Comparing PicoGUS to a Sound Blaster 16 CT2940

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AnyBit Fever Dreams

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Published on March 14, 2023 1:30:37 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZBfcRkjozQ

Duration: 15:41

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NEW EDIT on August 2nd 2023:
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While it may seem that Second Reality tunes show a pitch difference between the PicoGUS (too high pitched) and the SB16 (lower pitched in comparison), @ianpolpo showed how there is virtually no difference between a PicoGUS and a real Gravis UltraSound:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJcPF2gYWE4

Meaning, the PicoGUS is fine and only the Sound Blaster render of Second Reality is *wrong* by being too low pitched!
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I ordered the parts (PCB + electronic components) and self-assembled this PicoGUS project, which emulates primarly a Gravis UltraSound card through the usage of a rp2040 (pi pico).

Project page: https://github.com/polpo/picogus
At the time of the recordings, I used the project v0.6.1 firmware released in February 2023

Gear used on the retro side:
486 IBM 425SX/S upgraded to DX2/66 and 32 MB RAM
MS-DOS 6.22
Sound Blaster 16 CT2940
PicoGUS

Gear used on the modern side:
Plugable USB Audio Adapter
VGA to HDMI adapter from TAIPOXUN (not the best, but at least it gives something in all MS-DOS resolutions)
Besign Ground Loop Noise Isolator

00:00 [SB16] Second Reality Part 3 start
00:33 [PicoGUS] Second Reality Part 3 start
01:03 [SB16] Second Reality Part 3 end
01:44 [PicoGUS]Second Reality Part 3 end
02:11 [SB16]One Must Fall 2097
03:11 [PicoGUS]One Must Fall 2097
04:12 [SB16]Star Control II Ur-Quan
04:57 [PicoGUS]Star Control II Ur-Quan
05:50 [SB16]Star Control II Terran starbase
06:57 [PicoGUS]Star Control II Terran starbase
08:04 [SB16]Epic Pinball
09:12 [PicoGUS]Epic Pinball
10:23 [SB16]Impulse Tracker v2.14 playing "Pod.S3M"
13:02 [PicoGUS]Impulse Tracker v2.14 playing "Pod.S3M"


#piday #retrocomputing #msdos #GUS #soundblaster #music #dosgames #demoscene