Got this (NOS) BTC CDRW-drive, Model "BCE 5232IA" with cardreader yesterday 😀

I love fancy drives, but sadly I'm still lacking a combo-floppy drive like the Teac FD-505 in my collection 🙁

devius wrote on 2021-12-29, 09:29:

What’s so special about the MediaMagic Telemetry 32?

According to articles of the time, it has onboard wavetable and does mpeg-2 audio compression and decompression.

I would assume that the mpeg2 audio compression was only available by some proprietary library for their communication software. I'd love to hear what the wavetable sounds like with things like canyon.mid, Doom, Duk3D, and Warcraft 2.

pete8475 wrote on 2021-12-28, 23:30:

More goodies, this plastic box said laptop ram ddr2 so I assumed that's what it was but it was actually a bunch of processors wrapped in bubble wrap.

There's several Core 2 duo's, Pentium 4's and Athlon 64 processors! Most notable are an E8400 and a socket 478 P4 3.2.

🤣, for a brief moment there I thought that title on the first picture read "ponzi scheme" 😄

cyclone3d wrote on 2021-12-29, 14:26:

devius wrote on 2021-12-29, 09:29:

What’s so special about the MediaMagic Telemetry 32?

According to articles of the time, it has onboard wavetable and does mpeg-2 audio compression and decompression.

Given the age I'd assume MPEG-1. Not sure if MPEG-2 was even a thing in 1995. Or was that 5.1 channel support that's changed between MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 audio? My memories are fading.

It was a thing but it wasn't a "thing" given that probably it's only widespread use early on was satellite receivers that needed the Big Ugly Dish.

digger wrote on 2021-12-29, 19:15:

🤣, for a brief moment there I thought that title on the first picture read "ponzi scheme" 😄

hah thankfully not.

Received some goodies this week...

gex85 wrote on 2021-12-31, 12:45:

Received some goodies this week... PXL_20211231_123721003.jpg PXL_20211231_123712006.jpg PXL_20211231_123747777.jpg […]
Show full quote

Received some goodies this week...
PXL_20211231_123721003.jpg
PXL_20211231_123712006.jpg
PXL_20211231_123747777.jpg

Looking at getting a MX300 myself with the Spdif breakout card and a 2mb wavetable board for it, still deciding if the wavetable board is worth the cost.

Edit - Decided to add my name to the list for an Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS, been looking for the ultimate DOS soundcard and just found out this exists, looks like it'll be quite the sound card and should be a nice replacement for my Sounblaster16 + Yamaha DB50XG.

Wait times appear to be rather long but patience I have aplenty 🤣.

liqmat wrote on 2021-12-28, 20:13:

bjwil1991 wrote on 2021-12-28, 20:05:

Another addition to my collection via eBay:

Thrustmaster Pinball Controller bundle (with Full Tilt! Pinball)

Never seen that before. Love oddities like this.

check Lazy Game Reviews channel on YouTube. He did a review of that awhile back...

MX440 AGP card arrived. What I didn't realize was that it didn't have a vga port. luckily I already had an adapter from when I bought my GTX 960 4GB card and so far no issues. I have tested any games since I'm still waiting on the socket a cooler I ordered from masscool.com to replace my loud ass mini super orb.

Having an MX440 with a DVI connector is actually a nice feature, in my opinion. A dual-output is also nice but I would rather have a single DVI-I than a single VGA connector.

Kahenraz wrote on 2021-12-31, 16:49:

Having an MX440 with a DVI connector is actually a nice feature, in my opinion. A dual-output is also nice but I would rather have a single DVI-I than a single VGA connector.

Why is that? DVI is not that useful, most new monitors don't have it, while still have D-SUB. All old monitors have D-SUB too. There is no advantage in using DVI (with good VGA cable there is no quality loss as well).

TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-31, 13:25:

Looking at getting a MX300 myself with the Spdif breakout card and a 2mb wavetable board for it, still deciding if the wavetable […]
Show full quote

gex85 wrote on 2021-12-31, 12:45:

Received some goodies this week...

Looking at getting a MX300 myself with the Spdif breakout card and a 2mb wavetable board for it, still deciding if the wavetable board is worth the cost.

Edit - Decided to add my name to the list for an Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS, been looking for the ultimate DOS soundcard and just found out this exists, looks like it'll be quite the sound card and should be a nice replacement for my Sounblaster16 + Yamaha DB50XG.

Wait times appear to be rather long but patience I have aplenty 🤣.

Well, if you are after the ultimate DOS sound card, the MX300 is not what you want. This card is, like all Aureal Vortex cards, more or less Win9x only.
Regarding the Wavetable board, if you already own a DB50XG, it will almost certainly not get any better than that. Like, ever. The DB50XG is a fantastic-sounding and highly sought-after module.
The Diamond Monster 2MB Wavetable module on the other hand is - according to contemporary and more recent reviews, I don't own one myself - an okay-ish module but not great at all. If I could get one for cheap, I would probably take it, but when they do pop up on auction sites, people ask ridiculous prices for them (>= 100€).

HanJammer wrote on 2021-12-31, 20:55:

Kahenraz wrote on 2021-12-31, 16:49:

Having an MX440 with a DVI connector is actually a nice feature, in my opinion. A dual-output is also nice but I would rather have a single DVI-I than a single VGA connector.

Why is that? DVI is not that useful, most new monitors don't have it, while still have D-SUB. All old monitors have D-SUB too. There is no advantage in using DVI (with good VGA cable there is no quality loss as well).

Randomly jumping in here... Proper DVI-I has the analogue signals that would be on a D-SUB connector so it's a simple adapter to let it connect to D-SUB, and the digital signals are close enough to HDMI for that to be a simple adapter as well. So if there's only one connector then DVI-I is pretty flexible.

gex85 wrote on 2021-12-31, 21:47:

Well, if you are after the ultimate DOS sound card, the MX300 is not what you want. This card is, like all Aureal Vortex cards, […]
Show full quote

TrashPanda wrote on 2021-12-31, 13:25:

Looking at getting a MX300 myself with the Spdif breakout card and a 2mb wavetable board for it, still deciding if the wavetable […]
Show full quote

gex85 wrote on 2021-12-31, 12:45:

Received some goodies this week...

Looking at getting a MX300 myself with the Spdif breakout card and a 2mb wavetable board for it, still deciding if the wavetable board is worth the cost.

Edit - Decided to add my name to the list for an Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS, been looking for the ultimate DOS soundcard and just found out this exists, looks like it'll be quite the sound card and should be a nice replacement for my Sounblaster16 + Yamaha DB50XG.

Wait times appear to be rather long but patience I have aplenty 🤣.

Well, if you are after the ultimate DOS sound card, the MX300 is not what you want. This card is, like all Aureal Vortex cards, more or less Win9x only.
Regarding the Wavetable board, if you already own a DB50XG, it will almost certainly not get any better than that. Like, ever. The DB50XG is a fantastic-sounding and highly sought-after module.
The Diamond Monster 2MB Wavetable module on the other hand is - according to contemporary and more recent reviews, I don't own one myself - an okay-ish module but not great at all. If I could get one for cheap, I would probably take it, but when they do pop up on auction sites, people ask ridiculous prices for them (>= 100€).

The MX300 is for a Win9x machine which has a cheap SoundBlaster 16 PCI in it, its ok I guess but hardly a good experience when matched to the SoundBlaster 16 in the DOS machine, If I could put that SB16+DB50XG in the Win9X machine I would. (Im assuming that the DB50XG cant be used with the MX300, if it can .. that does change things a bit)

The Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS when I get my hands on one is destined for the DOS box, the more I read about it and watch reviews the more I'm convinced it'll not be replaced ever.

sb16 PCI has eqally terrible FM to a MX300 and arguably worst compatibility using DDMA and doesn't have a wavetable header. MX300 is a way better card than a sb16 pci on the contrary which is basically trash. Pairing a XG PCI with a MX300 PCI probably gives the best overall compatibility in a PCI only system or a ESS solo 1 + a MX300. There are various levels of driver sets with the XG and the MX300 that can give you OPL3, Sbpro2, a3d and midi all at once if configured that way.

Obviously the The Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS would give the best compatibility but if you are limited to PCI only that doesn't help much, and you still need the A3d card for a3d.

Warlord wrote on 2022-01-01, 00:08:

sb16 PCI has eqally terrible FM to a MX300 and arguably worst compatibility using DDMA and doesn't have a wavetable header. MX300 is a way better card than a sb16 pci on the contrary which is basically trash. Pairing a XG PCI with a MX300 PCI probably gives the best overall compatibility in a PCI only system or a ESS solo 1 + a MX300. There are various levels of driver sets with the XG and the MX300 that can give you OPL3, Sbpro2, a3d and midi all at once if configured that way.

Obviously the The Orpheus I + PCMIDI and Dreamblaster X2GS would give the best compatibility but if you are limited to PCI only that doesn't help much, and you still need the A3d card for a3d.

They are separate machines thankfully, the Win9x machine I limited to PCI only and I dont use it for DOS stuff, the DB50 is a daughter card which attaches via the Midi port of the SoundBlaster 16, not sure if the MX300 midi port would work with the XG50 .. I haven't tried it yet as I dont know if all midi port are the same or if the MX300 uses a different setup, was not going to take the risk till I found out.

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-01-01, 00:34:

They are separate machines thankfully, the Win9x machine I limited to PCI only and I dont use it for DOS stuff, the XG50 is a daughter card which attaches via the Midi port of the SoundBlaster 16, not sure if the MX300 midi port would work with the XG50 .. I haven't tried it yet as I dont know if all midi port are the same or if the MX300 uses a different setup, was not going to take the risk till I found out.

Should be perfectly fine to combine the DB50XG with the MX300. Here's what the manual states:

... Monster Sound has an industry-standard Wave Blaster compatible 26-pin header. If you have a wavetable that complies to this standard, you may use it with the Monster Sound MX300 card. The primary MIDI output device should be the Monster Sound II MPU-401.

gex85 wrote on 2022-01-01, 09:54:

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-01-01, 00:34:

They are separate machines thankfully, the Win9x machine I limited to PCI only and I dont use it for DOS stuff, the XG50 is a daughter card which attaches via the Midi port of the SoundBlaster 16, not sure if the MX300 midi port would work with the XG50 .. I haven't tried it yet as I dont know if all midi port are the same or if the MX300 uses a different setup, was not going to take the risk till I found out.

Should be perfectly fine to combine the DB50XG with the MX300. Here's what the manual states:

... Monster Sound has an industry-standard Wave Blaster compatible 26-pin header. If you have a wavetable that complies to this standard, you may use it with the Monster Sound MX300 card. The primary MIDI output device should be the Monster Sound II MPU-401.

Thats good to know !

The DB50 is too nice to have it sitting doing nothing and the tiny 2mb MX300 wavetable likely wont compare either.