brian@leah.Albany.Edu (Brian King) (06/28/90)
I originally posted the request for information regarding sound boards for the
PC several weeks ago. Since then, severl people have been very helpful, and
several have asked me to post a summary. In general, almost everyone that
replied seemed to think that the Sound Blaster is the way to go. Here are
some quotes.
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"I have a Sound Blaster card and it is very good. If you want the best sound
you can get go with the MT-32. If you want something cheaper, go with the
Sound Blaster. The Sound Blaster is 100% Adlib compatible, and Game Blaster
compatible. It also has a digitized voice channel which you can use to
replay a lot of the Macintosh and Atari digitized sounds."
-------------
"-While the MT-32 is definitely a better board and sports excellent
MIDI capabilities, the Sound Blaster is about half the price of the
MT-32. The Sound Blaster has a MIDI port that can be used with a
*optional* connector box, the midi files are (I think) proprietary
and can only be played on other Sound Blaster equiped machines."
-------------
"I have the AdLib board, and am using it for TANK PLATOON. The sound
is disappointing. It is very Tinny. I have tried the adlib composer
program and while very easy to use for some one with no knowledge of
music, it would be no good for composing music. It works by mimicking
a keyboard for the interface of every instrument,
Also you have to pay $60 (?) to get the programming manual, and disk
of headers for C.
Finally, theere is no driver to interupt the normal speaker to put
it through the board.
Overall verdict. Thumbs down."
-----------
These are just a few of the replies. All of the other replies were along the
same lines. Clearly, the Sound Blaster is the choice among ALMOST everyone
that replied. Some said they liked the Adlib, but these people also said that
thay have not heard the Sound Blaster. None of these people represent any of
the companies from where the card was manufactured. They were all just
customers -- some satsified, some not. Of those that had the Sound Blaster,
not one person said that they were dissatisfied. I also did not hear from
anyone that had information on the MT-32, only that it was MIDI oriented,
very good, and expensive. From what I saw, I think I am going with the
Sound Blaster.
Karl (WhatsHisLastName) had some very helpful information regarding the Sound
Blaster. Here is the information he gave to me:
----------
"Here are a few Suppliers of Creative Lab's Sound Blaster:
Company Price Phone#
Jermco $175 1-800-448-2117
Tevex $189 1-800-456-1162
Cape Cod $180 1-800-328-WARE
Connection
Source: Computer Gamming World, May 1990. I can't vouch for any of these
companies, but I have ordered software from Tevex and have no complaints.
Here is the address and phone for Creative Labs
Creative Labs, Inc.
131 South Maple Ave. #6
South San Francisco
CA 94080
Order: 1-800-544-6146
Tech. Support: 415-742-6107"
---------------
And just remember ladies and gentlemen, not only do you get good sound with the
Sound Blaster, but you also get a joystick port! :-) A couple people suggested
to get The Battle of Britian. I guess it it really puts the sound board to
work.
I hope this was helpful to some of you. Thank you to all that replied. It's
appreciated.
-Brian King
University at Albany
Internet: brian@leah.albany.edu
Bitnet: brian@albnyvms.bitnet
P.S. I have absolutely nothing to do with Creative Labs. I just HOPE to be a
satisfied customer. :-)