Cool!

Thanks for bringing this issue to a closure. I always wondered what the reason was, but now we know.

Thanks

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

...but now we know.

Now we know what?

I obtained a PAS16 variant last year with the aforementioned problem (fast "PAS" PCM playback, with the SB portion being unaffected). In systems with -5V, and regardless of the CPU (386 - Pentium), the problem persisted. Having discussed the issue with the designer of the particular card, it was suggested that it might be a crystal problem, but I haven't yet addressed it further.

In addition, every PAS card I've seen is capable of generating -5V onboard. What, exactly, was the symptom you experienced, sprcorreia?

Cloudschatze wrote:

Now we know what? […]
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Mau1wurf1977 wrote:

...but now we know.

Now we know what?

I obtained a PAS16 variant last year with the aforementioned problem (fast "PAS" PCM playback, with the SB portion being unaffected). In systems with -5V, and regardless of the CPU (386 - Pentium), the problem persisted. Having discussed the issue with the designer of the particular card, it was suggested that it might be a crystal problem, but I haven't yet addressed it further.

In addition, every PAS card I've seen is capable of generating -5V onboard. What, exactly, was the symptom you experienced, sprcorreia?

I tried with the following programs:

One Must Fall - very high pitch music (or fast), either way it sounded very wrong
Track Blaster Pro - .mod playing way to fast
play utility - .wav playing way to fast

After putting the PSU with -5V rail, every test was ok.

My card is IXW-PAS16NS

Well I still have my Pentium machine. So if I get my hands on an ATX PSU with -5V I'll be sure to test it again...

Looked into this a bit further, and sprcorreia is absolutely correct. Despite generating -5v onboard for the analog section of the card, most* PAS16/Studio variants draw -5v directly from the bus to provide negative voltage for a single, itsy-bitsy op-amp in the digital section... that just happens to be part of the external timing circuit for the 16-bit CODEC. Whoops!

So, while the problem with my particular card is still something else, most of you guys facing the issue described ought to be able to resolve it just as sprcorreia did.

(* - Does not apply to the 650-0097-xx, "Pro Audio Studio 16XL" cards.)

Awesome and very good to know 😀