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MUS-1099 GameBlaster Sound Card

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Reply 20 of 137, by root42

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Ozzuneoj wrote:

Just out of curiosity, would this offer any additional functionality over a Sound blaster 2.0 CT1350B with a working CMS upgrade?

Very cool project!

I have no idea. Maybe stereo output? Not sure though. I know almost nothing about the GameBlaster / CMS, which is why I want to do this project anyway. 😀

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Reply 21 of 137, by root42

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Mail from Shenzhen arrived:

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I will also close the google doc now and order the Mouser parts. I will contact everyone for proceeding with the project.

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Reply 24 of 137, by cyclone3d

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Ozzuneoj wrote:

Just out of curiosity, would this offer any additional functionality over a Sound blaster 2.0 CT1350B with a working CMS upgrade?

Very cool project!

I think there are a few games that make use of / require an additional chip the gameblaster has that an upgraded Sound Blaster 2.0 doesn't have.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
YMF7x4 Guide
Aopen AW744L II SB-LINK

Reply 25 of 137, by root42

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I updated the google sheet with the payments I received. mil and obaltus are missing. As soon as they come in, I will launch the Mouser order.

I also added shipping costs. For kits and the full card I chose shipping with tracking. PCBs will go out as a letter, w/o tracking.

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Reply 26 of 137, by Scali

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root42 wrote:

As soon as they come in, I will launch the Mouser order.

Do you have the parts numbers listed somewhere?
I'm especially interested in what parts you used for the jack and the volume knob.
The volume knob has very large spacing on the pins in the PCB design. I could not find a volume knob for that pin layout that was small enough to fit through the ISA slot at the back.
I ended up using one that dreamblaster sent me, which fit through the ISA slot, but had much smaller pin spacing, so I ended up just bending the pins flat and soldering them on top of the holes, not through them.

http://scalibq.wordpress.com/just-keeping-it- … ro-programming/

Reply 27 of 137, by root42

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Scali wrote:
Do you have the parts numbers listed somewhere? I'm especially interested in what parts you used for the jack and the volume kno […]
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root42 wrote:

As soon as they come in, I will launch the Mouser order.

Do you have the parts numbers listed somewhere?
I'm especially interested in what parts you used for the jack and the volume knob.
The volume knob has very large spacing on the pins in the PCB design. I could not find a volume knob for that pin layout that was small enough to fit through the ISA slot at the back.
I ended up using one that dreamblaster sent me, which fit through the ISA slot, but had much smaller pin spacing, so I ended up just bending the pins flat and soldering them on top of the holes, not through them.

Disclaimer: As soon as I also checked the datasheets of the jack and the knob. 😉 Now that I have the PCB and since I still have a keystone bracket from the Adlib project, I can measure a bit.

Here are the parts numbers:

https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/652-PTD902-1015FB103
https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/490-SJ1-3553NG

The jack looks fine. But the potentiometer... Might be big... Suggestions welcome!

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Reply 28 of 137, by root42

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Alternative: https://www.mouser.de/ProductDetail/ALP ... 2b1fAfU%3d

Seems to also have the 5mm spacing of the leads. Maybe a bit more compact? Also for audio use it seems. Variants for tone and volume (linear vs log?)

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Reply 29 of 137, by Scali

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What I would have liked was a 'wheel' type volume pot, like you find on early Sound Blasters. But I couldn't find any. Creative probably used them because they're much easier to get through an ISA slot than any shaft 😀

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Reply 30 of 137, by root42

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something like this?

https://www.mouser.de/Passive-Components/Pote … 9q0yp?P=1yiihwn

I can only find mono ones...

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Reply 31 of 137, by root42

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Mouser order has been placed. Let's see if it arrives this week... Anyway, apart from PCB and bracket only orders, I won't be able to do any shipping in December, I guess. I picked the Alps volume pot in the end, because it seems the most compact one and might fit best.

I will update when the Mouser order arrives.

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Reply 32 of 137, by root42

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Mouser stuff arrived. Most things are fine, BUT as feared the potentiometer fits, but is way too tall for the ISA slot. I also can't find any more low profile stereo potentiometer. I am pondering what else we can do here. I think I would rather put a little raster board with two trimmers on the card, since most people will route the sound through an amp anyway. What do you guys think?

Second, I ordered the wrong audio jacks. Sorry, will have to order them from somewhere again... I also have to say: Dear god, the design uses a very WEIRD footprint. I should have noticed that...

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Reply 33 of 137, by Scali

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root42 wrote:

Mouser stuff arrived. Most things are fine, BUT as feared the potentiometer fits, but is way too tall for the ISA slot. I also can't find any more low profile stereo potentiometer. I am pondering what else we can do here. I think I would rather put a little raster board with two trimmers on the card, since most people will route the sound through an amp anyway. What do you guys think?

This is my solution:

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Would be nice to modify the PCB layout so that the pins fit through the holes for the next batch, but it's a working solution for now.

So it's a smaller pot, and the pins are bent out like this:

\ | /
- . -

Then the lower middle pin is soldered through the hole, all others are soldered on top of the pads.

For the tall pots you have, you could mount them 'in reverse', so the rod faces inward, not outward. Then it can effectively be used as a trimmer to set the volume once, then close the case.

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Reply 34 of 137, by root42

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Ok, I found the audio jack: https://www.mouser.de/datasheet/2/670/sj1-351 … ies-1313131.pdf
That has the exact footprint as on the PCB.

@scali: I thought about mounting them in reverse... But I do not like that solution. Do you have a part number on your pot?

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Reply 35 of 137, by Scali

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root42 wrote:

Ok, I found the audio jack: https://www.mouser.de/datasheet/2/670/sj1-351 … ies-1313131.pdf
That has the exact footprint as on the PCB.

I used this audio jack (490-SJ1-3513):
https://eu.mouser.com/ProductDetail/CUI ... 5Liw%3d%3d

It fits the PCB, but it is a bit 'low'... so the output is a bit close to the PCB, which means it is close to one side of the ISA slot.

root42 wrote:

Do you have a part number on your pot?

I got mine from dreamblaster (I think they're the same as used on the OPL3LPT), so perhaps he can tell you which part number they are.

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Reply 37 of 137, by newold86

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Scali wrote:

It fits the PCB, but it is a bit 'low'... so the output is a bit close to the PCB, which means it is close to one side of the ISA slot.

To be honest, I don’t understand why this style of a jack was used, the one I use fits ISA bracket perfectly...

Reply 38 of 137, by root42

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newold86 wrote:
Scali wrote:

It fits the PCB, but it is a bit 'low'... so the output is a bit close to the PCB, which means it is close to one side of the ISA slot.

To be honest, I don’t understand why this style of a jack was used, the one I use fits ISA bracket perfectly...

Thanks for the link. I will see if I get the same from Mouser.

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Reply 39 of 137, by root42

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Hm, The footprint of your jack looks wrong. I don't think it will fit...

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