Sound Blaster: How the PC got its voice

In this segment of Retro Reverie we revisit the age of bleeps and bloops and watch PC sound evolve into the seamless technology that it is today.
Consider contributing to my Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/jdmauthor
Write up of this video essay: jamesdmillsauthor.wixsite.com...
References:
nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2...
www.pcmag.com/news/when-sound...
tubetime.us/index.php/2019/01...
tubetime.us/index.php/2019/01...
hackaday.com/tag/opl2/
www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/sb_s...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creativ...
tedium.co/2018/05/10/sound-bl...
www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-d...
Video Examples:
King's Quest: • King's Quest: Quest fo...
Impossible Mission: • C64 Longplay - Impossi...
Dungeon Master: • Retro Games - Dungeon ...
King's Quest 4: • AdLib vs. Roland MT-32...
Game Blaster Demo: • Creative Music System/...
Orpheus II/OPL 3: • Orpheus II: The Best R...
AE9 Demonstration: • AMAZING PC AUDIO SET U...

[@ecdhe]

The Sound Blaster was my first sound card on my first compatible PC, and adding the Korg extension board just blew my mind. However, the sound chip is now part of a motherboard these days. So what was a cool add-on is now a commodity.

[@lapean111]

I love when the nerdiness of something lines right up with the nerdiness I am looking for. Keep it up!

[@marcelofrau8818]

I still remember having such good days with an Creative Sound Blaster 16.. then I upgraded to a Sound Blaster AWE32.. It was so nice.. not to mention those CDROM kits they were selling back then loaded with a lot of fun games. I miss this. RIP Sim Wong Hoo. those were very good old days..

[@zedamex]

I remember when EAX was all the rage but then the next windows release stopped it in its tracks due to how the card interfaced as a whole. Windows own audio layer kinda broke it.

[@c0wg0d]

Well made video! I am still rocking an X-Fi Titanium. One of the biggest issues with Creative was always their driver support. Their software has also traditionally been pretty garbage since the Windows Vista days. I see they have a new software suite now that may be better, not really sure. I think one of the biggest changes in the PC gaming space is that everyone uses either 2 channel "studio" speakers or headphones. Nobody is setting up surround sound anymore, which is a real shame. I still use and love my Logitech Z-5500 5.1 speaker setup.

[@puffthecatpuff8931]

If it wasn't for integrated audio, our first PC with audio wouldn't have had audio. My Dad didn't want to buy an extra card.

[@TonimanGalvez]

It is a shame, Sound Blaster Pro and the other FM Sound Blasters could not use the sample capability for music instruments like Megadrive does, because the use of Midi format. They needed a special format for that.

[@Supernerdland]

Great job mate! Concise but detailed history here. Keep this up for sure! I remember in the day getting my first Soundblaster card and upgrading from the awful late 90s onboard audio I was working from. Forget what exact model it was but it was swank for me at the time and such an upgrade. Now I am rocking a Sound BlasterX G6 external DAC/Amp and it does lovely for its pricepoint.

[@Dezzasheep]

Sound blasters went to silicone heaven, along with all the calculators.

[@Retro.Reverie]

Heaven has a hell of deal on Texas Instruments preloaded with DOOM

[@Geardos1]

soundblaster live was cool, in windows 98 you could install hacked drivers to give it much of the abilities of some EMU professional audio cards, that were based on similar hardware. Gave a sweet software mixer setup with accelerated realtime effects.

[@antonharmacinski276]

This was literally my childhood. Having a joystick/pad port was game changing as a kid. It was like the next level. It's so weird to me now how WADS and mouse are so popular when back when I was a kid all you wanted to do was use a joystick so it was more like the arcade experience. The evolution of tech and the way it's used and adopted over the years has been so interesting and amazing.

[@Retro.Reverie]

I have never been able to use one but I yearn to play a flight /space sim with a thrustmaster. I’ve had my eye on the old Xwing and Tie Fighter games since LGR did a video on them like 10 years ago

[@antonharmacinski276]

@@Retro.Reverie FTR I have the Turtle Beach Velocity 1 stick now and I should have went with the trusty Thrustmaster ;)

[@Uhfgood]

I often wonder where are the joysticks today? You can get a flight stick for flight sims, but I don't need any sim-accurate device, I just need a stick with some buttons.

[@XXB4XX]

You got a new sub my dude.

[@MJ-mk8jg]

Great video, much appreciated

[@herbertpocket8855]

Great video!

[@JFD62780]

Funny thing; I just bought a Sound Blaster Katana V2X soundbar, for the simple reason of my current monitor, the Sony Inzone M9, having speakers weaker than the typical smartphone speakers of today! What happened to the Sound Blaster? In my case, it grew out of the PC into the Real World! :p

[@Uhfgood]

Didn't know they were still around. I don't need much nowadays, since I don't tend to play games as much, and I don't have much reason for outputting to speakers any way.

[@Retro.Reverie]

That’s fair. Really the only use is for audiophiles and musicians imo. I do think the interface included with the upper offerings is real clever, much more affordable than similar pro audio gear

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

Kings Quest's IBM PC Speaker music is NOT digitized.

[@Retro.Reverie]

What is the correct term for it?

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

@@Retro.Reverie Kings Quest's pc speaker music is using the Intel PIT's square-wave mode (mode 3). But there are pc speaker games that are truly digitized: 1. Superman: The Man of Steel makes Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) music on IBM PC Speaker: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3q0fn-ha9V0rpo 2. Grand Monster Slam makes Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) music on IBM PC Speaker: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d3O9nZ2Ng8-rd7c

[@Retro.Reverie]

Thanks for letting me know and for the examples. That is a huge difference. In the future I will scrutinize my sources more thoroughly.

[@JasperTedVidalTale]

@@Retro.Reverie You're welcome

[@summerlaverdure]

> "the sound of the OPL chips is so iconic, that modern clone cards are still being made to this day to properly capture the sound of the 90's " > proceeds to a clip of tracker music that takes absolutely *NO* advantage or utilization of the OPL chips ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Retro.Reverie]

Mistakes happen I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@summerlaverdure]

@@Retro.Reverie I guess you didn't really grow up with this stuff and you're just going off your own research to get into the retro trend, it's all good 👍

[@Retro.Reverie]

That’s exactly the case, I’ve gotten a few things wrong in this video. I’m thinking of getting a beta viewer list going to pre view so they can let me know if there are details I missed.