JUMPERS

Product Information

If you are using Windows 9x, ME, 2000, or XP, and if the drive is installed correctly, it should be detected automatically and installed when the computer first boots up. The CT2260 was an OEM version of the CT2230, though with some major differences. The CT2330's integrated CT1747 (FM synth chip) was replaced with Creative's new ViBRA-16 chip - CT2501. This was Creative's answer for the OEM market for Sound Blaster 16 - a cheap and cheerful solution that integrated the bus controller interface, DSP, mixer and codec into a single chip. This same chip would go on to be used on the Sound Blaster 32 range and many more budget ("Value edition") cards. The CT1740 and CT1750 are the least hassle Sound Blaster 16s to buy (across all the generations). DSP versions 4.05 and lower don't have the hanging MIDI note bug (avoid later CT1750s with 4.11 and 4.12), they output genuine Yamaha FM audio, require no software initialisation, and don't take up any extra system resources.

The least noisy of the Sound Blaster 16 second-gen cards are the CT2940 and CT2980 with an embedded Yamaha YMF chip. These have the CT2502 (ViBRA) chips and are Plug & Play. CT2230 / CT2239 The CT2260 appeared to be pretty good compatibility-wise, working well for every game I tried. It has a wavetable connector which I tried and it worked well with my NEC XR385 daughterboard, however I can confirm the presence of the "hanging note" bug with this card. The CT2740 was a "Value Edition" card. It pre-dates the "earliest" 2nd-gen SB16, the CT2230. Note the CT1747 chip did not yet have the "OPL" licence logo on it - this is most likely because Creative had not received permission to put it on there from Yamaha at the time this board was made. The CT2749 was identical to the CT2740 but was marketed without the CSP/ASP chip (though still supported this option). More Images Despite the model number, the CT2700 is still a 1st-generation card, being almost identical to the CT1740 and CT1750 cards, except that it gets only a Mitsumi CD-ROM interface. More ImagesThe MPU-401 interface on the 15-pin game/MIDI port continued to be non-standard (the pinouts differ from the Roland standard). The CT1770, actual name Sound Blaster 16 SCSI-2, was the first Sound Blaster 16 card from Creative Labs to come with a SCSI-2 CD-ROM interface instead of IDE or other proprietary interfaces from Panasonic, Mitsumi and Sony. To support this SCSI interface, the card has an Adaptec AIC-6360L controller chip - you need to install an ASPI driver for this chipset from your CONFIG.SYS file followed by the usual MSCDEX in your AUTOEXEC.BAT. With its timeless design and clean lines, the CD Jumper exudes elegance and versatility. It can be easily dressed up or down, making it suitable for various occasions and outfit combinations. The CT2810 is another strange card in that it shares its FCC ID with the CT2290 range, but has the ViBRA-16 chip the same as the CT2260. But unlike the CT2260, the CT2810 gets an IDE CD-ROM interface.

Regardless of whether your card is PnP or not, if you cannot find the original driver disk, or don't want to have the hassle of lots of utilities to initialise your card, you can try UniSound from Vogons member JazeFox - it's a simple utility that detects and initialises your card, making it ready for action. It works on SB16 cards including all the ViBRA-based ones, AWE32, AWE64, as well as many other manufacturers sound cards such as those with OPTi, Crystal, Analog Devices, Yamaha YMF71x, ESS1868/1869, and more! It is designed to work on systems from old 8088/8086 XTs up to Pentium-era and beyond. Most third-generation cards come with the Creative Labs CQM chip instead of true OPL3 Yamaha chip, but there are cases where a Yamaha chip is present. The vast majority of these cards are jumper-free and are fully ISA Plug & Play. CT2910 /CT2911 / CT2919Creative Labs introduced the 2nd generation of Sound Blaster 16 cards in 1994, starting with the CT2230. The key difference from the 1st generation is that the Yamaha YMF262 was now gone as a discrete chip. Instead Creative Labs integrated the YMF262 into their own chip called "CT1747". These chips got the official "OPL" logo stamped on them, as they did contain the Yamaha circuitry inside. Also sadly gone was the hardware thumbwheel volume control. Once connected, turn on the computer and enter BIOS setup. Verify that the IDE (integrated drive electronics) device is set up as Auto or CD Drive. Once verified, save the settings and reboot the computer. The Sound Blaster 16 ASP comes with a powerful mix of applications, including two programs for sampling in Windows. WaveStudio is limited to sampling and editing what will fit in system memory (about a minute of 44 kHz sampling). If that's enough, you'll enjoy its intuitive interface and strong editing capabilities. Soundo'LE is the appropriate application for creating longer samples and embedding them into OLE-aware applications. The Sound Blaster 16 mixer, which you can access from Soundo'LE's menus, is very powerful and easy to use."InfoWorld, 11 Jan 1993 The CT2299 was identical to the CT2290 but was marketed without the CSP/ASP chip (though still supported this option). addition if realistic sound synthesis is important. However with the daughterboard installed, you can't use the adjacent slot).

The CT2919 was the non-"Value Edition" version of this card, designed for the OEM market. More Images CT2772 was the same as the CT2770A, but got FCC ID: IBACT-SB16NCDR, which I can only assume means "No CD-ROM", as it didn't come with a CD-ROM interface, but this card did come with a wavetable header which is odd for a value edition card... Whether you're heading to the office, meeting friends for a casual outing, or enjoying a cozy evening at home, the CD Jumper is a stylish choice. Pair it with jeans for a relaxed yet chic look or dress it up with tailored pants for a more polished ensemble. Cards with DSP version 4.11, 4.12, or 4.13 suffer from hanging notes when digital sounds and MIDI are played at the same time. It does not matter what MIDI device you use (an external device attached to the game/MIDI port or on the Wave Blaster header) - you will get this bug. The best workaround for this is to use a separate card for MIDI. Any card with the Creative CT1747 chip does not suffer from this bug, nor do those with DSP version 4.04, 4.05 or 4.16.

Before getting started

Marc Sven Schulte informed me of the fact the DAC chip on these cards is sometimes the AK4501-VS by Asahi Kasei Microelectronics (AKM) and not the Creative-branded CT1701-T. It's possible Creative simply took this third-party DAC and got permission to rebrand it. More Images The CT1780 was the same as the CT1750 with the exception that the CD-ROM interface was for LMSI (Laser Magnetic Storage International) drives. LMSI was a subsidiary of Philips. The interface itself is a 16-pin header. The only other sound cards that came with an LMSI connector were the MediaVision Pro Audio Spectrum 16 LMSI (FCC ID: ICW-PAS16P) and MediaVision Fusion CD16 S/E LMSI. The CT1745A mixer chip from 1992 got an upgrade during this 2nd generation to CT1745-S (1993) and later to CT1745A-S (1994), though the first CT2230 cards still came with the original CT1745A. The Sound Blaster 16 Value is perfect as a low cost solution to crystal clear CD quality sound. It features the new IDE interface for connection to any compatible CD-ROM drive.

The CT1703-TBS is apparently decent for noise (low) and is also found on the CT2290, AWE32 and AWE64. They made these same cards from 1993 through 1995, so DSP versions 4.05 through 4.13 were all used. The majority of Sound Blaster 16 cards feature either a discreteYamaha YMF262OPL-3 FM synthesizer as used on the Sound Blaster Pro II, or a Creative CT1747 chip which has this synthesizer integrated. Some post-1995 cards (notably the CT2910) feature the fully compatibleYamaha YMF289FM synthesis chip instead. All of these contain true Yamaha OPL-3 circuitry. This is a Value edition card and is the OEM version of a CT2959. It has the ViBRA 16S chipset and a real full-size Yamaha YMF262 (OPL3) chip. This was the first Creative card to use their new CT1705 bus interface chip which provided it with full Plug & Play capability. Most other 2nd-generation SB16s had the bus interface logic embedded in the CT1747 chip or in the ViBRA chip (CT2501 or CT2504) on ViBRA cards.Fun fact... user Imperious on the Vogons forum says he successfully ran a CT2770 on an 8088 XT (8-bit ISA slots only). The 16-bit part of the card is used for the CD-ROM interface only! Imperious said it's great for running the PC speaker audio through the sound card and out of the speakers, though there's only a tiny amount of games that can use the card's abilities on a system that slow. Called the Sound Blaster 16 MCD (Multi CD), the CT1750 was a CT1740 but with better support for CD-ROM drives - it got CT2770A then followed, removing these obsolete CD-ROM interface headers from the board as well as the CSP/ASP chip area.