Soundblaster Questions

[Jailbreak]

I am new to the forum and am reviving an old computer for playing some of my old DOS games.  I have read through quite a few entries in the forum and it's obvious that there are people here with significant technical expertise relative to sound cards.  Hopefully I can learn from the things I see and read hear because my knowledge is very basic.  I have several old soundcards to pick from and wanted to ask a couple of questions.  On the CT1770 SCSI 2 and the CT2760 AWE 32 soundblaster cards is it possible to disable the CD-ROM drive interface via the jumpers on either of these cards?  If not would the only other way to disable the CD-ROM drive interface be to install windows and then disable the interface by deleting the device drivers via the device manager in windows?  On a slightly different topic what would be the best way to interface one of the external Roland GM boxes to one of these cards?  Would it be best to use the joystick connector or the WaveBlaster connector?  Also are the external Roland GM boxes a good solution to the MIDI issues with the Soundblaster cards?

Thanks in advance,
Jailbreak

[jharris01]

I used to have a CD-ROM connected to my Sound Blaster Pro. For it to work I only needed to load the necessary driver (in the autoexec.bat/config.sys files). As long as I didn't load the drivers then the CD-ROM drive interface was disabled (as in not recognized/not taking any resources). At least that was the way it used to work on my system.

To connect a Roland (or any) external MIDI device to your sound card you will need a joystick to MIDI cable. You can find them on ebay or monoprice.com:

MIDI cable DIN5M/M - DB15M/F cable - 4ft

The waveblaster connector is meant for Creative Lab's Waveblaster (or compatible) midi wavetable daughterboard cards. It will only work with wavetable daughterboards.

[Great Hierophant]

Unfortunately, you cannot truly disable the SCSI-2 hardware on the Sound Blaster 16.  However, as jharris01 says, it is unlikely to be a problem if you do not load the drivers.  You can disable the CD-ROM interfaces on the CT-2760 by setting J1-4 as open. 

[Jailbreak]

Thanks for the great responses.  They lead me to another question.  I planned to use the Line Out connector for the non-MIDI audio output from the Soundblaster card.  What is the best way to remix the output from the external MIDI device and the audio output from the Soundblaster card?  Is it best to use Y cables at the input to my external amplifier or is there another method that would be better?

Thanks,
Jailbreak

[jharris01]

It depends on what Roland module(s) and computer setup you'll be using.

Roland SC models have a pair of stereo (left and right) RCA connectors. One is for input from another sound source, which will be mixed with the sound produced by the SC. The other one is output to your speakers.

MT-32 models don't have input jacks. They only have left and right 1/4" mono phono jacks for output. Newer models have an extra headphone jack which is sterero (still 1/4"). You will need a stereo Y cable with the appropriate adapter. Personally I use female rca to phono jacks like this one:

http://tinyurl.com/olnhlj (Ebay link)

If you plan to play old games through DOSBox on a modern PC with one midi module then you connect the sound output of said module to your soundcard's line-in. The computer will mix the sound effects with the midi sound.

If you plan to use above setup with both an Roland MT-32 and a Roland SC unit, then you connect the MT-32 output to the Roland SC's input. The SC's sound output would then connect to your soundcard's line-in.

If you plan to use an old computer to play old games under DOS with a Roland SC unit then you plug the soundcard's output to the SC's input. The Roland SC would take care of the mixing. The SC's sound output would then go to your stereo amplifier or computer speakers.

If you plan to use an old computer with an MT-32 (or both MT-32 with an SC unit) then you'll have to provide your own way of mixing. Mind you many games that support MT-32 probably won't produce any special effects (or use the MT-32 capabilities to produce them). The older the game is the more likely this is to be true.

These are only suggestions. I am sure there are more ways of hooking up this hardware.

Side note: A good question would be if there are any sound cards that can mix input coming from line-in under DOS. This is an area I think other questers may be able to provide more information.

[Jailbreak]

I had planned to use an SC-55 external MIDI device so if I understand your post correctly I would route the MIDI output to one input on the SC-55 via the joystick port connector and I would route the non-MIDI output from the Soundblaster via the Line Out jack to the second set of input connectors on the SC-55.  The output of the SC-55 would then be hooked up to my external amplifier and this output would provide a combination of the sound from both inputs.  Are my assumptions correct?  Also one other question relative to the jumpers on the CT2760 AWE 32 card:  After jumpers JP1 thru JP4 have all been disabled to disable the CD-ROM drive interface it appears to me that the configuration of the DRQ6, DRQ7, IRQ3, IRQ10 and IRQ11 jumpers that set the DMA channel and IRQ for the CD_ROM are no longer relevant.  Is this assumption correct or do I need to pay attention to how these jumpers are configured?

Thanks very much for your help,
Jailbreak

[jharris01]

Are my assumptions correct?

If I understood you correctly then yes.



Soundcard's Gameport---->MIDI Cable's DIN15 plug

MIDI Cable's "MIDI OUT" plug (DIN5)---->Roland SC's "MIDI IN" jack

Soundcard's Line Out--->Stereo Y cable 3.5mm end

Stereo Y cable's RCA (red and white) plugs--->Roland SC's "Input" RCA jacks

Roland SC's "Output"--->Another RCA cable--->External Amplifier Auxiliary jacks



I would recommend downloading SC-55's pdf manual (or ebay/google for photos) so you can visualize it better.