Suitable retro ISA sound card for DOS & Win98

ketma · 13 May 2021 at 10:03

Which ISA sound card would fit the bill? As there are so many they have their pros and cons, but what I'm looking for is:

SB Pro or SB16
Wavetable header (to fit *full* size board)
OPL3 FM
Win98SE compatible

Avoiding: hanging notes, pops/clicks, slow down, etc....

Seems all of the Creative cards are plagued with some issue.

Sound Blaster: From best to worst Version 10 (2021-04-19) - Google Sheets

The ESS card I have is great but can't host the daughterboard, which is a shame.

What alternatives are there?

!bluetonic! · 13 May 2021 at 12:15

If you go back through the YouTube archives on Phil's computing lab, he must have reviewed most of them.

I think the Yamaha Audician ISA would fit your bill, but they hard to come by.

ketma · 13 May 2021 at 13:57

I have, that won't take a full size db.

cee-S-dee · 14 May 2021 at 17:27

What DB you looking to host @ketma

I have this Aztech Sound Card which is pretty much a Perfect SB Pro 2.0 Clone. Gen OPL 3 and Bug Free Midi while also being quiet. I'm not sure if a DB50 will fit.

Opti Cards with Yamaha OPL3 are also an option. If you want SB16 compatibility the the ALS100 (non) plus is what you probably want to keep any eye out for. Problem is with these cards is many of them are poorly made with noisy output.

ketma · 14 May 2021 at 19:44

Hi, I have a Roland SCB-55 which on the current hosting sound card (Vibra16) has hanging notes and stutter and is letting the rest of the system down (P Pro).

That looks a decent card and probably would host it ok (just), but I think I may have found a suitable card too, the Terratec Profimedia Gold 16/96, which will host the db card no problem. Doesn't have genuine OPL3, but the ESS clone doesn't do a bad job in comparison

I have an Opti card too but its just too damn noisy and the ESS card I have is too small to host a full size db, if it could it would have been perfect.

So my plan now is to have a decent (compatible) SB 2.0 clone for SFX and FM, the SCB-55 for Roland GS, and the SW60XG for GM.

cee-S-dee · 14 May 2021 at 19:56

The Terratec cards are awesome. If you can get hold of the 16/96 you won't be disappointed. I actually like ESFM and consider it a good alternating to the YMF chips. Some games sound better if the have the ESFM mode.

I actually have IBM S-W1/C Daughterboard attached to the above card . Its not bad considering its only a 1MB Rom. Crystal/Dream made some decent wavetable stuff.

And damn, where did you get the SCB-55 from!? Sounds like a pretty baller system, (PPRO, GS and XG!)

ketma · 14 May 2021 at 20:29

Thanks, I just hope it arrives (and works) - makes me feel I made a good choice if you are giving the thumbs up too. I heard a sample of the db you have and its good, they made some good stuff indeed.

I picked up the SCB-55 from Czech, and its immaculate considering the age. The PPro is the one system I never owned due to the cost so its been a real blast getting one and setting it up.

cee-S-dee · 14 May 2021 at 20:38

You could also run the Vibra and the 16/96 together. The Vibra can supply the 16-Bit Digital Effects for the games that support them while the 16/96 can do the Pro/FM Stuff.

Unisound would make it really easy to run them together.

ketma · 14 May 2021 at 20:40

That's not a bad idea, but something would have to go as all the slots are full, the rig is full top to bottom.

Guest2 · 15 May 2021 at 18:50

Soundblaster 16 CT2230 meets all those points.
Mine, i’ve only had one issue with slow down once when firing up Duke Nukem 3D.
Not that noisy at all. Not silent but not bad at all