Is this the Covox Voice Master ISA card? \ VOGONS

Is this the Covox Voice Master ISA card?

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First post, by boxpressed

Posted on 2016-10-30, 01:38

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I mentioned this item in the "bought (retro) hardware" thread before it actually arrived into my possession. Now that it has, I've been able to take some better photos of it.

I haven't been able to find a photo of a Covox card like it online (and there's precious little info about the Voice Master in general).

I do believe, however, that this is some kind of Covox Voice Master card. On the left edge of the card, you can see the letters "VMPC-2." Below the orange capacitor near the top of the card is a copyright date of 1987. Perhaps this is a revision of the original Voice Master for the PC (because of the "2" at the end of "VMPC-2").

Reply 1 of 6, by stamasd

Posted on 2016-10-30, 01:51

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This page http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2014/09/t … nd-devices.html mentions that the actual Covox Voice Master had DMA capabilities, and for that it needs a programmable timer such as the 8254, which your card doesn't have. Perhaps it's a variant of the DMA-less Voice Master Key?

I/O, I/O,
It's off to disk I go,
With a bit and a byte
And a read and a write,
I/O, I/O

Reply 2 of 6, by boxpressed

Posted on 2016-10-30, 15:23

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stamasd wrote:
This page http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2014/09/t … nd-devices.html mentions that the actual Covox Voice Master had DMA capabilities, and for that it needs a programmable timer such as the 8254, which your card doesn't have. Perhaps it's a variant of the DMA-less Voice Master Key?

Yes, I believe that it is possible that this is the Voice Master Key Card. However, I haven't been able to find any information beyond a passing mention of the Covox Voice Master in any publication of its era. I don't even know where the idea that a key card companion even existed for this card. What is the key card supposed to do? All I can surmise is that the Voice Master allowed you to record your voice onto your computer in digital files and then play it back on the Speech Thing. If anyone has any documentation or reviews of the card, please link or attach if possible (beyond Great Hierophant's blog).

Reply 3 of 6, by vetz

Posted on 2016-10-30, 20:05

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https://groups.google.com/forum/#!search/covo … sI/ibrbO4-KcGQJ

In late 1987, the IBM PC version of Voice Master made its debut along with the popular "Speech Thing"

Better picture of the Voice Master Key card/box (which also fits with nerdlypleasures):

3D Accelerated Games List (Proprietary APIs - No 3DFX/Direct3D)
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Reply 4 of 6, by Jepael

Posted on 2016-10-30, 21:34

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This seems to be a card with two analog sound inputs. There's an 8-bit ADC and probably the 4066 mux can select between input connectors.
It appears there are no sound playback circuitry at all.

Reply 5 of 6, by darry

Posted on 2016-10-30, 23:38

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Look at the top of page 96, and you should recognize your card .
It seems to be a Voice Master variant .

Attempt at a direct link :
https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1989 … up/search/covox

Otherwise you can download the issue from here and access page 96 .
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1989-01

Reply 6 of 6, by boxpressed

Posted on 2016-10-31, 00:10

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darry wrote:
Look at the top of page 96, and you should recognize your card . It seems to be a Voice Master variant . […]
Show full quote
Look at the top of page 96, and you should recognize your card .
It seems to be a Voice Master variant .

Attempt at a direct link :
https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1989 … up/search/covox

Otherwise you can download the issue from here and access page 96 .
https://archive.org/details/byte-magazine-1989-01

Thank you! Good old BYTE magazine. So the Voice Master Key is a voice recognition card that interfaces with different software programs, and the one I have might be a revision (hence the "2") of the one pictured on the box above. I'd love to get my hands on the install disk and give it a whirl.

I appreciate everyone's help in getting to the bottom of this.

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