The card that started it all. And by it I mean the retro soundcard revival. This one was reverse engineered by @tubetime and it still features the illegitimate AdLib logo. I assembled it myself and even drilled holes for the volume control and headphone jack. #retrocomputing#retrogaming#adlib
I think this might have been the second homebrew sound card I assembled. Rather an earlier version, but this one must do. The TNDY supplies any PC with the SN76489 PSG that was at the core of the PC Jr, Tandy 1000, Sega Master System and many more computers and consoles. What a cute and useful card by Matze79! #retrogaming#retrocomputing#tandy1000
Another board that I built was the Blasterboard kit. Designed by user LABS, as a from scratch reimplementation of the SoundBlaster 2.0. It is missing recording capabilities and has no MIDI interface. But it supports very clean audio amplification and sample rates in excess of 44kHz at 8 bit. It’s a good card for older games and has excellent audio quality. #retrogaming#retrocomputing
Next up is the SnarkBarker, another reverse engineered soundcard by @tubetime
It’s a clone of the SoundBlaster 1.5, using the OPL2 for FM synth, optional SAA1099 for C/MS compatibility (stereo square waves!), and an Intel microcontroller for the PCM playback and MIDI. It was so far the most complex card I assembled, and it was difficult to get a bracket made for it! #retrocomputing#retrogaming
@root42@tubetime that was my first sound card. I can remember tha talking parrot and that strange psychological talking doctor. Must have those disk somewhere in my stash.
This one is the MUS1099. It's a prototype implementation of a Creative Music System clone. Utilizing two Philips SAA1099 PSGs, which we also saw on the SnarkBarker. They sound a bit harsh, but they are stereo! Also this card has a pretty high noise floor, as it uses the noisy power supplied by the PC to drive the amp. It's a simple card, and I can rather recommend the SnarkBarker, if you want to experience the C/MS in games.
Sample recording: https://youtu.be/WvCshyDjMGA #retrogaming#retrocomputing
This is the Renovation 2020, which is a replica of the SSI Innovation 2001 soundcard. A card that was released around the same time as the AdLib, but with an MOS 6581, better known as the SID. It was used by a handful of SSI and Microprose games, but quickly was overshadowed by the AdLib. Original cards are some of the rarest PC hardware out there, so I am glad clones exist. I‘d like to do more with this card, as so few software exists that supports it. #retrogaming#commodore64#retrocomputing
@root42 wow! I had no idea SID even was successfully licensed for anything else. I can’t help but think that with the lack of western FM proficiency that the PC would’ve done better with a SID or two than with OPL.
@ExtentOfTheJam the SID has a very interesting and peculiar sound. I used to dislike it, but now I like it better than the harsh, clean FM sound. I think MOS offered the SID as a regular chip, and there is even an official datasheet:
@root42 yeah I think originally they wanted to also get it into low end synthesizers. It’s pretty competitive feature-wise if you imagine it as a monophonic synth. I love the SID sound, but I also compose a lot of OPL— FM does take some practice to get to sound warm
@ExtentOfTheJam there are awesome pieces that use FM. But I think I just like the versatility of the SID better by now. And using multiple SIDs you would have been able to get some kind of more polyphonic SID synth. Also wasn’t the designer the guy who founded Emu?
Edit: It was Ensoniq.
But what if you don’t have an ISA slot, e.g. because you are using an ancient laptop? Well then there are several soundcards for the parallel port. Here is a Covox DAC clone and the TNDYLPT. The Covox gives you a simple 8 Bit DAC for digitized sounds and maybe MOD music, whereas the latter gives you Tandy sound, with a little port mapping driver. There are also Adlib clones with OPL2 and OPL3 available. Very neat devices. #retrogaming#retrocomputing#tandy
@root42 I heard of LPT soundcards. I think Disney had an official one back in the day that was well supported even? Though where possible I'm sure PCMCIA options are better.
I'm sort of intellectually curious about the one on the left. That is scarily simplistic. Just a resistor bank and a couple of capacitors I guess? Does that mean basically it's a CPU-driven sound output much akin to the PC speaker itself, just an external output? Is there a chip on the other side or is that it?
@nazokiyoubinbou it’s just a resistor ladder and a filtering cap. The CPU just pushes PCM data at precise timed intervals. The Disney Sound Source was very similar but had a buffering latch IIRC.
@root42 Back in the day there was some software that could output digital audio to the PC speaker (and I even saw one for my AdLib at a later time) but the catch was the timing had to be so precise and basically fully used the CPU. It couldn't do anything else while it did that. Though I did eventually see a couple of games that could do MOD style music through the PC speaker, so I guess if it's directly programmed entirely around it it is possible. Sounds like pain to me though.
@root42 I'm not terribly surprised really. That's probably similar to the sort of program I used way back in the day, though likely a lot better. I'll be honest with you though. These days I'm mostly down to just using emulation/VMs to do things like DOS games and such and largely just have to keep an eye on feeds like yours more just to see the interesting stuff than because of having access to any actual old hardware.
There are also retro soundcards using completely modern components. This here is the PicoGUS by @polpo which can emulate the GUS, Tandy and AdLib standards. At the heart is the Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller which has a set of state machines used for controlling the ISA bus interface. Contrary to the previous example sit uses no obsolete or NOS components. The GUS emulation is especially interesting for #demoscene productions. #retrocomputing#retrogaming#gravisultrasound
@grimwaldovia I have a GUS ACE and it’s a bit longer, as it is a 16 bit card, but not massively so. And of course it utilizes the GF1 instead of the Pico.
@root42 I seem to remember mine only being half populated with memory (for MIDI effects?) and for some reason thinking it was urgent that I filled it up for maximum sound goodness.
@grimwaldovia not only MIDI, but the GUS needs samples in its RAM to play any music, e.g. MOD music like they used in #demoscene productions, or Pinball Fantasies or Jazz Jackrabbit.
Another sound card—or rather sound module—is the WP32 McCake. It is a variant of the #mt32pi based on the Raspberry Pi CM4 and the MUNT emulator. It emulates the iconic Roland MT-32 sound module, which was supported by many games. The McCake is actually a Waveblaster compatible module, so you plug it onto a sound card such as the SoundBlaster 16. It can also be used as a General MIDI synth, supporting soundfonts. #retrogaming#retrocomputing#RolandMt32
@derSammler I only have the Renovation 2020. was there an earlier remake? This one was definitely after the AdLib replica. I think I built the very first one, because the author (Benedikt Freisen I think?) didn’t test the design before. But it works flawlessly.
@root42 It only adds some features like being able to use either SID version and different filter caps. But the layout and parts used do not differ from the original card.
It came with a SID player (win32 command line tool) that I combined with the HVSC to play SIDs on a retro Windows ME system. Great fun. 🥳
@derSammler ah yes, my card also supports both SID variants IIRC. The relevant components are hidden beneath the SID. Since I am using the ARMSID, I don’t care much as it can emulate both variants.
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