DonutKing wrote:

I'm sure the different coloured caps still work the same 😀

I'm sure too, it's just i had the idea that every 1987 AdLib picture i had seen showed red/orange caps.

Here is another one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ad-Lib-AdLib-Music-Sy … =item4d2c92d411

And it's hard to imagine that in it's day the AdLib was actually one of the most popular sound cards being sold which was why it had such widespread support even after they weren't being sold any longer. The prices today would have you believing that only a handful were ever made.

In the past six weeks, there have been two Ad Lib cards sold on eBay, the first one went for $229.50 and the second one went for $202.50 :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AdLib-isa-sound-micro … =item3cee16e4c1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ad-Lib-Music-Synthesi … =item3f4543372d

I understand that people value the card as being historically significant, but for those prices I would expect complete in box. Whatever aesthetic value it may have is lost when it is inside a computer case, its functionality can be perfectly duplicated with 100s of other cards and the sound quality leaves something to be desired by comparison to later cards.

Great Hierophant wrote:

In the past six weeks, there have been two Ad Lib cards sold on eBay, the first one went for $229.50 and the second one went for […]
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In the past six weeks, there have been two Ad Lib cards sold on eBay, the first one went for $229.50 and the second one went for $202.50 :

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AdLib-isa-sound-micro … =item3cee16e4c1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ad-Lib-Music-Synthesi … =item3f4543372d

I understand that people value the card as being historically significant, but for those prices I would expect complete in box. Whatever aesthetic value it may have is lost when it is inside a computer case, its functionality can be perfectly duplicated with 100s of other cards and the sound quality leaves something to be desired by comparison to later cards.

I never found my 1987 AdLib to have lower quality output when compared to the Sound Blaster 2.0 for instance. As far as the price that goes on these cards these days, i agree with you.

The Adlib is amazingly simple. It has a low component count and uses all off the shelf parts. You could build one from scratch if you wanted to. I remember back in the mid 90s being really unimpressed when I first saw them (former Amiga user). Now that I have a much better understanding of PC evolution I can appreciate this card more for setting a sound standard, but it really blows my mind how something so simple, common and relatively uninteresting can fetch such high prices. Oh well. Supply and demand I guess. Personally I'd rather blow the cash on something interesting like a CM32 or an Ultrasound.

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Everybody cares about money, expensive means different things to different incomes.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

but it really blows my mind how something so simple, common and relatively uninteresting can fetch such high prices.

Simple and uninteresting - yes. Common - well, the original AdLib was released in 1987 while the first Sound Blaster was released in 1989, for not much more money, with full compatibility, wave playback and a game port. The Sound Blaster outsold the AdLib very quickly, and for newer games the AdLib is not very useful any more so many people probably trashed them. Additionally at that time PCs were not as common as later so the AdLib probably didn't sell as many units as later cards (I couldn't find any numbers online).

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