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Sound Card Question on IBM PS/2's

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barney

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Do the majority of the 386 and 486 IBM PS/2 computers come standard with some type of sound card? I sure hope they don't just have the internal speaker. Thanks.

Barney
 
barney said:
Do the majority of the 386 and 486 IBM PS/2 computers come standard with some type of sound card? I sure hope they don't just have the internal speaker.
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None of the PS/2s (ISA or microchannel) typically came stock with a sound card, save the ¨Ultimedia¨ models (enhanced Model 57 and 77s). It is the less common of items for the microchannel PS/2s. And at this point, I don´t think even the ChipChats (http://www.chipchat.com/mca/SoundCard/SoundCard.html) are being produced.
 
PS/2 soundcards are very hard to find, IBM didn't bother making their ultra expensive PS/2 workstations and servers game friendly.

There are a couple different soundblasters made, and IBM made some audio capture card along with a video capture card with audio.
 
Unknown_K said:
PS/2 soundcards are very hard to find, IBM didn't bother making their ultra expensive PS/2 workstations and servers game friendly.

There are a couple different soundblasters made, and IBM made some audio capture card along with a video capture card with audio.
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There are a few more than that (http://www.ibmmuseum.com/OhlandL/sound/sound_index.html), but point taken. I eventually hope that some way can make the RS/6000 ´7-6´ ¨Ultimedia¨ can be changed to work in a PS/2, because I might have the single largest supply of the adapters. Funny, it has a Crystal CS4231 chip (¨Windows Sound System¨), but was designed for the RS/6000.
 
I have one MCA soundcard, forget the model (IBM made), and hope to get it installed in my model 90 when I get a working floppy drive for it.
 
With my PS/2 models, several have the M-ACPA card which gives sound for OS/2.
 
IBMMuseum said:
None of the PS/2s (ISA or microchannel) typically came stock with a sound card, save the ¨Ultimedia¨ models (enhanced Model 57 and 77s). It is the less common of items for the microchannel PS/2s. And at this point, I don´t think even the ChipChats (http://www.chipchat.com/mca/SoundCard/SoundCard.html) are being produced.
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Cool. I had no idea that other sound cards for the MCA bus were ever released apart from the Creative Sound Blaster MCA, let alone MCA cards with wavetable synthesis. Of course, that doesn't help much if such cards are still hard to find...

TheLazy1 said:
You could always try building your own. :)
I want to try that at one point in time.
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Yeah, if you really can't find an MCA sound card anywhere, a Covox module would indeed still be an option, since even PS/2 came with parallell ports... If only the software (game) support for Covox modules was better... I know they are more hardware intensive than actual sound cards, but why didn't they just support it anyway, as a fallback option? Were they really that much harder to program?
 
If you must game get a Model 30 -286 ISA based PS/2 and use a normal sound card. It will play the old DOS games decently.
 
Unknown_K said:
If you must game get a Model 30 -286 ISA based PS/2 and use a normal sound card. It will play the old DOS games decently.
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For some reason IBM did a marketing coffee cup talking about the lowly Model 25 as the ¨All Night Fighter¨...

I didn´t know if they were referring to gaming or office work, neither of which the Model 25 would do well at...

There are also higher-end ISA PS/2s (off-topic) with ISA slot(s): Model 33 (1 slot), Model 35 (3 slots), and Model 40 (5 slots)...
 
digger said:
Cool. I had no idea that other sound cards for the MCA bus were ever released apart from the Creative Sound Blaster MCA, let alone MCA cards with wavetable synthesis. Of course, that doesn't help much if such cards are still hard to find...



Yeah, if you really can't find an MCA sound card anywhere, a Covox module would indeed still be an option, since even PS/2 came with parallell ports... If only the software (game) support for Covox modules was better... I know they are more hardware intensive than actual sound cards, but why didn't they just support it anyway, as a fallback option? Were they really that much harder to program?
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I'm a big fan of Covox because it has been the only way to get sound on a few machines I have - I happen to own a Disney Soundsource, which is basically a pre-fab high quality Covox box. I was using it on my Compaq LTE Lite 33/c until recently (I am getting a T6600C in the mail soon) to play Wolfenstein, one of the more notable games with Covox support.
 
Raven said:
I'm a big fan of Covox because it has been the only way to get sound on a few machines I have.
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The only schematics I ever found for Covox parallel thingies were for the Voice Master, and that was in russian - so I'm going to have to try and find some references, but I'm actually thinking of doing a DIY Covox at some point... would anyone here be interested in more legible schematics and perhaps a PCB layout? Or is this not that sort of crowd? :p
 
MidnightCommando said:
The only schematics I ever found for Covox parallel thingies were for the Voice Master, and that was in russian - so I'm going to have to try and find some references, but I'm actually thinking of doing a DIY Covox at some point... would anyone here be interested in more legible schematics and perhaps a PCB layout? Or is this not that sort of crowd? :p
Click to expand...

I would love some schematics and any info you have on the DIY Covox. I have tons of old 386/486 machines, and actually have a ton of ISA soundcards, but I have more machines than soundcards. Plus, my electronic geek side of me HAS to try this.
 
Kamilon said:
I would love some schematics and any info you have on the DIY Covox. I have tons of old 386/486 machines, and actually have a ton of ISA soundcards, but I have more machines than soundcards. Plus, my electronic geek side of me HAS to try this.
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Sorry I'm half a year late in responding, I actually forgot my password when I got back here! I'll get the info assembled for you post haste Kamilon, and I'll also see if I can get some decent schematics drawn up that don't depend on an understanding of the Cyrillic alphabet :p
 
Man, I registered on this forum just a few minutes ago, looking for an audio card for my IBM PS/2. I knew they were rare, but this thread makes me think it's will be a fruitless search.
 
Well, you can't win the lottery if you don't play, you can't find an MCA sound card if you don't look... in either case, the odds are very much against you, but you never know. :D
 
A gaming card is much harder to find then just any sound card. A few PS/2 models (ultimedia?) came with one built in. I have yet to test one of my MCA video capture cards to see if it acts as a normal sound card as well.
 
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