I'm a bit confused on what makes a SoundBlaster different from an Adlib card.
For example, I'm aware the Adlib cards used the Yamaha OPL2 and OPL3 FM synthesizer chips but these were also on the SoundBlaster cards, right?
What did SoundBlaster add/provide besides the OPL2/OPL3 chips?
It added PCM.
The Adlib only had MIDI music.
^ The Sound Blaster also added a gameport interface which can also be used to connect external MIDI devices but it isn't MPU-401 compatible (required using the Sound Blaster MIDI mode) prior the SB16.
Also the AdLib isn't really a MIDI synthetizer. However, there are programs that has a MIDI driver written for the OPL2/3 FM synth.
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The first three Sound Blasters (1.0, 1.5, 2.0) could play stereo music, too.
They could be equipped with 2x Philips SAA1099 sound chips (+ a logic chip).
With them installed, the Sound Blasters were compatible to The Creative Music System (aka Gameblaster).
That was the predecessor of the Sound Blaster.
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Thanks for the information everybody!
What does "SoundBlaster compatible" actually mean? Does it mean it supports FM synthesis (Philips SAA1099 or OPL2/OPL3?) + PCM?
"Sound Blaster compatible" cards have FM synthesis (OPL2, OPL3, or similar) + PCM.
Philips SAA1099 isn't FM, and Creative dropped it very quickly, so clone makers didn't bother providing these chips - even sockets for optional installation of SAA1099 were very rare.
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