VOGONS


First post, by Dimitri

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es1868-final.png

Reply 2 of 13, by GigAHerZ

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I haven't seen such resistors since... soviet tech... 😮

"640K ought to be enough for anybody." - And i intend to get every last bit out of it even after loading every damn driver!

Reply 3 of 13, by root42

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According to the datasheet [1] it is OPL3 compatible. Yes, it is NOT a true Yamaha OPL3, but we get what he's talking about. Anyway, I think it's nice that people produce new sound cards. The advantage here is that you get SB Pro 2 compatibility (and Windows Sound System as well) on an 8 bit card, which fits into an XT. Can't do DMA other than 0, 1, 3 obviously, and no higher interrupts, but it's nice to have. You don't have to buy it. 😉

However I hope the board is prototype only. I rather like the enig gold coatings. 😀

[1] https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/v … +/datasheet.pdf

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Reply 4 of 13, by keenmaster486

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OPL3, yes, one of the best clones - but also having an ESS ES1868 on an 8-bit ISA card is a win in and of itself; that's a good chip besides the FM component.

World's foremost 486 enjoyer.

Reply 5 of 13, by Dimitri

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root42 wrote:

According to the datasheet [1] it is OPL3 compatible. Yes, it is NOT a true Yamaha OPL3, but we get what he's talking about. Anyway, I think it's nice that people produce new sound cards. The advantage here is that you get SB Pro 2 compatibility (and Windows Sound System as well) on an 8 bit card, which fits into an XT. Can't do DMA other than 0, 1, 3 obviously, and no higher interrupts, but it's nice to have. You don't have to buy it. 😉

However I hope the board is prototype only. I rather like the enig gold coatings. 😀

[1] https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/v … +/datasheet.pdf

native ess config software operates only with dma 0,1,3 even in 16 bit slot. If the board pass all the tests, then it going to be on ebay )), Resistors yes, soviet, some with silver coated legs ))

Reply 7 of 13, by Error 0x7CF

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Very feature packed card! Perfect for running Windows 95 on your XT 😜

SB+SBPRO2+Wavetable+MidiOut/Joystick by itself makes it very useful for an XT even if ESFM isn't your deal.

I don't recall, can ESFM be disabled and an external Resound OPL3 or something used? I'm curious but wouldn't bother because for the most part I would expect to point games at the wavetable. I can tolerate ESFM if it's not too often.

Old precedes antique.

Reply 8 of 13, by matze79

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Hm it is suitable if you have some limited desktop case with only 3 slots of which one is 8bit 😳
So you still can add some network card and maybe a videocard to overcome that 256kb paradise Video Chip thats tampering your 386 System

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 9 of 13, by Grzyb

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root42 wrote:

The advantage here is that you get SB Pro 2 compatibility (and Windows Sound System as well)

No WSS.
ESS Audiodrive chipsets have their own 16-bit DAC/ADC, which isn't compatible with SB16 nor WSS.

Now I'm wondering... is that ESS 16-bit sampling available on 8-bit ISA?
If yes, then that card may be The Ultimate XT Sound Card(TM).

And then, a challenge: play CD-quality sound on the original PC platform, ie. 8088@4.77

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Reply 10 of 13, by root42

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Grzyb wrote:
No WSS. ESS Audiodrive chipsets have their own 16-bit DAC/ADC, which isn't compatible with SB16 nor WSS. […]
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root42 wrote:

The advantage here is that you get SB Pro 2 compatibility (and Windows Sound System as well)

No WSS.
ESS Audiodrive chipsets have their own 16-bit DAC/ADC, which isn't compatible with SB16 nor WSS.

Now I'm wondering... is that ESS 16-bit sampling available on 8-bit ISA?
If yes, then that card may be The Ultimate XT Sound Card(TM).

And then, a challenge: play CD-quality sound on the original PC platform, ie. 8088@4.77

I quote the datasheet:

A4F776B4-54CF-4E53-9FD4-9D46AA3D9BDE.jpeg
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The 16 bit on an XT would be neat. Maybe ModmasterXT can add support? FreddyV?

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Reply 11 of 13, by Grzyb

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Now that's a big surprise, I used to use various ESS Audiodrive cards, and I'm pretty sure they weren't WSS compatible...

http://cd.textfil.es/mmcd/ENG/TXT/TEXT/TEMP/M5_1.HTM
"It will let you run (...) Windows business applications that are compatible with the Windows Sound System"
Perhaps it's supposed to mean those chipsets support Windows?

Żywotwór planetarny, jego gnijące błoto, jest świtem egzystencji, fazą wstępną, i wyłoni się z krwawych ciastomózgowych miedź miłująca...

Reply 12 of 13, by badmojo

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I’ve tried all sorts of ISA Audiodrives and different drivers for them but I’ve never seen them present WSS resources in either DOS or Win9x. I’d always assumed that although the chipset is technically capable of it, that no vendors ever went to the trouble of implementing it.

Life? Don't talk to me about life.

Reply 13 of 13, by Jo22

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Windows Sound System was both a soundcard and a "standard".
Physically, it used an Analog Devices chip (AD1848) originally, as well as an OPL3 for FM.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Sound_System
Microsoft Windows Sound system ISA Drivers help.

Using a random 3rd party WSS driver might work on similar soundcards.

A PDF is available here -> https://www.analog.com/en/products/ad1848.htm … roduct-overview

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