VOGONS

Talking Technology Bigmouth

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First post, by bristlehog

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I've been able to score this obscure sound card, which is supported by a lot of DOS games through DIGPAK sound library - for PCM sound only.

Since it is a "Voice mail & call processing system", seemingly designed for corporations, I wonder why was it supported in the first place. Did they play games in the office back in 1989?

Anyway, I currently have no means to test this one, but will try doing it in the future.

The box contained the card itself (which apparently has a separate name of Powerline I), a small and very cheap looking external speaker, and an user manual. The phone cord and driver diskettes were missing, but I later bought the said diskettes from another vendor. Somehow they look different from those depicted on the box, and there are 5 of them instead of 4. That said, the card is also green, not red, so I guess there are different revisions of the set.

Here you can get fantastic wallpapers created by a friend of mine: patreon.com/Unpocodrillo

Reply 1 of 7, by carlostex

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Nice!! Another one of the obscure devices supported by DIGPAK. This one probably works by polling instead of DMA. There's also the Lantastic Voice Adapter, this one is DMA driven, however so it's probably a little more robust.

Very cool find!!

Reply 2 of 7, by bristlehog

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carlostex wrote on 2025-07-05, 19:12:

There's also the Lantastic Voice Adapter, this one is DMA driven, however so it's probably a little more robust.

I have a Lantastic Voice Adapter lying somewhere, but it doesn't have a mini-jack output. There are two RCA jacks, which seem to be for LAN rather than for sound, and a phone jack. Therefore, I have no idea how do I output sound from it.

Here you can get fantastic wallpapers created by a friend of mine: patreon.com/Unpocodrillo

Reply 3 of 7, by carlostex

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bristlehog wrote on 2025-07-06, 07:43:
carlostex wrote on 2025-07-05, 19:12:

There's also the Lantastic Voice Adapter, this one is DMA driven, however so it's probably a little more robust.

I have a Lantastic Voice Adapter lying somewhere, but it doesn't have a mini-jack output. There are two RCA jacks, which seem to be for LAN rather than for sound, and a phone jack. Therefore, I have no idea how do I output sound from it.

Now that is weird. I'm glad i didn't jump on one then on eBay. Because i was betting the one labeled OUT would be sound output. But in that case i have no idea either.

Reply 4 of 7, by bristlehog

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carlostex wrote on 2025-07-06, 09:11:

Now that is weird. I'm glad i didn't jump on one then on eBay. Because i was betting the one labeled OUT would be sound output. But in that case i have no idea either.

We'll see. I have another two Lantastic Voice Adapters coming my way, this time with a manual, driver disks and what seem to be old-style handsets.

Here you can get fantastic wallpapers created by a friend of mine: patreon.com/Unpocodrillo

Reply 5 of 7, by bristlehog

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carlostex wrote on 2025-07-06, 09:11:

Now that is weird. I'm glad i didn't jump on one then on eBay. Because i was betting the one labeled OUT would be sound output.

I was mistaken. The RCA jack labeled OUT is indeed for line output, as per manual.

Here you can get fantastic wallpapers created by a friend of mine: patreon.com/Unpocodrillo

Reply 6 of 7, by carlostex

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bristlehog wrote on 2025-07-06, 12:58:

I was mistaken. The RCA jack labeled OUT is indeed for line output, as per manual.

OK were you able to make it output sound with DIGPAK afterall?

Reply 7 of 7, by bristlehog

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carlostex wrote on 2025-07-06, 18:33:

OK were you able to make it output sound with DIGPAK afterall?

It's being kept in Russia, and I've not been there for more than 3 years. I also have no equipment to test anything for now.

Long story short, I'm going to purchase some retro PC for tinkering, but it will take a month or two. Then I will test the Lantastic boards that are coming from eBay.

Here you can get fantastic wallpapers created by a friend of mine: patreon.com/Unpocodrillo

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