Installing the 2020 Orpheus Sound Blaster-compatible ISA Card
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ธ.ค. 2020
- I was sent an Orpheus 1 sound card, so let's take a look at it with some DOS games! It's got a Crystal CS4237B taking care of 16-bit PCM sound, a real YMF289B OPL3 chip for FM, built-in MPU-401 intelligent MIDI, S/PDIF digital output and more.
Also testing the Yucatan FX wavetable daughterboard sold by Serdaco!
More info can be found here:
orpheus-soundcard.eu/ - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
LGR in a nutshell: "Here's some old tech, let's see how Duke3D, Commander Keen 4, Doom, and Jill of the Jungle run with it"
Truth
But that’s why we come back here?
And yet I’ll never stop watching it
I would be doing the same as LGR.
You gotta admit there's only one place to get it that way....should be let's go retro instead of lazy game reviews.....everytime I load my computer I must put down the red bowl of chips, the mug of sodapop, and 1 napkin
Kinda enjoyed the glare. The ominous reflective image of Clint. He's always there. There is no escape...
Oh no. That reminds me...
Christmas Clint is coming. You cannot stop him. XD
Christmas?
No recourse or intervention could work in this place!
Al Clintaida
That beard from the earliest days of LGR seems to be creeping back.
The seller's website is a wall of text with an "under construction" gif at the top. Almost perfection.
If only it were hosted on Geocities...
The great thing is, you could use this website to make your soundcard order right from the 486 PC you're buying it for :) Love it.
You playing SC2000 with your face reflecting off the monitor gives a whole evil overlord vibe. ;)
Dungeon Keeper with that same glare LOL
I feel this should be on the main channel. This isn't just a blerb, it's a momentous occasion.
I suppose it's here because this is the test rather than the full review - I would expect a proper review may be on its way.
I agree this deserves to be on the main channel... fantastic sound card!
@@Lukeno52 That makes sense.
@@BrunoFonsecaPT Yeah this is so awesome for DOS emulation as well because well, now the sounds will become much more accurate for people who use DOS-box and D-Fend Reloaded. Exciting time to be alive.
I agree. I enjoyed it, but a 4 min video is a "blurb". A 40 min video is not really a "blurb". If it is than "blurb" has lost all meaning.
Honestly.. his voice is so calming, that I often use a playlist of his videos to put me to sleep. I'm not saying it's boring, because it's stuff I'm interested in from my past. It's just so non abrasive and pretty relaxing.
Just had to say, He should do those self help audio books that people sleep to.
I get you, have the same on a Friday evening watching this getting completely in a zone ready to sleep.
With Clint's beard like that, he'd fit right into a classic episode of The Computer Chronicles.
Glad to see the beard is coming back. He doesn't look right w/o one.
Oh man, what a great show! Would certainly enjoy seeing Clint react to some of his favorite moments of that one
@@TheLegoPerson Would be cool to see Clint green screen himself onto an episode and chat away about DOS. That would be epic.
Clint should steal the electronic themes of Computer Chronicles as a music bed. Bib-bib be beep be be-bip in the background would be sweet..
This is why I love more people being brought into retro computing. Those of us who missed a lot of this great hardware back in the day can still experience these great items in all of their glory with these newer productions. I wasn't aware of this card being made so thank you for covering it.
I compare it to car enthusiasts looking for spares online and at swap meets. I started fixing up an old d630 laptop (even if it isn't THAT old) and I'm having great fun trying to source the parts to max it out!
@Guy Incognito Yeah - in a way this is all wrong...
Back in the day it was a different config.sys and autoexec for each game, not one for all! For me a universal boot configuration was a holy grail.
It's 90s NOS chips though, so it's not exactly a renaissance. There's only so many of those cards you'll ever be able to make.
On one hand, it gets very talented people to learn and contribute to the community with products like this card. On the other, it could turn it into yet another TikTok trend which long term does a lot of harm to hobbies and especially equipment.
Two Orpheus videos on one day, RMC and LGR deliver as usual!
And it's not like anybody has a problem watching two of these videos end-to-end.
@@graealex Indeed not :)
@@graealex Watched them end to end??? I watched them side by side like a boss :-p ;-)
And both of them immediately went to DN3D as their first demo, haha.
I miss seeing store sections dedicated to PC speakers and sound cards. All those Altec Lansing speakers for every budget then JBLs then Creative Labs then Logitech (which still exists in Best Buy).
I still ROCK my 2.1 Altec Lansing set. They sounded fantastic for my desktop back in the day and they just keep chugging along. Everyone is shocked to find out I spent $50 on them in like 2001 with how good they sound.
@@rapids444 I still have my Creative Labs Inspire T5400 that I bought back in 2005 from CompUSA for $65. I wanted to upgrade them to the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 or get a Logitech THX set but my speakers refuse to die. Ah, the old days of buying PC peripherals
Thanks Clint - The Blerbs keep me going through lockdown.
The burps help me too :}
@@Dennis-ws7tv The Blerbs, the burps... and especially the derps. 🤦♂️
ME TOO I TYPE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE OF MY BAD EYESIGHT
I loved that movie
BEARDY CLINT IS BACK!
Or as I like to say, the Daniel Bryan Beard returns!
YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!
"This is beard!"
It’s crazy how “meaty” Jill feels like thanks to the sound effects. That thud when you jump etc.
Mmmm....Jill meat...
Fubuki Kai agreed I remember playing Jill of the jungle when I was 12 in 1996 a neighbor had the game installed on their pc it was a fun dos game 😌
I know I'm in the minority, but I always found the Jill sound FX to be a bit obnoxious. Like, it's cool for five minutes, but they start getting grating after an hour.
My mind threw that first sentence in a completely different direction... I'll see myself out...
@@jasonblalock4429agreed. My poorly configured sound blaster with no sound effects is a blessing.
This is probably the best way to mix the "talking head" shot with the stuff shown on the display. Best of both worlds. One might even say that it is an "on-screen personality"? ... *crickets* ... I'll let myself out.
A new ISA Sound Card in 2020 sounds about right to me. This is beautiful. I hope they continue to make these for a while. I'm tapped out at the moment with a new PC build and wouldn't mind upgrading my Orchid Soundwave 32 to this in my Pentium with MMX system.
This is an incredible achievement! My sincere kudos to the engineers who put this together! Also, I'm a huge sucker for a glossy finish on soldermask :)
Waiting for the next batch, can't wait to get my hands on it and install it into my 486 rig 😁
I love those old ISA slits. The first card I ever added was a ISA Sound Blaster 16 Value. I was so nervouse. But turned out great. Miss those days.
It's great that two guys could build something like this.
i really like how restrained they were in making this board. i tend to avoid putting modern parts in my vintage equipment, but this would be one of the rare parts i could reconsider if i decide to hook up one of my PCs to my main speakers (to use SPDIF and avoid noise).
The last time I tampered with an .INI file must've been 1996 and around the time the original cards were gracing the pages of magazines and Roland MT32's were kicking about!
I feel old!
Honestly the reflection made it feel like a normal LGR video, I dig it haha. Thanks for the vids dude!
A Video about the different Soundblaster Cards maybe interesting, it is totally new to me that some Chipsets Had Bugs, Like hanging Notes ...
Search youtube for Phil Computers Lab, he has nice retro sound card reviews.
It's so shiny! Can't wait for batch 3.
Fun looking in the monitor reflection sometimes 😅
I will add this to the list of things I'm never going to be able to buy :( It looks amazing! I hope in the future we can have a lot of projects like these to keep the technology of the time alive!
Ah, that Lytro box. They were doing such neat things before the closed.
Very powerfull sound card!, the Yucatan wavetable synthesis is awesome almost identical to the Sound Canvas!
I guess the card is voiced to sound good on normal computer speakers. Quite a nice idea, although maybe having a kind of "flat EQ" mode selectable in the INI file would be a good additional feature, in case you wanted to use the card with a more full-range sound system.
Saying that though, I would always prefer bass-heavy to lacking bass. You can always turn the bass down on your stereo system but if it isn't there to begin with, well, it isn't there. :-D
I got one of the first batch of 23 that went out to the public about 2 months ago and I have been more than happy with it, it replaced my SB Pro 2.0 and my PC Midi Card. I'm just using a S2 daughter board since I already have all of the MIDI equipment. The sound on this is beyond clean, none of the normal hum that you get from mid to late 90s systems is present with this card.
RMC has just covered this soundcard today. 👍
@Guy Incognito Formerly Known as retro Mann cave
I kinda enjoy to see this lovely compact PC (no pun there) being paired with this sound card.
Have seen Nostalgia Nerd's review this morning (greetings from Central Europe) and really enjoyed what I have heard especially in Duke and SC2000.
Wow the video quality is sooo good!
Great video and amazing that this card exists! Would have loved to hear ROTT with the midi music (honestly the music in that game is just amazing!)
ROTT? I feel like I should recognize that but I don't... Return of.. The something?
Two videos on the same day about the same thing. Neat!
Literally just finished watching RMC's video on this very card lol. This looks like an awesome card, fortunately I was able to pick up an AWE64 Gold card for what I thought was a pretty good price earlier in the year, otherwise this would be very tempting.
man what a classic setup good stuff man
Rockin that quarantine-beard, I dig it.
Only see a gaul person, probably from the village where Asterix lives.
Your Duke voice has gotten to the point where I genuinely thought he'd said "MOUSE PAD" on the game audio. Good work.
I appreciate the look of this thing. Looks legit.
Fancy white/black PCB's look very modern and are neat too but this is a 90s soundcard and 90s soundcards were green.
Hearing those MIDI examples makes me want to hear two other games with professional MIDI music on it: Wacky Wheels and Transport Tycoon Deluxe.
Great minds clearly think alike with you and RMC Neil covering this card at the same time!
More that we both received review units from the same folks, but yes :)
this is my second review of this today now i want 3 of them
I'm still a proud owner of a Vipermax Ultrasound.
Has Sounblaster/Adlib + Gravis Ultrasound support, the perfect DOS soundcard for me.
Was the first card I bought my self and I'll never give it away.
Wow ... as the guy who's doing the re-issue of the ARGUS your intro is just amazing.
Clint, give this the review it deserves on LGR
I'm not personally into retro-hardware but, after watching your unboxing, I want one!
After using an awe64g I never looked back on FM sounds so best be using that wavetable for those way better sound font/banks.
never heard about Xargon .. but triggers some fine dune/blackthorne memories... i'll definitely check it out
Thanks to GOG and Steam was able to snag those titles I see in your videos. Especially since the Epic Megagames Compilation CD I scored and few games like Epic Pinball ended up being shareware and not full game. Interesting sound card.
I think it is so cool that people are creating new hardware like this for vintage machines and my hats off to them for such an accomplishment. Yet another thing I would love to own and try out, but at the price of $160 USD I would never be able to justify purchasing it. I realize it must have cost a lot to have something like this created without being a Creative Labs....but man is that pricey for some DOS sound. At least it is to me.
Ordered one for me, the next batch will be available in early/mid 2021 (hopefully, fingers crossed)
It's a really cool project and kudos to the creators for making this in 2020. Personally, I've always avoided any card with a crystal chip on it. I'm more a fan of ESS or Aztech when it comes to SB clones.
It's like someone added a compressor to those Yucatan 808 drums. I've always enjoyed a thick low end though so it isn't a big deal for me if not preferable!
One thing I find interesting is the ISA edge connector. Usually the contracts are squared off, but these are little round blobs. The PCB edge doesn't look like it's milled down either, or at least not much.
Great Scott! The Orpheus is from the FUTURE! The year - 2021!
The yucatan will be configured for general listening, whilst the SC55 is meant for studio work and thus needs a flatter response. I can understand why they sound different, and IMO no one should really be complaining about it. The SC55 was never made to be a computer soundcard.
True that! I really like the way the Yucatan sounds on old computer speakers, even if the balance of certain voices differs.
@@LGRBlerbs The balance is certainly an issue, but hopefully that's just a software (firmware?) issue. The card overall is still super impressive all things considered.
Pretty interesting, I think I'll keep an eye on it to see if some of the issues are fixed.
Just saw RMC do this. It looks like it work getting a few of these for any retro hardware collectors.
17:43 shooting a fire extinguisher with a shotgun doesn't apply explosive damage to you. Fixed in modern ports, but still an issue in old DOS versions.
It's a good price-- if my DOS machine weren't already stacked up with audio cards, I'd happily spend the money on this one. I spent 125 for the intelligent mode MIDI controller on its own! If I didn't have that, yeah. I'd definitely pre-order one of these. Pretty awesome project! It's a dream DOS card.
Duke Nukem 3D on the Sound Canvas emulation reminded me of the ultimate soundcard of the day that I had:- The Gravis Ultrasound. 😎 The Ultrasound was an absolutely amazing sounding soundcard. It was such a shame that it did not get the support it deserved.
Used Nichicon Fine Gold capacitors, nice quality parts!
The AWE64 Gold had SPDIF out on a bracket that connects to the sound card. Got that card myself and only paid $50 for it (CIB) back in 2019.
Many Soundblaster and AWE32 ISA cards had a S/PDIF out, but it was on a pair of pins on the board, meaning You had to make a lead terminating at a phono or EBU/XLR socket. The output mirrored the analogue outs.
I'm a simple man. Any LGR video where he uses his Duke voice is a win for me.
Love Your work!!! From 🇳🇿
I'm watching from there too
The graphics on that 486 are so life like!
(Its a reflection)
that muffled sound is the butters worth software low pass filter taking in place for Sound Blaster PCM.
I like how you're growing out your beard Clint looks great on you
I rather enjoyed being able to watch you speak in the reflection - was very engaging.
That has got to be the shiniest ISA card I've ever seen.
I initially thought you were going to put it in the 486SBC.
He still should
@@lucyinchat I agree. I can understand putting it in the Compaq 425, though.
I didn't understand 95% of what you said, but I enjoyed hearing the various beeps and boops 😊
This, to me, looks like a modern production version of the Turtle Beach Malibu Surround 64. I had one (and a RAP-10 and an SW-60XG) in the late 90s, it had the same CS4237B chipset, though no real OPL3 chip, and a 4MB (compressed into 2MB) Kurzweil MIDI ROM onboard. It was awesome for DOS gaming. This card looks like a very good option.
De ja vu, just watched same card review at retro mancave channel, same games😀 nice card and review, thanks
Great video LGR!
Amazing as always
Looking forward to Christmas LGR on Friday.
It's kind of weird but I really like those stamps! The "Hellas Flamingo" stamp is weirdly appealing!
I've been watching this project and I want one a lot. It's a cool $300AUD landed here (with the PCMIDI option) - so it's not a light decision. That said, original intelligent mode cards would cost me anywhere from $500 to $1000, which puts the Orpheus and its mass of features in perspective. It can even run two separate MIDI addresses. From Marmes on VOGONS:
"For example you can have 330 on PC midi and 300 on Crystal MPU ... you can route PCMIDI (330) to WT and Jack connector and for DB15 connector you can use Crystal MPU (300). It's selectable by jumper."
Awesome flexibility.
Those are Nichicon Fine Gold caps, the same ones I put in multi-thousand-dollar vintage audio gear.
Really want to pick one of these up for my 486 build. I already have a ct1740 but the digital out and lack of and pop/crackle has me really interested
The return of Epic Clint
I ended up ordering this for a retro build I have. I previously had an AWE64 Gold in it, but the Orpheos paired with the DreamBlaster X2GS is just too good a combo to pass up.
also back in the day ... we didn't know how crisp highs did really sound like .. so nostalgia memory warp is a possible factor. Also the card may be tuned for modern speakers ( in theory )
Wow! Thanks for the information!
I want to record DOS Ad-Lib game music with this card via S/PDIF if I can!!
If they make a PCI version or PcIe or whatever I'll buy one. For sure. Sounds so good even over YT you can tell the capture is fantastic.
It's unlikely that they will. But if you want a PCI card with OPL3 and excellent MIDI onboard, look for something YMF744 based like the excellent AOpen AW744L II.
I think theres ISA to USB adapters. No idea if they're any good or not tho. Should be something LGR should test!
The glorious sound of MIDI.
I'm so happy to see the S/PDIF is coaxial not optical. :)
WSS would have been good to try in Tyrian2k!
I did but cut that section out of the video since it didn't work. Turns out I needed to adjust some settings :)
That Yucatan FX seems particularly tempting. I'm guessing you can just plug that into the wavetable header on any Sound Blaster that sports one, and it'll work just fine, will it?
Correct!
@@LGRBlerbs Alright, nice. Very handy to know if I end up building a Win98 machine in the future, 'cause I dunno if I'll be going with a motherboard that has ISA slots. (Of course, if there's a PCI version of this Orpheus card in the works, then that would be an absolute no-brainer for me.)
Just keep in mind that the notorious hanging note bug on many SB16, 32 and AWE32 cards also affects the wavetable header. This isn't an issue on any PCI cards, but for DOS games it's highly recommended to stick to ISA for best compatibility.
LOL. "Reptiles Paradise" on that wavetable card. Hilarious.
I had a Turtle Beach Maui sound card back in the day. Man did it sound good. You could add RAM to it and get some *amazing* samples in the wavetable. *HUGE* samples that sounded like CD quality. It was amazing.
The card looks great and with intelligent MPU worth it! However as you stated the crystal chips are not my favourite.
Sound Blaster Pro 8 or xx all the way! LOL Never liked the integrated sound when that was an option in the day. Now it is just not an issue. Emulators do very well today for running old dos games. :)
that Yucatan sounds really good, it's a bit bassier but it sounds kind of awesome in duke3d. I still prefer the brighter sound of the sc-55 but only barely
This was awesome!!
Sounds like sample truncation. That can be caused by mismatched sample rate, or simply a driver bug where the sample length is wrong. Maybe the buffer size is configured wrong. Basically, a sound is abruptly ended early, which can make some samples 'pop', leading to that crunchy sound.
Saw this on RMC earlier today
I didn't because I don't watch Retro Man Cave, or "RMC - The Cave" which he changed his name to... for some reason.
@@RWL2012 the first comments there were about LGR so there are many people who watch both
I don't have descent on my dos pc...... I have atleast put duke 3d, thanks to clint always talking about it, and demonstrating it. Not that big of fan of fps, but im enjoing it!!)) Thanks clint lgr)) btw interesting to see speed difference on his 100 hz 486, and my pentium 90, seems my pentium is indeed faster, perhaps not that suprising but interesting to compare) keep up with awesome videos LGR) btw i got a soundblaster 16, had this system for almost 2 years now, despite some mistakes i did when buying parts on ebay, not realizing before they came, and causing some problems. The soundblaster 16 is awesome for all games i wanted to play, and is randomly testing. So i have no interest in this soundcard, but if i did not have a working sb16, i probably would buy this card. U did not mention in video, but buying almost 30 years old cards on ebay..... yeah.... seems i had luck with my sb16, but again if i did not already have it, I woild probably buy this instead)