LGR - AdLib Sound Card - Part 1: Unboxing, History, & Installing

Ever wonder about the first PC sound card standard? Or maybe you have fond memories. Check out this video of the history, unboxing and installation of the original Ad Lib Music Synthesizer Card! Dinky IBM PC speakers still cringe and cower in fear of the mighty YM3812 FM chip.
Be sure and check out part 2 for examples of the AdLib card in action, using the original vintage hardware captured via line-in. It's some awesome.
And yes, I said "greetings greetings" at the start of the video. That's what I get for rushing a video even more than usual! :D
The background music in the first half of the vid is "Power Grid" and "Nightlife" from the SimCity 3000 soundtrack.

[@LGR]

Alexander Brandon Okay, the fact that you're commenting here is blowing me away, haha. You're one of my computer game composing heroes along with Bobby Prince, and Tyrian remains one of my favorite soundtracks ever. I actually was just going on about your awesome music in my Jazz Jackrabbit 2 review recently! So thank you for many years of earworms and amazing tracker tunes :D But anyway, the music in the background is from Jerry Martin's excellent soundtrack to SimCity 3000!

[@AlexCBrandon]

Oh yeah! I might have checked the comments lol :) And after reading my post, it really is a bit cheeky (there were some amazing Ad Lib scores, and Tyrian was admittedly pretty good but perhaps not THE most well known... eh I dunno it's fairly popular in that generation, gotta admit... I love Centurion, if you haven't checked that one out, definitely do that). Thanks for the compliments and kudos on Jazz 2. I'll go look at SimCity 3000, as that music is really nice. Keep up the great videos sir! I owe you a shout out or two for representing old school...

[@TheRetroRaven]

Perhaps time to redo this as a Tech Tale episode? including how Creative allegedly postponed the release of the Adlib Gold , so they could release the SB 16 and dominate the market? :)

[@AlexCBrandon]

Okay so first, this is a great retrospective. Thanks for doing it. Second, I wrote many tunes on the Ad Lib and Tyrian was perhaps the most well known game to use Ad Lib tunes, super powered by the Loudness sound system which really tweaked the OPL chip to its max potential. I only have one question: that's cool music you're playing in the background, what is it? :)

[@TheOnlyToblin]

It's the Simcity 3000 soundtrack. :) Thanks for all your amazing tunes through the years!

[@tomwelsh3530]

Your music was UNREAL

[@alexanderalfonsson5874]

The Channel sure has come a long way. This is still great but compared to the videos you make today, wow! I mean it's like this was shot in VHS, oh right.

[@LGR]

@Chaniyth Absolutely! The SNES just sounds "canned" so often, but with FM the potential is virtually limitless. Unfortunately, so many audio designers took the easy way out with FM synthesis, and in turn many people were turned off to it before long. And then some just hate the sound of FM, but I can't for the life of me understand it.

[@LGR]

@MrWhatman2010 I'd like HD as well, but there are two reasons why that wouldn't have happened for this video anyways: I don't have an HD camera, for one. Two, this wasn't an in-depth instructional video so I didn't feel I should have to show the most basic of DOS commands, otherwise I'd have zoomed the camera in or focused the picture a bit more.

[@Jimvenice2008]

Back in the day it wasn't graphics cards... it was sound cards. I remember being so enamoured with sound cards and it really made the game's immersion better.

[@AlyxxTheRat]

I'm so happy I'm getting AdLib sound effects and music for the game I'm working on. Really gonna help with the oldschool feel together with the EGA graphics. I'm a huge fan of the AdLib sound and how integral it was to old DOS games.

[@LGR]

Still looking forward to checking it out!

[@AlyxxTheRat]

Lazy Game Reviews Awesome :) I'm gonna let you know as soon as a demo is availabe!

[@Yukatoshi]

@@AlyxxTheRat Did this ever happen?

[@AlyxxTheRat]

YES! I am still working on it! And making a lot of AdLib music and sound effects for it! You can check out more at nukedprotons.blogspot.no Join my discord if you are interested in testing the game.

[@nikoladd]

My first sound card was something "AdLib 2 compatible" OPL2/3 card with PC speaker passthrough. That thing when supported by games was lots of fun. And by supported I mean nearly all games did support it for music, which was good but some actually did sound effects on the FM synthesizer too, which was AWESOME! As it was mono I didn't even bother adding external speakers. I got this thing in 1993 for like $30. Another notable thing was I found some mod tracker player that could use the FM synthesizer and it sounded great.

[@chrismorrow3526]

Wow! This nostalgic awesomeness on a deep child memory! I haven't heard or seen that jukebox demo well since early nineties. You are doing a great service to keeping the early evolution of gaming music alive. Thanks so much or sharing this with us. I like it aloooot!

[@PeTTs0n88]

I absolutely love the small taste of bitterness everyone that has ever owned an AdLib felt when SoundBlaster came in and just took over the scene. I shed tears of nostalgia for a lot of your videos, I must say - the unboxing of an original AdLib being one of the best. Additionally; it's generally easy to spot if an ISA slot is 8bit or 16bit - the 16bit slot has another set of connectors. (The ones unused by the 8bit AdLib card in the slot shown on your 386 rig.)

[@stimpy023]

Greetings! I do remember playing Loom with the adlib on my IBM 5160 XT. In fact Loom may have been the reason, why I bought the card.. This must've been around 1990, aged 12.. Soundblasters already existed and so did 80486 processors, but I just got the old XT from my "rich" uncle and had to stick with it for several more years.. And now for something completely different: YOUR CHANNEL IS FREAKING AWESOME! Thank you so very much for this! Your "Tech Tales" I enjoy most, but it's also strangely soothing watching you talk about my childhoods hard- and software...

[@LGR]

@justincgs Not sure what you're referring to, but the game ports I was talking about are for DB-15 PC joysticks, no conversions needed. And yes, also for MIDI on sound cards like the SB. But joysticks have always been the primary use for me, both on sound cards and standalone game port cards.

[@G9King]

I liked somehow the fact that you were making the video as you were unwrapping the whole thing. Makes me feel like we are actually joining in this whole thing. I like MIDI myself because it's so precise that you can hear every little exact detail. Aaaand... nice music for the video. Very classy and fitting.

[@dorpth]

Oh wow. I remember that box art. Electroniques Boutique was still selling original Ad-Libs on the shelf even in late 1991.

[@warre1]

Mysteries of KZbin recommendations. Recommend this to me now. My first sound card was that Sound Blaster 2.0

[@lordofkarnage097]

I'm watching this 7 years later.

[@bedlamnfse]

im watching this a year after you watched it ;-)

[@Yukatoshi]

@@bedlamnfse Me too! :P

[@speckd8465]

II II im watching this 9 years later

[@lordofkarnage097]

Watching it again, after a couple more years. Forgot this comment even exsisted.

[@Devire666]

@@lordofkarnage097 Heh, I wanted to write something like "Ha, try watching the video 10 years after it was released!" But apparently you did :)

[@eddiehimself]

Clint, much like a fine wine, you have just become more handsome with age.

[@retromobs6018]

This channel has come a long way. Good job bud!

[@LGR]

@leidenKA Look through the comments, or read the video description.

[@johneygd]

For what i do know DOOM also supported the adlib soundcard for music, but since the. Adlib sound does NOT support PCM sound, it has to simulate pcm sound by using clever trickery software,but the adlib 1000 gold dit support -12bit pcm sound, Pcm sound could even be faked on a pc speaker by again using clevery software tricks. Either wat, fm sound can be dound like warm.

[@coolaid5272]

who remembers cubic-player.... I used to play mp3's on pc-speaker...

[@MightyNostromo]

WOW! This really took me back to my youth. I remember the sheer excitement the first time I heard decent audio coming from my 286 12mhz Northgate AT computer. The influence of this primitive sound card on the IBM compatible gaming scene cannot be understated. Great video, thanks!

[@Akselmoi]

Heh, I remember as a kid my parents had gotten this old Acer PC for me that only had MS-DOS and a few games, like Stunts, Hard day of a Knight and Lotus 3 I think. Anyway, the Lotus game had all these AdLib, Soundblaster and other sound settings and I loved to switch between them and see how different the music got. I had no idea what I was doing though, so it's nice to learn the history and what that AdLib thing even was. I've probably said this in your other videos and I'll say it again: Thanks for making these videos, I'm learning a lot from them! PS. I wish I still had that old PC but my parents threw it away. :( I even installed Win 3.1 on it when I found disks for it, and that computer was basically like my baby, lol.

[@juancho420]

This was my first sound card. What a huge difference it made!

[@WhiskeyRichard.]

The frequent use of retro music, like SC3K music, is always an added bonus when watching your vids

[@JoeBee9]

What's funny is I never really liked how a lot of music sounded through the Adlib in many cases but now those same songs sound incredible. I wonder if modern sound hardware is what REALLY breathes new life into Adlib music/midis whereas before it was dampened by background hissing and other distortions due to old technology. Even recordings from actual Adlib cards (such as what is heard in this video series) are GREATLY improved from what I remember.

[@xargos]

Man, this brings back memories. I remember making the leap from the PC speaker to the Adlib. I also remember the "Gold Rush" sticker on the box and wishing that I had one of their Gold model cards. Too bad the company failed.

[@LGR]

@GeorgesVI AdLib was founded by Martin Prevel, former professor of music and vice-dean of the music dept at the Université Laval in Quebec City, QC, Canada. The card engineers worked at Lyrtech, and they are also in Quebec City. So it's pretty Canadian, from my point of view!

[@therealjackfisher]

woo hoo .. my first sound card! and the second! adlib sound blaster. Now you done it, i wanna go back in time be a kid and play on my old PC. And I want to play Golden Axe! Commander Keen, Duke Nukem. Elite, Wing Commander.. Ahh these were fun times.

[@LGR]

@shorty1k Yeah, that seemed to happen somewhat often back then due to cloning, to varying degrees. Compaq eating into IBM PC sales, Tandy overtaking PCjr standards, Microsoft Windows gaining traction over the Mac and GEM, Creative and others killing AdLib, and on and on.

[@LGR]

@grayfox106 They let you play games. Used for connecting joysticks, steering wheels, etc.

[@simplepython123]

I’m here 10 years later (!)

[@LGR]

@justincgs Note that I'm the kind of person who buys vintage things sealed and often unwraps them to enjoy them to their fullest. Thanks for the concern, but I'm not looking to resell these things, just to have fun with them while they still work!

[@FloppyFormatFrenzy]

I like how simple the card looks in it's construction. It's one thing that always made me admire the early Apple computers that used fewer components and did equal if not more than their competitors.

[@LGR]

@svenneri I don't know, 35 or so if I had to guess. Monitors: maybe a dozen. And yes, it looks quite similar, but really so does any jukebox if you think about it ;)

[@RichiesGranpa]

Continue what you do sir. Please! This is something on the internet that doesn't suck.

[@markklem]

Wow, this really brings back some memories! Great job on the video!

[@LGR]

@hitachi088 $39+20 shipping. Ridiculously good deal, I thought, one of the better eBay deals in a while for me.

[@fountaincap]

For those of you who want to be DOS hipsters and rock out to the Ad Lib Juke Box like LGR, it's still available here, along with lots of other Ad Lib software and music: queststudios.com/smf/index.php?topic=2885.0

[@LGR]

@1337Shockwav3 6.35mm maybe? That would make sense as the MT-32 had those as well, from what I know.

[@LGR]

@NOOBNUT08 Great device. Not nearly as common as the AdLib and it's not included in the scope of this video.

[@LGR]

@fortifythamind You should be able to, yes. Sound Blasters for the longest time had the AdLib chip on-board, or some version of it, so AdLib stuff works just fine on most earlier Sound Blasters.

[@LGR]

@pWnaniX Can't, KZbin has denied me repeatedly. They don't allow my kind, apparently (the kind that shows video games)

[@LGR]

It only does OPL2-compatible FM synthesis. So nope. You'd need something like a Sound Blaster or AdLib Gold to get digital audio and FM on one card.

[@TheLORDMJ]

Awesome, you should do more off these videos, maybe with some other PC hardware. Can't wait too see the part 2.

[@LGR]

I have plenty of old MS-DOS floppies around so I use those personally, although FreeDOS is a great alternative. Even Windows 95 isn't bad, depending on what all you want to do with the system.

[@glufke]

WOW. this was 10 years ago...

[@LGR]

@yushatak I do hope to get an XT or AT at some point to install the thing in, since I have my SB2.0 for my 286 and SB16 cards for later machines. My 5150 is just too limited to merit a sound card, so an XT or AT seems like the way to go for the AdLib. I'm also curious to see if there are any compatibility differences, I have so many things I have yet to try! You'll see more in the future, for sure.

[@LGR]

Yup, as long as you have the program to do it. Doesn't play extended MIDI though.

[@LGR]

@matthewh16 "Nightlife" from the SimCity 3000 soundtrack.

[@LGR]

@physalis17 It does make for lovely "mood music"!

[@LGR]

Most common brand? Probably Gateway or Compaq. Maybe IBM, depending on where you source the computer from. But there were countless clone PCs from smaller makers as well, brands normally aren't a huge deal with PCs, it's the insides that count.

[@Meton12765]

Whatta hell? You actually started youtubing with a video casette camrecorder. You're insane. Even by 2010 standards. :D

[@override7486]

What's so surprising? Most obvious thing to get some video footage. Known and used by everyone's using them before Solid State era. Analog or digital formats... Although VHS-C was pretty archaic in 2010, as even miniDV was in decline back then. Which was superior to VHS-c...

[@vwestlife]

You should try to track down an OmniLabs "AudioMaster" card. It was a full length ISA card, and I believe it was the first ever PC sound card with wavetable MIDI. It had an on-board Motorola 68008 CPU and 384K of RAM to store the wavetable samples. It also was available with an add-on "AdLib compatible" OPL2 daughterboard.

[@svtcontour]

Awesome! I never had something that old. My oldest soundcard which I remember purchasing is my old Gravis Ultrasound which I still have :)

[@corpsegrinder88]

all i have to say is alone in the dark 1 and 2 god fucking love how they're written i always come back to them

[@michaelblair5566]

I used to have one of these. In my 286-12 PC AT Clone running DOS 5.0

[@LGR]

@pWnaniX They're a partner, but they also have money and likely a legal team! If you're just a small-time individualize you really don't stand much of a chance using game footage unless you have express written permission from each game publisher. And that's not going to happen.

[@RetroGamerVX]

Wow, that 386 now has mega drive quality sound!! lol Nice to see the old boards again :o)

[@LGR]

@svtcontour Lucky! The GUS is up there with the MT-32 as far as most-wanted PC sound devices. They really can't properly be emulated, IMHO.

[@GiovanniEsposito5]

The adlib test sound!! I loved that! Almost crying now thinging at the first time I installed and listen to it.... sooo long ago.... I remember playing DUNE all the weekend.sigh.....

[@ZImpresive]

Nice to know how far sound technology has come. Now we just take it for granted, well at least the Kids do.

[@LGR]

@FastFoodies No problem! I remember clearly the bees demo from the Diamond MX300 MonsterSound card, they had displays at Sam's Club and MAN I was lusting hard!

[@arupian666]

There were some great wars back in the day... Soundblaster vs Ad-Lib... Power VR vs 3DFx...

[@NightSprinter]

From what I've played with (as I've a Yamaha PSS-680 keyboard that has a built-in OPL2), the Adlib and later OPL3 used in many contemporary ISA sound cards were far more powerful than what was used in most arcade machines and the Sega Genesis. Part of the reason was from the fact the OPL series had more waveforms than sine, and also had some AM synthesis capability. If I can learn how to make sounds and string some notes together, it would be sweet to hear what it can REALLY do.

[@SatelliteExile]

that feel at 5:16 when the sim city music kicks in...sweet sweet sweet nostalgia

[@Elburion]

I never knew much about adlib cards, i just knew that if I always selected it as the music hardware for my dos games it worked and i had to fool around with the different settings for soundcards and irc channels to get the sound effects to work.

[@LGR]

@cacaaleau It's the same brand anyway: mine's an x223w

[@WafersOfSiliconJoy]

2020, still watching!!!

[@hobocamptheater]

I'm so happy for this video because I learned so much also it reminded me about the ad-lib mode on most of my dos games that I was trying to run. it wasn't being co-operative when I said that I was using a sound blaster compatible but this reminded me of the adlib mode that made all the games work with sound. no PC speaker mode, I actually got sound, and no "invalid sound card" message keeping me from starting.

[@rudyvalentin1789]

My second Sound card

[@physalis17]

I like the test music. very relaxing and really good output for mono.

[@groovefiend25]

every time i look in my Subscriptions box, and i see a new video by phreakindee, i get so happy

[@Mikeywil0003]

The best AdLib thing to hear was the Apogee fanfare. It was then that you knew something awesome was about to begin.

[@LGR]

@lettmons "Power Grid" and "Nightlife" from the SimCity 3000 soundtrack

[@mcFreaki]

completely agree on FM chiptunes. a good Megadrive chiptune sounds better than anything the SNES could do. unfortunately, it was easier to make the SNES sound better so overall the SNES has better music, but when used right, the megadrive's soundchip is fucking amazing.

[@xargos]

Man, I'm going to have to dig. I think I still have a boxed Adlib sitting around somewhere. I regretted not having my first one. I also noticed the promo sticker for the Adlib Gold on your box. Gotta find one of them!

[@someperson42]

I have a crappy (as far as documentation and drivers, not functionality) Ad Lib clone (Aztech Labs Sound Galaxy 16 Washington), and when I saw this I just had to find the Ad Lib Jukebox, which nicely works with my card. This is pure awesomeness!

[@LGR]

@FastFoodies Sounds just like the Aureal 3D Vortex "Bees" demo, it was the ultimate 3D sound card for a while from 97-99 or so.

[@TheOldNet]

I just received a Resound 2 OPL3 Adlib clone in the mail today! I installed it in my Epson Equity II XT!

[@LGR]

The only OS I plan on covering in some way is IBM OS/2.

[@LGR]

@shinobizach89 Agreed 110%

[@Lachlant1984]

I've never actually used an Ad Lib card before, but I've read about it on Wikipedia, it was good for the first few years it was around, but of course when the Sound Blaster came out with digitized sound that was just about the end of Ad Lib. I believe they had an Ad Lib Gold card in the works, but I'm not sure if that even came out in the end. I'm both surprised and not surprised they didn't include a set of speakers for the card.

[@calumward7848]

I am only 14 and i LOVE OLD FRICKING stuff like the adlib since i can't get a adlib i got a sb pro 2 ct1600 i got a lot of pc's and most of them are 286 , 386 or 486 computer's my favourite is my dell 210 but anyway nice job on the videos they are awsome:D

[@JoeBee9]

I remember the very first time I heard this sound card. My brother put one in his machine and fired up X-Wing and I was amazed hearing an actual music and sound effects rather than crude beeps. The PC speaker sucks!

[@theseob]

My first sound card was a ablib compatible 8bit isa clone. Would love to have that card again.

[@Blurredman]

That test music is beautiful :O

[@manuelink64]

dude please, be more gently with this epic stuff!!! great video and many great memories!!!

[@derek8564]

AWESOME LGR WAYBACK PLAYBACK ! :)

[@Zelgadis020]

I have just one word: Awesome!

[@offperception]

I too, love FM synthesis. Unfortunately, I've never been able to get my hands on a genuine Adlib. I only have the german Rainbow Arts variant. Same chip as far as I know. Love your feature on the Adlib. There is suprisingly little about this soundcard on the internet.

[@FezTheSpaceBiker]

I saw and an old Sound Blaster sound card in a thrift store, still mint in the box. It was packaged with Lemmings and other software.

[@JoeBee9]

That and an extreme over-use of what is supposed to resemble an electric guitar (which sounds grating to me). However, songs like "Green Hill Zone" from Sonic the Hedgehog really shows how pleasant that chip's output can be. The Lemmings soundtrack on the PC is very well done in it too.

[@Blurredman]

The test music is damn cool and relaxing. I love it!

[@rightfulcop]

I had ooooooone! Upgrading from the PC Speaker was like taking a rock out of your shoe, the gaming experience was boosted dramatically! I loved the music especially, the sound effects were better on Sound Blaster Pro which my parents could never afford.Oh and AdLib had no joystick ports heh

[@DouglasRRenoVideoGameReviews]

I love your profile picture. I tried to clean the fly off of my display and was wondering why it wouldn't go away. I need to sleep more.

[@rightfulcop]

Yeah, sorry for trolling your display, didn't mean any harm. Glad to hear it looks pretty convincing though!

[@markklem]

The rock from the shoe analogy is perfect!

[@metabog]

Phreakindee, you should do a video on Adlib Tracker 2, or any Adlib Tracker for composing music for adlib. Would be really interesting to show people how it's done.

[@cameronblaze92]

Wow what an amazing sound I was very surprised to hear it sound like that

[@NOOBNUT08]

That sound card was epic! At the time.

[@sdaonline]

it's got a great tone to it... i want to track one down now too!

[@LGR]

@rejectofsoul24 Why yes, ain't it purdy?

[@vap0rtranz]

Watching 13 years later because ... nobody does it like LGR :P