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  • Creative Labs

    From Warp 4@VERT/KLYNTAR to All on Friday, September 05, 2025 12:08:00
    Just curious, but is creative labs going the way Commodore has -- as in making a comeback?

    ... Electricity is really just organized lightning.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Windows/64)
    * Origin: Listen To: http://radio.klyntar.net
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to Warp 4 on Friday, September 05, 2025 17:18:09
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: Warp 4 to All on Fri Sep 05 2025 12:08 pm

    Just curious, but is creative labs going the way Commodore has -- as in making a comeback?

    I don't know, but I've been seeing some of their ads on Facebook saying they're planning to release something, and it looks like it might have old-school vibes. But they've been vague about it.

    I always thought the Sound Blaster cards were pretty cool in adding significant sound capability when IBM-compatible PCs at the time could only produce simple beeps & such. And the MIDI capabilities too.. A couple of my favorite Sound Blaster cards were the Sound Blatser 16 and the AWE32.

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From ZL4KJ@VERT/ZL4KJ to Nightfox on Tuesday, September 09, 2025 01:47:37
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: Nightfox to Warp 4 on Fri Sep 05 2025 17:18:09

    Just curious, but is creative labs going the way Commodore has -- as in
    making a comeback?

    I don't know, but I've been seeing some of their ads on Facebook saying couple of my favorite Sound Blaster cards were the Sound Blatser 16 and
    I still have a system rocking the Sound Blaster 16, complete with the demo talking parrot.

    Oh those were the days showing off that the computer could talk to everyone
    who couldn't have cared less :D

    Though, my main system is running a Sound Blazter Z there is sadly no talking parrot under Linux.


    73,
    de ZL4KJ

    ...The older you get, the more important is is not to act your age.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ The Crystal Set þ Invercargill, New Zealand þ zl4kj.nz
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to ZL4KJ on Monday, September 08, 2025 09:10:07
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: ZL4KJ to Nightfox on Tue Sep 09 2025 01:47 am

    I still have a system rocking the Sound Blaster 16, complete with the demo
    talking parrot.

    Oh those were the days showing off that the computer could talk to everyone who couldn't have cared less :D

    Though, my main system is running a Sound Blazter Z there is sadly no talking parrot under Linux.

    Yeah, I miss those cool programs they used to include. Those were the days when things like sound cards like that were novel, so they included those demo programs to let you play with the sound card and show it off. :)

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From ZL4KJ@VERT/ZL4KJ to Nightfox on Tuesday, September 09, 2025 08:28:40
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: Nightfox to ZL4KJ on Mon Sep 08 2025 09:10:07

    Yeah, I miss those cool programs they used to include. Those were the days when things like sound cards like that were novel, so they included

    My first sound card was an AdLib along with getting Space Quest III for my birthday in '89. I can still hear the opening music :)

    I kind of regret not keeping a hold of the AdLib when I originally upgraded to the Sound Blaster, It would have made a good addition to vintage collection.

    Though the AdLib was a far cry from the 5.1 Surround sound I have setup with the Sound Blaster Z.
    73,
    de ZL4KJ

    ...I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ The Crystal Set þ Invercargill, New Zealand þ zl4kj.nz
  • From Nightfox@VERT/DIGDIST to ZL4KJ on Monday, September 08, 2025 14:48:45
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: ZL4KJ to Nightfox on Tue Sep 09 2025 08:28 am

    I kind of regret not keeping a hold of the AdLib when I originally upgraded to he Sound Blaster, It would have made a good addition to vintage collection.
    Though the AdLib was a far cry from the 5.1 Surround sound I have setup with th Sound Blaster Z.

    That would have been cool to keep.

    A few years ago, I heard about a company called RetroWave that was making USB devices that had an OPL3 chip on them, for a genuine Adlib-compatible device. It appears as a serial device, and there's a version of DOSBox where you can configure it to route AdLib audio requests to a serial device, so you could use one of these USB devices to get genuine AdLib audio from a DOS game. The device has its own analog speaker/headphone output:

    https://tinyurl.com/4wh2chmh

    I'm not sure if they're still making that anymore, but it looks like there is a RetroWave OPL3 Express currently available, which may be a newer version:

    https://shop.sudomaker.com/products/retrowave-opl3-express

    Nightfox

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Digital Distortion: digitaldistortionbbs.com
  • From ZL4KJ@VERT/ZL4KJ to Nightfox on Tuesday, September 09, 2025 11:29:35
    Re: Creative Labs
    By: Nightfox to ZL4KJ on Mon Sep 08 2025 14:48:45

    ZL>> I kind of regret not keeping a hold of the AdLib when I originally
    That would have been cool to keep.

    If only I could go back in time and tell myself a few things. haha, Not that
    I would have listened to myself.

    A few years ago, I heard about a company called RetroWave that was making USB devices that had an OPL3 chip on them, for a genuine Adlib-compatible https://shop.sudomaker.com/products/retrowave-opl3-express

    That is cool. I remember having high hopes for AdLib, I was a little dissapointed they couldn't compete with Creative, I reluctantly got my SB16 in late '92, though I admit I never looked back once I had it installed :)

    I'd like to think someone, somewhere is still using the AdLib board I swapped it out for though.
    73,
    de ZL4KJ

    ...My other computer is a 486.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ The Crystal Set þ Invercargill, New Zealand þ zl4kj.nz