I once looked at what it would take, and it doesn't take much to make a Level1 device. Level2 requires more effort for no gains as far as games go.

Shreddoc wrote on 2021-04-08, 21:34:

JimWest wrote on 2021-04-08, 13:12:

Maybe we should really think about making a gold replica. 😄

Surely it's possible!

(?)

The Gold Ctrl IC will be the major problem... Would probably need an FPGA replacement or similar.

root42 wrote on 2021-04-09, 07:42:

The Gold Ctrl IC will be the major problem... Would probably need an FPGA replacement or similar.

Yeah, probably.
I'm doing something similar for Datel PC Action Replay right now.
I think it can be done. I am more concerned about the calculation of the filter capacitors.
A (defective) AdLib Gold would certainly be very helpful as a donor.

Tiido wrote on 2021-04-08, 21:52:

I once looked at what it would take, and it doesn't take much to make a Level1 device. Level2 requires more effort for no gains as far as games go.

What do you mean by level 1 and level 2?

Adlib Gold SDK specifies two compatibility levels, one that has basic functionality that basically just involves having OPL3 and MMA chip, and one that has mixer and other additional features such as software controlled IRQ and DMA selection.

Additionnal features of GSS-Level 2 hardware include a standard on-board programmable mixer, which also is used for software con […]
Show full quote

Additionnal features of GSS-Level 2 hardware include a standard on-board programmable mixer, which also is used for software configuration of GSS cards.
This mixer enables the independent programming of each audio sources volume, and a global bass and treble control.
The applications can also read from GSS-Level 2 cards, the DMA channel and interrupt line assignments used on the card.
GSS-Level 2 cards share 1 single interrupt line for interrupts coming from OPL3 and MMA.
Because of these differences, functions in the SDTK libraries that refer to the OPL3 timer interrupts or to the mixer capabilities are disabled in Level-1 code.

it'd be really fun to clone the Gold! i think the "Gold Ctrl" should be fairly straightforward to implement in an FPGA. or possibly a CPLD, if it is simple. the YMZ263 looks hard to find so it should also go into the FPGA.

Ok, so I wonder if there are already clones out there:

They are:
Cardinal SoundVision (with OAK VGA onboard)
Cardinal SoundStudio (Same exact board as above, but doesn't have the VGA portion populated) - Have this one but need to replace caps - have not bee able to locate original drivers for either of these Cardinal cards
Dune recordings by alex.schroedsen
https://wiki.preterhuman.net/Cardinal_SOUNDstudio

2TheMax SoundMedia Multimedia Board (HAs already been tested and programs that try to detect the Adlib controller chip don't detect it. Maybe a driver issue? I have this one, but the POT was broken when I got it. Need to replace and test.
Adlib Gold clone - 2THEMAX SoundMedia Multimedia Board?

Both cards are 12-bit PCM just like the Adlib Gold.

TubeTimeUS wrote on 2021-04-10, 03:59:

it'd be really fun to clone the Gold! i think the "Gold Ctrl" should be fairly straightforward to implement in an FPGA. or possibly a CPLD, if it is simple. the YMZ263 looks hard to find so it should also go into the FPGA.

The Gold CTRL will definitely fit a small CPLD, the only real thing it does is map extra devices into the register space of OPL3. MMA (the YMZ) is pretty simple too, but it has FIFOs in it and CPLDs don't normally come with any memory in them but some small FPGA will definitely have no problem.

cyclone3d, thanks for the information and photos.
The "old" clones are probably as rare as the AdLib Gold itself.

I think an AdLib Gold Clone should be as close as possible to the original and fully compatible. Clearly the CTRL chip and probably the MMA have to be replaced by FPGA or CPLDs.

Tiido wrote on 2021-04-10, 06:12:

TubeTimeUS wrote on 2021-04-10, 03:59:

it'd be really fun to clone the Gold! i think the "Gold Ctrl" should be fairly straightforward to implement in an FPGA. or possibly a CPLD, if it is simple. the YMZ263 looks hard to find so it should also go into the FPGA.

The Gold CTRL will definitely fit a small CPLD, the only real thing it does is map extra devices into the register space of OPL3. MMA (the YMZ) is pretty simple too, but it has FIFOs in it and CPLDs don't normally come with any memory in them but some small FPGA will definitely have no problem.

The Atmel/Microchip ATF1508 CPLD would be a nice substitute for the GOLD CTRL, if you ask me. It is available in the same PLCC-84 package.

That part is a clone of Altera's EPM7128SLC and from experience it is severely limited by lack "wiring" type resources. It is going to struggle with a bidirectional IO port which is one reason it got replaced by something else entirely in one test design I built : http://www.tmeeco.eu/HARDWARE/FLEXkludge3.jpg

I have contacted my trusted IC supplier and the YMZ263B-F would be available. Is there a difference to the YMZ263-F?

Any effort to re-produce the Ad Lib Gold should take great care to get the sound as close as possible to the original board. Its sound was one of the distinctive features of the Ad Lib Gold. Furthermore, some software simply expects any GSS card to be an Ad Lib Gold (or close approximation), with all of the registers available. Simply having a Level 1 board won't get you very far with some of the software. With something like the Gold, the basic idea should be to do the whole job, and do it well. It just wasn't supported well enough to be a worthwhile project otherwise, and if the result will be that it just sounds like a GSS-compatible Sound Blaster 16, you're missing the point.

Also I think there's a certain price-point at which it becomes nonviable, assuming it was done with the end-goal of small-run sales in a similar manner to the Orpheus card. (for a fully-committed cost-doesn't-matter prototype or POC, obviously that would not be so relevant)

In my hastily-thought opinion, the enticement tipping point for a high quality Adlib Gold reproduction would probably come about $400, !max! Probably less. Given the sheer sparsity of software support.

So, I don't know if that would be a valid concern. Perhaps the parts are cheap. (?)

Amazing! Is it working? If yes I would really want to get one

EmpireOfScrap wrote on 2021-04-08, 11:07:

F-ck it, made my own. :D […]
Show full quote

F-ck it, made my own. 😁

gold_1.jpeg
ed1799b2-f31b-405a-8d96-a4592e910989.jpeg
adlib_thanks.jpeg

Also thanks to JimWest for showing us first that we could indeed make a replica of this that would work, even if your project ended up falling flat 🙁

Coming soon™

EmpireOfScrap wrote on 2021-04-08, 11:07:

F-ck it, made my own. :D […]
Show full quote

F-ck it, made my own. 😁

gold_1.jpeg
ed1799b2-f31b-405a-8d96-a4592e910989.jpeg
adlib_thanks.jpeg

Also thanks to JimWest for showing us first that we could indeed make a replica of this that would work, even if your project ended up falling flat 🙁

Coming soon™

Do you have any extras of those boards available?