VOGONS


First post, by Skyscraper

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I just got a interesting Media Forte Vibra 16 card in a lot of cards I bought. Its a Soundforte 16 FMP-03 with a DXP44Q FM synth and Im wondering if anyone knows anything about this chip.

Here is a link to a blog post with the same question.
http://www.os2museum.com/wp/what-is-dxp44q/

This post is also relevant.
http://www.os2museum.com/wp/opl3-copies/

My thinking is that if the DXP44Q isnt a rather good OPL3 clone or even a bootlog OPL3 then why diddnt the card maker use the CQM "FM synth" in the Vibra 16 chip?

Here is a picture showing the Soundforte 16 FMP-03 with a DXP44Q FM synth and also a built in radio tuner.

SoundForte_SF16_FMP-03_Vibra_16.JPG
Filename
SoundForte_SF16_FMP-03_Vibra_16.JPG
File size
4.32 MiB
Views
590 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Here is a close up of the DXP44Q and the area around it.

DXP44Q_synth.JPG
Filename
DXP44Q_synth.JPG
File size
4.4 MiB
Views
590 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

Any information about the Soundforte 16 FMP-03, the DXP44Q chip or other sound cards that use it would be great!

Im also interested in the drivers for the card (I have the radiator.zip file from "driverguide.com" already).

Last edited by Skyscraper on 2015-12-05, 16:31. Edited 2 times in total.

Main PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6ghz, Evga - SR-2, 48gb memory, Intel X25-M g2 SSD and a Nvidia GTX 980 ti.
Retro PC #3: K6-2 450@500mhz, PC-Chips m577, 256mb sdram, AWE64 and a Voodoo Banshee.

Reply 1 of 1, by Skyscraper

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Update.

I installed the card in the IBM Aptiva 2144-900 "TYPE C-1" 486 DX2-50 desktop carcass I recently bought for 10 euro and wired up a test drive.

The Soundforte 16 FMP-03 dosnt need any special drivers loaded in DOS, it works fine using only a SET BLASTER line and diagnose.exe /S. As far as I can tell the DXP44Q is a "real bootleg" OPL3 but I have only listened to the music in Tyrian so far and I use crappy speakers. The cards general sound output quality seems very good with very little noise, I disabled the onboard amp though.

Main PC: Dual Xeon X5690@4.6ghz, Evga - SR-2, 48gb memory, Intel X25-M g2 SSD and a Nvidia GTX 980 ti.
Retro PC #3: K6-2 450@500mhz, PC-Chips m577, 256mb sdram, AWE64 and a Voodoo Banshee.