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I've had a 1990 AdLib several years back... just sold it for something like 50e IIRC... you don't see many for sale , that's for sure...
I hope you do manage to get one Carlos!

That is another issue. Because they are becoming so rare the prices keep escalating. You say that guy from Austria may sell his for 100€. Just the card or complete with box, manual, paperwork?? Clint of Lazy Game Reviews bought a boxed complete one on eBay for 30$ back in 2010.

That is my concern, the AdLib shouldn't be so rare to justify such an high price. Imagine an AdLib Gold...

carlostex wrote:

[...] Imagine an AdLib Gold...

now that's a card I've personally never saw on eBay 🤣

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I may try to contact the guy from the Netheralnds. The guy from Austria might be more difficult, no idea who he is.

I still think there are a lot of AdLib cards still, stored in dirty and dusty garages and stuff.

@Keropi

Thanks my friend for the words of encouragement. A boxed AdLib and SB Pro and i'll be pretty much done with boxed stuff. I already have one Game Blaster and first generation Sound Blaster.

What about the clone cards? They aren't interesting?

the balloons box is soooo drooly.... hope you get it too Carlos!!!
boxed stuff demand a premium though... I only hunt for bargains atm 🤣

@vetz:
nothing beats the original for collection purposes.... 😀

vetz wrote:

What about the clone cards? They aren't interesting?

Clone cards might be interesting, but the point is i want the real thing. It's not just about the functionality, but also about the looks and being the real thing, an AdLib by AdLib!

I find both versions very pretty. I specially like the 1987 version PCB color.

I read a lot of old computer magazines and the humble Adlib was still being listed for sale up until around '94. I presume that if they were being listed then people were still buying them, so that's a long sales run and there must have been a stack of them out there. But the Adlib was so completely superseded by the soundblaster and it's many clones that I guess a lot of people upgraded and thought "no one will ever want this piece of junk" and tossed it in the bin.

I have an AdLib with the older type of PCB. What's not-so-great about it is that the markings on the FM chip are scraped off, I guess to make it more difficult for competitors to clone.

This is the guy in AT:
http://theodor.lauppert.ws
He has early SBs and Roland as well. But he has/may have sold some already.

I am sure there is stuff in people houses but when you cannot get it that is pretty irrelevant.

Yes, Adlib - even I was trying to get one when I was in the mood of collecting retro stuff. I managed to get two LAPC-I cards, bot not a single Adlib.

But then, I consoled myself - it's just the Yamaha chip - and my Sound Blasters have it. And then, once I put it in my PC, I won't be able to look at the card anyway. Only the music and sounds. And if it comes from the Yamaha chip, my Sound Blaster 1.5 might as well be the Adlib.

Of course, Adlib is Adlib. And it's rare. Adlib Gold is super rare.

I've stopped looking for them, though.

😁

keropi wrote:

the balloons box is soooo drooly.... hope you get it too Carlos!!!

That's the box i've been wishing for, but tell you the truth i'd be happy with the other one as well. Which brings the question, which box style artwork is older? The red and black AdLib Music Synthesizer Card text style or the smack, broom vroom and craashh style?

Our cream filled highness DonutKing and Clint of LGR own AdLibs with the latter style boxes.

Simply awesome box artwork...

Malik wrote:

Yes, Adlib - even I was trying to get one when I was in the mood of collecting retro stuff. I managed to get two LAPC-I cards, bot not a single Adlib.

I'll be more than happy to trade my Adlib card for one of those LAPCs. 😉

You can build your own Adlib here : http://www.malinov.com/Home/sergeys-projects/isa-opl2-card

You can tell that the emphasis had changed quite a bit from the old box to the new one. The old box just has a big note, the new box shows games and sound effects and a bit of music thrown in and specifically advertises its gaming usage.

Sorry, I don't see the big fuss about Adlib, and not sure why they're "rare" either. In the past I turned down dozens of Adlibs that were practically being given away. I guess it wasn't a very smart thing to do seeing as suckers are now paying $100 for them.

Next to the SBs, the Adlib must have been one of the most produced soundcards of all time. Perhaps they're rare because everyone threw them away, but the same is true for just about any other vintage PC item. Maybe if it came in a shrinkwrapped box $100 would be reasonable. Now the Adlib Gold, that is a totally different story...

The AdLib is a pretty historic card, whether people like it or not. I'll say it again, it's not about the functionality, we know the story of how much superior the Sound Blaster is and it basically offered so much more than AdLib did. But it is a landmark in computer history! What's wrong about that?

It's collectable and it is something i would like to preserve. And this is not about AdLib clones, is about AdLib by AdLib and how and why it has become so rare. A few people here made good points, like maybe a lot were thrown away and people not caring about them anymore.

That being said: Maybe some people back in the 80's threw their Apple I motherboards away, or gave it for nothing because they were useless, and you had to be building your own PSU and keyboard. The damn thing is useless but is pretty historic. And suckers paid beyond 100.000€ in public auctions.

Why the heck are we building retro systems anyway? We have DOSBox. Even though AdLib functionality is limited compared to Sound Blaster it has earned a place in computing history and in my opinion it deserves being preserved and not thrown away.

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