I see. But how do I interpret the markings on the caps? The numbers don't seem to correlate with their rating. The markings on the caps are:

10
16S
5A9

lo

that probably means 10uF at 16V.

looking at the board those larger caps
seem to be mostly in the analogue section
either coupling the midi WBH or within
the i/o section to the very right. i am not
sure that changing these will solve your
issue here which may actually
be a fault with either the bus controller
and/or it's auxiliary devices
else the bus transceivers which are
those things aligned to the bottom.

actually, there is so much speculation
here that even the most determined would
find it hard to solve this problem without
the aide of a test suite of software and
a logic analyzer.

you may be better off getting a replacement
card but of course you could also be lucky
it's really impossible to say.

cya!

You're right. I'm beating a dead horse and I need to stop denying that the card is dead and can't be repaired. Goodbye, best sound card I ever had...
I'll keep the dead card around, just in case someone finds out exactly what might be wrong with it. The problem was that the card wouldn't initialize and that the setup program reports all free IRQ:s and all free DMA:s as unavailable.

You never know, one may show up on ebay again. But I too found one mislabeled years ago as an IO card so it's hard to know where to find them...

What......dead horse........old hardware. Is this a oxymoron or something 😉

Yeah, the first line is 10uf, second line means 16volts. Last line is probably the lot number or date code.

Before you toss it. why not try cleaning the contacts first. Trying to lookup some more documentation about the jumpers as it sounds like you may still have it set wrong. I just stick to hating those caps. They have caused me some misery in the past!! They usually set along the vcc path can cause ripple and such. I was thinking of posting a pick of my work here on the voodoo to show it off. Don't wanna come off as a a$$wipe or something though. 🤣.

One experience I had with that type of cap was my Super NES that was just purchased off ebay. It had crackly audio coming out and sound worse the more the system was on. Spent probably 2+hrs between replacing the caps, then re-routing the land areas the got eaten away on the board. Pain in the ass but the system sounds great now!!

Never toss old hardware (unless its a eMachine or the like 😁 ). I frequently find that sometimes I'm just not running it properly or just didn't set it up right. Its a learning curve.

EDIT: Just gonna post a pic anyways. If you want me to take down, let me know.

The top board is my original Voodoo 1 bought new in 1997, bottom board is recent purchase from ebay that I replaced caps on with new regular caps (not SMT).
Sorry about quality, used my phone camera. My camera is only 3MP anyways so don't think it will be much better.

There is a pair of Soundscape cards on ebay right now for $30 ea. They appear to be a revision of the original S-2000.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Ensoniq-Soundscape-16-Bit … e-/370513827918

14 years have passed since I started this thread. Today I dug the broken Ensoniq Soundscape Elite out of the basement, tested it again in my 486 PC and found it to be still broken and then I desoldered all of the 22 capacitors and tested them with a capacitance meter. Each cap measured between 12-13 uF, where they were rated for 10 uF. I suppose that's okay and it means that the caps were not the problem. I accidentally damaged some of the solder pads during desoldering and since the card is broken anyway I won't try to fix them and mount new capacitors. Time to send the card for recycling!

Paddan1000 wrote on 2025-03-14, 22:40:

14 years have passed since I started this thread. Today I dug the broken Ensoniq Soundscape Elite out of the basement, tested it again in my 486 PC and found it to be still broken and then I desoldered all of the 22 capacitors and tested them with a capacitance meter. Each cap measured between 12-13 uF, where they were rated for 10 uF. I suppose that's okay and it means that the caps were not the problem. I accidentally damaged some of the solder pads during desoldering and since the card is broken anyway I won't try to fix them and mount new capacitors. Time to send the card for recycling!

I'd put it up either for the hardware giveaway thread for someone else to fix or put it up on Ebay. It still probably has value even if just as a source of replacement parts.

Given for what Soundscape Elite cards sell for these days, tossing it to a recycler would be a huge waste.

Paddan1000 wrote on 2025-03-14, 22:40:

14 years have passed since I started this thread. Today I dug the broken Ensoniq Soundscape Elite out of the basement, tested it again in my 486 PC and found it to be still broken and then I desoldered all of the 22 capacitors and tested them with a capacitance meter. Each cap measured between 12-13 uF, where they were rated for 10 uF. I suppose that's okay and it means that the caps were not the problem. I accidentally damaged some of the solder pads during desoldering and since the card is broken anyway I won't try to fix them and mount new capacitors. Time to send the card for recycling!

Oh my. Please do not send it to a recycler. I would gladly pay for shipping so I could try to get it working or use it for parts, but there is probably someone closer that you could send it to without having to deal with customs and such since I am in the USA.

At this point I don't think any of these relatively rare sound cards should be getting scrapped or recycled. Even if the PCB itself is damaged beyond repair (bodge wires are a valid repair IMO), they are all good for parts or even as a reference to have have on hand to repair another card.

Yeah, definitely not the recycling ! I'll gladly take a shot at repairs too if sending to norway is less effort than to USA 🤣

You could also send it to a YouTuber. They may want to try fix such an expensive card and make a video. EG Necroware, Bits un Bolts or Tony etc.

Ok, I will send the card to someone who has the skill to repair it or can reuse the components for something fun. It would be nice if someone would make a Youtube video out of the process so I can learn something and find out what the problem was.
I have posted some pictures below of the card before and after I desoldered the capacitors. As you can see two solder pads got damaged at C52 and C95. Apart from that the only visible damage is a scratch on the back that exposes some copper.
I bought this card at a flea market more than 15 years ago and the scratch on the back whas already present then while the card was working, so that is not the reason it broke. I never had the daughter board with the DSP, so it is not included.

So who is up for the task?

Paddan1000 wrote on 2025-03-15, 09:38:

So who is up for the task?

I could take a shot at it. I've previously repaired a Reveal Sound FX Wave 32, which is an Ensoniq Soundcape clone.

I've sent a PM.

Shponglefan wrote on 2025-03-15, 14:42:

Paddan1000 wrote on 2025-03-15, 09:38:

So who is up for the task?

I could take a shot at it. I've previously repaired a Reveal Sound FX Wave 32, which is an Ensoniq Soundcape clone.

I've sent a PM.

I've replied to your PM. If I get your adress I will send you the card tomorrow.