From: waardenb@cs.utwente.nl (Jerry van Waardenberg)
Subject: SUMMARY: SOUNDCARDS (long)
Keywords: Soundcards, SB, SBpro, SB16, PAS+, PAS16, GUS, LAPC-1
Organization: University of Twente, Dept. of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 08:51:47 GMT

**** SOUNDCARDS - Which is the best? ****

A few weeks ago I've posted this question on several newsgroups. I also told some 
people that I would summarize any responses. Well... here it is!

The text of this article is composed from a lot of messages of different people. I hope 
they're not going to flame me for taking their remarks and putting them into this article. 
But anyway... Thanx to everyone who contributed to this article.

I'm not sure if everything in this article is correct. If you find any mistakes, or have 
comments or suggestions, then let me know by e-mail. The opinions in this article are 
my own; other people might have other opinions (I certainly hope they do ;-)).

**** INTRODUCTION

Generally PC's can produce music in four different ways, dependent on the type of 
soundcard used:

1. By Digital to Analogue (D/A) conversion. Samples stored in the computer's memory 
are digitally processed and transformed to analogue signals, that can be played over a 
stereo set or headphones.

2. By synthesis. The computer sends note-information to the soundcard, which 
produces analogue signals. There are two basic forms of synthesis: FM and wavetable 
synthesis.

3. By MIDI. Note-information is send through a MIDI-interface to a MIDI-device, 
which produces the music. There are two MIDI standards: General MIDI and Roland 
MPU-401. The latter is an extended version of General MIDI.

4. Controlling a CD-ROM drive. The music is stored on CD-ROM which is controlled 
by the computer.

** FM synthesis

With FM synthesis the tones are produced by wave-generators, called operators. The 
more generators are used, the better the sound quality will be. A disadvantage of FM 
synthesis is that it is very hard to produce realistic sounding instruments, especially 
when playing high pitched notes (on a piano, guitar, etc.). The Adlib was the first 
soundcard that used this technique, using a Yamaha YM3812 FM chip with two 
operators. Most Adlib compatible cards (SoundBlaster, Pro Audio Spectrum) are also 
using this technique. The newer cards are mostly using the new Yamaha YMF262 
(OPL-3) FM chip, which has four operators.

** Wavetable synthesis (WS)

With WS (16-bit PCM) samples are used to produce sound. The samples are stored in 
ROM or RAM on the soundcard. A WS-processor performs operations on the samples, 
such as altering their pitch and length. Since the samples are taken from real 
instruments, they generally sound very realistic. Until recently this technique was only 
used by high-end soundcards, but it is becoming more and more popular now. 
Examples of cards that use WS are the Gravis UltraSound and the Roland SCC-1.

Some cards use a mixture of these techniques, such as the Roland LAPC-1.

** Sampling

Most cards nowadays support sampling. Usually this is done in 8-bit or 16-bit 
resolution, but there are cards that use other resolutions (Adlib Gold 1000 uses 12-bit 
sampling). Sampling is done by a Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC). Samples can 
be compressed by using PCM (Puls Code Modulation) or AD-PCM, which is an 
variant of PCM that yields higher compression. With AD-PCM the sound quality 
usually is less than with PCM.

** MPC (Multimedia PC) specifications.

A PC may be called a "Multimedia PC" (MPC) if it conforms to a number of 
specifications. For the soundcards these specs are:

* 8-bit DAC (16-bit recommended) with PCM and 11 and 22 KHz sampling. Processor 
load may not be more than 10%.
* 8-bit ADC (16-bit recommended) with PCM and 11 and 22 KHz sampling. 
* Microphone input.
* MIDI synthesizer, 6-tone polyphonic (6 tones at the same time), FM-based and/or 
sample-based (WS). If sample-based, the samples must at least be 8-bit.
* Audio mixer.

Since a MPC must be equipped with a CD-ROM, most soundcards provide a CD-ROM 
interface, with a minimum throughput of 150 kB/sec.


**** REVIEWED CARDS

I will give an overview of some cards that looked interesting to me. Most of them were 
released only recently. The reviewed cards are: The SoundBlaster Pro, the 
SoundBlaster 16, the Pro Audio Plus/16, the Gravis UltraSound, the Roland LAPC-1 
and the Roland SCC-1. After that I'll give an short description of some other cards. All 
these cards, except for the Rolands, are MPC-compatible. 

** The SoundBlaster Pro (SB-pro)

The SoundBlaster (SB) from Creative Labs was the first Adlib compatible card that, 
besides FM music, was capable of recording and playing (8-bit) samples. The original 
SB contained 1 (mono) or 2 (stereo) Yamaha YM3812 chips. The first SB-pro was also 
equipped with 2 YM3812 chips, but the newer version (SB-pro 2.0) contained the new 
OPL-3 chip.

The SB-pro is capable of 8-bit sampling at 44.100 Hz in stereo and supports AD-PCM 
compression. It has a CD-ROM interface which is only compatible with Matsushita 
drives. A General MIDI interface is present. The SB-pro has a 2 x 4 Watts amplifier. 
Volume can be altered manually on the back of the card or by software.

Inputs:
* Microphone,
* external line in.
Outputs:
* Audio line out,
* SB compatible MIDI,
* SB CD-ROM interface.

The SB-pro is fully Adlib and SB compatible. It is supported by a lot of games, but 
many of these games do not use the extra possibilities of the Pro version.

Sampling quality of the SB-pro is good. Since it uses FM-synthesis to generate sound, 
the SB-pro is not a good card to produce high quality music. However, FM-synthesis in 
combination with sampling produces good results for games.

The SB-pro comes with seven 5.25" DD disks or four 3.5" DD disks, which contain 
drivers for Windows, demos and applications. Interesting are Voice Edit 2, for 
recording and editing samples. Unfortunately SB uses its own "voice" format for 
storing these samples (.VOC files), instead of the more general Windows-compatible 
"wave" format (.WAV files). The Windows software consists of a simple but good 
Mixer program and JukeBox, for playing MIDI files. The rest of the software isn't 
much good, except for Voyetra (a MIDI sequencer).

PERSONAL OPINION: The big advantage of the SB is its support by a lot of games. 
Too bad these games usually do not support the extra capabilities of the SB-pro. 
Therefore, if you're looking for a CD-ROM, I think you can better buy a normal SB 
than a SB-pro. If you do want to have CD-ROM, you can better take another card (read 
on!), since the SB-pro supports only Matsushita CD-ROM drives.


** SoundBlaster 16

The SoundBlaster 16 (SB 16) is an improved version of the SB-pro, that offers real 16 
bit stereo sound. Of course the SB16 is SB, SB-pro and Adlib compatible.

The SB-16 supports 8 and 16 bit stereo sampling and playing up to 44.1 KHz, has 
dynamic filtering and ADPCM compression. It also contains a 16 bit ASP (Advanced 
(Digital) Signal Processor), which enables you to download a compression and/or voice 
recognition algorithm. On-board real-time (de)compression takes much load off the 
processor (up to 75%). Decompression also minimizes the amount of data that must be 
transferred from memory to the card (16 bit stereo sampling at 44.1 KHz requires 
2x2x44 = 176 kB/sec uncompressed... *glug* that really keeps your PC busy! No more 
smooth scrolling!).

Like the SB-pro the SB-16 has a Yamaha YMF262 (OPL-3) synthesizer chip, with 4 
voice operator FM synthesis. A WaveBlaster MIDI module is optional. The 
WaveBlaster works according to the General MIDI system and has 128 PCM sampled 
sounds. (Is it LAPC-1/MT-32 compatible?) BTW: The WaveBlaster can be connected 
to any General MIDI port, so it can be used with the SB-pro or the PAS (see l8er) as 
well.

Inputs:
* Microphone,
* external line in.
Outputs:
* Audio line out,
* MPU 401 UART and SB compatible MIDI,
* SB CD-ROM interface.

The software consists of DOS and Windows drivers, Voyetra MIDI sequencer, Voice 
Edit 2 (waveform editor) and some example programs.

The sampling quality of the SB-16 is good, but there is quite a lot of noise (I've heard 
this from someone who's reviewing a test version, which may not be entirely correct. 
Maybe the circuitry isn't shielded very good?). Since there is no software for the SB-16 
yet, the special capabilities cannot be tested.

PERSONAL OPINION: Since it is a SoundBlaster, it is supported by a lot of games. 
Together with the optional WaveBlaster it forms a great, but quite expensive, combo. 
It's advantages are its MPU-compatible MIDI interface, 16 bit sampling and ASP. But 
it still has a SB-compatible CD-ROM interface instead of a SCSI interface. I think it is 
best to wait until this card is more supported.


** Pro Audio Spectrum Plus and Pro Audio Spectrum 16

The Pro Audio Spectrum Plus and -16 (PAS+ and PAS-16) from Media Vision are 
probably the SB's main competitors when it comes to Adlib compatible cards. Both 
cards are almost identical, except that the PAS-16 has 16 bit sampling and the PAS+ 8-
bit.

The PAS-16 features 8, 12 and 16 bit stereo sampling and playback (up to 44.1 KHz), 
dynamic filtering and ADPCM compression and decompression. The PAS+ does not 
have 12 and 16 bit sampling.

Like the SB-pro and SB-16, the PAS has a Yamaha YMF262 (OPL-3) synthesizer chip 
with 4 operator FM sounds. The PAS has shielded circuitry and dynamic filtering.

Inputs:
* Microphone,
* External line in (stereo),
* PC speaker.
Outputs:
* Audio line out (headphones, amplifier),
* SCSI (not just for CD-ROM, but also for tape-streamers, optical drives, etc),
* general MIDI (requires optional MIDI Mate),
* joystick.

S/N: 90 db.
Dynamic range: 90 db.
Harmonic distortion: 0.05%

The PAS-16 is one of the two cards I've tried myself (the other is the GUS). The 16-bit 
samples sounds incredibly good. The example MOD-files that come with the PAS-16 
sound really awesome (great stereo, no noise)!

The PAS16 comes with quite a lot of software (compared to the other cards):
Stereo Studio F/X is a waveform editor. It looks very neat but is incredibly slow. SP 
Spectrum is a MIDI sequencer. TrakBlaster Pro is a very nice MOD-player. 
Furthermore, there is a mixer (supports "loudness", which makes low pitched sounds 
come out better), a multimedia application (Audio Mate) and a speech synthesizer (Pro 
Speech). For Windows there are three (!!) mixers and a number of drivers.

Although Media Vision claims the PAS is fully SB(-pro) compatible, some people 
have problems when using the PAS as a SB. It seems that the PAS is not 100% SB 
compatible.

PERSONAL OPINION: The PAS16 is a good soundcard and offers a lot of value for 
your money. The 16-bit MOD files sound very good. But playing MIDI songs through 
the internal FM chip is quite a disappointment. I like the amount and quality of the 
software that comes with the PAS16 and the standard SCSI interface for CD-ROM. 
This, and the overall mechanical quality of the card, IMHO makes the PAS a better 
card than the SB. Too bad the PAS16 is not 100% compatible with the SB(-pro).


** The Gravis UltraSound

The Gravis UltraSound (GUS) from Advanced Gravis is a brand new 16 bit soundcard 
that uses wavetable synthese (WS) to generate sound. With WS 16-bit samples (called 
patches) are used to generate sound effects and music. On the GUS, these samples are 
stored in RAM.

Standard the GUS supports 8 bit stereo sampling and 16-bit playback, up to 44.1 KHz. 
16 bit recording is optional (requires a 16-bit sampling card). It has 16 stereo channels 
and 32 voice Wavetable Synthese, which enables you to create very realistic 
instruments. Unlike the Roland SCC-1, the GUS stores the samples for WS in RAM, so 
you have unlimited possibilities. The instruments can be stored on disk and 
downloaded to the card when needed. The GUS comes with 256 kB RAM, but this 
seems a little too short. However, it can be expanded to 1 MB. According to the 
importer (for the Benelux this is Logitech), 1 MB will soon become the standard 
amount of RAM for the GUS.

Inputs:
* Microphone,
* Audio Line In.
Outputs:
* Audio Line Out,
* Amplified Audio Out,
* speed compensating joystick (up to 50 Mhz), 
* general MIDI (requires optional MIDI adapter), 
* SCSI CD-ROM (requires optional SCSI interface card).

S/N: 80 db.
Dynamic range: 96 db.
Harmonic distortion: <0.014%

Gravis claims 100% compatibility with SB and Adlib. This compatibility is achieved 
through software emulation by SBOS (Sound Board Operating System). Unfortunately, 
in practice SBOS is not 100% SB compatible. Newer releases are becoming more 
compatible. Another big disadvantage of SBOS is that it degrades performance 
considerable in some cases. In general SBOS doesn't work good with demos and high 
speed animation. It works o.k. with (for example) King's Quest VI, Dune and Links 
386 Pro. Since the GUS has no FM-chip, the FM-sounds are emulated through 
samples/patches. This results in slightly different (but not worse) sounds than the SB.

All of this is not really a big problem, since the GUS is not intended to be a SB clone. 
MIDI files, for example, sound very good. If you play a piano-song, then you _hear_ a 
piano and a guitar sounds like a guitar. As soon as software companies are going to 
support the GUS directly, the sound quality will be far better than a SB. Sierra already 
announced support for the GUS.

The GUS has no special effects, like chorus and reverb. I am not sure if the GUS has 
(dynamic) filtering, since documentation is brief. The sound quality is very good, in 
most cases even better than a Roland LAPC-1. However, the sound quality of the GUS 
is dependent on the quality of the patches. Some patches are not so good, so those 
instruments sound worse.

The GUS is definitively not complete at this moment. The software is flaky and is still 
being improved. Currently the GUS comes with DOS and Windows drivers, Studio 8 
(a 8 bit waveform editor), UltraFli (Multimedia application for .fli files) and PlayMidi 
(MIDI player and composer). The Windows mixer is *very* (i.e. too) simple. At the 
moment, not even all 192 MIDI-patches are available.

Since the GUS is mainly software controlled, it is very flexible. Gravis is still working 
on better software support for the GUS. Rumours say they're working on a MOD-
player and MT-32/LAPC-1 emulation. With better software (and no doubt it will be 
released soon) the GUS is going to be a very good alternative for the FM-based cards. 

UPDATE: It seems that all major game companies (Sierra, LucasArts, Spectrum HoloByte) are
going to support the GUS. 

PERSONAL OPINION: The GUS seems to be a good soundcard. It offers high 
(sound) quality for a low price. Unfortunately it is not 100% SB compatible, but this 
may be solved by new software patches. Since the card is becoming quite popular, 
software developers will probably start to support it very soon. The GUS is, at this 
moment, my favourite.


** The Roland LAPC-1 and SCC-1

The Roland LAPC-1 is a semi-professional soundcard based on the Roland MT-32 
module. In fact, the LAPC-1 is a MT-32 and MPU MIDI-interface on a PC-card. The 
LAPC-1 contains 128 LA (Linear Arithmetic) synthesized instruments. These sounds 
are not completely formed of FM-symthesis. The beginning of each sound is a sample, 
which is followed by a FM-synthesized part. These (256) samples can also be used for 
sound-effects. Besides 128 instruments, the LAPC-1 has 30 pre-sampled drum- and 
percussionsounds and 33 sound-effects. The LAPC-1 has 10 stereo channels and is 32-
voice polyphonic.

The SCC-1 is the follow-up of the LAPC-1. Like the LAPC-1, it is a module (in this 
case a CM-300) and a MPU-MIDI interface on one card. The SCC-1 does not use FM-
synthesis, but is fully WS-based. It contains 317 PCM samples in ROM. The SCC-1 
has 16 stereo channels and is 32-voice polyphonic. It is compatible with the new 
GM/GS standard.

Both the LAPC-1 and the SCC-1 have special effects like chorus and reverberation. 
The Roland cards do not have a DAC/ADC, so it is not possible to record or play 
samples. They also don't have a CD-ROM interface. This means that the Roland cards 
do not conform to the MPC specifications.

The sound quality of the LAPC-1 is good. High pitched instruments like piano do not 
sound as good as with the GUS. The quality of the sound-effects in general is quite 
good. The sound quality of the SCC-1 is outstanding. The PCM samples are of high 
quality. The SCC-1 is not fully compatible with the LAPC-1.

The LAPC-1 comes with no software at all. The SCC-1 only has a program for 
enabling the MT-32 emulation mode.

PERSONAL OPINION: The Roland cards are good cards for making music, especially 
since they contain a MPU-MIDI interface. However, the cards are quite expensive and 
offer less functionality than other cards. In combination with a cheap SB the Roland 
cards are very nice (just listen to Space Quest IV :^))! But I think the GUS comes close 
to this combo and it is far less expensive. It's a pity that the SCC-1 does not have RAM 
to store samples in.


** Other cards

Here follows a list of other popular cards, with a short description of each card:

* Covox/Disney Sound Source. Simple DAC plugged into your computers printer port.

* Adlib Gold 1000. Adlib and SB compatible card with SCSI and General MIDI 
interface. Yahama OPL-3 FM chip. 20 channels, 1-voice polyphonic. Surround 
processor to improve sound quality. 12 bit sampling and playing up to 44.1 KHz. 
Inputs: Mic and Line. Outputs: Line.

* Adlib Gold 2000. Like the Adlib Gold 1000, but with 16 bit sampling.

* Thunderboard. Predecessor of the PAS. Adlib and SB compatible. Yamaha 
YMF3812 FM-chip. 11 channels, 1-voice polyphonic. 8 bit mono sampling up to 22 
KHz. SB-compatible MIDI interface. Inputs: Mic. Outputs: Headphones.

* ATI-Stereo F/X. Adlib and SB-compatible. Yamaha YM3812 FM-chips. 11 
channels, 1-voice polyphonic. 8 bit stereo sampling up to 44.1 KHz. SB-compatible 
MIDI-interface. Inputs: Mic, Line. Outputs: Line.

* Turtle Beach MultiSound. GM/GS compatible. Proteus-1/XR soundchip. Motorola 
56001 DSP. 384 pre-sampled 16-bit PCM instruments. 15 channels + Drums, 32 
voices. Special effects: Hall, Chorus and Echo. 16 bit stereo sampling up to 44.1 KHz. 
Turtle Beach compatible MIDI interface. Inputs: Aux, Line. Outputs: Line.
The specs of this card are impressive, but it costs about $600 !!! (You can buy 5 
GUSses for that money :-)).

[from Stefan Hartmann]
* AudioBahn 16 from Genoa Systems. Arial chip from Sierra semiconductor. Adlib 
and SB compatible with MPU-401 MIDI interface and Adaptec SCSI interface. 1 MB 
PCM samples in ROM. 32 voices simultaneously. 16 bit stereo sampling at 44.1 KHz. 
MPC compatible. GREAT SPECS, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PRICE????

* Please mail me more...


**** CONCLUSION

Many manufacturers are now rapidly releasing new soundcards. Game companies are 
already working on support of a new generation of sound cards, that will offer 
significantly better quality over the present cards. The GUS is an example of a card 
with great potential. It's not the Ultimate Sound Card, but it is probably the first of a 
whole series of high quality cards.

Secondly I think the FM-based cards are rapidly going to be replaced by WS-based 
cards, since WS gives much better sound quality than FM.

Watch which cards the software companies are going to support. If you want to buy a 
card now, go for a cheap sound card. Maybe you can get an old SB for just a few 
bucks. If you want a card with better sound quality, the GUS is a good choice.


**** NOTE

The information in this article may not be entirely correct or up-to-date! Some info is 
from my own experience, other is from different sources. If anyone finds any mistake, 
please let me know. If you want to contribute to this article, please send your info. I'll 
put it in a next release (if it's interesting enough ;^))!

** Thanx to:

Josha Munnik (for lending me his lended GUS :^)), Bjorn Haavard Kleven, Phat Tran 
and Stefan Hartmann (for their useful tips and info on the newsnet) and all the other 
newsnetters.


Jerry


Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard