First post, by shock__
- Rank
- Oldbie
So hi, it's shock__ aka Shockwav3 ... 25 yo, from near Duesseldorf, former "sysadmin", now upcoming student of social education (long story) and general retro computing enthusiast (mostly homecomputers, formerly).
Some of you might already know me from the German DOSForum or possibly mobygames where I currently started to write up reviews of "forgotten" games (only reviewed "Mutation of J.B" and "The hidden below" [first German FPS] so far)
After I'd seen the photos of the Creative "killer card" prototype I just had to register here, since I've been collecting soundcards for a little while now. Expect me to post mostly about this topic 😜
My current collection prolly isn't that big nor interesting compared to some really awesome cards some of you have, but gives a nice overview of the "low end market" already I guess.
Interesting tidbits would be the Creative Gameblaster/CMS (which was never as agressively marketed over here like it was in the USA with radioshack being around), an original AdLib (1990 Version), boxed MV Thunderboard, boxed Disney Sound Source, Soundblaster 1.5 and 2.0, various variants of the PAS16 and a GUS ACE.
Oh and recently I built a multistandard Stereo-Covox based upon PCSTGIF7.ZIP on perfboard (and even managed to find the original designer, who's employed in FPGA development by now).
Also spent some time a few months ago to build a hardware based "Disney Sound Source" wrapper for simple selfmade Covoxes, but that's currently catching dust, as I managed to find a proper software wrapper which mostly does the job.
Last but not very least before I start listing my systems, I might currently be able to get my hands on a _really_ rare old piece of hardware, which will of course be reverse engineered (if wanna you call "drawing schematics from a massmarket product" that way) by me ^^ Will be revealed once it turns out all the tiny traces paid out and might even make its' way into a DosBox custom build 😉
So yeah, along the various homecomputer based systems (VIC20, C64, Atari ST (in various configs), Amiga 1200 (towered), ZX Spectrum +2 and a ZX Spectrum based DIY clone from russia with a soundcard which could be considered a low end GUS) I currently have 3 retro PC setups.
SYS1 (currently my "main anti-DosBox"):
Mainboard: Asus VL/I-486SV2GX4 (7x ISA, 2 of them with VLB)
Processor: Intel DX2 @ 66MHz
RAM: 64MB 60ns
GFX: Cirrus Logic 542X (upgraded to 2MB, VLB)
Sound: GUS CD3, Creative SB16 (non PNP), PAS16, Stereo Covox
Drives: 1GB CF via IDE-CF adapter, 5.25" TEAC floppy, 3.5" TEAC floppy, Noname slot-in DVD drive (matches the 5.25" floppy nicely)
Other: VLB based IDE/Floppy/LPT/Serial/Gameport controller card, NE2000 clone ISA
OS: DOS 6.22 + Win 3.11
Picture: here ... gonna get a new midi case soonish tho, which would be a copy of the case the very first PC I ever used had.
SYS2 (the "old ass powerboat"):
Mainboard: Gigabyte GA5HX512 (can take up to 512MB Ram ... if I ever find compatible TAG-RAMs)
Processor: Pentium MMX @ 200MHz
RAM: 128MB 60ns
GFX: Hercules Dynamite128 (ET6000), Creative 3D Blaster (Voodoo2 8MB)
Sound: AWE32PnP, GUS ACE
Drives: 2x random IDE drives ~4GB overall, random DVD drive, 3.5" TEAC floppy
Other: PCI based 100mb/s NIC
OS: DOS 6.22 + Win98SE
Picture: Maybe later
SYS3 (the "spoiled slow-poke" (Gateway2000 G6-180)):
Mainboard: OEM clone of the Intel VS440FX without onboard sound (this one actually is ATX already)
Processor: Pentium Pro (256kb cache) @ 180MHz
RAM: 64MB 60ns
GFX: Matrox MGA (4MB via daughterboard)
Sound: Ensoniq VIVO
Drives: 2x random IDE drives ~4GB overall, random DVD drive, 3.5" TEAC floppy
Other: PCI based 100mb/s NIC
OS: Windows NT 3.51 SP6
So anyways, hi ... expect to read some more from me in the future over here 😀
