VOGONS


First post, by Geon106

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Hello all,

Just purchased an old computer for some retro DOS gaming. It has an ISA soundcard but I cannot identify it's model or details nor if it's any good.

There is no make printed on it. On one side it says "Wave Blaster / OPL4" on the other it says "Model No: A-Gold".

I don't know how this compares to say a SB16 in terms of sound quality and compatibility. I will post some pictures shortly

1993:A500
1997:Apricot MS540|P/166|16M|Rage3D 2M
2000:PB 9533|P3/533|128M|Voodoo3 2000 16M
'04:P4/3G|1GB|NVIDIA 5700 256M
'07:AMDX2/3.2Ghz|4GB|8800 GTX
'11:i5 2500k|16G|AMD 7950
'16:i5 6600k|16G|NVIDIA 1080|SB AE-5
'21:5900X|32GB|6800XT|SB AE-5

Reply 1 of 5, by Geon106

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Image: http://imgur.com/Zyqk32b

1993:A500
1997:Apricot MS540|P/166|16M|Rage3D 2M
2000:PB 9533|P3/533|128M|Voodoo3 2000 16M
'04:P4/3G|1GB|NVIDIA 5700 256M
'07:AMDX2/3.2Ghz|4GB|8800 GTX
'11:i5 2500k|16G|AMD 7950
'16:i5 6600k|16G|NVIDIA 1080|SB AE-5
'21:5900X|32GB|6800XT|SB AE-5

Reply 2 of 5, by derSammler

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That's an ordinary ALS120 based sound card. It's compatible to Adlib, SB Pro and SB16.

I don't see where it says "Wave Blaster / OPL4" or "Model No: A-Gold"... If it really says the first on the back, then someone removed the OPL4 wavetable. But you can connect any wavetable anyway.

Reply 3 of 5, by Geon106

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derSammler wrote:

That's an ordinary ALS120 based sound card. It's compatible to Adlib, SB Pro and SB16.

I don't see where it says "Wave Blaster / OPL4" or "Model No: A-Gold"... If it really says the first on the back, then someone removed the OPL4 wavetable. But you can connect any wavetable anyway.

That text is printed on the left of the pin out header on the left.

Just googled that and it seems this card has good compatibility but is a bit crap as it's quite noisy. I'll see if I can find something better in that case

1993:A500
1997:Apricot MS540|P/166|16M|Rage3D 2M
2000:PB 9533|P3/533|128M|Voodoo3 2000 16M
'04:P4/3G|1GB|NVIDIA 5700 256M
'07:AMDX2/3.2Ghz|4GB|8800 GTX
'11:i5 2500k|16G|AMD 7950
'16:i5 6600k|16G|NVIDIA 1080|SB AE-5
'21:5900X|32GB|6800XT|SB AE-5

Reply 4 of 5, by derSammler

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Note that noise comes from the pre-amp circuit, not from the ALS120 chip. That is, if someone says his ALS120 card is noisy, it doesn't mean yours is, too. Just test it and see if it fits your needs. The card itself is worth keeping, as it is one of very few that can do SB16 and SB Pro in stereo.

Reply 5 of 5, by Geon106

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derSammler wrote:

Note that noise comes from the pre-amp circuit, not from the ALS120 chip. That is, if someone says his ALS120 card is noisy, it doesn't mean yours is, too. Just test it and see if it fits your needs. The card itself is worth keeping, as it is one of very few that can do SB16 and SB Pro in stereo.

Oh okay thanks 😀 I'll give it a go and see what it sounds like otherwise I might invest in a proper SB16

1993:A500
1997:Apricot MS540|P/166|16M|Rage3D 2M
2000:PB 9533|P3/533|128M|Voodoo3 2000 16M
'04:P4/3G|1GB|NVIDIA 5700 256M
'07:AMDX2/3.2Ghz|4GB|8800 GTX
'11:i5 2500k|16G|AMD 7950
'16:i5 6600k|16G|NVIDIA 1080|SB AE-5
'21:5900X|32GB|6800XT|SB AE-5