RARE! 8-bit AdLib music synthesizer card PC ISA OPL2 sound Yamaha YM3812, 1990!

Not sure why that's rare, seems like arm waving. They are old, but those were common, not rare. Unless there's something special about that particular model I'm not aware of.

If that's a fake, they went to a lot of trouble making it look aged.
 
It looks real to me, which doesn't mean much. However it is the 1990 version, the 1987 model seems to be much harder to come by. These were junked over the years and today are extremely hard to come by, it's a good day if you turn one up in some old IBM clones.

Not sure why that's rare, seems like arm waving. They are old, but those were common, not rare. Unless there's something special about that particular model I'm not aware of.

If that's a fake, they went to a lot of trouble making it look aged.

Ad lib clones have existed on the market for a long time now. I have one. They are very easy to replicate and yamaha OPL chips are still quite easy to find. This is done because ad-libs are rare and expensive now.

Some of the nicer clone makers will make it obvious, but there are these out there:

my_adlib2.jpg


Usually on the 1987 models adlib scratched out the yamaha chip to try to hide the secret sauce to their sound card (which ended up in sound blasters anyway)

first-adlib-8bit-card-1987_1_4bf94376a9af7c19f28e024faa513494.jpg


I'm sure there are extensive write-ups to help you determine the real ones from the clones, but some of the clone boards look totally authentic
 
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It looks real to me, which doesn't mean much. However it is the 1990 version, the 1987 model seems to be much harder to come by. These were junked over the years and today are extremely hard to come by, it's a good day if you turn one up in some old IBM clones.



Ad lib clones have existed on the market for a long time now. I have one. They are very easy to replicate and yamaha OPL chips are still quite easy to find. This is done because ad-libs are rare and expensive now.

Some of the nicer clone makers will make it obvious, but there are these out there:

View attachment 163279

Usually on the 1987 models ad-lib scratched out the yamaha chip to try to hide the secret sauce to their sound card (which ended up in sound blasters anyway)

View attachment 163281

I'm sure there are extensive write-ups to help you determine the real ones from the clones, but some of the clone boards look totally authentic

Thank you, this is the best explanation so far provided me!
 
I too enjoy the girth of some of the full awe 32s myself but the 3990 isn't in the list of legendary cards due to not having authentic Yamaha OPL3, it uses CQM built into that Creative chip :p.. So it's essentially a Sound Blaster 16 + EMU8000 synth jammed into one massive card. The next card up on the chopping block for cloners would be the Gravis Ultrasound Max, however getting the original chips for those is tough.

They (Awe 32) are nice to pair with a SB Pro II CT1600 for authentic OPL AND Emu 8000 synth :p

edit: prices for awe32 and 64 related cards are coming up on ebay though, best hold on to that! I only have the cut down 3600 on tap now.. but I use my crap til it breaks.
 
I too enjoy the girth of some of the full awe 32s myself but the 3990 isn't in the list of legendary cards due to not having authentic Yamaha OPL3, it uses CQM built into that Creative chip :p.. So it's essentially a Sound Blaster 16 + EMU8000 synth jammed into one massive card. The next card up on the chopping block for cloners would be the Gravis Ultrasound Max, however getting the original chips for those is tough.

They (Awe 32) are nice to pair with a SB Pro II CT1600 for authentic OPL AND Emu 8000 synth :p

edit: prices for awe32 and 64 related cards are coming up on ebay though, best hold on to that! I only have the cut down 3600 on tap now.. but I use my crap til it breaks.
Eh, the Yamaha OPL3 chip is subjectively better sounding in the FM dept., but in the case of the AWE32, you'd lose out on the EMU-8000 effects. So, at best, it's a trade-off. I personally would rather have the EMU-8000 addition over some subjectively better sounding FM Synthesis.

But I can't speak as a collector, I'm holding onto mine for nostalgia.

Back when you bought these, you wanted MIDI over FM. And in the case of this particular model, you wanted to load your own custom high-quality wavetables. I stuck 32MB worth of SIMMS on mine to max out the wavetable. It was glorious when it worked.

can you attain an AWE64 GOLD II CT4560 ?
Oh, hell no. That's a Unicorn.

Edit: I also have a first-gen Aureal3D based sound card, but I don't think those are that rare. They are a nice piece of history though, which is why I've hung on to mine.
 
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Eh, the Yamaha OPL3 chip is subjectively better sounding in the FM dept., but in the case of the AWE32, you'd lose out on the EMU-8000 effects. So, at best, it's a trade-off. I personally would rather have the EMU-8000 addition over some subjectively better sounding FM Synthesis.

But I can't speak as a collector, I'm holding onto mine for nostalgia.

Back when you bought these, you wanted MIDI over FM. And in the case of this particular model, you wanted to load your own custom high-quality wavetables. I stuck 32MB worth of SIMMS on mine to max out the wavetable. It was glorious when it worked.

Oh, hell no. That's a Unicorn.

Edit: I also have a first-gen Aureal3D based sound card, but I don't think those are that rare. They are a nice piece of history though, which is why I've hung on to mine.


can you get any of these?





  • MicroProse “The Entertainer”

  • Aureal SQ3500

  • Aureal Vortex 3 AU8850 (5.1)

 
Eh, the Yamaha OPL3 chip is subjectively better sounding in the FM dept., but in the case of the AWE32, you'd lose out on the EMU-8000 effects. So, at best, it's a trade-off. I personally would rather have the EMU-8000 addition over some subjectively better sounding FM Synthesis.

But I can't speak as a collector, I'm holding onto mine for nostalgia.

Back when you bought these, you wanted MIDI over FM. And in the case of this particular model, you wanted to load your own custom high-quality wavetables. I stuck 32MB worth of SIMMS on mine to max out the wavetable. It was glorious when it worked.

Older FM synth games have instruments (not all but some) that sound like tinny weirdness on the creative CQM chips but you're right, you wanted Midi for newer games (not to mention windows audio and much better output quality). That issue was only for people who wanted to continue playing their older games. Also the "fake" OPL3 sounded astronomically better than the emulation to appear through later 90s audio drivers. Then and now (I still have my dos machine) the solution was to just run two sound cards if you wanted perfect everything.. Wasn't a big deal. Today you can just pair the Awe32 with a really cheap vibra 16 with the yamaha ymf262 if you really care.

I'm also a nostalgia guy, I like having my old 486 on tap.. blinking cursor and noone bugging me. I'm just parroting what the collectors want, they very often ridicule anything that doesn't have a YMF262 chip on it, and drive up prices of cards that do have it.
 
and lol, I remember "The Entertainer" exposed post on vcfed. Does that card even exist in any states besides the Innovation SSI 2001? I've never seen such a thing outside of DIY clone boards =\.

I don't have much history with Aureal cards as they weren't too big in the states. I have a vortex 2 8830, the full SQ3500 model shouldn't be tough to come by but you'll pay overseas shipping. Vortex 3 is beyond me.
 
and lol, I remember "The Entertainer" exposed post on vcfed. Does that card even exist in any states besides the Innovation SSI 2001? I've never seen such a thing outside of DIY clone boards =\.

I don't have much history with Aureal cards as they weren't too big in the states. I have a vortex 2 8830, the full SQ3500 model shouldn't be tough to come by but you'll pay overseas shipping. Vortex 3 is beyond me.

even a Prototype of the Microprose The Entertainer would be (more) acceptable to me
 
can you get any of these?





  • MicroProse “The Entertainer”

  • Aureal SQ3500

  • Aureal Vortex 3 AU8850 (5.1)

Never even heard of "The Entertainer". Interesting.

Nothing that rare from Aureal, for certain.
 
I have an original GUS Max with the full 1M of RAM that is sadly dead. It was sitting in a drawer for a while, and it is likely that some surface mount part is damaged, but I lack the knowledge to fix it. Still can't bring myself to chuck it, though. That was a great soundcard, and well ahead of it's time.
 
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I have an original GUS Max with the full 1M of RAM that is sadly dead. It was sitting in a drawer for a while, and it is likely that some surface mount part is damaged, but I lack the knowledge to fix it. Still can't bring myself to chuck it, though. That was a great soundcard, and well ahead of it's time.

do you want to sell it?
 
I suppose I'd be willing to sell it, it's just sitting here on a shelf. What are you offering?
 
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Jeeeeezzus, that's nuts!

Mine is dead, as I said. But, I'm willing to let it go to someone that wants it, especially if you think you can fix it. If you live in the US, I'd be willing to sell it for $35 shipped. If you live outside the US, I'm not really sure how international shipping works, but would be willing to go over it with you.
 
Jeeeeezzus, that's nuts!

Mine is dead, as I said. But, I'm willing to let it go to someone that wants it, especially if you think you can fix it. If you live in the US, I'd be willing to sell it for $35 shipped. If you live outside the US, I'm not really sure how international shipping works, but would be willing to go over it with you.

what's your PayPal addy?
 
Jeeeeezzus, that's nuts!

Mine is dead, as I said. But, I'm willing to let it go to someone that wants it, especially if you think you can fix it. If you live in the US, I'd be willing to sell it for $35 shipped. If you live outside the US, I'm not really sure how international shipping works, but would be willing to go over it with you.

Holy shit! Wow.

Congrats on that mega deal erek !
 
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I may want an awe32 too if the price is right. I already have a 3600 but that's a vibra 16 cut down model.

Rise super long sound cards! rise!
 
My retro 486 machine has a SoundBlaster AWE 64 Gold, an original GUS w/1M RAM, and an 8-bit ISA 100% MPU-401 compatible card that supports Active mode. The MPU-401 compatible connects to a Roland MT-32 (1st gen) and a SoundCanvas SC-55mkII.

Retro games with the correct optimal sound setup are well covered :)
 
My retro 486 machine has a SoundBlaster AWE 64 Gold, an original GUS w/1M RAM, and an 8-bit ISA 100% MPU-401 compatible card that supports Active mode. The MPU-401 compatible connects to a Roland MT-32 (1st gen) and a SoundCanvas SC-55mkII.

Retro games with the correct optimal sound setup are well covered :)


upload_2019-6-15_16-55-21.png
 
which GUS is it?

for sale?

Going to have to go dig it out and see what i have around. GUS max I'm pretty sure, I know I upgraded the memory on it. I'm sure I over wrote the floppies way back in the 90s. Might not be able to dig it out till the weekend, as my old machines are all at my other place won't be there till Friday. I'm sure its in a old 486 that worked the last time it was booted 15+ years ago. lol

Used to use it to write mod music way back in the day. Those things where pretty fantastic.
 
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