<s>
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
Advanced	O
Wave	O
Effects	O
64	O
ISA	B-Architecture
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
from	O
Creative	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
AWE64	I-Device
is	O
significantly	O
smaller	O
than	O
its	O
predecessor	O
,	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
AWE32	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
AWE64	B-Device
has	O
support	O
for	O
greater	O
polyphony	O
than	O
the	O
AWE32	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
not	O
only	O
demands	O
more	O
processing	O
power	O
from	O
the	O
host	O
system	O
,	O
but	O
also	O
is	O
not	O
of	O
equal	O
quality	O
to	O
available	O
SoundFonts	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
inability	O
to	O
adjust	O
synthesis	O
parameters	O
,	O
unlike	O
with	O
the	O
hardware	O
portion	O
of	O
the	O
AWE64	B-Device
,	O
also	O
limited	O
the	O
WaveGuide	O
function	O
's	O
usefulness	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
improvement	O
comes	O
from	O
better	O
on-board	O
circuitry	O
that	O
increases	O
the	O
signal-to-noise	O
ratio	O
and	O
overall	O
signal	O
quality	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
frequently	O
quite	O
noisy	O
AWE32	B-Device
and	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
16	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
improvement	O
is	O
most	O
notable	O
with	O
the	O
AWE64	B-Device
Gold	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
superior	O
gold	O
plated	O
RCA	B-Protocol
connector	I-Protocol
outputs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
improvement	O
also	O
comes	O
from	O
increased	O
integration	O
of	O
components	O
on	O
AWE64	B-Device
compared	O
to	O
its	O
predecessors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
made	O
it	O
possible	O
to	O
reduce	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
AWE64	B-Device
's	O
board	O
noticeably	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
AWE32	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
AWE32	I-Device
boards	O
allowed	O
sample	O
RAM	B-Architecture
expansion	O
through	O
the	O
installation	O
of	O
30-pin	O
fast-page	O
DRAM	O
SIMMs	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
SIMMs	B-General_Concept
were	O
commodity	O
items	O
during	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
AWE32	B-Device
and	O
AWE64	B-Device
,	O
because	O
they	O
were	O
used	O
for	O
many	O
other	O
applications	O
,	O
including	O
plain	O
system	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
So	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
AWE64	B-Device
,	O
Creative	O
moved	O
to	O
proprietary	O
RAM	B-Architecture
expansion	O
modules	O
which	O
only	O
they	O
manufactured	O
and	O
sold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Their	O
limited	O
production	O
also	O
has	O
made	O
it	O
quite	O
difficult	O
to	O
expand	O
an	O
AWE64	B-Device
's	O
RAM	B-Architecture
capacity	O
since	O
the	O
AWE64	B-Device
left	O
production	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AWE64	B-Device
,	O
in	O
the	O
end	O
,	O
was	O
basically	O
a	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
AWE32	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
boards	O
were	O
based	O
around	O
the	O
AWE32	B-Device
's	O
E-mu	O
8000	O
sample-based	O
synthesis	O
chipset	O
,	O
E-mu	O
effects	O
processor	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
Creative	O
audio	O
DSP	B-Architecture
and	O
codec	B-General_Concept
for	O
digital	O
sound	O
playback	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AWE64	B-Device
came	O
in	O
two	O
versions	O
initially	O
:	O
A	O
standard	O
version	O
,	O
later	O
re-branded	O
as	O
Value	O
(	O
with	O
512KB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
Gold	O
version	O
(	O
with	O
4MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
high	O
quality	O
20-bit	O
DAC	O
and	O
a	O
separate	O
SPDIF	O
output	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
third	O
version	O
that	O
arrived	O
later	O
,	O
was	O
designed	O
around	O
the	O
PCI	B-Protocol
bus	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
offers	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
ISA	B-Architecture
AWE64	B-Device
,	O
but	O
it	O
has	O
the	O
PCI	B-Protocol
interface	O
and	O
is	O
built	O
around	O
an	O
even	O
more	O
integrated	O
ASIC	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
during	O
this	O
card	O
's	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
issue	O
of	O
compatibility	O
with	O
older	O
legacy	O
DOS	B-Device
applications	O
accessing	O
PCI	B-Protocol
audio	B-Device
cards	I-Device
had	O
not	O
been	O
ideally	O
addressed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creative	O
created	O
a	O
motherboard	O
port	O
called	O
the	O
SB-Link	O
that	O
assisted	O
the	O
PCI	B-Protocol
bus	I-Protocol
in	O
working	O
with	O
software	O
that	O
looked	O
for	O
the	O
legacy	O
I/O	O
resources	O
of	O
ISA	B-Architecture
sound	B-Device
cards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Without	O
this	O
motherboard	O
port	O
,	O
the	O
card	O
was	O
incompatible	O
with	O
DOS	B-Device
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AWE64	B-Device
PCI	B-Protocol
was	O
later	O
followed	O
by	O
the	O
AWE64D	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
a	O
variant	O
of	O
the	O
PCI	B-Protocol
AWE64	B-Device
that	O
was	O
developed	O
for	O
OEMs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
again	O
offered	O
the	O
same	O
feature	O
support	O
as	O
other	O
AWE64	B-Device
cards	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
support	O
issues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AWE64D	O
was	O
not	O
quite	O
compatible	O
with	O
AWE64	B-Device
PCI	B-Protocol
drivers	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
and	O
had	O
to	O
use	O
separate	O
driver	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
AWE64	B-Device
Mark	O
II	O
was	O
also	O
designed	O
,	O
and	O
prototype	O
boards	O
and	O
drivers	O
made	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
six	O
extra	O
phono	B-Protocol
plugs	I-Protocol
(	O
sub	O
,	O
center	O
,	O
left	O
rear	O
,	O
right	O
rear	O
,	O
digital	O
in	O
,	O
digital	O
pass-through	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
extra	O
Dolby	O
decoder	O
chips	O
were	O
placed	O
on	O
a	O
second	O
board	O
which	O
connected	O
to	O
the	O
main	O
board	O
via	O
a	O
ribbon	O
cable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
project	O
was	O
dropped	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
Live	I-Device
!	I-Device
</s>
<s>
cards	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
high	O
expense	O
of	O
such	O
a	O
solution	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
aging	O
ISA	B-Architecture
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
Creative	O
's	O
move	O
towards	O
a	O
proprietary	O
memory	O
module	O
,	O
Jeff	O
Briden	O
created	O
an	O
adapter	O
board	O
that	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
AWE64	B-Device
and	O
allowed	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
install	O
normal	O
30-pin	O
SIMMs	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
AWE-SIMM	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
several	O
years	O
starting	O
in	O
1998	O
but	O
is	O
no	O
longer	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
Beijing	O
Luck	O
Star	O
Power	O
Machines	O
Co	O
,	O
Ltd	O
.	O
had	O
designed	O
an	O
adapter	O
board	O
named	O
SIMMConn	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
AWE64	B-Device
and	O
allowed	O
to	O
install	O
a	O
single	O
72-pin	O
SIMM	B-General_Concept
module	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
adapter	O
came	O
in	O
two	O
variants	O
:	O
SIMMConn	O
Value	O
–	O
designed	O
for	O
AWE64	B-Device
and	O
AWE64	B-Device
Value	O
,	O
and	O
SIMMConn	O
Gold	O
–	O
designed	O
for	O
AWE64	B-Device
Gold	O
.	O
</s>
