I think quad speed (4x) CDROMs appeared in '94. There were also triple speed CDROMs, probably a '93 thing. I got my first CDROM in 1993 and it was a Creative 2X drive (Matsushita CR-563-B w/ proprietary interface).

Windows Sound System cards started appearing more in 1993/94 than 92 too, and they're not necessarily a 'top' card either, despite sounding good on paper what with the 48khz full duplex stuff. Some WSS's have the most annoying drivers ever. Some have really poor chipsets with them.

I knew someone who had a high end system in late 1992. Their configuration was as follows:

-486 DX2/66
-16 MB of RAM
-256KB L2 cache (along with memory, VERY expensive in the day)
-around 500MB SCSI hard drive
-Toshiba 2X caddy loading SCSI CD-ROM drive (lightning quick in its day)
-SCSI 5.25 QIC tape drive
-Bus Logic VLB SCSI card
-2MB VLB video card hooked up to a NEC Multisync 6FG 21" monitor (street price was $3000 at the time!)
-Media Vision Thunderboard (was a "business machine", said he didn't need fancy soundcard)

All the above was housed in a premium EnLight full tower case similar to what the Amiga 4000 Tower came in. I'd say this setup cost him a small mint and the motherboard wasn't even EISA.

NJRoadfan wrote:

I knew someone who had a high end system in late 1992. Their configuration was as follows: […]
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I knew someone who had a high end system in late 1992. Their configuration was as follows:

-486 DX2/66
-16 MB of RAM
-256KB L2 cache (along with memory, VERY expensive in the day)
-around 500MB SCSI hard drive
-Toshiba 2X caddy loading SCSI CD-ROM drive (lightning quick in its day)
-SCSI 5.25 QIC tape drive
-Bus Logic VLB SCSI card
-2MB VLB video card hooked up to a NEC Multisync 6FG 21" monitor (street price was $3000 at the time!)
-Media Vision Thunderboard (was a "business machine", said he didn't need fancy soundcard)

All the above was housed in a premium EnLight full tower case similar to what the Amiga 4000 Tower came in. I'd say this setup cost him a small mint and the motherboard wasn't even EISA.

Great information, thanks 😀

I saw an NEC CDR 301 SCSI 2x external CD ROM system. It is from September - October of 1992. That could be cool for this build.
I am wondering which SCSI VLB controllers are good, and where could i get one? I am aiming for one with cache. I saw one guy on Amibay selling an really cool IDE controller, but didnt have 50e at the time.

The Adaptec AHA-2840/42VL seems to pop up on ebay all the time. Try and find the floppy-less version because even though there is a switch for it, the floppy interface doesn't seem to disable itself properly. The card has wide compatibility with a variety of operating systems (hey its Adaptec!). The BusLogic VLB cards seem readily available too, but I have no experience running them.

If you are looking for period correct CD-ROM drives, the NEC Multispin 2X drive is a perfect match. The drive in that late-1992 early-93 machine was likely a Toshiba XM-3401. The Sony CDU-561 is another good choice and is pretty common since Apple used it in their CD-ROM equipped Macs in 1992-93.

I've used both the NEC Multispin 2X and the Sony CDU 561. They're both top notch drives, and it's hard for me to decide which one I like better (they are both caddy loaders). The build quality of these early units beats the pants off anything newer.

I had an NEC Multispin 3X for a while. I really didn't like the faceplates on those units, which have a tendency to come loose, plus there's no LED.

Pioneer's DRM-604x - a SCSI-based, six-disc, 4x CD-ROM multi-changer - was available in November of 1992, and can easily be considered "top" hardware.

Everything else I can find points to late 93 or early 94 release for the DRM 604X. Can you provide a link to your information?

http://www.telecompaper.com/news/pioneer-laun … changers--43625

Anonymous Coward wrote:

Everything else I can find points to late 93 or early 94 release for the DRM 604X. Can you provide a link to your information?

From the "Pioneer DRM-604X FAQ" thread...
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!original/al … lg/Okg3aVE0-NQJ

Cloudschatze wrote:

Pioneer's DRM-604x - a SCSI-based, six-disc, 4x CD-ROM multi-changer - was available in November of 1992, and can easily be considered "top" hardware.

I just so happen to have one of those... 🤣

Here is an ad from 1992. These likely take the same 6-disc magazines their home audio CD changers took, so sourcing one if missing shouldn't be a problem.

So thats whats the CD holder thing i have from!
Wow.

That thing looks amazing. Too bad it probably costs a lot now 😀
I managed to get an Magneto Optical 3.5" SCSI reader/writer. Gonna buy some disks to test it out. The only down is its from 1998.

I wonder can i do anything with an Roland S760 sampler?

Stojke wrote:

That thing looks amazing. Too bad it probably costs a lot now 😀

Not necessarily. I almost never buy anything unless it's cheap.

Here's one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pioneer-DRM-604X-6-Di … =item33838d8016

sliderider wrote:

Not necessarily. I almost never buy anything unless it's cheap. […]
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Stojke wrote:

That thing looks amazing. Too bad it probably costs a lot now 😀

Not necessarily. I almost never buy anything unless it's cheap.

Here's one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pioneer-DRM-604X-6-Di … =item33838d8016

beautiful cd-rom and amazing price.

but ....

Shipping:
$146.15 Canada Post Xpresspost - International | See details
See details about international shipping here.

Item location:
One Hundred Eight Mile Ranch, BC, Canada

😀

Sounds like it could be noisy.

rgart wrote:

beautiful cd-rom and amazing price. […]
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sliderider wrote:

Not necessarily. I almost never buy anything unless it's cheap. […]
Show full quote

Stojke wrote:

That thing looks amazing. Too bad it probably costs a lot now 😀

Not necessarily. I almost never buy anything unless it's cheap.

Here's one.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pioneer-DRM-604X-6-Di … =item33838d8016

beautiful cd-rom and amazing price.

but ....

Shipping:
$146.15 Canada Post Xpresspost - International | See details
See details about international shipping here.

Item location:
One Hundred Eight Mile Ranch, BC, Canada

😀

It's not exactly light. It has to be 6-7 pounds at least and would have to be shipped in a pretty big box to hold enough packing material to protect it during shipping. Shipping will not be cheap even within Canada.

That thing is a beast.

Dat shipping cost.
I don't understand why its so expensive. It costs me 35e max to ship up to 3kg to any country anywhere.

I saw some nice controllers on Ebay, a major problem is that my country enforces some silly laws where they can determine the value of something and increase shipping costs. I still cant sell on it either.

I have found an NEC CDR-301C 2x SCSI unit for sale here in Serbia, i have contacted the seller and am awaiting his reply.
I think i will settle down with that until i find something better.

Ive been viewing that magazine Cloudschatze posted. Are those kind of PC housings, those huge towers, available anywhere?
I love how massive they are. And those prices, dear god 😁

Which huge towers are you referring to Stojke?

I have two full towers and I think they are the best!

When I was browsing through that 500 page of monstrosity magazine its amazing the price difference between a DX-33 and a DX2-66.

Correct me if Im wrong but I feel like a smart/value purchase in those days would have been...

486 DLC40 - If you could get a hybrid 386/486 board this would make the most sense as you could later upgrade to a proper 486.
4meg ram? - assuming its somewhat a gaming machine, your using dos what needed 8meg in 1992? Perhaps memory management knowledge and drivers were so crude it made more sense to have 8meg? You've saved money on the cpu at least.
512K isa non accelerated 2d card, ie et4000, for the average person how much time did you actually spend in windows to take advantage of the 2d acceleration? eilanda did a comaparison with on local bus vs isa and the isa card keeps up to speed on a 486DX33, vlb card a waste of money for this system.

Thats the core of the system and it would play Doom well at the end of 1993 a year later not sure if many games would really challenge it until 1994? by that time a 486DX2-66 would be much cheaper or if you put up with it until 95 you could buy a 5x86 cpu for a good boost to keep the machine going... It would have hard to guage what was a good time to upgrade as computers were changing so fast its unbelievable, by 1998 some 6 years later a budget cpu was a celeron 333mhz nearly 10 times the speed of the dlc40.