
4
1.
Introduction
Welcome to the exciting world of Retro Sound!
We are proud to present you AWE64 Legacy – a modern incarnation of the iconic Creative Sound
Blaster®AWE64 Gold audio card!
AWE64 Legacy card takes the best features of the original AWE64 Gold and raises them up to an
unattainable high by the means of modern technologies. The main idea of the whole project was to
create an ultimate solution for retro gaming and listening synthesized music.
The card is built upon the original CT8920 processor and EMU8011 WaveROM from AWE64 Value for
100% compatibility with original drivers and software for the AWE64 series. To unveil a truly
potential of AWE64 the card is also packed with a maximum supported amount of RAM (28MB) for
loading soundfonts, a Wave Blaster connector, an S/PDIF digital output, and an AC'97 Audio
connector for PC's front panel. But this is just a beginning of its feature list. The two essential
elements of AWE64 Legacy are an integrated HardMPU Intelligent MIDI host controller and an
integrated genuine Yamaha OPL3 FM-synthesizer:
HardMPU is based on Atmega microcontroller and offers you "intelligent" mode support for
handling external MIDI-devices, such as Roland MT-32 or various daughterboards.
Yamaha YMF262 (also known as OPL3) gives you an alternative solution for FM-synthesis
addition th the built-in Creative CQM synthesizer.
Both of these components can be enabled of disabled manually using a set of DIP-switches on the
back side of the card. This gives you complete control over the music playback subsystem.
In addition, we have completely redesigned the analog audio section to achieve the highest possible
sound quality. This included replacing old electrolytic capacitors to modern tantalum and high quality
Japan aluminum caps, installing 2-channel amplifiers from Texas Instruments and replacing standard
3.5mm Line-Out jacks to stylish gold covered RCA connectors. All the components are assembled on a
matte black PCB with gold-plated pins and contacts, granting AWE64 Legacy a gorgeous look.
This audio card will help you achieve realistic acoustic reproduction through a wide range of digitized
sound samples and Creative 3D Stereo Enhancement technology. AWE64 Legacy is fully Sound Blaster
and also supports a full set of original Creative features:
Plug and Play ISA Specification version 1.0a compliance
Major MIDI standards such as General MIDI, Roland GS and MT-32