soundcard question

[gibverse]

A while back, I posted about some audio/video sync problems I was having when capturing. My system setup is still the same, NT 4.0 with SP5:

ASUS P2B
Intel PII 400 (not overclocked)
128 mb RAM
Marvel G200 AGP 8mb
3com 3c905b PCI NIC
Creative Labs PCI64

3.5" floppy
Using onboard IDE controler (no FastTrack yet):
Primary Master:
Seagate Medalist Pro 9.1 gig
2.1 gig NTFS C: (OS, Progs, swapfile)
6.4 gig NTFS E: (data only, not used for capture)
Primary Slave:
Seagate Medalist Pro 9.1 gig
entire drive, FAT32 used for capture
Secondary Master:
32X ide CD-ROM
Secondary Slave:
2x2x6 ide CD-RW

A number of people on the forum suggested that this problem might be related to my soundcard. I have the opportunity to swap the PCI64 for a SoundBlaster AWE64. I personally don’t like the idea of having an ISA card in my system, but if it cures my sync problems, I’ll endure the pain. My question for the group is this: Is this a smart move (to trade the PCI64 for the AWE64)? Which is the better soundcard overall (I always thought the PCI was better, but I could be wrong)? Would it make more sense to save money for another PCI card (perhaps an Aureal Vortex 2)? Please bear in mind that I run NT 4 exclusively, until Matrox gives us some 2000 Professional capture drivers.

Thanks,
John

PS: Happy Holidays to all, and have a Merry Y2K!

[DrMordrid]

PCI sound cards are still evolving. I'm sure at some point in time they will be fine, and some probably are now, but a lot of them have compatability issues. This is especially true where bus and CPU utilizations are concerned. The AudioPCI, Maestro and MANY other PCI cards fall into this catagory.

Some, like SBLive! cards, have not only the above problems but other issues related to their use of non-standard resources that other devices might want to use. In the SBLive's case using the keyboards interrupt controller for timing.

If you do decide to use one then at least turn off the ISA compatability mode in it's drivers, if you can. This usually eats another IRQ and often causes problems in and of itself.

Another tip, and this goes for ALL audio cards, is to turn off the reverb, spatial, 3D and other "special" settings in the drivers and/or mixer. Go with straight two channel stereo in the captures. This will reduce the resource usage and often turn a problem card into a pussy cat.

Dr. Mordrid




[This message has been edited by DrMordrid (edited 26 December 1999).]

[gibverse]

Thanks for your reply Doc.

Any other comments? I get the feeling that the PCI64 isn't the good card I thought it was, so I'm probably going to swap it out for the AWE64. I still don't like ISA cards though, esp. with NT... but that's me.

John

[This_Idiot]

John,

I've got an old AWE32 Value in one of the PC's over here and it sounds just fine (that machine dual-boots NT and whichever W9x I'm using on any given day).

The other machine has got a Yamaha DXG192 waveforce PCI which also works without any drama.

[fluggo99]

The AWE64 must've been my favorite sound card. It was the easiest thing to use; never a problem.