8-bit sound cards

Hi guys

I hope I put this in the right section... if not, feel free to move it or delete it

Does anyone have a list of sound cards that can be used in an XT machine ? Most of the ones I have seen needed the usual 16-bit ISA slot... so they couldn't be installed in an 8088-class computer. The only two I know of that had an 8-bit connector were the original Soundblaster 1.0/1.5/2.0, and the AdLib card. Anyone knows about any others ? Is it still possible to get them somewhere ?

Thanks

Not all sound cards are 16-bit only, my XT uses a 16-bit SoundBlaster Pro 2.0 sound card, and it works great.

The following cards had some popularity:

Adlib Music Synthesis
Adlib Gold
Creative Music System/Game Blaster
Creative Sound Blaster 1.0
Creative Sound Blaster 1.5
Creative Sound Blaster 2.0
Creative Sound Blaster Pro 1.0 (16-bit connector but will work on 8-bit bus)
Creative Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 (16-bit connector but will work on 8-bit bus)
IBM Music Feature
Microsoft Sound System (16-bit connector but should work on 8-bit bus)
Mediavision Thunderboard
Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum
Roland LAPC-I
Roland SCC-1
Roland SCM-15
Yamaha SW60XG (16-bit connector but should work on 8-bit bus)

I'm using an SB16 with no problem.

Great Hierophant said:

The following cards had some popularity:

Adlib Music Synthesis
Adlib Gold
Creative Music System/Game Blaster
Creative Sound Blaster 1.0
Creative Sound Blaster 1.5
Creative Sound Blaster 2.0
Creative Sound Blaster Pro 1.0 (16-bit connector but will work on 8-bit bus)
Creative Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 (16-bit connector but will work on 8-bit bus)
IBM Music Feature
Microsoft Sound System (16-bit connector but should work on 8-bit bus)
Mediavision Thunderboard
Mediavision Pro Audio Spectrum
Roland LAPC-I
Roland SCC-1
Roland SCM-15
Yamaha SW60XG (16-bit connector but should work on 8-bit bus)

Click to expand...

Woah... I had no idea there were that many... But what's the point of giving a card a 16-bit connector if it actually does not need it ?

And by the way... is the Soundblaster 1.5 the one that can be upgraded with the CMS chips ? Is it still possible to get these chips somewhere ?

The 16-bit section of the card edge connector is not useless. I believe it allows the card to use high DMAs when installed in AT type systems. I think it may provide a few other minor benefits as well, but I don't have much experience with cards like the SB Pro. The SB16 isn't documented as being usable on an XT bus, but apparently most of the basic stuff works. But, I believe the fancy extras like MPU401 and most likely ASP depend on the 16 bit portion of the card.

Also,

As far as I know the SB 1.0 comes with the CMS chips by default, and both the SB 1.5 and 2.0 have empty sockets to accept them. Good luck finding the chips. If you can find them, they probably cost a bit. But, if you do find them at a good price, I'd like some too :D

I... uh... suppose asking Creative Labs for them would be useless these days, wouldn't it ? LOL

Were they proprietary-designed/produced ? Or did someone manufacture them for Creative ?

Creative Labs used off-the-shelf chips, the Phillips SAA-1099 Programmable Sound Generator. If you can locate two of those chips, you can upgrade a Sound Blaster 1.5. Upgrading a Sound Blaster 2.0 requires a third chip, a PAL1618, which is a programmable logic chip designed to replace standard glue logic chips. Unfortunately, no one knows how the chip was programmed.

Thanks Great Hierophant That is very interesting... I wish I had a SB 1.5 :D LOL Well, I guess it's time I start looking for one. I really want to add a sound card to my XT I'll write down the number of those Philips chips you mentioned

EDIT: guys, I don't know if this can be helpful or not... anyway, I thought I'd post it. I searched for "SAA 1099 chips" on yahoo and this link popped up: www.legendelectronics.com. Click on "Part Search" and enter "saa 1099". It seems some chips did show up, but I have no idea if they are truly what we are looking for (and neither what's the cost)... Just thought you might want to know anyway...


P.S. As a side note (and sorry for the off-topicness)... how do I get in touch with a member here ? I need to contact Mr. Sharkonwheels... sent a PM but I'm afraid he didn't notice it

flavio75 said:

EDIT: guys, I don't know if this can be helpful or not... anyway, I thought I'd post it. I searched for "SAA 1099 chips" on yahoo and this link popped up: www.legendelectronics.com. Click on "Part Search" and enter "saa 1099". It seems some chips did show up, but I have no idea if they are truly what we are looking for (and neither what's the cost)... Just thought you might want to know anyway...

Click to expand...

Interesting. Places like that don't typically deal with the public, so you won't be able to buy just 1 part, but we could try to do a group purchase if there are enough individuals interested. Something like 20 chips @ $3 each or such.

I did something similar to obtain some DRAM for some xbox-1's.
I first found the part number, then found a wholesaler like this, then when I asked for a price quote, the wholesaler essentially just throws your request out to a pool of parts suppliers (most of them in china) and you get a flood of emails of people offering to sell you the parts, or I think they were trying to sell parts to me-90% of the emails were in Chinese! Once I found an email with a decent price in English, I then had to do a wire transfer to a bank in China in order to get the parts. It all seemed rather shady and was pretty expensive (the wire transfer and shipping were more than the parts themselves) but I did get the parts within a week, and they worked as expected.

So, anyway, if we can get 20 folks to want one of these parts, we could try and do a purchase, but whoever does the deal could get stuck with lost cash, bad parts, and the headache of shipping individual parts out.

This guy has 13 available at a reasonable price:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAA1099P-Sound-...ihZ007QQcategoryZ4663QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

However, is anyone here familiar with programming/reading a PAL16L8BCN chip? That chip was the third chip used in the Sound Blaster 2.0 to enable the Phillips SAA-1099s to function. No one I know has access to a programmer or reader, assuming it can be read. It may be necessary to recreate the logic by deduction if it cannot, and that requires someone with a working knowledge of ISA card design.

$18 each, eh?