Orpheus II: The Best Retro PC Sound Card in 2023? Perhaps!
video description
I'm open to any ideas of additions or replacements, so long as it has that retro cyberpunk look. Like other drive bays that have a good industrial or techy look.
Date: 2023-06-09
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Comments and reviews: 19
William
Wow, I need one. My external box for my MPU-IPC-T is acting up, and I would like GUS support. I also believe that my first sound cards back in 1993 may have used Crystal chips (i9 can't recall - the card came with a Reveal Multimedia Kit with a cd-rom drive, King's Quest 6, and Stellar 7) I am sure that later cards I had were Crystal, and before I learned to build my own PCs (and thus build retro PCs with real Sound Blaster cards) my first Sound Blaster was some integrated crap on my Gateway Pentium III 450, and I disabled that when I acquired a Sound Blaster Live (SB cards were too expensive for my household in the mid 90s) So with this card having GUS, Intelligent MPU, Crystal, AND OPL3 support, I will HAVE to get one. Currently, I am using a first gen AWE32. To me, it is top of the line for a late 486, but the benefits of the Orpheus seem to outweigh the AWE32.
What is the game at 14: 48? Also, where can I get those bracket standoffs for displaying cards? Those are cool!
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Wow, I need one. My external box for my MPU-IPC-T is acting up, and I would like GUS support. I also believe that my first sound cards back in 1993 may have used Crystal chips (i9 can't recall - the card came with a Reveal Multimedia Kit with a cd-rom drive, King's Quest 6, and Stellar 7) I am sure that later cards I had were Crystal, and before I learned to build my own PCs (and thus build retro PCs with real Sound Blaster cards) my first Sound Blaster was some integrated crap on my Gateway Pentium III 450, and I disabled that when I acquired a Sound Blaster Live (SB cards were too expensive for my household in the mid 90s) So with this card having GUS, Intelligent MPU, Crystal, AND OPL3 support, I will HAVE to get one. Currently, I am using a first gen AWE32. To me, it is top of the line for a late 486, but the benefits of the Orpheus seem to outweigh the AWE32.
What is the game at 14: 48? Also, where can I get those bracket standoffs for displaying cards? Those are cool!
reply
Parallax
My name came up in the purchase list for this just before the video came out. Cost a damn fortune after converting to Canadian dollars, but I'm stoked to get it for a future DOS build project I'm planning. Can't wait!
In terms of what I'd add to a next-gen model, I'd say probably the AdLib Gold (just to complete the trifecta) and I'd love to see genuine Sound Blaster chips in it, though I'm sure that would be a tall order. Other than maybe the ability to swap out the headphone amplifiers for the truly nutbar among us, I can't think of much else.
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My name came up in the purchase list for this just before the video came out. Cost a damn fortune after converting to Canadian dollars, but I'm stoked to get it for a future DOS build project I'm planning. Can't wait!
In terms of what I'd add to a next-gen model, I'd say probably the AdLib Gold (just to complete the trifecta) and I'd love to see genuine Sound Blaster chips in it, though I'm sure that would be a tall order. Other than maybe the ability to swap out the headphone amplifiers for the truly nutbar among us, I can't think of much else.
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Stuart
Part of me misses the days when we had a real selection of different sound cards, with different ability. Some with surround sound, various synths for MIDI, some with better audio reproduction than others. Now, most people seem to use the onboard sound which, while it is usually good enough to use on a basic level (indeed - I use it, it has meant that the range of sound cards with different facilities for use in modern machines (so with a USB or PCI-E interface) is limited.
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Part of me misses the days when we had a real selection of different sound cards, with different ability. Some with surround sound, various synths for MIDI, some with better audio reproduction than others. Now, most people seem to use the onboard sound which, while it is usually good enough to use on a basic level (indeed - I use it, it has meant that the range of sound cards with different facilities for use in modern machines (so with a USB or PCI-E interface) is limited.
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DR.
That card is looking like the holy grail of 90s sound cards. A single ISA slot used to do literally all the sounds (assuming no memory conflicts. Zero compromises and the ability to add MIDI is just the icing on an already delectable cake. I wonder how many of these OPL and AMD sound chips are still out there in the wild.
Also, what an era of computing. Where sound cards were a legit thing to upgrade your setup with and some of them had RAM slots.
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That card is looking like the holy grail of 90s sound cards. A single ISA slot used to do literally all the sounds (assuming no memory conflicts. Zero compromises and the ability to add MIDI is just the icing on an already delectable cake. I wonder how many of these OPL and AMD sound chips are still out there in the wild.
Also, what an era of computing. Where sound cards were a legit thing to upgrade your setup with and some of them had RAM slots.
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wrlrdqueek
So, I realize that for driver compatibility they have to use the old OPL chips in these cards, but between this and a few other projects I've seen, do they not make FM-Synth chips anymore? Like, the Commander x-16 also had to use an old chip for it's audio processing. If I were to go to a music store and buy a brand new Yamaha electric piano, what would it's audio processor even look like? I'm genuinely curious, anyone who happens to know.
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So, I realize that for driver compatibility they have to use the old OPL chips in these cards, but between this and a few other projects I've seen, do they not make FM-Synth chips anymore? Like, the Commander x-16 also had to use an old chip for it's audio processing. If I were to go to a music store and buy a brand new Yamaha electric piano, what would it's audio processor even look like? I'm genuinely curious, anyone who happens to know.
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Mike
Enjoying the videos per usual (went on a huge re-binge two weeks ago of stuff I'm now into that you've covered) but still patiently awaiting re-reviews/retrospectives of the more pro audio sound cards of the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm super curious if those cards were actually much better then newer sound interfaces. I'm sure the bigger headache is that most of those cards only have support up to XP (sometimes windows 7.
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Enjoying the videos per usual (went on a huge re-binge two weeks ago of stuff I'm now into that you've covered) but still patiently awaiting re-reviews/retrospectives of the more pro audio sound cards of the late 90s/early 2000s. I'm super curious if those cards were actually much better then newer sound interfaces. I'm sure the bigger headache is that most of those cards only have support up to XP (sometimes windows 7.
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Yellowblanka
Talk about your extreme niche market. almost 400 for an ISA card in 2023. I guess that's cool if it floats your boat, but having used several sound cards back in the day, and not being a pedantic audiophile, DOSBox sounds good enough for me. Also, not sure Epic Pinball is really benefitting from the Gravis Ultrasound considering it uses tracker music where the samples are integrated into the music file itself.
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Talk about your extreme niche market. almost 400 for an ISA card in 2023. I guess that's cool if it floats your boat, but having used several sound cards back in the day, and not being a pedantic audiophile, DOSBox sounds good enough for me. Also, not sure Epic Pinball is really benefitting from the Gravis Ultrasound considering it uses tracker music where the samples are integrated into the music file itself.
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Reese
I own the original Orpheus card which I got for my 486 desktop system with the built in speakers and I was impressed by that card. Just seeing the Orpheus 2 in your video certainly got my attention. Especially with the beautiful design, the care and passion taken to design this thing is absolutely amazing! I love the passion the retro community has for making these amazing sound card options available.
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I own the original Orpheus card which I got for my 486 desktop system with the built in speakers and I was impressed by that card. Just seeing the Orpheus 2 in your video certainly got my attention. Especially with the beautiful design, the care and passion taken to design this thing is absolutely amazing! I love the passion the retro community has for making these amazing sound card options available.
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Amir
They should make a V3 with an FPGA, these ASICs are getting harder to source and make up the majority of the cost. An FPGA card could have multiple soundcards flashed onto it and different combinations to use, all while taking up a much smaller footprint than a custom card that uses multiple ASICs. A prototype of this was pitched at VCF Midwest so it's an idea that has been around for a while now.
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They should make a V3 with an FPGA, these ASICs are getting harder to source and make up the majority of the cost. An FPGA card could have multiple soundcards flashed onto it and different combinations to use, all while taking up a much smaller footprint than a custom card that uses multiple ASICs. A prototype of this was pitched at VCF Midwest so it's an idea that has been around for a while now.
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jamie
I wuld love to see a Orpheus type card but for 98 - 2005 era games. I would NOT be backwards compable with Orpheus AT ALL. It would be a PCI card with Dobly Digtal Live(cause less cables to my sorround setup) and proper support for ALL sorround sound format of the time(EAX, A3D, etc.
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I wuld love to see a Orpheus type card but for 98 - 2005 era games. I would NOT be backwards compable with Orpheus AT ALL. It would be a PCI card with Dobly Digtal Live(cause less cables to my sorround setup) and proper support for ALL sorround sound format of the time(EAX, A3D, etc.
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Thomas
This card with a SB audigy chip would be wicked awesome. I know that is a little too new for some of the systems this card is made for, but there was a weird time when there were MBs that had some of those chips on them while also having PCI slots and supporting up to windows XP.
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This card with a SB audigy chip would be wicked awesome. I know that is a little too new for some of the systems this card is made for, but there was a weird time when there were MBs that had some of those chips on them while also having PCI slots and supporting up to windows XP.
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Caarajack
It s great to see that sound cards like these are still made because music sounding just right is pretty much 50 % of the experience with the old games. Too bad for the price but it s better to make a proper card with enough features so that it s good enough for the job.
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It s great to see that sound cards like these are still made because music sounding just right is pretty much 50 % of the experience with the old games. Too bad for the price but it s better to make a proper card with enough features so that it s good enough for the job.
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George
Hearing Clint mix up two consecutive words in a line, and then instead of simply fixing it in post simply points it out & laughs over what he just said during editing, is a constant joy.
The Ultra-side Sound of Things is right up there with Hoddware Oddness.
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Hearing Clint mix up two consecutive words in a line, and then instead of simply fixing it in post simply points it out & laughs over what he just said during editing, is a constant joy.
The Ultra-side Sound of Things is right up there with Hoddware Oddness.
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Andr s
When I upgraded to a Pentium 200 with a GUS ACE, I kept the Soundblaster 2. 0 from my old 386DX40 alongside it for compatibility issues for games without GUS support. The GUS ACE (Audio Card Enhancer) had a passthrough 3, 5 mm cable just for this reason.
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When I upgraded to a Pentium 200 with a GUS ACE, I kept the Soundblaster 2. 0 from my old 386DX40 alongside it for compatibility issues for games without GUS support. The GUS ACE (Audio Card Enhancer) had a passthrough 3, 5 mm cable just for this reason.
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Michael
I really miss my GUS, not sure what happened to it, but hands down my favorite sound card. It was the PnP Pro as I recall. It's replacement was the SB X-Fi Xtreme music with the full front panel. Almost as amazing. Now I run whatever my MB has
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I really miss my GUS, not sure what happened to it, but hands down my favorite sound card. It was the PnP Pro as I recall. It's replacement was the SB X-Fi Xtreme music with the full front panel. Almost as amazing. Now I run whatever my MB has
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ctrl-alt-rees
Huge fan of my original Orpheus and the MK8330, these guys do amazing work. I'm on the fence about this one - not sure the GUS support is worth the upgrade as I doubt I'll use it outside of novelty value. Still very cool that it exists!
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Huge fan of my original Orpheus and the MK8330, these guys do amazing work. I'm on the fence about this one - not sure the GUS support is worth the upgrade as I doubt I'll use it outside of novelty value. Still very cool that it exists!
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SteamPunkSystems
oh. my. god. for years I've thought about that fish game, and could never figure out what it was called, when I randomly see it in an LRG video and get hit with a megaton blast of nostalgia and now know its name. odell down under.
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oh. my. god. for years I've thought about that fish game, and could never figure out what it was called, when I randomly see it in an LRG video and get hit with a megaton blast of nostalgia and now know its name. odell down under.
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smartpug967
My future wishlist is for something like this to become common and affordable. I really want one now but 370 is too much for me to afford. I have a feeling by the time I did save up enough money it would already be sold out. :(
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My future wishlist is for something like this to become common and affordable. I really want one now but 370 is too much for me to afford. I have a feeling by the time I did save up enough money it would already be sold out. :(
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Ross
I can't be the only one that sorta misses working out the IRQ and DMA settings for all their devices so everything could work? Oh the time spent mapping it all out - for some reason I always wanted to put modems on IRQ7, anyone else?
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I can't be the only one that sorta misses working out the IRQ and DMA settings for all their devices so everything could work? Oh the time spent mapping it all out - for some reason I always wanted to put modems on IRQ7, anyone else?
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