Two Issues about the AWE32

[MichalN]

Finally, does the SnR ratio of the S/PDIF digital output stream really matter?  The wire coming from the S/PDIF connector is sending a stream of bits, not voltage.  I would think its up to the receiving device to translate the bitstream into analog voltage and introduce the real noise into the signal.

It is sending voltage (what else, this wasn't optical S/PDIF), but that is interpreted as ones or zeros, not analog signal levels   I'm sure that was what you meant.

I suspect the 90dB SNR figure given for the S/PDIF output is either deliberately meant to be confusing or was just put in the docs by someone who didn't have a clue. You are of course correct that the S/PDIF output is digital, not analog, and short of outright bit errors (possible, but the cabling/connections would have to be extremely bad) there is zero loss of information. It makes no real sense to speak of SNR in this case because there is no noise introduced into the signal.

The 90dB SNR figure probably comes from the fact that 16-bit samples are transmitted. For digital audio data, the theoretical SNR may be calculated as 20*log(2^16), which works out to about 96dB, or about 90dB if you leave some headroom during recording (24-bit samples get you somewhere around 140dB theoretical SNR). However, this SNR is an inherent property of the source digital data stream that passes through the S/PDIF connector, and the connector itself will not change that SNR at all unless its faulty.

And yes, the real fun will start after the digital signal passes through a DAC somewhere at the other end. Then the SNR of that analog circuitry will distort the signal before you get a chance to hear it, but that has nothing to do with the AWE.

There might be problems (some would say theoretical) caused by clock jitter on the S/PDIF signal, but those only apply if the digital signal is sent straight to a DAC. If you sent the S/PDIF output from an AWE to a recording device (DAT, PC, whatever), then there is really no distortion and no SNR to speak of; there might only be transmission errors if the connection was faulty - but then you'd need to fix the connection because the bit errors would probably render the audio data unusable.

[5u3]

Fellow forum member '5u3'  made me familiar with a 1996 DOS utility program for the AWE series of sound-cards that went by the name MasterMixer v5.11 by author Cedric Amand of Belgium. [...]
I believe that the last release of MasterMixer v5.11 was some sort of 'freeware' or 'post-cardware', perhaps forum member '5u3' could enlighten us further - maybe even uploading the utility.

Here is a short review of the mixer program dwvjr mentioned: It's called ".\\r. Gun's .\\master .\\ixer v5.11", back in the days it was quite popular among the demoscene crowd.
According to the documentation it is free for private use and can be found on the net under the filename mm5_11.zip. Download link

This seems to be the latest existing version, the archive also contains Vincent Vu's AWE32FXWorkshop v1.1.

Requirements: Creative SB16/AWE32 series sound card, CPU 80286 or better, VGA card, mouse.

So what's so special about this utility?

• Unlike Creative's own DOS mixer apps it makes the full range and resolution of the volume sliders available (5 bit for Master/DAC/MIDI/CD/LINE/MIC; 4 bit for Treble/Bass; 2 bit for PC-Speaker). Each volume step in the mixer interface represents an actual hardware step on the mixer chip. This makes it possible to set the volumes very accurately.
• Input and output channels can be mapped individually (within restrictions of the CT1745 mixer chip). Input and output gain and automatic gain control can be selected, including an undocumented x8 amplification (although the onboard amp gets very noisy with this setting applied, this may have been the reason why Creative left it out).
  
• AWE32/SB32 users may select and apply predefined chorus and reverb effects for the Emu-8k. Effect parameter sets created with the bundled AWE32FXWorkshop utility can be converted and added to the predefined effects list.
  
• Reset switches for the DSP and Emu-8k are included. Initialization of non-PnP "jumperless" cards (like the CT3900) is also possible.
• Six slots are available to store the settings. Recall is possible from the command line (without entering the mixer GUI). The utility is not a TSR and doesn't need any memory when not in use.

Unfortunately there are also some shortcomings:

• It is not possible to initialize PnP cards with Master Mixer, CTCM is still needed.
• The Emu-8k chorus and reverb levels can not be changed (apparently because of an incompatibility with the Cubic Player). The program also "forgets" which effect set is loaded when you leave the program.
  
• After an Emu-8k reset the FM synth sounds really strange. Use AWEUTIL to reset the Emu-8k instead.
• No possibility to enable/disable the CT1978-BAP Creative 3D Stereo enhancement (well, I guess nobody cares  ).
• The GUI needs a mouse driver installed, otherwise it won't load. Keyboard controls are not available.
• When you exit the GUI, the program uses a VGA register effect to "fade out" the screen. On some VGA cards this corrupts the textmode.

(Click image for full size)
Screenshot of the Master Mixer v5.11 GUI

Since the OPL3 output of the AWE cards goes to the Emu-8000 and then out the Emu-8000 DAC this means that Emu-8000 reverb, chorus and the "UNDOCUMENTED internal Equalizer" of the Emu-8000 can also be applied to the OPL3 output.  This allows the treble and bass shaping of all AWE output in the digital domain with the MasterMixer treble/bass slider controls since the author figured out how to manipulate the digital domain treble and bass controls.

Well, I'm a bit skeptic about that particular Master Mixer feature. Did you try it out on an SB32 card without analog treble/bass controls?
The documentation is a bit hazy when it comes to the "digital internal equalizer" and how it is applied in Master Mixer. Cédric Amand mentions that the digital EQ is "linked with the conventional SB16 mixer", but it remains unclear whether it's a hardware feature or some trick he pulled off in his program.

Unfortunately all my AWE32 cards are equipped with a dedicated CT1745A(-TBP) mixer chip, so I cannot perform significant tests. However, I fooled around with Master Mixer, comparing with the output of the digital EQ, which is accessible from the Windows driver's AWE Control Panel. It seems that it is not possible to control the digital EQ from within Master Mixer, at least not with any controls present in the GUI. Btw, using the analog and the digital EQ at the same time is not a good idea, as it easily drives the onboard amp into clipping...

(Click image for full size)
Testing digital EQ under Windows 3.11
AWE Control Panel, Creative Mixer, Master Mixer, and in the top left an old cracker intro which plays an OPL2 tune
Both mixer apps actually show the same settings, note the non-linear faders on the Creative Mixer, which makes it impossible to use the full mixer resolution.
The Creative DOS mixer applications behave in a similar way.

Actually the DOS AWE sound-card users could apply Emu-8000 reverb and chorus effects themselves to the FM output with the Creative AWEUTIL with the /R:xx and /C:xx command-line parameters.  This would not hold true with the CT-1920 'Goldfinch' Upgrade card since no FM output is present on the card.  For a comparison, please check out the SYSTEM SHOCK Intro audio files provided by forum member '5u3' under the "FM Synthesis" section of this QuestStudios forum  posting.  The one listed as "SoundBlaster AWE32 PnP with SBPro2/SB16 driver version" has a 30% reverb and a 20% chorus setting applied to this OPL output.

Yes, I like the possibility to "fatten up" the FM synth output on my AWE cards, after all they're only equipped with the measly CT1747 CQM chip, not the real thing.
I use a combination of AWEUTIL (to set the level of the chorus/reverb effects) and Master Mixer (to select a different parameter set), it works in every DOS game with FM support.

The audio file mentioned above was indeed recorded with these chorus/reverb level settings, and (if I recall correctly) the Master Mixer parameter sets "Height Chorus" and "Big sounding". Normally I keep the levels even further down, as too much chorus/reverb makes my ears clog up after some time

Effects are not easy to make.
You'll see that it is hard to make a not-overloaded effect, only the "AWE-Elite" will be able to succeed with this program I think.

Edit2: Fixed download link again

[TheMAN]

What is this Binura 3D Audio, I've never heard of it before.  I doubt anything beyond Creativ'e software took advantage of it.

Actually, I understand most people who heard it did NOT want to take advantage of it. 


How Creative eventually ended up with the Binaura 3D Audio is the last chapter of the Creative ISA sound-card story.

In the beginning, there were but two speakers, and the sweet stereo sound they rendered was declared good. Then desire for even better sprung forth like a demon - the people wanted even more, but it could not cost alot. Just in time the world was given QSOUND.  Madonna liked it.  Sting liked it.  Therefore, Creative liked it and it was pronounced good enough.  Creative then said to the people, "Lo, I give unto you QSOUND 180° Virtual Audio and a demo program!".  Thus fulfilling the prophecy of the Book of Creative Marketing - that one day the people will be given a reason for their purchase of the greatly-hyped, over-priced and very secret ASP chip, which only the sanctified employees of Creative were allowed to program.  Here endeth the marketing lesson.

So Creative now had QSOUND for the ASP chip equipped Sound Blasters for WAV file output.  The DOS CONFIG.SYS driver CSP.SYS demand loads the required ASP code stored in the following files into the ASP chip to provide hardware-assisted support for the following functions in the pre-Pentium MMX days.

Code:

wfm0001a.csp  QSound decoder
wfm0006a.csp  A-law codec
wfm0007a.csp  u-law codec
wfm0011a.csp  IMA ADPCM codec
wfm0200a.csp  Creative ADPCM codec
wfm0202a.csp  Fast Speech 8 codec
wfm0203a.csp  Fast Speech 10 codec

Creative next reasoned that if QSOUND was good enough for the ASP equipped Sound Blasters, surely the Emu-8000 AWE Sound Blasters deserved a dose of QSOUND love.  So the Emu-8000 effects processor had QSOUND added to the Reverb and Chorus settings with the restriction that QSOUND could not be used at the same time as the Chorus/Reverb.

However, QSOUND support by Creative became moot when it was decided not to renew the QSOUND license.  Since the "3D" check-off box for magazine reviews was still important in the pre-EAX/A3D/DolbyD days of old, Creative had to come up with some replacements.  Creative then came up with a game oriented 3-D positional Audio technology and API for the Emu-8000 and 3-D Stereo enhancement replacement for the ASP driven QSOUND.

Creative AWE64 Gold
3D Audio Technology

During the change-over from DOS/Win 3.1 to Win95 it became evident that Microsoft wanted more control over the operating system marketplace by defining and controlling the APIs for Video and Audio in Windows.  Since DOS never defined APIs for those sub-systems, Microsoft had seen the VESA video committee and 3rd-party DOS sound driver providers such as HMI and MILES own that part of the operating system space. Microsoft wanted it back - no third parties need apply, thank you.

Creative had a non-starter in the gaming 3-D positional Emu-8000 Audio with the advent of the Direct3D sound APIs which were part of the Microsoft DirectX technology/APIs.  What was left was the ASP QSOUND 3-D replacement.  So Creative had gone to the Binaura Corporation for their chipset supporting spatial-enhancement for stereo speakers. Creative combined that deal with its hiring of a contractor, the SoundField Corporation, which was selected to implement their proprietary 3-D spatial-enhancement algorithms in the form of DOS and Windows drivers necessary to implement said 3-D stereo spatial-enhancement using the new Creative hardware, the Binaura Audio Processor now labeled as the CT1978-BAP. The CT1978-BAP was mounted on the 'Plug-and-Play' versions of the Sound Blaster 16, Sound Blaster AWE32 and Sound Blaster AWE64/Gold.

"Binaura Corp offers what is perhaps the simplest spatial-enhancement circuit, the Universal Discrete analog design. The circuit requires only a quad op amp and a handful of resistors and capacitors. The company hopes to have a stand-alone IC available this year but is licensing the design for now. Creative Labs ships the Bianura circuit on all newer sound cards. Creative sells the circuit, along with sound-generation ICs, on an OEM basis."

Source: 3-D audio: above and behind you or moving low left to right? EDN 06/06/1996, Maury Wright, Technical Editor.


Here, again is a block diagram of the Creative Sound Blaster AWE32 model hardware implementation:

Functional Block Diagram of Sound Blaster AWE32

Source: Developer's Information Pack version 3.01, Page 1-9, PDF page #10/110.

Note the block labeled "3D Stereo Enh"  directly to the right of the MIXER block.  This is the Creative CT1978-BAP referred to above.  All digital, FM and Emu-8000 output was routed through this LSI ASIC before it went to either the on-board speaker amp or the analog line-out jack.  It was known as the Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement.  The following text is from a Dell AWE64 Value sound-card User's guide.

Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement
 
Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement eliminates speaker crosstalk when two speakers are placed close together. This results in a sound with more depth and breadth—enhanced mono and stereo output.

Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement can be enabled or disabled in Microsoft Windows 95 or DOS. By default, Creative 3D Enhancement is disabled. Do not enable Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement if your speakers have an enabled 3D stereo feature.

In Windows 95

To enable or disable the effect in Windows 95, perform the following steps:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on your desktop, and select Properties. The System Properties dialog appears.
2. Click the Device Manager tab. A list of devices in your system appears.
3. Double-click Sounds, video, and game controllers. A list of multimedia devices appears.
4. Select your audio card, for example, Creative AWE64 16-bit Audio.
5. Choose Properties. The audio card's properties dialog appears.
6. Click the Settings tab.
7. Select the option to enable or disable the Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement effect.
8. Choose OK until all system property dialogs are closed

In DOS

To enable or disable the effect in DOS, perform the following steps:

1. At the DOS prompt, change to the directory containing your audio card's software. For example, type CD C:\SB16, and press <Enter>.
2. Type CT3DSE ON to enable the effect, or CT3DSE OFF to disable the effect, and press <Enter>.

Source:  Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement Dell Sound Blaster® AWE64 Value Sound Card User's Guide.

The Win9x "SoundField" 3-D audio enhancement was implemented via a CT3DSE.VXD driver which also exposed a Windows check box for "Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement" Audio properties Settings tab. The DOS implementation was via the command-line CT3DSE.EXE utility.  To repeat, the Creative CT-1978 BAP was the hardware used to implement the 3D Stereo Enhancement on selected Creative Sound Blaster 16 PnP and Sound Blaster AWE32 PnP and AWE64 PnP sound-cards.  So all sounds processed through a CT1978-BAP equipped Sound Blaster could have the effect applied if the user so desired.

File download: Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement DOS utility

Back in the socket 7 days when I was kicking away with my AWE32 (and SB16 before that), I was able to figure out how NOT to let the CSP go to waste. I totally agree that there hasn't been any games known to take advantage of that chip and that's sad (thank you creative for being so secretive about the chip and extorted great licensing fees that scared every developer away and leaving owners who bought into the hype with a mostly useless chip!). I'm sketchy on how I came across this, but all that matters is, it happened while I was playing around with the bundled utils and found out that if you had the QSound Control Panel loaded (which you get by installing the win3.x drivers... there is no 32-bit version), it WILL cause all PCM audio to be remixed with the CSP and outputing QSound (well not in the purest sense because IIRC QSound Labs was not particularly happy with how creative implemented QSound on the sound blaster). Of course it wouldn't work right out of the box, you had to set it up. My setup was having it set to "automatic pan" from right to left (for left channel) and left to right (for right channel) with a delay of 1. It worked for everything running under windows and *some* DOS stuff (running under windows) IIRC. It did sound better than the over spatilized and distorted binaura setup found in the later PnP cards too.

The catch is:
-You have to use windows to get this; I'm going to assume everyone here who are using any of these cards are running 95 or 98... pretty silly to use 3.1 if you ask me
-You have to use the older "revision 5" 9x creative drivers; revision 6 on seemed to have the QSound CSP code base removed.... I do remember it not sounding spatialized once I upgraded to the revision 6 drivers the day they came out
-You have to have the QSound Control Panel running all the time
-You have to install either the "CSPU" upgrade (that was available from creative for download) or install the DOS/win3.x drivers/apps to get all the necessary .CSP and .ACV files as well as the QSound related apps

FWIW, I was able to get this to work in NT4 also (with the latest drivers too... creative seemed to gotten lazy and left the CSP related stuff alone there) but that's a different story and doesn't really matter

Anyhow, common misconception about having or not having the CSP chip is... you do NOT need it to get TextAssist to work, nor do you need it for VoiceAssist... what was written about the "ASP" chip in all the manuals out there are wrong. I knew someone back then that had the very original retail SB16... as in the first release (it did not have the "basic edition" sticker slapped on the box)... this retail release had VoiceAssist included as well as the same rudimentary apps that came with the SB pro instead of the Essemble and other nicer bundle apps that came in the later retail releases... point is, his CT1730 card didn't have the CSP but VoiceAssist worked fine. All the CSP is good for is QSound, hardware based compression/decompression of those crappy compressed waves, and games that support it (like there was any).

I was one of the few that got suckered into the hype (and mislead by the manual on those apps that I naively cared to use back then) and actually bought the CSP upgrade kit (still have it in box... the chip is now in my CT1770 in which the card is still in the original retail box) for my CT2230 (which I half fried) so it only made sense to make the purchase more justified and not letting it go to waste

This "hack" worked with my CT3900 (replaced the CT2230) too of course as it did come with the CSP also. As for the EMU8000's QSound, this functionality was removed in the later AWE32 drivers (I think after revision 3?) once creative's license expired. Funny enough though, it stayed with the CT1910 because there was never any "driver" updates to it nor was there any changes you could make to it

[Locutus]

@dvwjr: First of all, thanks for providing so much useful information about Creative's ISA era of soundcards! You really did a great job, researching all those details. How come, you know so much technical intel? Have you been working for them back in those days? :-)

When I was young and played DOS games, I actually liked my AWE64. It gave me great MIDI sound compared to my previous noname SBPro clone but lately I am beginning to realize how bad Creative's products really were during that time.

When using my retro PC nowadays, I can easily afford most of the hardware I could only dream of using back in the DOS days (be it DB50XG or MT-32). However, my view on Creative products is quite a different one and several buggy and noisy experiences have led to that change of mind.

To me, all that Creative ever managed to do is establish a standard on the market with crappy hardware through supposedly clever marketing in the beginning. As a result nowadays, I find myself in the quandary that I want Soundblaster (16) compatibility paired with a waveblaster connector and a good SNR.

My list of priorities would look something like this:

1.) When I hate something it's hanging notes, really! (Since I use my daughterboard for MIDI)
2.) WaveBlaster 26-pin header for MIDI daughter-boards (for my DB50XG)
3.) Single ISA-slot solution (Nothing to spare here, ISA slots are rare and useful)
4.) SNR > 80 (So, I guess it will come down to one of those Vibra chips !?)
5.) Yamaha OPL3 FM Synthesis (Call it puristic ambitions...)
6.) EMU-8000 (if possible with 30-pin SIMM sockets) (I just like to CHOOSE)

(Maybe there's even a great product that incorporates all those needs (apart from EMU8K) into one great card and I simply don't know of it? Turtle Beach? Terratec? ESS? And maybe it even has 16-bit digital audio and is fully SBPro-compatible? Who knows? If you do, let me know!)

What I really and explicitly don't care about is:

1.) PNP or Non-PNP (Somehow it just HAS to work, both ways)
2.) Treble and bass (Who ever uses them? Besides I have an external mixer and those mixing things only add noise)
3.) Strange CSP chip
4.) Version of the DSP (although it might come down to a particular one, considering hanging notes)
5.) QSound, 3DSE, etc.
6.) IDE controllers, CD-ROM interfaces (To be disabled anyway, if anyhow possible)

I tried several Soundblasters recently. CT3990, CT3980 and CT2760 all have the hanging notes bug and SBMPU401.EXE or MPU-ON.COM won't fix it. CT2760 also has strange high pitch noise sometimes when playing digital sounds in games. I also have a CT1740 with real OPL and it doesn't have the hanging notes bug. However it's even noisier than the CT2760.

Do you have any suggestions for me?

Best regards,
locutus

[Cloudschatze]

The downside of the CT2502 VLSI package?  No use of the SB Pro 2 or SB-16 standard Yamaha YMF-262-M OPL3 or YAC-512-M DAC chips. 

Maybe not the standard YMF262-M and DAC, but...



Here is a link to the entire photo (large)

Interesting, no?

Notice which chips are missing? There may potentially be some CT3600's out there with the same configuration.

[Cloudschatze]

Interesting, no?

I can't believe that this hasn't been commented on. Just think of all of those burning questions! Yes, all of them! The burning ones!

[Great Hierophant]

The YMF-289 is an OPL3-L chip, which stands for low power but contains all the functionality of the OPL3. 

I didn't see the significance of this discovery at first, but as I do now, I am moved to ask a question:

Why would Creative Labs put an OPL3 chip on a card that already has their CQM synthesis already built into the main chip?  The Binura 3D chip seems to offer additional functionality, the Yamaha chips do not.
Is it the Yamaha chip actually putting out the FM synthesis?
Is the CQM synthesis functionality of the CT-2502 disabled in hardware?
Why use these particular Yamaha chips instead of the ordinary YMF-262/YAC-512?  Its not like 3.3V is available on the ISA bus.  Maybe they are quiter than the older versions, which would fit in with the rest of the card. 

[Cloudschatze]

I'm not convinced that the CT2502 contains an integrated synthesizer.

The IC differences in the two CT2940 photos consist of two chips: An OPL3-L + DAC, and the CT1978 + DAC (at least, I think the smaller IC is a DAC... I can't read it).

I think it's more likely that the CT1978 chip, or what is otherwise being referred to as the Binaura chip, contains Creative's OPL derivative.

Furthermore, the CT2502 is labelled "'94." CQM was announced in August, 1995.

As for Creative using the YMF289 and YAC516 combination... I'm not sure. Though the YAC516 appears to better the YAC512, spec-wise, Creative wasn't known for being quality-conscious.

[Cloudschatze]

...Binaura Audio Processor now labeled as the CT1978-BAP.

Come on. You made this up.

Here's the quote you reference:

"Binaura Corp offers what is perhaps the simplest spatial-enhancement circuit, the Universal Discrete analog design. The circuit requires only a quad op amp and a handful of resistors and capacitors. The company hopes to have a stand-alone IC available this year but is licensing the design for now. Creative Labs ships the Bianura circuit on all newer sound cards. Creative sells the circuit, along with sound-generation ICs, on an OEM basis."

Circuit. It's right there. The CT1978 IC doesn't have anything to do with this, from what I can tell.

In any event, I suppose I should test the CT2940.

[Cloudschatze]

Did some testing today...

CT2940 w/Yamaha OPL3-L and DAC - CT3DSE states that the card does not support stereo enhancement.

CT2940 w/CT1978-BAP and DAC - CT3DSE states that the card does not support stereo enhancement.

CT3600 w/CT1978-TAP and DAC - CT3DSE both enables and disables the stereo enhancement without issue.

It's readily apparent that the CT1978 is the Creative OPL when looking at the CT3600, since it shares the same circuit paths as the Yamaha chip pads.

In conclusion, the CT1978 is a CQM synthesis chip, and has nothing to do with the Binaura stereo enhancement. The Binaura enhancement is a circuit in the analog output stage, the components of which I haven't positively identified. (Nor am I sure which implementation Creative went with, per the Binaura patent.)

The end.

Not that anyone cared.


I'm not a big fan of Creative's stuff, but the CT2940 is probably the best SB16 variation around. The quietness of this card is shocking, shocking I say!

[Great Hierophant]

I'm not a big fan of Creative's stuff, but the CT2940 is probably the best SB16 variation around. The quietness of this card is shocking, shocking I say!

If you are one of the lucky few to get the CT2940 with the Yamaha OPL chip instead of the Creative CQM chip. 

Are gain, treble and bass controls on the CT2502 changed in the same way as on the CT1745?  Are the settings the same? 

Still, I would be hesitant to recommend this particular SB16, even with an true OPL chip because it possesses a 4.13 DSP and an IDE interface that probably cannor not be disabled.  I hate it when a card contains on-board interfaces that you cannot disable, they waste resources.  The CT1740 and CT1750 had CD interfaces, but they did not take up precious IRQs or DMAs and only a few I/O addresses in the same ranges as the rest of the card. 

[Cloudschatze]

I'm not a big fan of Creative's stuff, but the CT2940 is probably the best SB16 variation around. The quietness of this card is shocking, shocking I say!

If you are one of the lucky few to get the CT2940 with the Yamaha OPL chip instead of the Creative CQM chip.

I saw two on eBay this past week...

Are gain, treble and bass controls on the CT2502 changed in the same way as on the CT1745?  Are the settings the same?

You'll have to fill me in on how they're changed with the CT1745.  

Still, I would be hesitant to recommend this particular SB16, even with an true OPL chip because it possesses a 4.13 DSP

This may not be an issue. I haven't tested the WaveBlaster interface yet, but I'll let you know.

and an IDE interface that probably cannor not be disabled.  I hate it when a card contains on-board interfaces that you cannot disable, they waste resources.  The CT1740 and CT1750 had CD interfaces, but they did not take up precious IRQs or DMAs and only a few I/O addresses in the same ranges as the rest of the card. 

Well, the one I tested has an IDE interface, but didn't appear to use anything extra in DOS, IRQ or DMA-wise, so this concern may be unfounded. Additionally, the other OPL-based CT2940 I have coming doesn't have the IDE header or chips installed, so IDE-less versions do exist.

[Great Hierophant]

You'll have to fill me in on how they're changed with the CT1745

I take it then that it would function the same as the CT1745 is described to function in the Sound Blaster Hardware Programming Guide, available for download somewhere on the net.

Additionally, the other OPL-based CT2940 I have coming doesn't have the IDE header or chips installed, so IDE-less versions do exist.

Cool, I may have to be on the lookout for an IDE-less one.  If the system in which it will be installed only has one IDE port, it could be useful.  If it has both, then it could create a bus conflict, which is bad.  A real IDE port will require an IRQ.

This board isn't plug and play I hope?  While jumperless boards are OK, plug and play is a configuration nightmare. 

This may not be an issue. I haven't tested the WaveBlaster interface yet, but I'll let you know.

The only remaining issue with the board is its midi capabilities.  I believe the hanging notes bug will be apparent through the waveblaster or the gameport. 

[Cloudschatze]

You'll have to fill me in on how they're changed with the CT1745

I take it then that it would function the same as the CT1745 is described to function in the Sound Blaster Hardware Programming Guide, available for download somewhere on the net.

I believe so. That is, the mixer program works the same, and bass/treble/gain settings are visible.

This board isn't plug and play I hope?  While jumperless boards are OK, plug and play is a configuration nightmare.

It's plug-and-play. On the brightside, I didn't have any trouble configuring it with Creative's CTCU/CTCM programs... but then, it was the only card installed in the system. 

[Laust]

So what's the deal with the CT2230? this has the official Yamaha OPL logo on one of the Creative chips. I always wondered about that...

[Cloudschatze]

So what's the deal with the CT2230? this has the official Yamaha OPL logo on one of the Creative chips. I always wondered about that...

Per the Kohina board, it was suggested that Creative may have licensed the Yamaha OPL3 for use in the CT1747 chip.

I have a CT2230 in front of me that lacks the "OPL" designation. However, given that my card's chip is stamped "9406," and that the OPL trademark wasn't even filed until April 28, 1994, it seems plausible that the marked and unmarked chips are the same, and that the CT1747 does, in fact, contain a Yamaha OPL3.

Someone ought to do a CT1747/CT1978/YMF262 comparison.

[Locutus]

Ok, just out of curiousity, I have recently acquired a CT2940 with those low-power Yamaha OPL chips on it.

I just wanted to let you know that it has the hanging notes bug. I confirmed it with my DB50XG. Otherwise the card is nice and is not as noisy as earlier Non-PNP SB16s.

Still, I would be hesitant to recommend this particular SB16, even with an true OPL chip because it possesses a 4.13 DSP and an IDE interface that probably cannor not be disabled.

Besides, I had no trouble disabling the IDE interface using CTCU.

Regards,
locutus

[Cloudschatze]

Ok, just out of curiousity, I have recently acquired a CT2940 with those low-power Yamaha OPL chips on it.

I just wanted to let you know that it has the hanging notes bug.

Drat! 

[Locutus]

@Cloudschatze: Well, I almost expected it, because I already had tested a CT2960 before, which also has the bug.

So far I have tested

CT1740
CT2740
CT2760
CT3980
CT3990

The only one, which doesn't have the bug is the Noise Blaster CT1740. :-)

As a last resort, I bought an SW60XG to get rid of that annoying WB problem.

Don't we all love Creative...

[Great Hierophant]

So, to my mind we have three unanswered questions about the 16-bit Sound Blasters:

1.  When did Creative stop using a true OPL3 or OPL3 core and adopt their CQM core?

2.  When, if ever, did Creative finally lick the "hanging notes" midi bug?

3.  Is there a card, other than the earliest Sound Blaster 16's (CT-1740, CT-1750, CT-1770) that has a true OPL3 core (if not chip) and does not suffer from the hanging notes bug, and comes with the CT-1745 mixer chip or its feature equilavent?