We have opened preorders for one more batch of MK1869 and MK1869 XTREME soundcards, more info as always can be found in https://pcmidi.eu , thanks!

I put my order in for a MK1869 XTREME this week. Hopefully my payment and information was received correctly.

While the price seems high at first glance, I know from personal experience the costs can easily add up when trying to acquire NOS components in quantity.

It is expensive, but these aren't mass produced and I can also understand the difficulty of acquiring genuine NOS chips at a good price. It's not just a PCB with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino with a few discrete components; these are genuine vintage chips.

Kahenraz wrote on 2026-03-19, 22:50:

these are genuine vintage chips.

Exactly why I went for this instead of a PicoGUS. I have no frame of reference to judge one as superior over the other; I simply value authenticity since that way one knows what one's getting (nostalgic quirks and all, which the GUS family has plenty of). At the end of the day these undertakings may only have niche value, namely to those of us who are retro enthusiasts, but that is what makes it worth such appreciation because it is a labor of love rather than profit.

If we keep showing that appreciation, there may be more exciting things on the horizon.

There are, there are. Keep an eye out for an exciting new ISA video card......

qz3fwd wrote on 2026-03-22, 03:13:

There are, there are. Keep an eye out for an exciting new ISA video card......

That sounds interesting.. any more info on that?

From Discord:

qz3fwd wrote on 2026-03-29, 17:41:

From Discord:

The attachment SVPRO-front.webp is no longer available

Keropi on Facebook provided an important clue… the logos on the back of the card.

My guess is that this is the definitive ISA card for 386/486 systems (at least the first generation):

1) OPTi 929/930 audio, OPL3 clone chipset with SoundBlaster/Pro and WSS support, no MPU bugs

2) Onboard PCMidi

3) Realtek network card with RJ45 port (makes life easier for connecting the retro PC to the network)

4) CirrusLogic GD-542x, the most compatible and best-performing VGA chipset (for the mid-range and budget segment) of the early 1990s (I hope at least 1 MB of memory, but 2 MB would be better).

It will be the Dream!..but it will be reality?

Scuse me for off-topic, please.

I will make the 2 corrections 😁
a. opti 930
b. 5434 /2mb

keropi wrote on 2026-03-29, 21:33:

I will make the 2 corrections 😁
a. opti 930
b. 5434 /2mb

GD5434..with 2MB?! This is absolutely amazing...beyond my wildest expectations!

You guys are AMAZING! 😁

keropi wrote on 2026-03-29, 21:33:

I will make the 2 corrections 😁
a. opti 930
b. 5434 /2mb

Will definitely be on my purchase list...

Woahaaa, this will be the ultimate all-in-one card to get for my retro needs.
Sensational!! 😀

Should call it the One Slot Wonder

There's already a WIP product page:

https://pcmidi.eu/sonicvisionpro.html

Cirrus Logic was my preferred video card choice during those days. It worked with everything, and good performance. Everytime I tried something different, regretted it very quickly.
I still have a Diamond Speedstar Pro SE PCI with Cirrus Logic CL-GD5434 - good choice for a 486 with PCI slot.

Looking forward to this new product, I hope it is somewhat "affordable"

keropi wrote on 2026-03-29, 21:33:

I will make the 2 corrections 😁
a. opti 930
b. 5434 /2mb

Out of curiosity, will the SonicVision Pro include an option to disable the VGA portion of the card (e.g. via a jumper or something?).

I have an esoteric use case where I would like to be able to run an AGP card along side an ISA video card and toggle one or the other. Of course in most cases, ISA cards always take priority, so being able to toggle the VGA functionality off would be nice.

Is there any chance that this card could be made to have either dual VGA with one of them outputting the monochrome output for dual monitor support? Or possibly a jumper to make the sole VGA output work as the monochrome display? Some programs and games (like MechWarrior 2) have extra output if a monochrome display is connected, but I don't have a monochrome display. Some way to get monochrome output but to be able to hook it up to a VGA connector would be great.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-13, 23:21:

Out of curiosity, will the SonicVision Pro include an option to disable the VGA portion of the card (e.g. via a jumper or something?).

we'll test on the prototype if vga disabling works and most likely add a jumper for this

Kahenraz wrote on 2026-04-14, 04:01:

Is there any chance that this card could be made to have either dual VGA with one of them outputting the monochrome output for dual monitor support? Or possibly a jumper to make the sole VGA output work as the monochrome display? Some programs and games (like MechWarrior 2) have extra output if a monochrome display is connected, but I don't have a monochrome display. Some way to get monochrome output but to be able to hook it up to a VGA connector would be great.

there is no capability that I see for the 5435 to have dual independent output ... or a way to make it boot like a mda adapter

keropi wrote on 2026-04-14, 07:23:

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-13, 23:21:

Out of curiosity, will the SonicVision Pro include an option to disable the VGA portion of the card (e.g. via a jumper or something?).

we'll test on the prototype if vga disabling works and most likely add a jumper for this

That would be amazing if that could be implemented! 😁

I'm also curious if this card with have options to throttle video performance. I know on some older VGA cards they have DIP switches for different performance settings. Being able to tune performance could be useful for hitting slower performance for speed sensitive games.

the hardware config for the 5434 is the fastest possible - since the drams are way faster than what the chip can use, 35ns IIRC
perhaps cirrus tools like mclk can be used for slower clocks but ultimately it will the cpu that will break the games not the vga IMHO