Well, if you have positional sound coming out of the wrong side, then it is bad for playing games.

Really it is more of an issue with the game programming than the cards from what I have seen while looking into it. Easy fix is to either swap your speakers or make a little switch box to swap the channels.

Really not a big deal either way.

my SBPro (CT1330A) does not reverse stereo

I think this is an urban legend

It's mostly an issue in first person games, when you're trying to locate enemies by sound. Otherwise, not a big deal.

Also, a lot of games give you the option of testing stereo in setup and reversing the channels if necessary.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2020-06-19, 03:44:

It's mostly an issue in first person games, when you're trying to locate enemies by sound. Otherwise, not a big deal.

Also, a lot of games give you the option of testing stereo in setup and reversing the channels if necessary.

Did games that old as to support sbpro and not newer cards even implement real positional audio...?

maxtherabbit wrote on 2020-06-19, 02:57:

my SBPro (CT1330A) does not reverse stereo

I think this is an urban legend

The CT1330(A) is the reference for stereo PCM sound blasters as it is the first one of those, so it obviously can't have reversed stereo compared to itself . Or am I missing the point completely ?

My understanding is that some SB Pro clones have reversed stereo PCM compared to CT1330(A) and CT1600 .

walterg74 wrote on 2020-06-19, 03:55:

Did games that old as to support sbpro and not newer cards even implement real positional audio...?

Obviously, the SBPro didn't have HRTF as featured on later sound cards which support Aureal 3D and EAX.

However, even basic stereo support in games as old as the original Doom allows you to determine if an enemy is on your left or your right by the sounds that they make. This is relevant when you're fighting in dark rooms or when an enemy is otherwise hidden from your view.

maxtherabbit wrote on 2020-06-19, 02:57:

I think this is an urban legend

Yup. Only some clones have issues with reversed stereo.

SBPro1 CT1330A, lets solve the Reversed Stereo myth!

Rawit wrote on 2020-06-19, 07:42:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2020-06-19, 02:57:

I think this is an urban legend

Yup. Only some clones have issues with reversed stereo.

SBPro1 CT1330A, lets solve the Reversed Stereo myth!

...unless the games were actually written with those clones in mind and reversed stereo in software themselves. Iirc Magic Carpet did that. Play Magic Carpet with a 'correct' card and you hear sound on the wrong side anyway.

And just to complicate matters, lots of cards wired up their wavetable headers with stereo inverted too, even if PCM stereo isn't.

On the other hand after playing with the SB pro 2 and other Sound blaster cards I noticed that the SB pro 2 was often playing sounds at a different pitch ... I don't know what the heck is causing that, is it a programming issue, a hardware issue, a problem in my computer ... I have litterally no idea. But there is a problem somewhere

darry wrote on 2020-06-19, 04:22:

maxtherabbit wrote on 2020-06-19, 02:57:

my SBPro (CT1330A) does not reverse stereo

I think this is an urban legend

The CT1330(A) is the reference for stereo PCM sound blasters as it is the first one of those, so it obviously can't have reversed stereo compared to itself . Or am I missing the point completely ?

My understanding is that some SB Pro clones have reversed stereo PCM compared to CT1330(A) and CT1600 .

I guess you missed the point then. Clones being wrong is not a SBPro problem. If the clones are backwards and idiot devs of the time wrote to the clones, then that has nothing at all to do with the "sound blaster pro"

dionb wrote on 2020-06-19, 08:38:

...unless the games were actually written with those clones in mind and reversed stereo in software themselves. Iirc Magic Carpet did that. Play Magic Carpet with a 'correct' card and you hear sound on the wrong side anyway.

And just to complicate matters, lots of cards wired up their wavetable headers with stereo inverted too, even if PCM stereo isn't.

ok so then magic carpet is just a broken game, has nothing at all to do with the sound blaster pro