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Yamaha WaveForce 192XG

Yamaha WaveForce 192XG PCI Sound Card
Reviewed by Jackie Lee Choon Yau (29/06/98)

Sound Card Specifications

Interface PCI 2.1
Model Yamaha WaveForce 192XG
Wavetable Synthesis 128-s/w (64 wavetable)
General Features Wavetable size : 4MB

Physical Modeling : 1 Voice (S-VA)

MIDI Modes Supported General MIDI, TG 300B (GS Emulation),XG
Digital Audio 16 Bit DAC, 16 Bit ADC, Full Duplex
Software Compatibility

Direct X Version 5 or later,

DirectSound, DirectSound 3D

Sound Blaster Compatible

Effects REVERB, 8 Types; Chorus, 8 Types; Variation, 36 Types; Echo for MIC-in
System Requirements Window 95/NT 4.0 or later (Windows 98 required for DLS); Pentium 120 Mhz or better, Pentium 233 Mhz or better for S-VA Synthesizer,32 MB System Memory
CPU Support IBM PC and Compatibles, Intel Pentium and Pentium II,AMD K5,K6,K7,Cyrix M2

<Introduction><The Good><The Bad>
<Test System Configuration>
<Conclusion><Rating>

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Introduction

This card is designed for the power gamer and the audio enthusiast.Yamaha's advance XG synthesizer and positional 3D technology delivers accurate, accelerated performance for music, sound and multimedia applications.676 musical instrument voices and 21 full drum kits to present more symphonic experience. The WaveForce also comes bundled with a CD-ROM loaded with a mixed of Yamaha MIDI software, Internet tools and 2 games (a Shareware and a Demo) for the XG Sound. The installation interface is really coo and the installation of the drivers are a breeze.

Anyway,the following is the attached with your purchase.
  • Yamaha WaveForce 192XG Installation CD-ROM

  • User Manual

  • 01 x Warranty Card

  • 01 x Final Fantansy VII (Playable Demo)

The software bundled in the CD are as follows :

  • XGworks Lite : A Full Features 100-Track music sequencer and other editing, plus comprehensive XG editing features

  • Classic 100 : A selection of 100 classical music MIDI files (SONDIUS-XG MIDI files also included) for playback, which automatically displays beautiful scenes on screen as music plays.

  • Ystation32 : A high quality multimedia player

  • S-YXG50 SoftSynthesizer : A powerful 16 bit part multi-timbral synth with hundreds of high quality Wavetable sounds, multi-effectsand easy MIDI song file play function.

  • MIDPLUG & SoundVQ : Internet and multimedia plug-in tools

  • Yamaha Wave Editor TWE : An easy-to-use sound editor which lets you record,edit and play WAV files

  • DemoStar (Shareware Version) : Shooting Game with XG Sound

  • Final Fantasy VII (Playable Demo) : A well-known play station game in PC Version. Ready for Waveforce.

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The Good

The Yamaha WaveForce is has the most advanced wavetable synthesizer featuring up to 192 notes of simultaneous wavetable sound (polyphony).The WaveForce synthsizer has a full range of 676 musical instruments voices and 21 drum kits. It can play up to 64 notes simultaneously while an additional 128 voices are provided by the Yamaha S-YXG50 Softsythesizer. The XG technology significantly expands on basic General MIDI format, providing many more voices, voice editing capability, effects and other featuresthat contribute to enhanced musical expression. Anyway, WaveForce also supports all Genral MIDI music data for maximum compatibility. The synthesizer had 4MB of Wavetable size; 2MB hardware, 2MB software.

A physical modeling sythesizer allows mathematical recreation of an instrument. The SONDIUS-XG is developed and patent by Yamaha and Standford University. WIth 256 mono voices for voices for solo and lead performance, the card provides realistic replication of quality acoustic wind instruments.

Sensaura - Yamaha positional 3D audio feature enable you to experience phenomenal 3D sound using only two speakers.The Yamaha YMF724 chipset has incorporated this 3D technology to enable a more fufilling gaming experience. WaveForce also suppots DLS ( Downloadable Sounds) , one of the newest standards in the sound management. DLS will allow game developer, web programmers and other multimedia creator to load their own custom instruments and sound effects into the card.

This card is SoundBlaster compatible. It supports DirectSound and DirectSound3D in bith Windows 95 and 98. It is also compatible to SoundBlaster Pro in Windows DOS box while it supports real DOS mode thru PCPO and DDMA.

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The Bad

There are a few bad points with this card. First of all, it is the expensive price tag of S$130 that will probably will make you put the purchase of this card behind the cheaper A3D PCI sound card. Another bad point is the high system resources this card require to utilizeits functions.

A Pentium II 233 Mhz or better is needed to run the S-VA synthesizer. Please note that the driver software will not install the SONDIUS-XG Drivers if your system does not comply to the requirements. Eg. non-MMX machine. A Pentium 166 Mhz or betteris required to run the S-YXG50 Softsynthesizer. Otherwise, the full 192 voice polyphony cannot be used.

Another point is that inorder for you to play the FF& demo,a minimum power of Pentium 133 Mhz with 2MB of system memory, 90 MB harddisk space and a 3D accelerator graphic card. The program will not run if you don't meet the minimum requirements. If you own a 166 Mhz or above, you may still play this game with the need for a 3D - add on in a software rendering mode. The game will default to software rendering mode if a 3D card is not detected. But, trust me. If you don't own a Voodoo 1/ Voodoo 2, the frames rates will be jerky and also less beautiful. But the music in the game is simply breathtaking. I never knew MIDI could sound so nice. |8-)

One last point to make here is that Cryix M1 processors are nott supported by the Yamaha's WF192XG.

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Test System Configuration

Processor(s) AMD K6 266 Mhz .25 micron Chip
Overlocked Configuration 300 Mhz (4.0 x 75.0 Mhz)
Ram 64 MB Mitsubishi SDRAMS Dimms
Motherboard AOpen AP5T Ver 3.4 V1.70j
HardDrive(s) Quantum 3.2GB ST
Operating System MS Windows 98 Build 4.10.1998
DirectX Version MS DirectX Version 6 Beta
Other software used Nil
Sound System Used ALTEC LANSING ACS 45

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Conclusion

Yamaha's unparalled reputation in professional music and audio is your assurance that this WaveForce192XG meets and even exceeds not only Yamaha's quality standard and performance but surpasses an array of PCI Sound Cards in Singapore. If you have what it takes to runs the full functionality of this card and thinking of a more special PCI Sound Card, then go down to Sim Lim Square to get yours now.


VIDEO CARD RATING

Overall Rating (Out of a maximum of 5 Star)

Installation *****
Performance ****
Price ***
Software Bundle ****
Material Quality ****
Overall Rating ****

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