Conference noted::ibmpc-95

    What's the latest in sound cards?
    
    I've been happy with my Logitech Soundman Wave, but they do not have
    DirectX drivers, which is causing me problems with some Win95 games.
    Also it's not SB16 compatabile.
    
    I'm thinking of getting a Soundblaster 32 PnP, which seems to do all I
    want ie:
    
    DirectX drivers
    Wavetable sound
    Full Soundblaster Compatability
    
    Any other cards I should look at? THe Sblaster 32 seems to be a
    reasonable price as well. this is mainly for games, I'm not a musician!
    Greg

    There is a wrath of new cards on the market. Diamond Multimedia even
    just announced a PCI-based sound card in anticipation of non-ISA
    machines starting to show up. I have to say, I've changed over the
    years many times, but I have found myself grounded back at Creative
    Lab's doorstep.
    
    They have a new AWE64 and 64GOLD that seems to be a bit pricey and not
    much more feature-packed than their SB32 and AWE32 boards. (The AWE
    versions essentially add the wavetable to the card, the SB32 doesn't
    have wavetable built-in.) If you can get a DEAL
    on it the AWE64 ($150) then it would be my choice. Otherwise a SB32
    with someone's wavetable duaghtercard (Roland, Ensoniq and Yamaha come
    to mind).
    
    Note: DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER THE CURRENT GENERATION OF SOFTWARE-ONLY
    WAVETABLE DRIVERS AVAILABLE FROM CREATIVE, YAMAHA, ROLAND, ETC.!!! They
    waste CPU, and generally just do NOT perform very well.
    
    You need a hardware daughtercard to plug onto the 26-pin header on your
    SB32 card. (I've seen wavetable daughtercards all the way down to $9.99
    and up to $149-- quite a range. I'd expect about $60 for a goodf one
    these days).
    
    Mark

    Mark,
    
    So the SB32 ISN'T WAVETABLE???
    
    From the Creative Web site, at 
    
    http://www.cle.creaf.com/wwwnew/products/sound/sb32pnp.html
    
    Sound BlasterR 32 PnP is the next generation Sound Blaster. This
    affordable, professional, wave-table synthesis card makes games sound
    better and music sound more realistic by using real instrument and
    sound samples. And it makes business presentations come alive. A great
    value card, Sound Blaster 32 PnP is fully Windows 95/Plug-and-Play
    compatible. 
    
    
    
    Next Generation Sound Blaster
    
    Genuine Sound Blaster with wave-table synthesis and CD-quality sound
    
    Sound Blaster wave-table synthesis gives you real instruments and
    sounds
    
    1 MB of real sampled sounds in ROM
    
    Reverb & chorus effects add realism to all your applications and
    multimedia creations
    
    Upgradeable
    
    Sound Blaster 32 can be upgraded with standard memory SIMMS to take
    advantage of SoundFontR technology
    
    SoundFont technology allows new instruments and sounds to be added to
    the card
    
    Add up to 28MB of standard memory SIMMs to hold SoundFonts
    
    Connect optional Modem Blaster8.8 DSVD to add full telephony
    communication functions
    

    OK, now I'm confused. (Lost a few brain cells). Anyway, I thought the
    wavetable on the SB32 was trivial compared to the AWE32 version.
    Perhaps someone else can clarify. I guess my memory is failing...
    
    Mark

    THe SB32 and the AWE32 have identical wavetables on board... though it
    does depend a little on the exact version of each. Differing amounts of
    on board patch table ram and/or add on memory sockets also add to the
    confusion. OEM and retail versions of both are also different.
    
    Check out the Creative web site for the real scoop
    (www.creativelabs.com)
    
    They have a product identifier document which helps a lot in figuring
    out exactly what you have or are buying. There are about a dozen
    variations.
    
    The add on Wavetable boards tend to have better quality wavetable
    sounds, though nothing that can't be added to the proper patch table
    ram (assuming enough memory). Note that some of the SB32's do not have
    the ability to add patch ram - the sockets are not on the board. Others
    don't have the ability to add a Wavetable board - no socket, again.
    
    The Web site is essential to figure all this out...
    
    Chris
    

    ... and I thought I was confused? Sounds like Creative has lost their
    mind as well!
    
    Mark

    You were expecting a yes/no answer?
    
    Until I found the details in the web site, I was equally, if not more,
    confused... Now I'm only mildly puzzled... :-)
    
    The board I bought was labeled as a SB32/AWE! Had expansion ram, on
    board wavetable, but no wavetable expander connector. Sigh.
    
    Chris
    

    The main thing to know if you are not a musician (I'm not) is that the
    SB32 DOES use a wavetable and the same drivers as the AWE32.  It's
    basically the same card.  
    
    The version of the AWE32 I have comes with 512K of wavetable RAM that
    doesn't come with the SB32, but the SB32 I bought does have a connector
    that allows adding RAM.  The retail AWE32 also comes with more software
    than the SB32.
    
    

I went for the SB32, which as the previous note says, is basically a 
SBAWE32, any games that support the AWE32 work very well with this.

Also has SIMM sockets for downloadable sounds.

Now it says E-mu 3d positional audio is possible with extra memory, 
I've installed 2mb memory, so do I have to do anything to use this, 
or do only certain games use it?

Greg

    RE: .last few
    
    For that matter, the SB16, SB32 and AWE32 all use the *same* drivers!
    
    (Must all be very similar boards...)
    
    Mark

Not necessarily - just that their software interface is the same.

				Steve

    I think DIGITAL now lumps all the 21xxx ethernet drivers into one
    exe file now (by operating system).
    K