not be present in earlier cards. DSPs 4.05 and lower are very noisy when it comes to digital audio output.
A UART mode compatible MPU-401 midi interface is added at I/O 330 or 300. This interface may also be disabled on some cards via jumper. It will not work with games requiring a 100% compatible Roland MPU-401 interface (namely games requiring normal/intelligent midi mode support). Such games are typically Roland MT-32/LAPC-I games; General MIDI games will almost invariably work with a UART compatible MPU-401 midi interface. The UART MPU-401 interface will communicate through the gameport or the wavetable header. DSPs 4.11-4.13 are subject to the hanging or incorrect notes midi bug, with some cards more affected than others. The bug tends to rear its head when the DSP is also trying to process digitized sound at the same time as midi.
I/O addresses ranges include 220-233; 240-253; 260-273; 280-293. Available IRQs are 2, 5, 7, 10. Available low/8-bit DMAs are 0, 1, 3. Available high/16-bit DMAs are 5, 6, 7.
In the early cards, there are jumpers to select I/O addresses, IRQs, DMAs, Midi I/O. Later cards allow software IRQ and DMA selection through the Creative Configuration Manager. This program must be loaded on bootup to assign resources to these cards. Even later cards are Plug-n-Play compatible, eliminating jumpers for I/O and many other settings.
The CT-1745 mixer supports output mixing in 32 volume steps in stereo for Voice, MIDI, CD, Line-In, 32 volume steps in mono Microphone and 4 volume steps in mono for the PC Speaker. It has a 32 volume step Master control. It allows 4 levels of Gain control and 16 levels of Treble and Bass control. It does not have the stereo switch of the CT-1345 and uses dynamic filtering instead of a set low-pass filter. Certain cards may not include the CT-1745 mixer chip, their mixers tend to lose the Treble and Bass control and sometimes the Gain control. These cards use chips marked ViBRA. It is unknown whether any games use the Treble and Bass controls.
The last cards in the series were the Sound Blaster 16 WavEffect cards. CT-4170 is an example of such a card. These use 2 low DMAs instead of 1 low DMA and 1 high DMA for 16-bit sound. This may be incompatible with games that expect to use a high DMA for 16-bit digitized sound. Few use the H-DMA channel.
This card and its ISA successors all use T6 (Type 6) in the SET BLASTER line in your autoexec.bat. The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6
H refers to the high DMA channel, P refers to the MPU-401 midi I/O used. By this time, the default IRQ has changed to 5, probably to avoid conflicts with the printer IRQ.
Sound Blaster AWE32/32
See Sound Blaster 16, above for basic capabilities. Changes include:
The biggest change is the inclusion of the E-mu (EMU8000 and EMU8011) midi processor chipset. Except as noted below, this chipset can use 1MB of ROM plus up to 28MB or RAM to store sampled instruments contained in files called SoundFonts. Two 30-pin SIMM slots are provided, but they use plastic retention clips that are very cheap and easy to break. (Epoxy is your friend if they do.) Up to 16MB SIMMs can be used, although 28MB is the maximum that the E-mu chipset can address. While some DOS games supported these cards, they typically only used the ROM samples.
Sound Blaster 32 and Sound Blaster AWE32 Value cards generally do not have a wavetable header. Value cards also do not have SIMM slots for RAM upgrades. Sound Blaster 32s do not have RAM onboard and use ViBRA chips but do have SIMM slots. AWE32s usually have the ASP/CSP chip of the 16s soldered in.
The AWE32 and AWE32 Value come with 512K of RAM for Soundfonts. When RAM is inserted into the slots, the on-board RAM is disabled. There is a "Goldfinch" card that can be used to upgrade a Sound Blaster 16 with the EMU capabilities. Most Goldfinch cards do not have an audio-out mini-jack, seeing as they were an OEM product, so a special cable will be needed to output sound.
Many of these cards have a 2-pin header for an S/PDIF connector. This S/PDIF can only pass EMU and OPL sound output.
Typical cards have a line in, mic in, line out and speaker out jacks. Earlier cards come with Panasonic, Sony and Mitsumi CD-ROM interfaces, later cards use IDE. If the IDE interface on these cards cannot be disabled or changed to an unused portion of the I/O space, then you may have a resource conflict with your motherboard.
The default SET BLASTER variable is as follows:
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 H5 P330 T6 E620
The E variable refers to the starting I/O address of the EMU8000. Its address depends on the addresses at 220-280. If the main I/O starts at 220, then 620-623, A20-A23, E20-E23 are used. If I/O starts at 240, then 640, A40, E40 are used. I/O address 100 is used for the Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement effect of dubious value.
In the AWE32 series, the cards choose IRQ and DMA in software, writing the settings to a small EEPROM. The user still needs to set the I/O addresses manually for some of the earlier cards. Later cards only tend to allow you to disable the MPU-401 interface and enable the SIMMs by jumper. Even later 32s support ISA PnP for configuration, but those are virtually indistinguishable from the AWE64s.
There is no difficulty with trying to access a midi device connected to the wavetable header or gameport. If you are trying to access the EMU as a midi device, and the program does not specifically support the AWE32, then you will have to load a TSR utility called AWEUTIL in order for the EMU to emulate a full midi device. AWEUTIL takes up alot of conventional memory and is incompatible with programs that use DOS extenders (DOS4GW, CWSDPMI, DOS32A) such as DOOM and most DOS games released in 1994-present. It also requires a system with a working Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI).
Since AWE32s use DSPs 4.11-4.13, they will suffer from the DSP hanging note bug described above when using ordinary midi devices. The ones without a CT-1747 chip will use the CQM method of FM emulation (see Sound Blaster 16, above). This includes most of the AWE32 PnPs and SB32s. There is also the occasional card with YMF-262 or YMF-289 ICs, which are genuine Yamaha FM OPL3 chips. For these cards, you cannot get S/PDIF FM audio output.
Sound Blaster AWE64
To DOS, this card is identical to the AWE32. In Windows, it can provide 32 more software voices of polyphony in midi by use of the Wayesynth software. This uses sythesized sounds, not digitized sounds from a soundfont file, and was little supported.
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold cards have S/PDIF connectors which add digitized sound support as well as OPL and EMU. They come with 4MB of Soundfont RAM, whereas the standard card comes with 1MB and the value card 512KB. The Gold cards come with gold-plated RCA jacks, the other cards must make do with mini-jacks.
All AWE64s use CQM, but as they use DSP 4.16, they no longer suffer from the DSP hanging note bug. All use CQM for FM synthesis emulation.
To upgrade the RAM to the 28MB maximum, one has to find proprietary Creative memory modules or use an adapter like AWE-SIMM or SIMMCONN with 30-pin SIMMs.
Thanks to wikipedia for providing fair use images.
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