#WHAT SOUND CARD TO BUY??
6 messages in this thread
I was considering upgrading my good old Sound Blaster to a newer card and
narrowed my choices down to the PAS 16 or the new Sound Blaster 16. Besides
the sound capabilities I'm interested in the built in SCSI interface that
both of there cards offer, but reading what I can find on the subject I
find two short comings in both. First I believe that Mediavision doesn't
provide SCSI drivers for OS/2 2.0 (or the upcoming 2.1) for the PAS16. But
on the other hand, the SoundBlaster 16 will support OS/2 but according to
the latest Infoworld review it still has the non standard SCSI interface
that the SB pro has. Are both of these stataments true? Basically I'd like
to make sure that when I can afford a CDRom drive that whatever card I
purchase will work with DOS, WIN or OS/2. Comments/sugguestions please.
Thanks – Rick
Richard,
I don't know much about the PAS 16. But to answer your question on the SB
16. Yes the SB 16 does have the non standard CD-ROM interface. But that
isn't necessarily bad. The drive that Creative Labs offers, which I have
for my SBPro, is a rather high performence drive for its price. Mine cost
me $370 from ComputAbility. It has an average seek time of 380ms. Sure it
is not up to the specs of the NEC high performance drives, but 380ms isn't
bad. It runs full motion video without glitches or slowdown. And with the
addition of Lighting for Windows (with the CD-ROM cache) it speeds along
pretty good. I would recommend the SB 16 over the PAS 16. Let me know what
you decide.
Heath
I got the DAK BSR card ($199) and besides the usual lousy phone support at
DAK (when you get through) it works OK and comes with lots of goodies. Give
it a look.
Jean-Louis
Jean-Louis,
To be honest I have never heard of the DAK BST card. Is it Sound Blaster
or Sound Blaster Pro compatiable? Is it 16-bit? Another problem is if it
doesn't have the nonstandard CD-ROM interface it is useless to me. Because
I have the CD-ROM drive from Creative Labs made for the SBPro. That is why
I wan't the Sound Blaster 16 with the same nonstandard interface.
Heath
it is multemedia compatible, 16 bits, AD and DA. I just got one, it's nice
for the price (199). It has a CD-ROM interface but nothing works with it
yet. Also comes with nice software (windows). For $49 additional it is
compatible with Soundpro/adLib. But it looks like its not for you. good
luck
jean-louis
Jean-louis,
Thanks for the info on the card. I decided to replace my SoundBlaster Pro
with a Sound Blaster 16 because it will work with my CD-ROM drive. Besides
it is a really great card. The price isn't that bad either ($220).
Heath