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Reply 60 of 125, by Kahenraz

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igna78 wrote on 2024-12-25, 00:30:

MK1869 Extreme is amazing, the only thing I wish was different is the ability to use memory SIMs (I don't like soldered memory on sound cards) 😉

I prefer the opposite. The Orpheus II was so large that I had to cut a hole into my case for it to fit.

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Reply 61 of 125, by igna78

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I think Orpheus II is so long because the card is the set of multiple devices in one (just think about how much space the PCMidi part takes up).
In my humble opinion, if MK1869 Extreme adopted the layout of the Gravis UltraSound PnP Pro (substantially shorter than a SounBlaster 16) could have sockets for memory SIMs, having a card slightly longer than the ISA slot 😉
Let's be clear, I find the work done on MK1869 Extreme exceptional, I think it is more practical to have sockets for memory only to more easily maintain the card in case of memory failure, differently from what would happen with soldered chips 😅
I reiterate my idea, not to create controversy, but only to clarify the concept, certainly not correctly stated in the previous post.
I would like to thank the guys from the Orpheus team for this new and extraordinary card, for the commitment and passion they put into their work. Thank you sincerely ❤️

Reply 62 of 125, by Kahenraz

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mockingbird wrote on 2024-12-24, 22:29:
Kahenraz wrote on 2024-12-24, 20:27:

I have been casually looking out for these for the past couple of years and have only ever found one, so they do exist. They are just exceedingly rare.

Care to back that up with a pic? I have never seen one, and I have seen pics of many variants.

I'm not concerned about Win 3.1... For Win 3.1, build a 486.

Here go. YMF724F-V with SB-LINK and Waveblaster expansion-header. I've only ever seen this one. Picked it up on eBay years ago. It pairs well with the DreamBlaster X2GS. Genuine Yamaha OPL, Yamaha XG, and Roland GS, all on one card. Use the SB-LINK for DMA in DOS.

I'm not sure what the unpopulated spot is for on the right. The YMF724 already has GeneralMIDI built into it.

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Reply 63 of 125, by keropi

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as a sidenote the length of OrpheusII was because it needed to support full-size wt boards (like the old roland/yamaha ones)
the problem with angled 30pin simm sockets is availability - there will either be too few available and/or ultra-expensive at this point...
getting dram chips is actually preferable

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 64 of 125, by Kahenraz

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The plastic clips on my Orpheus II RAM slot make me nervous. I understand that you had to go with what stock was available. They probably don't even make the ones with metal clips anymore.

This is not a problem with soldered memory.

Reply 65 of 125, by mockingbird

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Kahenraz wrote on 2024-12-25, 05:55:

Here go. YMF724F-V with SB-LINK and Waveblaster expansion-header. I've only ever seen this one. Picked it up on eBay years ago. It pairs well with the DreamBlaster X2GS. Genuine Yamaha OPL, Yamaha XG, and Roland GS, all on one card. Use the SB-LINK for DMA in DOS.

You just blew my mind.

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Reply 66 of 125, by Shponglefan

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Kahenraz wrote on 2024-12-25, 13:02:

The plastic clips on my Orpheus II RAM slot make me nervous. I understand that you had to go with what stock was available. They probably don't even make the ones with metal clips anymore.

SIMM sockets with metal clips should be available. Mouser has about ~1500 in stock.

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Reply 67 of 125, by ltning

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Wow, that Extreme could actually replace some of my real Extremes.. At least one of them has broken down and even with professional help I haven't been able to figure out what's wrong with it.. :(

The Floppy Museum - on a floppy, on a 286: http://floppy.museum
286-24/4MB/ET4kW32/GUS+SBPro2
386DX-40/20MB/CL5434 ISA/GUSExtreme
486BL-100/32MB/ET4kW32p VLB/GUSPnP/AWELegacy

~ love over gold ~

Reply 68 of 125, by Rawit

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I own 2 Extremes and even with that I'm keen on getting a MK1869 XTREME. How is audio routed? Interwave part goes through AUXB on the ESS? How is the wavetable header audio routed? And can the Interwave and a wavetable be active at the same time (I see a Wavetable Selector jumper).

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Reply 69 of 125, by keropi

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Both IW and WT header are routed through AuxB and ofcourse they can work at the same time (ie have sfx via iw and music via wt in Doom)
The midi-routing jumper block is the same as Orpheus, only relevant if there is a pcmidi addon installed

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 71 of 125, by keropi

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Rawit wrote on 2024-12-29, 11:41:

Sweet! Is there any chance that a hole will be added to secure a wavetable daughterboard with one of those pins? Half sized daughterboards will sit a bit more securily in that case.

the only possible place is on the right side of the wt header so not that useful IMHO

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 73 of 125, by keropi

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Cost is nothing, it's a hole
We'll see if we can implement it at least on the black card - I cannot tell currently if there is space on the xtreme to move things around in order to create the space needed

🎵 🎧 PCMIDI MPU , OrpheusII , Action Rewind , Megacard and 🎶GoldLib soundcard website

Reply 75 of 125, by Rawit

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The newer ones are so small they don't have any need for mounting holes. But the older ones are full sized or a variant of half sized and can use those for support pins. Some have a lot of weight as well.

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Reply 76 of 125, by RetroGamer4Ever

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mockingbird wrote on 2024-12-25, 13:51:
Kahenraz wrote on 2024-12-25, 05:55:

Here go. YMF724F-V with SB-LINK and Waveblaster expansion-header. I've only ever seen this one. Picked it up on eBay years ago. It pairs well with the DreamBlaster X2GS. Genuine Yamaha OPL, Yamaha XG, and Roland GS, all on one card. Use the SB-LINK for DMA in DOS.

You just blew my mind.

It's basically the earliest model, which is why they are so rare. Yamaha and the market decided that softy was a better way to do things, so the wavetable header was removed from future reference designs and with the decline of MIDI in games, there was never any push to bring it back, while those who needed MIDI for music stayed with softy or used the hardware modules.