640K!enough wrote:The Ad Lib Gold, arguably the card that set the standard for OPL3, did exactly that: the OPL3 was at 388H through 38BH by default, with nothing at or near 220H.
...
but I remember specifying 388H for OPL3, even after moving to a Sound Blaster 16.
I think I will stick to AdLib/SB16 compatibility. So OPL2 will be at 388h (and choices of 0x218/0x288/0x318 will be also available, as was on AdLib). SB16 I think had OPL3 routed from 388h for AdLib compatibility, but another way to address it was through 220h. So for "SB-compatible OPL3" I think I should stick with 220h.
Also, can you help with number of ports required by OPL3? As I know, for OPL2 it is two ports: base+1 (0x388, 0x389). How many ports if required for OPL3? Four? 😕
carlostex wrote:I really don't see the need of including OPL2/OPL3 capability. Adlib/Sound Blaster/Sound Blaster Pro and clones are very common, so it would be easy to pair this multi sound card with another OPL2/OPL3 card. That would simplify the design and open space for something else.
I want to include OPL3 or both just to cover "all of them". OPL3 in SMD variant is pretty compact, it doesn't need much space. You can always disable parts of the card, that you don't need. And there are also some "OPL-wars" about frequency responses, filtering, background noise and so on. I want to have good OPL3 implementation on my card (I will spend some time experimenting). I've already implemented two pretty different variants of output filters for OPL3 on my debug-board, I will be comparing those.
OPL3_dual_debug.png
carlostex wrote:Unfortunately Covox Sound Master is not finished yet, which i would actually prefer to be included as yet it provides another rare sound option to be added.
Yep. I miss that synth too. As I understand that synth is more or less the same "AY", that was added to ZX Spectrum. For the moment I have all equipment for carefull disassembling any board like that, examing and putting it back intact. I still need some traces under those ICs for my re-routed version. But I doubt that any owner of those cards will accept such an action. 😢 To add an "AY" chip to my board - that would be just perfect!
carlostex wrote:I would also wouldn't mind to have Covox Speech Thing and Disney Sound Source capability as this would tackle another part of DOS gaming sound. I know that the focus is on synths, but this would very cool.
I don't sure about that yet. Main focus is on synth, rudimentary DACs are not synths. Maybe, if there will be any space left, I'll integrate some variant of those.
carlostex wrote:About CMS: i've noticed that you aren't supporting all of the CMS ports on the original CMS card. Reason is that i already have ALL games that support CMS patched to port 210h.
I've simply took Tronix's schematic and put it to the PCB. You've made a good point about 210h port... I think, current address decoder should be remade to add support for 210h. If only I knew how to construct those decoders easily with 74HC138s... 😊
carlostex wrote:So anyway, i very much appreciate Fagear's work and this is truly awesome. If you manage to pull this project out that'll be amazing!
Thanks! I'm trying my best at the moment to move it forward. Even I lack some knowledge in schematics and 74 logic.
Here are some hints and progress of the project:
FMonster_refit.png