First post, by elfuego
I know there is some kind of a expansion card with which is possible to install up to 28MB RAM on the AWE64, but I wasnt able to find one on the net in a while.
Does anyone have one of these or any pictures?
I know there is some kind of a expansion card with which is possible to install up to 28MB RAM on the AWE64, but I wasnt able to find one on the net in a while.
Does anyone have one of these or any pictures?
I have 4mb, 8mb and 12mb proprietary Creative memory modules, and SIMMConn adaptor with 32mb SIMM.
http://simmconn.tripod.com/
http://satech.com/12memupforcr.html
http://www.theavenuesinstruments.com/catalog/ … 202/5647800.htm
These three should be available for ordering.
acutally I was wondering the same thing. do you have already made simm-cons or are you willing to get them? I was trying to justify in my mind the cost of having the boards fabbed.
it was nice of someone to leave the gerbers on the website 😀
either way i'd be interested in a simmconn if the price was right.
I thought the awe used 30pin simms ?
Guardian of the Sacred Five Terabyte's of Gaming Goodness
wrote:I thought the awe used 30pin simms ?
the awe32 did, the awe64 uses a proprietary chip thats easily interchanged with a 72 pin simm.
Has anyone actually orderd one of those SIMMCONNS?
wrote:Has anyone actually orderd one of those SIMMCONNS?
I did. First I sent an email to xuxu@ht.rol.cn.net asking Xu Wang if he still had some SIMMConn Gold adapters for sale. He replied affirmatively, so I sent him a PayPal payment for two adapters plus shipping and handling. I received the SIMMConns a few weeks later, and now both my AWE64 Gold cards are upgraded to 28 MB.
Yep, not so long ago i did the same thing and now waiting when my 5pcs. arrive.
Thanks for replies. I was looking at simmconns myself and I was wondering if AWE64 gold with 28MB would have somewhat better sound then AWE32 with the same upgrade? I already have AWE32 CT3980 w/o hanging notes bug and with 28MB RAM with chaos and chorium soundfonts. Would it make any difference at all if I changed this card with 28MB AWE64 gold?
Only better (much better, really) S/N ratio, imho.
wrote:Only better (much better, really) S/N ratio, imho.
I used to leave my computer hooked up to the home stereo all the time with the built in sound... when it's volume was up really loud but nothing was playing you could hear all kinds of clicks and pops through the speaker. When I started using my AWE64 they pretty much all went away, as did most of the ground noise (The constant humming sound). I think the ground noise is even less then what I get off my MX300, although truth be told I prefer it for digital audio. I haven't used a AWE32 but I remember when I was testing out my now moth-balled SB16 CT1740 it was horrendous.
One thing to consider is that you would lose your Wavetable header (if you even care about it) if you switch to an AWE64. In that case you might be better off finding an amplifier with a S/PDIF input and fab'ing a connector for you AWE32. That's what I would do if I didn't already have the AWE64 and MX300 in one box.
"Retro Rocket"
Athlon XP-M 2200+ // Epox 8KTA3
Radeon 9800xt // Voodoo2 SLI
Diamond MX300 // SB AWE64 Gold
Well waveblaster port has its uses, but since I got myself SC-55 I stopped using Yamaha DB50XG and switched mainly to Roland. So I guess in the end, AWE64 should be the retro-choice...
Can not find this anywhere, is the AWE64's SB-Pro compatibility working properly, unlike the SB16/AWE32?
wrote:Can not find this anywhere, is the AWE64's SB-Pro compatibility working properly, unlike the SB16/AWE32?
Nope. 😒
SB Pro stereo DAC mode is only mono on an AWE64.
So the only way to have stereo sound in old games is to get either a SB pro(2) or a 3rd party sound blaster. A question arises here: When SB pro is emulated via 3rd party SB, is the sound still 8-bit?
Thanks for clearing that up 5u3.
wrote:So the only way to have stereo sound in old games is to get either a SB pro(2) or a 3rd party sound blaster. A question arises here: When SB pro is emulated via 3rd party SB, is the sound still 8-bit?
Yes, the SB-Pro specification is 8-bit only. But AFAIK most Dos games have 8-bit sample data anyways. So SB-Pro compatibility with a clean DAC/Mixer should get one a long way.
Thats what buggs me in fact. I tested my SB Pro2 vs SB16 CT1750 and AWE32 CT3980 in some games (particularly in Realms of Arcania 1 and 2 as well as Duke3D) and I wouldnt put my money on SB Pro2 sounding better. Even though I did the math, I would still dare to say that SB16/AWE32 sounded better.
I don't think the original SB-Pro is a good card to compare the 8-bit versus 16-bit specification. I don't have this card, but surely it won't be equipped with a impressive DAC/Mixer, and therefore will reduce the 'effective' bits to somewhere below 8.
Any 16-bit card should possess a more capable DAC. And maybe its mixer can be configured to do some 16-bit interpolation in the mixdown of 8-bit samples, but I am not very familiar with that subject.
It has been a long time since I had an actual 8-bit card myself, but use SB-Pro mode a lot.
But logically, it would be safe to assume that an original card would sound better then any artificial emulation, right? However, thats not the case. Oh well 😀
I remember when I bought my AWE64 Gold there was another one listed that included the expansion board for just another $12... man sometimes I just wanna kick my own a$$ for being cheap.
"Retro Rocket"
Athlon XP-M 2200+ // Epox 8KTA3
Radeon 9800xt // Voodoo2 SLI
Diamond MX300 // SB AWE64 Gold