• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

5150 sound card options

bettablue

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2011
Messages
1,647
Location
Eugene, OR
I am just about ready to finish the final repair to my 5150 PC with 5161 Expansion Unit power supply issue, and am beginning to think about the next, and possibly final upgrade to my system. What I'm interested in is getting an 8 bit sound card. Unfortunately, I'm not at all familiar with what is available for 8088 based systems. I know Sound Blaster was a big name back when the first IBM PC's and compatible's, but I don't know what other makes/models were available, or even if there were any that are completely compatible with the first IBM PC's.

In addition, as I repair my two Compaq Portables, I will want to think about the possibility of adding sound cards to them as well. One Portable is the Portable Plus, and the other is a Portable 2 286 IBM compatible. What sound cards would you recommend for these systems, and what should I consider a fair price? Or, should I simply let the sound card option go as far as the IBM and Portable Plus?

As always, thanks in advance.
 
8-bit sound cards http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/sound-cards-multimedia/8snd_1.html#.U0hDA6JvCSo Adlib cards are out there as well I've got Amstrad Ablib clone that is not on that page.

As you noted SB cards had the widest circulation. Almost any 16bit ISA should work in the 286s. Scanning ebay will give you an idea of how much folk want for them. Price will depend on a particular make/model. ESS 16-bit cards can probably be had for a $1. At the end of the day the final decision is really up to you whether or not it's worth fitting one. In saying that if the machine has a spare isa slot why not fill it?
 
Last edited:
Adlib (or an Adlib clone... you can build one yourself if you want)
Sound Blaster or compatible card. Multiple options here:Original Sound Blasters (1.0, 1.5, 2.0) and Sound Blaster Pro are preferable choices. They will work with 8-bit bus, and configured using jumpers (Sound Blaster 1.0 also has sockets for CMS chips...). Some 16-bit cards will work in 8-bit as well. I tried ESS ES1868 and Vibra 16VX based cards, both work in 8-bit slots, but need ISA PNP enabler utiltities (which in turn use 80186+ instructions... they work with V20 work, but not 8088). I've heard that some ESS cards can be configured with jumpers instead of PnP.
Generally anything Sound Blaster Pro compatible should work (for example Analog Devices AD1816 based cards), but again might require a PnP or similar configuration utility.

Edit
Note that the number of programs (or games) that support Sound Blaster and will run reasonably fast on a PC with 4.77 MHz CPU is very limited. There are a bit more programs that support Adlib (and they will work on an SB compatible card as well). This is mostly limited to games released in 1988-1990, most later games need at least 286, and while they might work on 8088 it will be painfully slow.
 
Last edited:
The build it yourself option is a great idea. Too bad you don't have a pre-packaged kit with everything needed. I would buy one as soon as I had the money. What is the total cost for all of the parts? Or, how much for a pre-built card?
 
Sound Blaster 16 is a great option for a 16bit machine. They are supported by most everything. I have one for sale if you're interested. In my experience 8 bit sound cards are hard to come by, so I never really bothered to install one in my 5160.
 
The ATI Stereo F/X is a decent 8-bit Sound Blaster clone with CMS sockets. There is an auction on eBay with three of them available, though the supplied picture shows the card without the CMS chips. He's asking $81 for the things. I had to buy the SAA1099 chips for my own card, they're $3 each on eBay from China.

My card is in a 8 mHz 8086 system, but I'm thinking a lot of the older Koei DOS games will run on a 8088 system if you're the patient type. The games don't support Sound Blaster directly, but do support Adlib sound. Koei's games are something of an acquired taste though.
 
Thanks for the info. From what I'm hearing both from here and other forum sites, I really don't think I'll do that upgrade to my 8 bit machines after all. I've gotten some pretty good insight regarding 8 bit gaming and more to the point, the 8 bit machines ability to play games smoothly with sound enabled. It was just a thought, but I may still contact you via pm in the very near future regarding the SB you have for sale.

Thanks much...

Sound Blaster 16 is a great option for a 16bit machine. They are supported by most everything. I have one for sale if you're interested. In my experience 8 bit sound cards are hard to come by, so I never really bothered to install one in my 5160.
 
Roland MPU-401 interface cards and clones (including MIF-IPC-A replicas) allow you to connect external MIDI modules. :) Those are 8 BIT.
 
The best sound option for an 8-bit PC is in my opinion PCjr/Tandy 3-voice sound. You can actually find lots of games that will run well on that.
Agreed... There's just not enough CPU power to push a sound card on an 8088 system. That said, Adlib sound is probably the next-best option, as I'm fairly certain that Tandy 3-voice/PCjr sound wasn't released in an ISA card format for other machines :)

Though, as PeterLI said, MIDI is another option.
 
I had a GameBlster card in my XT. I can't remember any issues that took away from my gaming experience.
That and my EGA upgrade made my XT feel like a whole new computer.
 
Last edited:
Many games from the 1980s only do MIDI anyway: which sounds better with a MT-32. :) I gave up on 8086s though: games are too slow (QFG, Civilization, Centurion and so on). Never had a 8088.
 
Thanks for the info. From what I'm hearing both from here and other forum sites, I really don't think I'll do that upgrade to my 8 bit machines after all. I've gotten some pretty good insight regarding 8 bit gaming and more to the point, the 8 bit machines ability to play games smoothly with sound enabled. It was just a thought, but I may still contact you via pm in the very near future regarding the SB you have for sale.

Thanks much...

If you have CGA, there is one reason you might consider installing a SB... Trixter's 8088 Corruption. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWv6r-0XAWQ
 
Based on what everyone is saying I think the thread could be summed up as "If you want halfway decent sound in an 8-bit machine, get a Tandy".
 
Based on what everyone is saying I think the thread could be summed up as "If you want halfway decent sound in an 8-bit machine, get a Tandy".

That gets you better colours and a faster processor as well.
Would recommend to a friend :thumbsup:
 
Yeah. I can't disagree. My XT originally came with CGA and no sound card.. it was jaw dropping to see the PCjr and Tandy play Kings Quest II..
I was a little envious. I had daily access to a PCjr, but the XT's massive 10mb hard drive and noisy keyboard kept me more interested in her.
 
Back
Top