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These Creative 2940 Vibra 16 cards are a pretty good value for retro builds right now. They are not very desirable because they have the hanging-note MIDI bug and emulated OPL FM synthesis. The hanging note bug can indeed be annoying, especially if you are using MIDI for games etc. The OPL emulation is not terrible. Yeah, it lacks the warmth and :fatness" of a real Yamaha chip but it's really not as bad as some people say. The upsides are that these cards have some of the best signal to noise ratios of any of the sound blaster 16 cards. Well, also, you can get them at a pretty reasonable price! full PnP may be a benefit or a negative depending on use scenario.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Why-Converting older computer to play a number of old retro games. Needed an analog card with DOS support and drivers readily available. Whats great-FREE drivers readily available at Creative for any operating system these old computers will run and for newer equipment using DOSBox. Most driver sites want to download analysis and install software first. Remember, internet functionality drops off as we move back in time, and this isn't practical. Many old games even have a sound blaster setting. What's not to like- Nothing. These are the real deal. The old Sound Blaster 8 bit cards would also work well but don't provide the functionality as one moves forward in time. The Creative PCI Esoniq series (I think marketed as the SB16 PCI) can be used fairly easily, but the sound is sometimes off. Turtle Beach PCI cards, the SB live series and forward-some have dirvers listed but I've never been able to make them work backwards of Win 98. I also have a number of other brand ISA cards, but drivers are very hard to find short of joining and paying fees on one of the driver sites. One can by a 2940 cheeper than the membership. I've never tried a CT 4170, which has wave effects capability, but it might well work. Recommendation-If you need a retro card, the 2940 is a no brainer. It's quick, easy and functional across a broad range of games and operating systems.Read full review
This sound card is a great DOS solution. Being that it is a PnP ISA card, there is a little extra work to get the card working under a full DOS or Windows 3.1 environment. Creative still maintains all the files needed to get this to work however, and provides simple step-by-step documentation to help get this card working. If you can find it, the Wave Blaster daughterboard makes the Sound Blaster 16 probably the best DOS based card you can buy for your retro system.
Certainly blasts sound, almost went deaf from how loud the beep was when I booted into Windows 3.1. Great for vintage computer enthusiasts
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I bought this card as part of a project to build a set of retro gaming machines. In order to run old IPX games that run under Dos, I need a reliable, ISA based sound card that would configure easily and work flawlessly. I have purchased several of these cards from different vendors and they all work without a problem.
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