That's some serious good detective work. 👍

PD2JK wrote on 2026-04-18, 16:00:

That's some serious good detective work. 👍

Thank you. Unfortunately I was unable to conclude the investigation.

There remains uncertainty about who owned the "PT-2628" and "PT2628" identifiers. Archive.org suggests those exact strings appeared on A3D.com, which is probably not coincidence. We also can't make assumptions because Aashima (Trust) PCB identifiers show different letters for different Trust products.

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-18, 08:01:

But, there is another set of currently unbranded cards that have a different silkscreen with remarkably similar PT2628 identifier without hyphen on the top edge near the backplate plus a different set of factory QC stickers.

Update attached following a lead from RetroWeb. The (Pine Technologies) PT2628 and (Aashima Trust) PT-2628 appear to be two different identifiers for two different sound cards. Both are Aureal Vortex, but they are different PCBs from different vendors that have no known commercial connection to one another.

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-30, 20:12:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-18, 08:01:

But, there is another set of currently unbranded cards that have a different silkscreen with remarkably similar PT2628 identifier without hyphen on the top edge near the backplate plus a different set of factory QC stickers.

Update attached following a lead from RetroWeb. The (Pine Technologies) PT2628 and (Aashima Trust) PT-2628 appear to be two different identifiers for two different sound cards. Both are Aureal Vortex, but they are different PCBs from different vendors that have no known commercial connection to one another.

This is the driver page from the Pine support archive... https://web.archive.org/web/20040208052854/ht … ards-PT2628.htm . Links are dead but HelpDrivers has most of the files here... https://www.helpdrivers.com/sound/Pine/PT2628 … x_8820_PCI_A3D/ .

Also noticed this w2k driver pack from Trust for their version, listed on Souncard-Drivers, though the dl link is here (original filename 10519_01.exe)... https://driversdownload.solvusoft.com/d711231.exe

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2026-05-02, 11:08:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-30, 20:12:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-04-18, 08:01:

But, there is another set of currently unbranded cards that have a different silkscreen with remarkably similar PT2628 identifier without hyphen on the top edge near the backplate plus a different set of factory QC stickers.

Update attached following a lead from RetroWeb. The (Pine Technologies) PT2628 and (Aashima Trust) PT-2628 appear to be two different identifiers for two different sound cards. Both are Aureal Vortex, but they are different PCBs from different vendors that have no known commercial connection to one another.

This is the driver page from the Pine support archive... https://web.archive.org/web/20040208052854/ht … ards-PT2628.htm . Links are dead but HelpDrivers has most of the files here... https://www.helpdrivers.com/sound/Pine/PT2628 … x_8820_PCI_A3D/ .

Also noticed this w2k driver pack from Trust for their version, listed on Souncard-Drivers, though the dl link is here (original filename 10519_01.exe)... https://driversdownload.solvusoft.com/d711231.exe

There are no files on web.archive.org - that record only provides evidence of what the filenames were. Thank you for the link to files.

It is unclear where the current day files attributed to Pine Technologies actually came from as there is no audit trail. If you open and read those INF files in Notepad you can see none of the driver sets originate from Pine Technologies - they appear entirely copyright Aureal. Branded INF files can be found for other Pine products, so having only unbranded INF files is an inconsistency. Strangely, the filename dates span multiple years and those dates could be cross-referenced with other Aureal packages to surface clues. Unfortunately, the only evidence of lineage is reuse of the ZIP filename.

In contrast, the 1998 "Trust Sound Expert 128 drivers" from an ISO on Archive.org has INF files stating manufacturer is Aashima (link in OP for independent verification, screenshot attached).

It's not just one smoking gun:

• For the Aashima (Trust) PT-2628 we have catalogue tables, INF files, magazine CDs, manuals, marketing box art, and Trust (Aashima) stickers on some of the PCBs.
• For Pine Technologies PT2628 we have Archive.org catalogue tables only - no stickers, no manuals, no verified drivers, no evidence of marketing.

Furthermore, when we look at the various PCB silkscreens we can see clearly two groups of PCBs with different supply chains (e.g. different factories). One uses a hyphen, the fonts are different, and we see these differences consistently repeated across version releases so there are two different V1.0 PCBs etc.

• The Aashima (Trust) PT-2628 is verified by the complete set of all possible primary source evidence and certainly a specific sound card.
• The Pine Technologies PT2628 also existed, and is probably represented by the other set of PCBs but with less evidence.

How multiple disconnected companies came to use very similar silkscreen identifiers is unknown, but we now know it happened.

Unlike the Trust, it certainly seems like a card with an identity crisis ...is it PT2628 or PT-2628 or Schubert 64 A3D-1 PCI Wavetable Sound ?

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2026-05-03, 02:02:

Unlike the Trust, it certainly seems like a card with an identity crisis ...is it PT2628 or PT-2628 or Schubert 64 A3D-1 PCI Wavetable Sound ?

In the absence of alternative names, I think it is fair to say that PT2628 is Pine Technologies 128 A3D PCI:

• The 64 bit card would be Pine Technologies Schubert 3D is an ISA card powered by ESS AudioDrive chip and optional wavetable expansion board (driver CD on Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did list their Aureal Vortex as PT2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did not list their Aureal Vortex as PT-2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)

There is a website making that claim to have reviewed a Pine Technologies Schubert 128 A3D card in 1998 sadly with: no photo, no product identifier, no file name, no product link. However, the review suggests there is a narrative to Yamaha XG files in Pine's PT2628 drivers and suggests a relevant product name.

https://assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews/ … schubert128.htm (I note "2009" in the URL).

Unfortunately, that source has an identity crisis of its own. It claims to be part of a http://sog.s-one.net.sg (a free hosting site for Singapore special interest groups), which archive.org shows was active in 1999 hosting amateur content (e.g. how to be a man). However, there is no archive.org capture of any "assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews" before year 2024. Meanwhile, in 1999, HardwareZone maintained a list of known sound cards with no mention of a Pine Technologies Schubert 128.

While the review might be genuine, it's not very clear that it is. Its emergence has a connection to "2009" and maybe that is the date of a data migration but the indirection to a free web host for amateurs and the lack of cross-references to the main HardwareZone creates confusions. Maybe HardwareZone.com would like to clarify?

MattRocks wrote on 2026-05-03, 07:28:

Definitely not Schubert 64.. […]
Show full quote

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2026-05-03, 02:02:

Unlike the Trust, it certainly seems like a card with an identity crisis ...is it PT2628 or PT-2628 or Schubert 64 A3D-1 PCI Wavetable Sound ?

Definitely not Schubert 64..

• The 64 bit card would be Pine Technologies Schubert 3D is an ISA card powered by ESS AudioDrive chip and optional wavetable expansion board (driver CD on Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did list their Aureal Vortex as PT2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did not list their Aureal Vortex as PT-2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)

There is a website making that claim to have reviewed a Pine Technologies Schubert 128 A3D card in 1998, with no photo and no product identifiers.

https://assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews/ … schubert128.htm (I note "2009" in the URL).

Unfortunately, the source has an identity crisis of its own. It claims to be part of a http://sog.s-one.net.sg (a free hosting site for Singapore special interest groups), which archive.org shows was active in 1999 hosting amateur content (e.g. how to be a man). However, there is no archive.org capture of any "assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews" before year 2024. Meanwhile, in 1999, HardwareZone maintained a list of known sound cards with no mention of Schubert 128!

While the review might be genuine, there is a lack of proof that it is genuine and its emergence has a connection to "2009" - whatever that means, maybe an import date for unpublished material?

This was the Pine IA page I was referencing...confusing or what - https://web.archive.org/web/20000125175715/ht … und/pt-2628.htm

The DOS Days website uses this same reference here https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/my_sound_cards.php and here https://dosdays.co.uk/topics/images/pt-2628.jpg

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2026-05-03, 07:40:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-05-03, 07:28:

Definitely not Schubert 64.. […]
Show full quote

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2026-05-03, 02:02:

Unlike the Trust, it certainly seems like a card with an identity crisis ...is it PT2628 or PT-2628 or Schubert 64 A3D-1 PCI Wavetable Sound ?

Definitely not Schubert 64..

• The 64 bit card would be Pine Technologies Schubert 3D is an ISA card powered by ESS AudioDrive chip and optional wavetable expansion board (driver CD on Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did list their Aureal Vortex as PT2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)
• Pine Technologies did not list their Aureal Vortex as PT-2628 (evidenced by Archive.org)

There is a website making that claim to have reviewed a Pine Technologies Schubert 128 A3D card in 1998, with no photo and no product identifiers.

https://assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews/ … schubert128.htm (I note "2009" in the URL).

Unfortunately, the source has an identity crisis of its own. It claims to be part of a http://sog.s-one.net.sg (a free hosting site for Singapore special interest groups), which archive.org shows was active in 1999 hosting amateur content (e.g. how to be a man). However, there is no archive.org capture of any "assets.hardwarezone.com/2009/reviews" before year 2024. Meanwhile, in 1999, HardwareZone maintained a list of known sound cards with no mention of Schubert 128!

While the review might be genuine, there is a lack of proof that it is genuine and its emergence has a connection to "2009" - whatever that means, maybe an import date for unpublished material?

This was the Pine IA page I was referencing...confusing or what - https://web.archive.org/web/20000125175715/ht … und/pt-2628.htm

The DOS Days website uses this same reference here https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/my_sound_cards.php and here https://dosdays.co.uk/topics/images/pt-2628.jpg

Oh I see.

The silkscreen on the DOS Days photo states PT2628 (not PT-2628), and the DOS Days typist wrote PT-2628 (not PT2628). As a source of data, DOS Days is providing evidence that people do not consistently type what they read. It is not providing evidence that a specific silkscreen identifier matches any particular product.

The pine-tech.com Schubert 64 page and marketing blurb is evidence of something too. Most helpfully, it explains the digits "128" as "Voice Plus 128 Voice Yamaha XG50 software wavetable." The very confusing detail is that Pine Technology entered hyphenated PT-2628 in that record (and entered unhyphenated PT2628 in other records), which lays claims to the Aashima (Trust) PT-2628 and orphans the PT2628 (while also laying claim to PT2628 elsewhere). Orphaning the clearly very physically real PT2628 is irreconcilable because that would mean we must find yet another vendor using the similar identifier (and have the only two known vendors sharing one identifier). If we attribute both PT2628 and PT-2628 to Pine Technologies then we are subscribing to the belief that Pine Technologies are internally inconsistent at the level of component identifiers, and having controls like that would demand remarkable luck on assembly lines! 😁

I feel the most elegant explanation is that the hyphen on both pages reflect manual typing or proofing error: DOS Days error is evidenced by the photo so needs no further thought. The Pine Technology error reflects what was common in the era of static web content, particularly if the typist was unaware that another company was using the same/similar identifier.

Interesting side-note is that the Aashima (Trust) manual (https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1353487/Tru … Expert-128.html) provides no explanation for why Trust also use the digits "128," but I did find VideoLogic also bundled Yamaha XG soft synthesiser with later Aureal chips so the total software voices may have been an arbitrary marketing decision.

My hypothesis and tentative suggestion:

• PT2628 = Pine Schubert 64 A3D PCI = Pine Schubert 128 A3D PCI (if you can add the Voice Plus / Yamaha XG50 softsynth).
• PT-2628 = Aashima (Trust) Sound Expert 128.