Wanted: ISA sound card(s)

[DragonMaster]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for ISA cards with FM synth on them (Using YMF262 and/or YAC512 chips)

Anyone got some? I found a few on eBay but I prefer to ask here first!

[Das Capitolin]

ISA sound cards I have, and plenty of them. FM tuners? Don't think so.

[DragonMaster]

FM tuners? Don't think so.

Not FM tuners, FM MIDI synthesizer, remember how tunes sounded like on DOS games?

In fact, I'm looking for ESS, SoundBlaster, etc. that got the chips I mentioned in my first post.

[Das Capitolin]

Oh! Let me look, I probably have some then... if I haven't jsut thrown them out during office cleaning last week.

[Enigmachine]

Wouldn't it be simpler to go to your local used computer store and buy whatever they have? I don't see how that would be more expensive than shipping some old cards. :)

I have a soundblaster in my old 100 Mhz machine... If the machine dies I'll send you the card. :)

[Bio-Hazard]

You're just a few weeks late on this one, I pitched out all my old ISA stuff just a few weeks ago when I finished my sons rig.............

[DragonMaster]

Looks like everyone threw everything away recently! (Just as I was about to rip off the Yamaha FM synth chips to give them a new life)

[Kougar]

I think this card might have what you need? http://www.jlaenterprises.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=112 (http://www.jlaenterprises.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=112) I have one of these, model "CT3600" and it is ISA. Complete with the extra RAM modules. ;)

Also have a fairly old generic Soundblaster PCI card that might have it, I'll check if you want.

[DragonMaster]

Well, an AWE32 is a very nice card to have, but it doesn't have the OPL3, which was used only in cards made before the AWE32. (I might want it anyways)

What you can be 100% sure is that every PCI cards don't have them. The SB16"Value" doesn't work since the FM synthesizer is integrated in an other chip. :roll:

[Kougar]

Well, this card is from a very high-end workstation in it's heyday, was a 233mhz AMD rig that was used for 3d rendering and I dunno what else. I still use it's 4mb PCI Matrox Mystique in current rigs that run XP. ;)

I do not know what size RAM these two RAM modules are yet but I'll check... let me know if you decide you want this card. ;)

Is there a good way to identify those specific chips? This sound card has more chips on it than some motherboards I've seen, infact since it has it's own twin RAM slots it might as well be a motherboard! I have a few even older ISA cards that I can check, but I doubt they are much beyond low-end stuff... any chance those might have these chips you're looking for, before I tear into those rigs?

[DragonMaster]

Is there a good way to identify those specific chips?
You will not find them on this card. :wink: It's using sound samples instead of maths for MIDI. (Pre-SoundFont)
The RAM is supposed to be ordinary SODIMM EDO IIRC.

What you should know is that you're looking for surface-mount chips that have less than 50 pins, and the pins are on 2 opposite sides, not all around it.

Low-end stuff might have the chips in question, OPL3 was low end.

[Kougar]

I found one, a


Yamaha - Japan
YMF 262-M
9349 EASC


It was inside a 486 Packard Bell and appears to be a Crystal ISA sound card.

As for the other card, I think they're SIMMs, 30pin? They are either 2-4mb each, so 4 or 8mb of RAM total.

Let me know if you are interested in one of them or both.

[DragonMaster]

Great! And you even have an AWE32. I looked at memoryx.net, they tell that the AWE32 uses 30-pin SIMMs (Right on, Kougar!) and that it can take us to 2x16MB. (It would cost $30 of RAM from them to upgrade to 32MB.)

I would have been pretty mad if the AWE32 used 72-pin RAM, I sent over 200MB of 72-pin DX & P1 sticks to recycling this summer.(With about 7 16MB sticks) At least, it's not the case :roll:

I'd probably want both cards, but I'll have an hard choice to make between putting the AWE32 or the MusicQuest MQX-32M in my single ISA slot... (Unless I put an ISA bridge card and get a new case but that starts to get pretty complicated for nothing)

[XJnine]

I'm guessing this is for a system to play old DOS games. Yes?

[DragonMaster]

I'm guessing this is for a system to play old DOS games. Yes?

No, making music! I will unsolder the YMF262 and YAC512, put them on a midiBOX.org module and get sounds you would have never thought the synth could output when it was on a soundcard.

But, the AWE32 could make a great card compared to the SBPro 8-bit mono emulation PCI cards got. -> The AWE would be used for games probably, since I have an Audigy 2 ZS, which supports SoundFonts used on the AWE32. The EMU8000 of the AWE32 could be used in DOS midi programs tho.

If I take the AWE32 I'll have to choose between 2 MIDI ins and 2 outs(MQX-32M) or a sampler synth and 1 in/out through the joystick port of the AWE32. :roll:

With an AWE64, I would have to choose which PCI card to pull out of there. (Between 2 Voodoo2s, a sound card with better MIDI or an ethernet card)

[XJnine]

Just read up about it on www.midibox.org (http://www.midibox.org). Wow! That's some ambitious stuff! Good luck and keep us posted. It looks interesting.

[DragonMaster]

I think I'm going to keep with the OPL3 and CORE module and control everything in software, an hardware interface costs way too much...

[Kougar]

I think I'm going to keep with the OPL3 and CORE module and control everything in software, an hardware interface costs way too much...

So... is that a no to both, or what? ;)

I think I do have a ISA riser card too, exactly what kind of riser card were you wanting though, they come in all kinds of form factors...

Okay, fancy that... the same machine also has a 4-in-1 ISA slot bridge card. :mrgreen: It is 4 inches high with four ISA slots on a single side, and it plugs into a single ISA slot. It should fit easily in the bottom of a standard ATX case, but I am not sure which direction the cards will end up facing?

It's a safe bet that there is not more than 8mb of RAM in the AWE32, possibly only 4mb as I can't confirm one of the chips on it. Does $25 shipped for the lot sound fine to you?

[DragonMaster]

So... is that a no to both, or what?

I was talking about the MIDIbox, it's working with separate modules.
http://ucapps.de/midibox_fm.html

See, it has an interface with lots of buttons and LEDs, but what I was telling is that I will probably not use the modules for the front panel, but just the module with the FM chips from your old ISA sound card. I will control it from software only.

Well, for the riser, do you know if ISA risers need to be active/passive? Or since the cards themselves are assigning their IRQs, they don't need it(Compared to PCI)?

but I am not sure which direction the cards will end up facing?
The longest part of the connector is the nearest to the rear bracket, and my ISA slot is at the complete bottom of the case.
Maybe I'll need to get a 90° ISA riser to put yours in the correct position?

$25 shipped? Sounds OK, no confirmation tho! (Don't ship it now)

[Kougar]

All of the ISA risers I've seen are completely passive, no chips or anything on them. I don't pretend to know anything about them though... ;)

Eh, this riser card might not actually be any use then... if you plugged it into the bottom slot on your motherboard, then the ISA slots on this riser card would be facing downwards with the soundcard going out the bottom of your case. ;) I had it backwards and though it would be facing up. To use this riser card you would need a ISA slot with 5 inches of clearance facing down, not to mention the backplate slots will be 90° off anyway. Guess that's what I get for stealing from a AT style case. :-P These should be easy enough to pick up though, I'd assume?

[DragonMaster]

Well, I'll have to see, but I think I'd like it anyways, maybe I'll switch to a custom case? ;)

All the other risers I found are very expensive, while they're just VERY primitive PCBs... (not even a single component)

Here it's pretty hard to find used gear, every stores all threw away everything slower than Pentium 2 a few years ago...

[Das Capitolin]

Well, I just came across an ISA-bus Sound Blaster model CT4170. It's all yours, but you must cover shipping.

[PP Mguire]

Ive got a SB16 ISA, SB PRO32 blah AWE32 something or other. (SB with the ram slots you guys where tlaking about im guessing). Dads got an AWE64 in his room im sure of. I got SB LIVE Value, LIVE 5.1 Platinum that has the Midi Synth Emu chip. (Works great with DOS games) and some other sounds cards from SB that are ISA. Most come with driver CDs too except the AWE32. When i get home ill check everything out.

[DragonMaster]

Hey thanks PP, I'm not looking for anything newer than an AWE64.

Das, don't throw that card away! I'll see if I get some RAM and/or other cards from you in your "for sale" list first.

[Das Capitolin]

Hey thanks PP, I'm not looking for anything newer than an AWE64.

Das, don't throw that card away! I'll see if I get some RAM and/or other cards from you in your "for sale" list first.

Ok. I should probably update that list. I made a small fortune on eBay by selling about 1/3 of it.

[PP Mguire]

Yea what i named off is what i got minus the Awe32. I think i threw that away not to long ago. Only thing i can find with the cd is the old SB 16 ISA. Ill look in the shed when its not feeling like 20 out there. (44 with a wind chill)

[DragonMaster]

I think I found a seller on eBay with quite a LOT of cards, I bought 6 cards, and just need 2 more. I'll see what the guy has, and if I can get the stuff cheap enough.

[Godzillarama]

Dragon Master, please contact me if you're interested in selling your MQX-32M, or if you know of another one somewhere. Thanks.

[DragonMaster]

I'm not, but this guy:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Suite/6763/fs/frosale.html
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Suite/6763/Trinity_pr0n.html
seems to have one.

[Godzillarama]

Argh! I can't find any contact info! Thanks for trying, through. I'll keep searching.

[DragonMaster]

In the second link, next to e-mail, click the "Hello!" picture. :wink:

[ManicMike]

If you are going to get these cards from Cougar just to desolder the IC's, I might recommend buying the ICs new:
http://www.labmaster.com/surplus/parts/html/ymf262/ymf262.html

[ManicMike]

Godzillarama, I am pretty sure I have at least 2 MQX 32M's sitting around. We used to use those for SMPTE timecode in and out for fader automation.

I'll start looking if you are interested... I have a few spares around for old clients that still use the Uptown Automation.

[ManicMike]

I spoke too soon...

All I have is a MIDIMan WINMAN 4x4 MIDI card...

no MQX cards.

Those became notoriously difficult to find. They pop up on Ebay once in a while.

What do you need them for?

[DragonMaster]

Hi,

thanks for that link! I'll compare the prices with a few IC distributors. I already bought 6 sound card, I just need more YAC512 chips, which labmaster.com has.

[mousiness]

what are you building? i wonder because my neighbour used ISA cards (,lots of em) on an old compaq SFF for a car computer and it ran XP@!!

[ManicMike]

No problem DragonMaster. Also, try digikey.com. They constantly surprise me with what they have!

[DragonMaster]

I'm using the FM synths and DACs of these cards to build an FM synth.


Well, digikey mostly sells new stuff, these are dating from 1996 and before ISA soundcards.

[mousiness]

why though? you dont like radio quality and their own synths do you? or that is at least what i think youre planning on doing with it

[DragonMaster]

you dont like radio quality and their own synths do you?
WTF? Radios don't have synths, FM radio and FM synthesizers are completely different(Even if it's "Frequency Modulation" for both). Remember the tunes in Doom? The old cards had MIDI synths, not wavetables(playing samples like every MIDI now)

http://ucapps.de/midibox_fm.html (Listen to the sample MP3s)
http://www.angelfire.com/music/creon/bgfm.htm

[mousiness]

oooh i see