More setup and testing details are here: Five sound cards in a 386 (Gravis UltraSound, Adlib Gold, Roland LAPC-I, TexElec SAAYM, Yamaha YMF719)

Here are a few of the build log photos:

Sound cards are currently configured as follows to avoid as many conflicts as possible:

Atrend ATC-6631 (YMF719)
A=220h
I=5
D=1
P=300
FM=388 or 3A8 (boot option)

Adlib Gold
A=388
I=3
D=disabled

Gravis UltraSound
A=260h
I=7
D=7

TexElec SAAYM
A=220h
I=disabled

Roland LAPC-I
I=2/9
P=330

For the most part, everything works. The exception is digital audio via the Adlib Gold. While digital audio can work, games I've tested require DMA channel 1. Unfortunately, this is also a common DMA channel for many Sound Blaster supported games. As a result, I opted to disable the DMA channel on the Adlib Gold and forego digital sound. It's a non-issue since I can always get digital audio through the YMF719 card.

I do use a wavetable daughter card on the YMF719 card's header. If needed, I use MIDITO to redirect MIDI from port 330h to 300h. This way I can use MIDI either via an external module or the internal wavetable even on games that do natively support custom MIDI ports.

Gorgeous!
Basically you always get the best out of your setup. Nice!

Nexxen wrote on 2023-07-24, 23:18:

Gorgeous!
Basically you always get the best out of your setup. Nice!

Thank you Nexxen! It was a fun build and I'm just happy everything works. 😁

This is interesting. I hope you'll upload some video if you are into that.
I learnt something today.

Video Card: Diamond Speedstar 24 (Tseng ET4000/WP32)

Diamond Speedstar24 is usually based on Tseng ET4000AX chipset. ET4000/w32p is VLB and PCI only AFAIK.

Otherwise I really like your setup 😁

That is a very pretty setup!

kixs wrote on 2023-07-25, 10:11:

Video Card: Diamond Speedstar 24 (Tseng ET4000/WP32)

Diamond Speedstar24 is usually based on Tseng ET4000AX chipset. ET4000/w32p is VLB and PCI only AFAIK.

Otherwise I really like your setup 😁

Whoops, that's what I get for copy-pasting without proofreading. Thanks for catching that! 😁

appiah4 wrote on 2023-07-25, 11:03:

That is a very pretty setup!

Thank you!

Wow, very impressive! Amazing job!

That's quite the impressive sound system you've got there! So many ironic cards and modules! Amazing!

Beautiful! Now all you need is some DAW software on there and do some digital tracking--1990s style!

Awesome! Got a CT-460, too! 😃
(I'm using Cubase Lite on Windows 3.1 occasionally.)

Great, thoughtful setup. Good to know the YMF719 plays nice with the AdLib Gold. Bonus points for the CT-460 😉

Couple updates on this build and identification of a couple issues.

Diamond SpeedStar Monochrome Issue

First is the video card. For some reason, it periodically detects as a monochrome card instead of color. I did notice this during the original build and testing, but chalked it up to a loose VGA cable. Usually reseating the cable and rebooting the system would fix the issue.

But that problem has persisted in its more permanent setup. I'm not sure if it's an issue with the card or possibly the motherboard. There is a motherboard jumper for switching default monitor settings (color versus monochrome). Removing and reseating the cable still seems to correct the issue, so also not sure if it's a dirty contact or something else.

To test if it's a motherboard issue, I swapped the card for a Diamond SpeedStar 24x. This card is slightly slower in 3D Bench that the original SpeedStar (15.8 FPS originally versus 15.1 with the SpeedStar 24x). It's a ~4.5% reduction in performance, but for playing mostly 2D games I don't think it will be noticeably different.

Roland LAPC-I noise issue

The second issue is the Roland LAPC-I. I noticed in certain games a high-pitched noise in the background. It was most noticeable with Monkey Island and Gateway. It appears that the LAPC-I is picking up or generating a high-pitched whine in this system.

I tried swapping the LAPC-I for a known good LAPC-I from one of my 286 builds. However, the symptoms persisted. I also tested removing all other sound cards and trying the LAPC-I in different slots. In one slot the noise got worse, but never any better.

The high-pitched noise only really occurs during music playback. The moment there is a break in music, the noise fades out after about a second. For soundtracks with higher default volumes it's also less noticeable. Testing games including Waxworks, Elvira, Rise of the Dragon and Settlers, I don't notice the noise. But in Monkey Island and Gateway it's definitely present.

I further tested using an MPU-401AT card with a Roland wavetable. Obviously not the same as a proper MT-32 soundbank, but it doesn't seem to have the same issue. I also don't have the same issue with Monkey Island with the LAPC-I in my 286 builds. So it appears specific to LAPC-I cards in this specific system.

It's not a complete deal breaker since I have an external MT-32 which is free of any background noise. But it is a little disappointing since I'd hoped the LAPC-I would provide clear audio.

I may attempt swapping the PSU to see if that reduces that noise. Failing that, I'd have to swap the entire board and rebuild the system, not something I'm too keen on doing.

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-08-08, 15:46:

The second issue is the Roland LAPC-I. I noticed in certain games a high-pitched noise in the background. It was most noticeable with Monkey Island and Gateway. It appears that the LAPC-I is picking up or generating a high-pitched whine in this system.

The pictured LAPC-I lacks a noise-mitigating capacitor change made later in production. Not sure if that's the issue at hand, but, per the attached change information, you can test by simply bending the ceramic disc capacitor at C66 away from the transistor at Q2, and toward the op-amp at IC29.

Cloudschatze wrote on 2023-08-08, 17:14:

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-08-08, 15:46:

The second issue is the Roland LAPC-I. I noticed in certain games a high-pitched noise in the background. It was most noticeable with Monkey Island and Gateway. It appears that the LAPC-I is picking up or generating a high-pitched whine in this system.

The pictured LAPC-I lacks a noise-mitigating capacitor change made later in production. Not sure if that's the issue at hand, but, per the attached change information, you can test by simply bending the ceramic disc capacitor at C66 away from the transistor at Q2, and toward the op-amp at IC29.

Thanks for the info. I gave that a try, but unfortunately it didn't seem to change anything.

Reading the doc, it looks like the C66 is specific to right-channel noise. Whereas the noise I'm noticing appears to be coming through both channels.

It was worth a shot and good to know about that fix all the same.

Shponglefan wrote on 2023-08-08, 15:46:

it periodically detects as a monochrome card instead of color

Give this a try: Re: Investigating old ISA VGA cards