The only thing that crosses my mind is some sort of incompatibility with certain chipsets (again, VIA comes to mind). Maybe you need to adjust pci latencies. With luck, your bios will have that option. Try values like 32 or 64 pci cycles.

Thanks for one more hint, man 😉 I change value between 8 and 128 clocks but nothing changes. Chipset is I430HX.
I think this is really hardware bug in AWE32 MPU401 interface 🙁

Do you know if AWE32 ROM have any ROM that could be flashed/upgraded? Or maybe upgrading bios on the mainboard too.

I think this is not motherboard incompatibility. I have latest bios for my mb and as i know AWE have not firmware update feature.

c.imp wrote:

I think this is really hardware bug in AWE32 MPU401 interface 🙁

Most likely you are right with your assumption. The AWE32 MPU-401 interface is worse than the one on most plain SB16 cards. Probably it's because of the awkward integration of the E-MU 8k chip.

For more BIOS "tweaks", have a look at the AT clock settings and the I/O recovery times. AT clock should be set to 8 MHz, and the I/O recovery times to the highest value possible. This will seriously impact ISA throughput, but might help with the hanging instruments. If it doesn't change anything, don't forget to set them back to the default settings.

c.imp wrote:

I confused and think to buy SB16 ASP MCD + Goldfinch =(

Any plain old SB16 should work right with most GM synths. But what's a Goldfinch (apart from a colorful little bird)? 😅

c.imp wrote:

May be better change it to AWE64 Gold (CT4540)? I heared that these cards have more compatibility to older SB model than AWE32.

It would certainly sound better due to the more modern chipset and cleaner layout, but the MPU-401 would be the same. Apart from that, AWE64 cards don't have the WaveBlaster connector onboard.
I'd suggest getting a real Roland MPU-401 interface would be the best option in your situation (especially if you collect GM DBs).

By the way....

I am moving this thread to the PC section, because it's hardware related

5u3 wrote:

But what's a Goldfinch (apart from a colorful little bird)?

Goldfinch is a EMU8000 (AWE32 in fact) upgrade for plain SB16. It has all needed chips (CT1971 - EMU8000, CT1972 - EMU8011) and two simms slots ofcourse. How it connects to SB - i dont know. But anyway, that Creative card named Goldfinch is exist.
http://www.america.hongfaith.com/Audio/soundb … ter_ct19201.htm
Actually i don't want to use it because i out of free ISA slots in my mb.
All my expirience in building of a oldskool dos based pc's is one big compromise 😀 Can't make all cool thing what i want in one system.

5u3 wrote:

It would certainly sound better due to the more modern chipset and cleaner layout, but the MPU-401 would be the same. Apart from that, AWE64 cards don't have the WaveBlaster connector onboard.
I'd suggest getting a real Roland MPU-401 interface would be the best option in your situation (especially if you collect GM DBs).

I hope this issue not EMU8000 related and in AWE64 that problem fixed.
I know - wavetable connector in AWE64 is not present but this is much little compromise, than using plain SB16 because i can listen EMU8000 specific midi. But for GM synth i can use external midi synth that i collect too (MU10, MU15). I want to buy too Roland SC-55, Roland MT-32, AVM Summit and Korg NS5R with unique feature for this class products - 26pin Wavetable connector 😀 And i can use my favorite mezzanine cards again 😀
But all these my dreams come true only if AWE64 have normal MPU401 interface 🙁

p.s. One more about goldfinch. I look now at my SB16 ASP Mitsumi (CT2230) and i see that 8pin connector described in link that i give above. 😀 Now i understand how it connect to SB16.

p.p.s Today i got a third AWE32. CT3980 - same as CT3990 but with CSP CT1748 chip. Tomorrow I shall try to test these issue with new card.

maybe this describe my problem?

There is one footnote to be added here. If you're using a Creative Labs' AWE64 or AWE32, and having problems with garbled MIDI Thru (ie, the MIDI data from your controller keyboard is recorded into the computer OK but when simultaneously sent to MIDI OUT or the AWE built-in sound module, you get weird MIDI response), this is due to a bug in the chipset used in some CL cards. This is particularly noticeable with Roland keyboard controllers used with an Awe32/64. (In fact, Roland discovered the bug in CL's chipset). You need to send the card back to CL for servicing. Contact CL tech support.

c.imp wrote:

Goldfinch is a EMU8000 (AWE32 in fact) upgrade for plain SB16. It has all needed chips (CT1971 - EMU8000, CT1972 - EMU8011) and two simms slots ofcourse.

😳 Gosh! There's always something new (to me) popping up in these forums. 😀

c.imp wrote:

I look now at my SB16 ASP Mitsumi (CT2230) and i see that 8pin connector described in link that i give above. 😀 Now i understand how it connect to SB16.

Is that the one located next to the audio jacks at the metal bracket? They internally connect to line-in/out and mic, so they could be used for such a purpose.

c.imp wrote:

I hope this issue not EMU8000 related and in AWE64 that problem fixed.

Possible, but I doubt it. The AWE MPU-401 ports are notorious for incompatibility and poor performance. At least buying an AWE64 and trying out wouldn't be too expensive 😖

Yesterday i got AWE-64 PnP CT4380. I'm test him today with my MU10 and all works excellent. Hexen and Hocus Pocus midis playing perfectly!
Probably a problem really not in MB/BIOS.
Tomorrow i shall test my new AWE-32 PnP CT3980 and i hope this rev.shall work too because i want use internal DB card except external module.

Whew! Maybe there really is a difference in the MPU-401 ports of the AWE32 and AWE64 cards. It would be interesting to find out if this bug concerns all AWE32 cards or just some models. I'd like to contribute, but I only have a SB 32 (CT3600), which has the E-MU 8K and the RAM slots, but no WaveBlaster connector 😒

Well... AWE-32 PnP CT3980 works absolutly correct and playing these problem midis excellent!!! Like my SB16 and AWE-64.
Anyway this revision has two minor bugs.
1. bug that present in any AWE-32 that have Advanced Signal Processor (CT1748). FM music not playing until card not reinitialised (aweutil /s) if EMU8000 used before FM.
2. Strange bug with always enabled QSound 3D when i launch mixerset utility.

All in all this revision of AWE32 is the best for DB card use... at this time.
Awaiting for latest nonPnP CT3900 rev.

c.imp wrote:

1. bug that present in any AWE-32 that have Advanced Signal Processor (CT1748). FM music not playing until card not reinitialised (aweutil /s) if EMU8000 used before FM.

Yeah, I know this one (also from AWE64 cards). Either the FM doesn't work at all or it sounds really strange (like chorus/reverb settings gone havoc). Can't imagine why this happens, but resetting the EMU seems to fix it.

c.imp wrote:

2. Strange bug with always enabled QSound 3D when i launch mixerset utility.

This could be a bug in the mixerset software. Do you have the newest version from the Creative website?
I can't reproduce this error, because I don't have the Creative mixerset program installed anymore, but I as far as I can remember, there was more than one bug in this nasty piece of software.

5u3 wrote:

Yeah, I know this one (also from AWE64 cards).

In my AWE-64 that bug is not present. Maybe because AWE-64 series has never 4.16 DSP except 4.13 in AWE-32 series?

This could be a bug in the mixerset software. Do you have the newest version from the Creative website?

I have incorrectly explained... with my ugly english 🙄 I think this problem is hardware related because that 3D Sound function is available too but disabled by default in my AWE-64 and AWE-32 CT3990. And mixerset utility is the same. And yes, it is latest version from creative.

5u3 wrote:

Yeah, I know this one (also from AWE64 cards). Either the FM doesn't work at all or it sounds really strange (like chorus/reverb settings gone havoc). Can't imagine why this happens, but resetting the EMU seems to fix it.

Do you know how resetting EMU8000 under windows for this purpose? AWEUTIL does not working under windows, only in plain DOS.

c.imp wrote:

Do you know how resetting EMU8000 under windows for this purpose? AWEUTIL does not working under windows, only in plain DOS.

I'm not entirely sure we're talking about the same phenomenon here, because I never have this problem under Windows. Apparently the Windows driver does reset the EMU at startup.
When running DOS I use MasterMixer (can be downloaded here), but I don't think it works under Windows because it directly accesses the hardware.

c.imp wrote:

I think this problem is hardware related because that 3D Sound function is available too but disabled by default in my AWE-64 and AWE-32 CT3990.

It's also disabled by default on my AWE cards, and I'm glad it is, because it sounds horrible in my opinion. Probably the state of the 3D sound is not saved on the card, like the chorus/reverb settings, they go back to default all the time.

c.imp:

When you used the daughterboard or the gameport midi on the AWE32 in DOS, was AWEUTIL loaded?

For real (not emulated by emu8000) general midi this tool not required ofcourse, but i load aweutil anytime for other purposes. I prefer emu8000 synthesis in few titles, Blood in example.)

p.s. Offtop.
In comparision with other music standarts i explain my vision of games midi music like that:
FM synthesis of Opl2/3 - like AY (Speccy) or SID (C64) music.
Plain WT synthesis of AWE32/GUS - like MOD(Amiga)/S3M/XM music.
High quality GM synthesis of Roland/Yamaha - like CD/MP3 recorded music.

In this case i can't prefer best/ultimate synthsis for my favorite old games. And all three is required for me.

Tomorrow i got another CT3990 and CT3900 non pnp and test both cards.
Well, new CT3990 have corrupted midi playback bug too like CT3990 that i have already. Maybe it is a revision bug.
CT3900 work perfectly. Midi playback is solid, without any glitches and sample loops. Like a CT3980. Unfortunatelly it still has that minor bug with mute FM synthesis after using of EMU synthesis. Maybe this is ASP chip bug because all ASP models have this bug. In any case CT3900 it is best AWE32 revision at this moment i think, until i finally got CT3999 PnP for testing.
Bug Summary:
CT2760: midi - corrupted, fm after emu8k wt- mute
CT3900: midi - ok, fm after emu8k wt - mute
CT3980: midi - ok, fm after emu8k wt - mute, Qsound 3D on/off - always on
CT3990: midi - corrupted, fm after emu8k wt - ok, Qsound 3D on/off - ok

Searching for CT3999 😀