Ydee wrote on 2026-11-01, 08:15:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-10-30, 15:07:

The clue for me is the two oscillating crystals by the main processor because that's the arrangement seen on ENVY24 processors to switch between native CD and native DVD frequencies without introducing resampling distortions - the current PCIe Juli@ does not have that.

Interesting, on ESI Maya44 (same DSP ICEnvy24 HT-S) is crystals configuration different.

That is peculiar and interesting to engineers, but it's not a capability difference for users.

Precisely how any PCB derives the CD (44.1kHz) and DVD (48kHz) frequencies from its oscillating crystals is opaque to me - sometimes I can see the mathematical relationship and sometimes I can't. For my simple mind, what matters is that the PCB has two separate sets of frequencies for one audio processor - if it had only one oscillating crystal then I'd be concerned that it might be forcing some inputs to be resampled because it has no physical clock to sync them to.

Unfortunately the ENVY24 has to pick one input frequency in any given moment - it can't process both at the same time, and having the whole thing flip to the undesired native frequency because of a contaminated upstream concerns me (e.g. Windows alert sound).

To get mix streams without loss of detail you need something like a Digigram PCX used by broadcasters to fade between recordings, commentary, announcements, adverts, etc.

I just found it curious that they decided to use the standard 22.5 crystal for 44.1 kHz on one card and derive 48 kHz from 49.1 MHz, while on the other they used the standard set of 22.5 and 24.5 crystals. But @Julia is a higher-end model than @Maya, so who knows...

I think typically the PCB's other parts divide the crystal's stated frequency by 512 or 1024. Doing that generally arrives at exactly 48.000 kHz or 44.100 kHz.

When I photographed my cards I wrongly assumed this held true for all sound cards, so I didn't focus on the capturing clear shots of the oscillating crystals. The photo you pulled up of a Maya with crystal stating 22.518E has me confused so now I'll have to go rummaging through drawers to double check what the others have.

classic_cola wrote on 2026-10-22, 20:43:

oldGPU wrote on 2026-10-21, 03:25:

classic_cola wrote on 2026-10-20, 21:49:

Bought an "Omega" (UK OEM) branded socket 7 PC.
[. . .]
So far I've added a CompactFlash reader

Great condition! What speeds do you get on the CF reader?

Good question, haven't tested CF speeds yet. Was delighted with the condition! The only small complaint I had was that in shipping, one of the plastic hooks next to the socket had snapped off, the ones that the cooler retention bracket clips on to. Fortunately there are two hooks each side, and seems okay on the one good hook so far.

I guess after 30 years, some of the plastics get a bit brittle.

How are you finding the machine, hopefully it scratched your retro itch?! I've got a soft spot for the omega machines myself! That, RM and Tiny unfortunately too! Have plenty of 3 clip fans if you still need one - free of course!

Dothan Burger wrote on 2026-10-30, 23:13:

That's a nice haul.

G-X wrote on 2026-10-31, 17:19:

That's amazing! Great find. Love the Voodoo boxes and the Tomb raider stuff.

Thanks guys! Love having tokens of history like this. I hope to scan some of the pieces I haven't seen online and upload them here (or elsewhere?).

oldGPU wrote on 2026-11-02, 16:34:

Dothan Burger wrote on 2026-10-30, 23:13:

That's a nice haul.

G-X wrote on 2026-10-31, 17:19:

That's amazing! Great find. Love the Voodoo boxes and the Tomb raider stuff.

Thanks guys! Love having tokens of history like this. I hope to scan some of the pieces I haven't seen online and upload them here (or elsewhere?).

Tentatively suggest hosting them on your own site with descriptions, then adding that site to archive.org for perpetual preservation.

I think you might be able to that free through Cloudflare pages; this is close to what I've been doing but I paid for a domain name.

Figured I'd add a couple of my most recent purchases.... it's an itch that currently refuses to go away so my collection is growing (unbeknown to my partner!)

First up

Omega system
Pentium 200 MMX
128MB memory
545Mb hard drive (steady on now!)
SIS 6326 ..... graphics card
Edison gold sound card that I'm struggling to find literature for!

Second System

Enlight 7237 Case I believe
Gigabyte Slot 1 motherboard
Celeron 400
256MB memory
Geforce 2 MX 400
32gb IDE to SD
Soundblaster 128

Both need good cleans and some brightening!

Both cases are sweet. Where did you find those?

MattRocks wrote on 2026-11-02, 18:36:

Tentatively suggest hosting them on your own site with descriptions, then adding that site to archive.org for perpetual preservation.

I think you might be able to that free through Cloudflare pages; this is close to what I've been doing but I paid for a domain name.

Great idea, I will research those options!

RetroAddict wrote on 2026-11-02, 19:59:

it's an itch that currently refuses to go away so my collection is growing (unbeknown to my partner!)

🤣... too real. Nice cases.

Roland MT-100 was added. So:

Roland MT-32 (Old version)
Roland CM-64
Roland CM-500
Roland Sound Canvas SC-55
Roland Sound Canvas SC-88
Yamaha MU-50
Roland MT-100.

Picked up a rather unusual, "at least to me" sound card, its a Orchid NuSound PnP 32. It doesn't really look like much to be honest, but i've never seen one. interested to hear what it sounds like!

Dimitris1980 wrote on 2026-11-03, 13:16:

Roland MT-100 was added. So: […]
Show full quote

Roland MT-100 was added. So:

Roland MT-32 (Old version)
Roland CM-64
Roland CM-500
Roland Sound Canvas SC-55
Roland Sound Canvas SC-88
Yamaha MU-50
Roland MT-100.

These are glorious!

Not sure it counts as retro but today I bought an Antec P182 case for £0.11 (add a lot for the travel costs) with some gubbins that might include an nForce4.

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2026-11-03, 15:52:

Picked up a rather unusual, "at least to me" sound card, its a Orchid NuSound PnP 32. It doesn't really look like much to be honest, but i've never seen one. interested to hear what it sounds like!

Very collectable; review attached.

AGP4LIfe? wrote on 2026-11-03, 15:52:

Picked up a rather unusual, "at least to me" sound card, its a Orchid NuSound PnP 32. It doesn't really look like much to be honest, but i've never seen one. interested to hear what it sounds like!

Nice stuff!

Crystal CS4232 is one of their better chips, the wavetable CS9233 is a predecessor of the much-loved Dream and I'd generally trust Orchid to do the analog part well, and provide decent wavetable samples.

Basically this offers the same functionality as the Terratec Maestro 32/96, which is much sought-after. Not sure if the samples will be as good as that though, as this only has 1MB of ROM as opposed to 4MB on the Maestro.

Technically I've had it for a while but first time I've taken it out of the box looked at it properly...

Very nice! These Schneider tower PCs have a very unique look.

Got some cash to buy myself "something nice" for my birthday sooooo for lack of a better idea I picked up this NOS Cherry G80-3000 keyboard (made in the Slovak Republic in '06) for the equivalent of around $33. As you can see, the layout is very much kraut so that's something that has be addressed in the near future (I'm planning to swap the keycaps for a white-dark gray combo anyway).

MattRocks wrote on 2026-11-03, 19:32:

Not sure it counts as retro but today I bought an Antec P182 case for £0.11 (add a lot for the travel costs) with some gubbins that might include an nForce4.

Wow, £0.11 is quite the bargain. Even if shipping is a lot!

NeilKnows wrote on 2026-11-04, 09:34:

Technically I've had it for a while but first time I've taken it out of the box looked at it properly...

GORGEOUS design.

revolstar wrote on 2026-11-04, 10:32:

Got some cash to buy myself "something nice" for my birthday sooooo for lack of a better idea I picked up this NOS Cherry G80-3000 keyboard (made in the Slovak Republic in '06) for the equivalent of around $33. As you can see, the layout is very much kraut so that's something that has be addressed in the near future (I'm planning to swap the keycaps for a white-dark gray combo anyway).

Happy birthday! That looks great to type on. What switches are on there, blues?

oldGPU wrote on 2026-11-04, 16:44:

Happy birthday! That looks great to type on. What switches are on there, blues?

Thank you! 😁 Those are blacks, pretty heavy but I like'em.

oldGPU wrote on 2026-11-04, 16:44:

MattRocks wrote on 2026-11-03, 19:32:

Not sure it counts as retro but today I bought an Antec P182 case for £0.11 (add a lot for the travel costs) with some gubbins that might include an nForce4.

Wow, £0.11 is quite the bargain. Even if shipping is a lot!

I find it embarrassing when I know the seller wanted to sell and then gives it away - they put effort into uploading photos, negotiating times, staying home waiting for collection, etc.

And these early PCIe machines do not demand much because they are native to the short-lived era (Vista/DX10) with very few captive applications - any ideas of a game that is too demanding for AGP systems and fails on later systems?

In either case, first pass inspection shows the CPU fan has seized and there is some rust on the clips around the RAM. I haven't put any power through it yet. Whatever the outcome, these Antec cases are timeless.