Re: Beepblaster 1.0 Wavetable Module
Posted on 2022-11-14, 21:33
Great project! Glad to put together a small group buy for my fellow Free Geek Twin Cities enthusiasts here in the US if you end up selling completed boards or kits.
Crystalizer TidalWave32 PnP - US made ISA PnP sound card with Samsung KS0161q/KS0171-2M + SIMMS, Yamaha OPL3, etc
Posted on 2022-09-28, 12:07
I'm a fan of the occasionally obscure in DOS and early Windows era soundcards and try to an eye out for oddball examples that come through the e-waste places I partner with along with the usual "fishing spots" for retro collectors via estate / garage sales and marketplace websites. I've seen my …
Re: Members of Vogons, what shows do you currently watch?
Posted on 2022-04-12, 20:01
.. finally getting around to Yellowstone, so far it's as good as it's been described.
Re: Building the Ultimate Win98 computer ?
Posted on 2022-02-05, 13:27
I was looking at the Asus CUSL2 motherboard. Is this any good or is there a better option for a 1ghz Pentium III CPU ? I am looking for a Stable build so a reliable motherboard in important. I don’t really need to go faster than 1ghz I think unless there is some reason to go faster ? "Ultimate" is …
Re: Whats the most rare piece of hardware you own?
Posted on 2022-01-28, 14:55
.. probably my Alaris / NexGen Nx586-90 desktop, I've seen the Nexgen mainboards and processors in the wild, but this is the first complete example of a desktop PC in a case that was manufactured by Alaris I've come across. In addition to the Alaris VLB mainboard it came with a matching Alaris" …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2022-01-23, 23:40
Yes, I currently use "Timbres of Heaven" for my DOSBox/Virtual MIDI Synth machine. This weighs in at 376MB. I believe you can loop the MIDI-Out from your retro rig to the MIDI-In on a PC/thin client running a more modern operating system with various MIDI hardware emulators + soundfonts via a USB …
Re: [Project] 386/486/SBC 3D Printed Retro Case
Posted on 2022-01-09, 15:30
this is amazing, thanks so much for doing all the work and documenting the process of recreating your final build so well. I have a 486 SBC and backplane that were looking for a home, both of the "eligible" enclosures in my stable lack a 5.25" drive bay and I'm not fond of external CD-ROM drive …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2022-01-06, 01:41
Will EDO RAM work on a Sound Blaster? Or more generally spoken: is EDO RAM backwards compatible to FPM-only systems? "RAM" & "Sound Blaster" reminds me that ERR014 thing when trying to load AWEUTIL with some /EM:xxx option. Still haven't found a solution to that... Would like to see my 2x 4MB SIMMs …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2022-01-06, 01:35
Found a complete system that looked like a nice K6 build, till I got to the motherboard which has both built inYamaha Opl3 + wave table and ATI rage pro gpu. I’ve seen ati built in before but never a full Olp3 and wave table, doesn’t have agp but I have a x1300 pci that woul fit well. Can’t wait to …
Re: Bought these (retro) hardware today
Posted on 2022-01-05, 03:18
The major difference comes from the following revisions (excluding firmware versions): MT-32 SC-55 SC-55MK2 SC-88 The MT-32 is pre-General Midi so games which support it will only sound correct on this model. All of the later Sound Canvas models (SC prefix) are General Midi compatible but have a …
Re: CHiLL Enclosure for Waveblaster Modules
Posted on 2022-01-05, 03:12
That would work and has the right idea, but im hoping i can use the cable for easy access. I have two midi cables so if it worked i could potentially switch the x2gs from either machine easily. The cables i have already do the split so it has the 15 pin gamport connection and the two 5 pin bin …
Re: CL-GD5430 is good for a 486?
Posted on 2022-01-04, 17:30
But the CS-5430 is fast enough for a 486 DOS game playback. The bottle neck will be the 486 CPU and NOT the Video card. This is not entirely true, in the benchmark comparison I posted earlier (https://dependency-injection.com/vlb-vga-group-test/) where the author threw a pretty wide selection of …
Re: Huge number of K6-2E+/570ACZ CPUs for sale on eBay
Posted on 2022-01-04, 16:10
Who sits on tens of thousands of CPUs for 20 years? Some government stockpile? I don't mind getting computers with missing drives. I do mind when they're also missing drive cages/trays. That's a huge annoyance. Guessing it was a manufacturer stock since they are all the same part, who knows if it …
Re: Should I upgrade to an AGP card for 98SE games?
Posted on 2022-01-03, 14:48
You're also in prime capacitor plague territory ... I've had very mixed luck sourcing industrial PC components from Aliexpress / eBay sellers, the last go-round took a few months and 3 exchanges to get a working board. For the money, time, and risk required to buy a bare mainboard you can buy an …
Re: Choosing a good ADC for recording from MIDI synthesizers?
Posted on 2022-01-03, 14:05
If you want a USB DAC with balanced outputs (to feed a pair of studio monitor speakers), 6-pin MIDI DIN in/out, plus balanced inputs for recording external MIDI devices I'd suggest the Steinberg UR22mkii ($150-170) or the Presonus AudioBox 96 ($80-100).
Re: CL-GD5430 is good for a 486?
Posted on 2022-01-03, 13:50
The CL 5430 chipset actually runs Doom slower than the older 5429... but I don't know if it's worth spending significant money for an upgrade. If you are just running DOS games an S3 805 card, CL5429, Trident 9440/9440agi should be comfortably under $100 (some around $60) and give you 6-8 extra FPS …
Re: Huge number of K6-2E+/570ACZ CPUs for sale on eBay
Posted on 2021-12-30, 21:34
It is truly a sad situation when a company has a policy to only junk old IT equipment and not even consider there is a better use for it. I am glad to say that company I work for is willing to let me take old equipment as long as the hard drive or SSD is removed. I actually agree with junking Hdds …
Re: Are there any quiet AT PSUs?
Posted on 2021-12-22, 16:17
I would be careful just throwing a lower RPM fan into an AT power supply, at minimum pull the spec from the original fan and try to replicate CFM/static pressure as much as possible to maintain the same level of airflow with a high quality modern fan of some sort, reliability/longevity > quiet …
Re: SD-IDE or CF-IDE adapters - Is there any recommended model/make?
Posted on 2021-12-22, 16:12
I find CF cards work fine for DOS builds, however most common removable CF/SD cards were not designed to deal with the random read/write workload that Windows will impose, so I don't like throwing used CF or SD cards into any Windows build as primary storage. For Windows builds I go with traditional …
Re: Market value for popular or rare classic computer hardware
Posted on 2021-12-18, 12:59
That is.....a lot of words. So uhh...what does this mean for the average ma 'n pa ebay retro parts seller? Not a lot is known about the practical impact of changes to US Tax laws which were part of a prior COVID "relief" bill as the IRS hasn't had a full year to set precedent in their enforcement …
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