~AWE32 Sound Blaster Card

Reviewed By Adriano Grisanti.


The AWE32 is a great sound card &  comes  in two  packages, the  first
is without a Programmable Advanced Signal Processor, and  is known  as
the Sound Blaster AWE32 value package, which retails for around  œ129.
The  second is  the  Sound Blaster  AWE32 package  which  retails  for
around  œ180-œ235, which comes complete with the Programmable Advanced
Signal Processor, the difference being speed, without one of these 
processors, you would need to have a faster processor to cope with all
the extra sound channels, etc.

This sound card has a whole host of specifcations, software  &  user 
friendly mannuals.

  The following is a list of specifications the card has :-

A.) 16-bit CD-quality stereo recording and play back.

B.) Orchestral 32-voice polyphony with Advanced Waveffects Synthesis.

C.) Programmable Advanced Signle Processor (Depending on purchase).

D.) SoundFont support via downloadable sound samples.

E.) 4Mbit Ram onboard memory, upgradable to a maximum of 28MB.
    (enables you to down load wavefonts (sound files) onto your card,
    via a modem or disk, ect.)

F.) 20-voice OPL3 FM music synthesizer.

G.) Multi CD-ROM interface: creative, Sony & Mitsumi drives.

H.) Creative VoiceAssit, Speech Recognition System.

I.) Creative TextAssit, Text-To-Speech system.

J.) Sound Blaster 26, General Midi, MPC2, Windows 3.1 compatible.

K.) 16 sound channels

L.) 128 instruments stored on board (upgradable).

M.) Qsound (3D SOUND).

The  above  are  some  of the  specifications  of  the Soundcard, the
following  is a list of software you get with the œ180 version of the
card (I don't know what you get with the cheaper version) :-

A.) Creative voiceassist, tectassist, ensemble, wave studio 2.0, 
    sound'le & mosaic.

B.) Cakewalk Apprentice for windows.

C.) HSC Interactive.

D.) Qsound Control Panel.
    (All the software comes on 8HD & 1DD disk/s)

Besides all the above you get a microphone included with  the  package
for recording your own samples.  You also have the option of conecting
the card to your HI-FI  System, via the Phono  Leads supplied, you can
also  connect  walkmans,  and  listen  to the music  through  your  PC
speakers, while  being able to manipulate the sound using the  various
software packages supplied.

It is recommended  that  you have  powered speakers, with a built in
amplifier, for  full  advantage of  hearing  the sound, the way is was
intended to be.

The  AW32 is  basically a Sound Blaster 16, with  a wave table built 
in.
  
The sound  quality of the  AWE32 is excellant, the  music  in games, 
which support this card sounds like there's an orchestra inside your
machine, and the sound, especially in Doom sounds excellent adding 
atmosphere to the game, especially if you mix more sound channels, in
the Doom setup sequence.

This sound card is defeinately worth the money & scores a masive 98%
and is definatly  recommended if  you have  the money, however games
which don't support  this card, sound  exactly the same  as a  normal
sound blaster card or compatible card.

If you can't afford  this sound card at  present don't worry,  after
Christmass this card should come down in price, so it is worth hanging
on to your cash for a while.