Low-cost soundcard worth a try? This no-name OPTi 82C931 based card is a surprise

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pc-sound-legacy

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Published on March 25, 2023 12:00:00 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCljlMWbbzQ

Game:

Street Fighter II (1991)

Duration: 14:16

977 views

54

Hello friends,
Today I will start a new video series about low-cost soundcards no one cares about. Generic no-name cards that might be better than their reputation or maybe just about fulfill the low expectations?
We start with this OPTi soundcard that looks suspiciously low-cost and cheap! And this time I was very surprised at what I could get out of this card!
There's absolutely no noise, the sound quality is just great.
I recorded some tracks to showcase the card and its FM capabilities, and I chose some tracks with silent parts to demonstrate the noise floor (if there's any)

Recording Setup:
QDI Legend (Intel BX) with Pentium II 400 Mhz. Soundcard installed on the outer ISA-Slot. Initialized with unisound 0.81. Default unisound mixer-settings.
Analogue-record with Terratec DMX 6fire USB Audio interface unsing Audacity, 48khz 32 bit float. Comressed to 256kbit MP3 using lame-enc.

Here are the 82C931 sound controllers specs copied from the Datasheed:

Features
• Integrated sound controller compatible with:
- Sound Blaster Pro™
- Ad Lib™
- Microsoft® Windows™ Sound System™
• Microsoft® PC-97 compliant
• Built-in high-quality 22 voice, 52 operator, OPTiFM™
music synthesizer with enhanced bass
• Built-in 7-channel mixer: five stereo, two mono
• Built-in 16-bit sigma-delta stereo codec
• ISA Plug and Play Specification 1.0a compatible, supports
a maximum of six logical devices:
- Sound Blaster Pro, Windows Sound System,
FM synthesis
- MPU-401 MIDI interface
- CD-ROM interface
- Joystick/game port
- Modem interface
- 82C931 control
• Supports external serial EEPROM (optional)
• External modem chipset interface
• Full duplex operation: record and playback simultaneously
using two 8- or 16-bit DMA channels
• Supports IMA ADPCM, µ-law, A-law decompression
• 8- or 16-bit stereo sound data up to 48KHz stereo
• Supports 16-bit Type F DMA playback, accelerates telephony-audio applications
• Digital joystick interface support, improves responsiveness
(Microsoft SideWinder™)
• I2S serial interface supports Zoom Video Port, wavetable
controller and modem chipset
• DirectSound™ interface support
• Power-down modes
• Silence mode to turn-off all audio functions
• Hardware and software volume control via push-button
interface
• 100-pin PQFP (Plastic Quad Flat Pack)
• 100-pin TQFP (Thin Quad Flat Pack)

The music in this video is generated by the cards FM-Synthesizer.
It is played for demonstration purposes only.

Playlist:

00:00 Doom II Track No 3
01:57 Doom II Track 33 (readme)
06:46 The Whale's Voyage - Music from the Planet Nedax
09:59 Descent II Setup / Credits Music
12:21 Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo - Chun-Li's Theme

Please share your thoughts In the comment section down below, like/dislike to support my channel.

Ernie,
PC-SOUND-LEGACY

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