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. -------------- "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. :-)