appiah4 wrote on 2020-05-27, 11:08:
I am immediately considering actually getting one of these printed and trying to build it (not sure which of OPL4/SAM chips is easier to obtain).. Alas, I only have a 100+ card I can pilfer and I don't know if that chip works with external OPL chips or not, even though it looks pin compatible..
The SAM one can be printed with the Gerber files as is, at least at OSHPark and PCBWay (JLCPCB won't take them, might inquire about it as they tend to be cheaper), the Gerber files for the OPL3/4 version will need some work to convert them from what I believe is RS-274D to 274X, which I'm not super knowledgable about. As for the 100+, from what I can see, they're not pin-compatible with the 100.
The OPL3/4 one technically needs an ALS-100M, the "Multi-CD" version that does SCSI and a few other CD standards, whereas the ALS-100 only does IDE, but I think they are pin compatible. The MCD just accomodates the extra CD-ROM bits, which I'm pretty sure won't be a problem to leave out of that card when using an ALS-100. Don't think most people still need the CD-ROM drive controller capabilities of a soundcard nowadays.
The ALS-100 version of the card that does OPL3/4 only has the .SCH and .LIB files, which I'm not sure what CAD software they're for. An old one for sure, given they date to 1995.
I'm currently trying to see if any of the Alibaba sellers for "ALS100" ICs (which is not clear if it's even the right chip, mind you) can sell me a small quantity of those. So far, I've gotten two quotations for $15 and $20 per IC respectively, at a quantity of 10. Bit pricey, but probably still cheaper than finding ALS100 cards to pillage, as most on eBay are the Plus versions.