Adlib Music Synthesizer Card rev 1.5 \ VOGONS

Adlib Music Synthesizer Card rev 1.5

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First post, by jnjg25

Posted on 2017-01-06, 09:45

jnjg25 Offline

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So i bought a ton of pc big box games for 120$ Canadian and it came with this card complete in box, i searched it up on ebay, rev 1 is going for over $2000 Canadian and rev 1.5 for 700$

i was wondering if these cards were that sought after? and what sort of games will work with it, Doom? Wolfenstein, Blakestone type games(if so how does it stack up against an creative soundblaster?)or older? also are they compatible with Pentiums or is this more of a 386 486 sound card?

Reply 1 of 6, by Scali

Posted on 2017-01-06, 10:02

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AdLib will work with many early PC games, including Doom, Wolfenstein, Blake Stone and such.
A Sound Blaster is basically an AdLib clone with a DAC added to it for digital sound effects, and a game port.
This made the SB much more interesting for games, because of the more realistic sound effects, and AdLib was pushed out of the market quickly.

The AdLib uses the original Yamaha OPL2 chip (as do the original SB 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0), which is very slow. A lot of software has poorly designed delay code between writes to the OPL2 chip, which means they don't delay long enough on a fast system such as a fast 486 or Pentium.
This delay issue was fixed in the OPL3 chip, which is found on eg the AdLib Gold or Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 and later cards. They will work much better in a Pentium or faster system (but still not necessarily trouble-free).

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Reply 2 of 6, by James-F

Posted on 2017-01-06, 10:34

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+1
Scali already mentioned everything, but I should add that the high price is only for its collectible value.
So yes, In an active retro rig faster than a 386 any OPL3 based card will do exactly what the Adlib does without the speed related issues.

my important / useful posts are here

Reply 3 of 6, by clueless1

Posted on 2017-01-06, 14:12

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Score! Post pics if you can. We love seeing rare retro gear. 😀 Sounds like something you want to hold onto, maybe turn for a profit (or just use it in an old system!)

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.
OPL3 FM vs. Roland MT-32 vs. General MIDI DOS Game Comparison
Let's benchmark our systems with cache disabled
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Reply 4 of 6, by jnjg25

Posted on 2017-01-07, 06:51

jnjg25 Offline

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clueless1 wrote:
Score! Post pics if you can. We love seeing rare retro gear. 😀 Sounds like something you want to hold onto, maybe turn for a profit (or just use it in an old system!)

yes i am definetly not sure what to do. a part of me wants to use it, another part wants to sell it for more retro gear 🤣.

Anyways heres my find about 80% of the big box games came with the synth card everything else i accumulated over the years from thrift stores or family.

Anybody know what these cards are? besides the SCSI

gotta love the 100$ cd resurfacer!

free image uploading

Reply 5 of 6, by keropi

Posted on 2017-01-07, 13:15

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nice stuff!!
keep the card mate next to the games unless you want funds for something else - you won't find another boxed one anytime soon ... or better yet install it in a 286 pc or something and play these games 😁

🎵 🎧 ⏳ ⚡ PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website