(2) IBM PC DOS sound card history & emulation (MM3: IoT)

A (rather lengthy) overview of the sound cards for the IBM PC that led up to 1991 and beyond, as well as how to properly emulate sounds and music from games of that time period.

Munt:
Timidity:
FluidSynth:

Contents:
TBD

Additional notes:
I wasn't personally around when said history happened; this is mostly information I managed to gather on Wikipedia and elsewhere. If you find inaccuracies, tell me and I'll note them down!

Obviously the CM-32L didn't actually have an LCD screen, but that doesn't stop Munt prom providing it (the software part was in the unit, but the actual display wasn't included, in order to cut the price).

Interestingly enough, Gravis actually went bankrupt because their UltraSound failed to compete with the SoundBlaster AWE32. So Creative sent not one, but two companies into bankruptcy, and using pretty much the same strategy every time!

--
Playlist of this playthrough:

Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra is a role-playing game by New World Computing, continuing the storyline of Corak and Sheltem. It is the first game of the second generation Might and Magic games, released in 1991.

[topdog]

MUNT is very impressive, and certainly came a long way towards having a more authentic experience.  Good job showing the historical and practical aspects of the PC sound cards and emulator.  Well done!

[dariapavlova]

Back in the 90s we had an old panasonic cassette player wired up to our computer with the tulip adapters, so nostalgic! I love AdLib and Soundblaster sounding music!

[topdog]

Quite a few games in the early 90's had simultaneous support for both the Sound Blaster and Roland, since Roland was great at the musical rendition and much more superior in not only the instrumentation and polyphony, but the acoustical and spatial elements which add the wonderful vibrato and resonance that we've come to love from a good MIDI board.

However, the Sound Blaster was essential in the digitized speech department, since the Roland MT-32 could not do that, and it wasn't designed for that. 

[DigitalViscosity]

The game Linewars did a great job getting wave audio through the pc speaker

[NegatsuSan]

I have vague memories of playing this (not to completion) on an Amiga 500.  A few years ago I bought the DOS version from GOG.com but was disappointed that the audio didn't sound right (and other issues due to emulation).  I'm really impressed by the audio with your setup which is closer to what I heard all those years ago.  I'm not sure if I'll play Might & Magic 3 again so I'll probably do the next best thing by watching your play-through.  Thanks.

[topdog]

General MIDI sounds quite different than the LA synthesis method, which MT-32 provided.  I personally like both, and the warmer sound of the LA synthesis fits very nicely with the early 90's RPG music.

[topdog]

I believe that the AdLib came first in 1987, and then followed the Game Blaster, which was the renamed Creative Music System distributed in 1988.  This is according to a few online sources which I've read, but they could be inaccurate.

The AdLib photo which you showed on the video is an updated version of the original 1987 one.

[Incognito]

This was pretty enlightening. Thanks :)
I feel bad for Adlib. Creative totally smashed them into the ground. Seems like they mostly sucked up the innovative ideas of other companies for their own gain

[xan]

What are you referring to when you said that it couldn't play the piano? I mean, if you're not hearing a piano sounding instrument, it's probably because the MT-32 doesn't feature a piano sample.

[iLikeTheUDK]

AdLib music sounds like synth music from the 70s...

[xota-prebs]

Reminds me of the Mother Goose game ^_^