keropi wrote on 2020-09-14, 10:53:

hmmm I have no idea really
for now it will be by 30x batches
as-is there is no issue for old chip availability , the plan as always is to secure a good amount of them before hand - just need to invest some $$$ to do that but this will pay up in the future in terms of convenience

Cool. Cheers for the reply 😀

Came here from RetroRGB and was really hoping for a Phil review, but I see it's not bound to happen... at least not for now.

Is there any review done with the first units?

Cheers,

NightShadowPT wrote on 2020-09-14, 14:37:

Came here from RetroRGB and was really hoping for a Phil review, but I see it's not bound to happen... at least not for now.

Is there any review done with the first units?

Cheers,

welcome!
none atm, prototype cards were in the hands of testers and technical people but none are yt reviewers
I have received some request about this and I will fulfill all so at least at some point there will be something to see as well 😀

darry wrote on 2020-09-14, 04:15:

In other words, the Wave Blaster header allows the equivalent of a MIDI capable synthesizer module to be mounted internally on a sound card . There exist adapter adapter boards to connect a Wave Blaster compatible daughter board to a standard DIN (round plug) MIDI port, essentially converting a Wave Blaster compatible daughter board to a standalone external MIDI module. Like any external MIDI module, DC power must be provided and the makeshift module's audio must be fed somewhere in order for sound to be heard .

Thank you! That makes sense! And from what I'm gathering, Orpheus would allow my MT-32 to be connected to the MPU-401 output, but also allow for onboard MIDI through the daughterboard? If so, this is even more exciting! 😀

keropi wrote on 2020-09-14, 16:05:

welcome!
none atm, prototype cards were in the hands of testers and technical people but none are yt reviewers
I have received some request about this and I will fulfill all so at least at some point there will be something to see as well 😀

I'm looking forward to this! Though I still anticipate ordering one in the near future, it'll be awesome in the meantime to see this in action, especially the driver/config utility and it working in a couple different scenarios and a couple different games! I've been thrilled with the last card I bought from you, and look forward to doing more business with, time and money permitting! 😀

Keropi's stuff is always awesome.
Filled out the preorder form and I'm looking forward to getting one when it's available!

Is this a going to be a limited run? I would probably like to get one at some point but have some other stuff I need to get first.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-09-15, 02:08:

Is this a going to be a limited run? I would probably like to get one at some point but have some other stuff I need to get first.

Other than demand and willingness to keep on making these cards, are there any constraints in the raw materials department ? Specifically how are YMF289 and CS4237 supplies ?

Hundreds of them are easily available if not thousands, it shouldn't be a problem to source these parts at all to fill any possible demand.

Tiido wrote on 2020-09-15, 03:24:

Hundreds of them are easily available if not thousands, it shouldn't be a problem to source these parts at all to fill any possible demand.

Thank you . That's good news.

Thallanor wrote on 2020-09-14, 23:13:

darry wrote on 2020-09-14, 04:15:

In other words, the Wave Blaster header allows the equivalent of a MIDI capable synthesizer module to be mounted internally on a sound card . There exist adapter adapter boards to connect a Wave Blaster compatible daughter board to a standard DIN (round plug) MIDI port, essentially converting a Wave Blaster compatible daughter board to a standalone external MIDI module. Like any external MIDI module, DC power must be provided and the makeshift module's audio must be fed somewhere in order for sound to be heard .

Thank you! That makes sense! And from what I'm gathering, Orpheus would allow my MT-32 to be connected to the MPU-401 output, but also allow for onboard MIDI through the daughterboard? If so, this is even more exciting! 😀

That is my understanding as well . You will need to mute the daughter board in the soundcard's mixer if you intend to use WSS or sound blaster audio at the same time as the MT-32 . That is unless you get the version with the PCMIDI option .

I'm curious if there were other chips available, such as leftover ESS 1868 chips, or the CM8330a (which supports SBPro/16/WSS and has SPDIF).

It looks nice, congratulation on finishing it.

i would not go to buy one because of the pricing, as cards with opl3 could be found easily still 😀
But for anyone else maybe its good choice, specially if you limited on isa slot, don`t have acpi and want intelligent mode mpu too!

yeah it's a good deal if you need an intelligent midi card anyways, but as I already have one of the PCmidi cards I can't justify it atm ^^

Congrats! I bet it sounds like it looks! Hopefully I can get my hands on one in the future.

Very well done creating this premium product and I hope the lucky users enjoy it very much.

Approximately, when are the first units from the first batch expected to start shipping out ?

darry wrote on 2020-09-19, 06:10:

Approximately, when are the first units from the first batch expected to start shipping out ?

Hello darry!

Orpheus will start being shipped during next week. Due to demand, I didn't have many parts that were ordered and arrived this friday. By this moment I have 6 complete cards, that were tested, and are ready to send monday. I will assemble some during this weekend, and will be testing and sending those durirng next week. I never thought this was going to have the demand it has. So I ask to have some patience, I will fulfill all demands about getting this card.
Thanks for all the support you gave and are still giving to us, with opinions, suggestions and betatesting. Also, 640k!enough and Jazefox that contributed greatly to this card.

matze79 wrote on 2020-09-16, 11:15:

It looks nice, congratulation on finishing it.

i would not go to buy one because of the pricing, as cards with opl3 could be found easily still 😀
But for anyone else maybe its good choice, specially if you limited on isa slot, don`t have acpi and want intelligent mode mpu too!

Matze79 and other users, the purpose of this card is not to compete with actual cards with OPL3, for example, I don't really give much importance to genuine Yamaha OPL3, but I know it's important to many people. So this card was made with the intention to fulfill most of the demands (not all) of what we (me and keropi) wanted in one card. Not one card to rule them all, but a card that can do almost all 😉 So, we decided to make something with quality components, with the attention to design, ground and power separation and some features like spdif , selectable 2 opl3 engines, CrystalFM and Yamaha OPL3 and Intelligent midi. Of course this in terms of electronic parts and board cannot be cheap. So this board cannot be compared to a cheap opl3 card that was made 20 to 25 years ago.
This board, supports a standard that's no longer used by masses and is being made in 2020 in low quantities. So I think, the price is fair for both who buys and us. We also have partnered with Serdaco on combining our card with X2, because it offers many features and quality at a nice price. If you get both and do the math you see that prices are not bad at all. Hope you understand my point of view.

Marmes wrote on 2020-09-19, 11:37:

Hello darry! […]
Show full quote

darry wrote on 2020-09-19, 06:10:

Approximately, when are the first units from the first batch expected to start shipping out ?

Hello darry!

Orpheus will start being shipped during next week. Due to demand, I didn't have many parts that were ordered and arrived this friday. By this moment I have 6 complete cards, that were tested, and are ready to send monday. I will assemble some during this weekend, and will be testing and sending those durirng next week. I never thought this was going to have the demand it has. So I ask to have some patience, I will fulfill all demands about getting this card.
Thanks for all the support you gave and are still giving to us, with opinions, suggestions and betatesting. Also, 640k!enough and Jazefox that contributed greatly to this card.

Thank you for your reply . My question was motivated by curiosity and enthusiasm . Please do not see it as a complaint or rant . I apologize if it sounded that way. I completely understand the situation and am very grateful for all your hard work .

Cheers!