A fundamental difference between the AdLib and IMFC is that the AdLib exposes the OPL2 chip directly to the host PC, so you can program every aspect of the chip. The IMFC is literally a MIDI interface connected to an FB-01-like device. As such, there is no way to acces the OPP chip directly. Any sound has to be programmed via MIDI SysEx commands, so you're limited to programming parameters through the SysEx commands implemented in the firmware.
Now that’s a fascinating distinction. Thank you for the insight, Scali! Your work proved extremely useful and fun to experiment with throughout making this video :)
That being said, Yamaha exposes most of the native parameters of the OPP chip through SysEx extended controller-change messages. You might not have cycle-perfect timing over the registers, but you could at least set them to what you want. Pretty much bypassing most of the limitations from ordinary MIDI. Also, I should totally use my IBM Music Feature more!
@@Toonrick12 Pretty much it. On the AdLib, the OPL-2 is connected directly to the ISA bus, so you can program specific registers to manipulate the sound directly and you can read the status of the chip, while the IMFC is connected through (on-card) MIDI and through the MIDI output port only, with a limited set of commands that allow you to edit patches but not direct control over the chip's sound generating features.
This times a million. So many videos of crt are cringeworthy at best. But this is amazing. Granted what you see irl must not be great if it looks that good to us. I’m sure the needed settings for clear video make irl rough.
@@LGR you've managed to perfect what took Stewart Chaifet and the Computer Chronicles team about a decade, and even then they didn't capture it as well (they had to use full screen polarising lenses over the monitor in the mid 90s episodes!). I'm very impressed.
Sierra were truly ahead of their time during that brief window of time when they were putting more effort into their soundtracks than anyone else. They sound really nice on this card!
Really depends on the game, for example Space Quest 3 really sounded bad on that card. However, Larry 3 probably sounded even better on the MFC: ua-cam.com/video/zvfc0LidqFI/v-deo.html
There is a video out there, where Roberta Williams apologizes for pushing people into buying ridiculously expensive audio equipment that was pretty much abandoned when games had CD-Audio.
Sierra On-line not only heavily supported a wide range of music cards, they really wanted users to buy them to get the most out of their games. They really did believe in the experience. I STILL have an audio cassette tape that Sierra produced and sold (for basically shipping cost) that demoed the different sound cards with some of their games. I used that back in the day to decide that it was worth the insane amount of money at the time to splurge and get a Roland MT-32 instead of an AdLib (or Sound Blaster) card. The soundtracks were mind blowing played through a true stereo system at the time. (In fact, I had an IBM PS/2 Model 50, so I had to get the MicroChannel version of the MPU-401 card to interface with the MT-32, adding even more $$$….)
@@bsd107 Interesting piece of info... I wasn't aware about the cassette shipping! I had a (used, for cheap) PS/2 model 50Z and was negatively surprised when I wanted to get a Logitech sound card installed... they told me the next day the bus wasn't compatible. Saved that money to invest it a year later in a P75 system with an original SB AWE32 instead.
Jeff, thank you for allowing LGR to document this rare card! I know him opening and messing around with a pristine example is something most collectors wouldn’t do.
I imagine Jeff was fully planning on opening it up and installing it in a machine, at least for a bit, anyway and he knew it would be treated with care. But yes, many collectors (and that's really what this is these days; a collector's item rather than a usable piece of retro-tech) wouldn't even break the seal on the box...
Having it documented in a high quality video like this will do more to preserve this bit of tech than keeping sealed in plastic ever would, and I'm glad Jeff understands this.
New old stock IBM Music card getting installed in a new old stock IBM AT. Both of which were unboxed for our viewing pleasure. What a time to be alive! ☺
There is something about the sound of FM Synthesis that makes me all happy inside. I think it's due to the fact that you're not using instruments, but crude facsimiles of the *sound* of an instrument but are still able to make something incredible sounding from it. There are some music tracks that just sound better as FM Synth, and no Wavetable Synth is gonna tell me otherwise. I really wish more games leaned into it, especially since it's possible to emulate with pretty decent results.
Case in point: the entire soundtrack from Tyrian. Sounds amazing on FM, but a pale imitation on General MIDI. Especially tracks like "Gyges, Will You Please Help Me?", "One Mustn't Fall", "Sarah's Song", or "Tyrian, The Level". That FM guitar sound just can't be beat. Oh, and special mention to "X_EVIL.IMF" from Spear of Destiny. The MIDI version used in Doom 2's secret level 31 (D_EVIL.MUS) is pretty good, but the original FM version is even better. If anyone reading this is considering making a retro PC game, consider using S3M's FM support for the music. Powerful and well-documented format, even if the FM capabilities aren't used very often. You can even use both FM and samples together, though few playback programs support both at once.
The early days of sound cards were truly wild. I distinctly remember when my Dad upgraded our family computer to have a Roland sound card, and being absolutely blown away by how good game music sounded all of a sudden. Descent in particular. Great video!
Along with the prices. Unlike the Amiga 500 they were definitely aimed at the professional music studio as opposed to the casual gamer. I guess back then anything seemed cheap compared to a Fairlight synthesize. When will Clint review one of those ?
I remember trying all the MIDI / AdLib options, just to see how different they sound. When I got a newer soundcard, I'd try all my favorite games again.
I never played Descent but Foresaken (descent clone) has a rockin' electronic soundtrack. I just had to buy the remaster on Steam when I found out it was a thing just to relive those 90s days and to have dem toons in uncompressed form (I played it on N64 back then).
As someone whose only exposure to the retro tech ecosystem is your content, this is yet another card I've never heard of. Interested to see what it's about, cool to touch on another AdLib Gold-style legend. EDIT: Man yeah, this thing sounds *pristine*, I love it. Warm and smooth, with a 'depth' to it. What a groundbreaking product. It's actually cool that the sound of it is not unique to the card; it makes experiencing that sound easier. I also knew immediately that the answer to the titular question would be a resounding 'no', lol, and actually for pretty similar reasons to the Gold which I thought would apply here. It's a case of economies of scale almost - this card was rare back then as it is now for a good reason.
What an incredibly cool card. I love how beautifully over-engineered old 1980s IBM products could be. (That support bracket!) Also - Jeff, you're a legend.
I'm guessing that was a stock item for inserting any full length card in certain later IBM machines that lacked the row of brackets in the original PC/G, /XT and /AT. Once IBM stopped including brackets with machines, they would probably sell them separately and bundle them with all later sales of cards.
@@johndododoe1411 Not many people needed 6 full size slots. My PC-AT clone has them though, even if the cards wouldn't fit due to components on the board.
@@joe--cool That's bad board design, eberything around the slots must have clearance for cards that extend backwards according to the specs, even if the case is too short.
You have made my day with this! The YM2164 is the same chip used in the following Keyboard synthesizers: Yamaha DX21,DX27,DX100,FB01(tone module),KORG DS8 and KORG 707. It is 4 operator FM and as such it is powerful and is a full featured synth that can be controlled and edited by midi sysex and compatible softwares and plugins!
Also the SFG05. A music cartridge made for MSX computers including Yamaha's own. I can't help wonder if a complete CX5M setup would have been cheaper than this card. Since the system was launched in 1984 by 1987 almost certainly on the second hand market. p.s. If you aren't familiar with the CX6M most of the Yamaha software cartridges were for things like a DX7 editor. Very handy for the professional musician.
This is one more reason out of many why I love this channel: I've never heard of this card before, but now I'm learning all about this space of music production of the time. I love learning about this stuff through this channel. The music feature seems like a very interesting player in the IBM PC soundcard market. I would love to see even more videos of software, hardware, and peripherals related to music production of the 80s and 90s. Awesome work!
Dang. That stereo sound sounds pretty damn good. I never knew this card existed! I entered my sound card world with the Media Vision Thunder Board in the early 90s ;)
Wow, it's weird for me to say this, but my heart dropped when you opened and removed the sound card from it's packaging for the first time...I can just imagine going back in time to when this sort of hardware was brand new and the idea itself was fresh and exciting...sigh...I miss those days of early computing. As troublesome as it could be (only because I didn't know anything about computers back then) it was still an amazing time worth re-living. This is why I love your channel and your style of reviewing/editing. It's like you're able to experience this old tech as if it were brand new today. Thanks for all that you do, LGR.
Very impressive and quite fascinating since I never heard this Soundcard before because most people already know the Sound Blaster or the Ad Lib with their FM synthesizer capabilities which both are iconic legendary cards but hearing this particular card for the first time and I'm quite impressed since I always love FM synthesizers that organic Chip Tone feel is just awww.
I'll be honest the day that onboard audio came about I was actually pleased. Setting up IRQ's all the time and having conflicts with IDE controllers and VGA cards and a Modem. It's fun and novel to look at it now but this was a pain in the ass since all I really wanted to do was play quake and Warcraft 2 (Dial-up Multiplayer) Audio on PC's was an acceptable compromise .Most people only cared about having an Intel CPU and how big the hard disk was.
I'd like to once again shout out Jeff for letting all of this be opened and aired for posterity like this. Digital historians of the future will thank you.
Just wanted to say thanks for your videos. It takes me back to when I was a kid and wanted to get into computers, but it just wasn't in the cards. It's cool to see all the old tech.
In 1987 that would have absolutely floored me. You wouldn't record an album with that sound, but for a PC at that time it would have been stunning to hear.
My mom worked for computerland in the 80s, if only she saved some stuff, I remember seeing blue IBM boxes in crates wrapped in plastic. They were expensive then, and nothing has changed. Thanks for the upload. I also, was born in 87. The narrator is giving me Casey casum vibes.
Oh my. Now I'm even more happy that I bought an FB-01 a while back. I wanted it for music production, as it's famous for certain sounds like the "Solid Bass" aka. "Lately Bass" sound for example, and I'm a big fan of '80s FM synths. But finding out that it's supported as a device for old games? Yikes, I never knew. Suddenly my side-by-side combo of FB-01 and SC-55 looks even cooler ^^
Nice of you to show the FB-01; I happen to own one too. The fact that it has technical similarities to a sound card that goes for that much money on the used market caught me by surprise.
Amazing. These are the videos I love the most. Vintage PC experiences that almost no one had at the time. Great video, and props to Jeff for letting you defile that card lol
Thanks for bring back memories. Jerome Bixby was working on His "The Man From Earth" and the score. He used the IBM Music Feature Card and a wall of keyboards and synthesizers. He was asked to review MusicPrinter Plus by Temporal Acuity Products, Inc. He had me do some parts while he did others. It was a very fun time. It came out in Electronic Musician Dec 1990. I miss my friend. I have the MFC and it parts along with the disk for MusicPrinter Plus.
Back in 1985 I bought a Toshiba HX-MU900 FM sound cartridge and matching keyboard when they were being sold off cheap. With animated instruments (and unfortunately no MIDI support) it was definitely a consumer product, (far more than this IBM card) possibly a bit ahead of its time at the original price. A demo (not mine) ua-cam.com/video/vvXB7krWf9M/v-deo.html
My School had a fully fledged "studio" in 1989, as this was Scotland, our pc's for this place were all IBM's, donated to the school directly from the Greenoch IBM factory, at that time, those were the only machines I knew off that had a dedicated sound card, and could record to a hard disk, it took another decade before this was even considered normal, so, in that sense, what IBM offered back then was truly groundbreaking.
I love these sound card reviews. It's cool to hear the differences between the special cards and whatever was the generic option of the time. I'm still hoping to find a roland MT-32 here on the European mainland one day 😁
An interesting product, can't believe how good it sounds for something this old. Amazing that even back then PCs were capable of being able to compose music with them. I absolutely enjoy seeing you fiddle around with old tech, you gain a true appreciation for it when you see it in action and see an older PC maxed out and pushed to its limits. Keep doing this, I thoroughly enjoy your content.
Awesome card! I started making music in 1990 on a Atari 1040ST! Later on, 1992 I purchased an IBM PS1, 386SX with a 387 co-processor and a stunning 8MB of RAM! I also purchased a MPU-IPC card. This is a MPU-401 with the same MIDI adapter as this IBM card. Hooked up my Korg M1 and Roland D10 synthesizers and I was good to go! Awesome time, awesome era!
Wow, I've always been intrigued by this card, since it's so rare. Finally a proper review! Thanks a million :-) I'd love to hear more gameplay footage though, especially compared to Adlib.
Hi lgr first time commenting long time watcher ,just wanted to say thanks for all your videos,they help me relax when i need to be relaxed,thank you and keep up the good work,peace :)
The early/mid 80's seems like a truly EPIC time in computing. The stories I've heard from people who were in programming-type jobs at the time only reinforces it.
That card was king back in my days, i had two of them in my system back then. And worked perfectly with FT and my Yamaha keyboard. Could throw anything at it and it would work.
just wanted to stop by and say this man is a legend i found my own IBM PC AT in the dumpster and I've seen how expensive this hobby can get thank you LGR!
I hadn't seen that Mindscape Music Board before. Dual AYs, not bad! Looks like they were configured for mono only - would have been nice to have the option of a chip per-channel 😁 This is a beatiful kit - lovely condition, cheers for sharing! That "Rock" demo song had me tickled.
Being a low level geek in the 80s and 90s recommended your channel. Your voice, charisma, and level of knowledge better than my own made me a subscriber. The absolute respect that you and your fans have for the tech and each other keeps me coming back
I busted out my tube DAC to listen to this and boy was I rewarded! That cannon in D is a masterpiece. That card is worth it. *Stares hard at Tandy 1000* I play colonels bequest all the time!
I'd love seeing you play through old sierra titles 😇 I'm not good at solving these games myself but they bring back fond memories of my first experiences with computer games. I especially remember the Kings Quest series, Police Quest 1 and 2 and a few of the Space Quest games. And of course Larry Laffer. The first one in the series i remember best.
It's something special with the OPL2 chip that I really love. It's not because of nostalgia, because I was (am) an Amiga guy back then (now), but because the really cold and hard sound one can get out of it.
This was an awesome watch/listen! The PC Music Feature is surprisingly very cool! I had only heard of it in those sierra configuration menus and always wondered what it sounded like. When you started with the Space Quest III intro it sounded pretty bad but the later part was better than the adlib! Very cool. I also appreciate the 4k EGA monitor footage! I've been looking this week specifically for pics/footage like this to compare some of my MiSTer filter experiments against. Thanks LGR!
Absolutely love the late 80s tech. I was cutting my teeth in 91 so alot of this old hardware I am familiar with but never experienced it in a platform at the time. Excellent content as always.
I never knew this sound card existed. My first computer was a Packard bell legend something. I remember it had a sound blaster 16 card inside. I had loads of fun playing many computer games and enjoy the FM music I would hear from games at the time. Biomenace and megarace had good music tracks. I cannot forget the awesome soundtrack to star wars tie fighter.
I have a soft spot for sound card for some reason. When my brother bought the first PC in the house it didn't even had a floppy drive, let alone CDrom or sound card, because he was happy he could get the base machine first. It wasn't long before he could get a floppy drive a CDrom and a souond card but it felt like an eternity not having sound. Today I'm buying old sound cards left and right when I see them on my local flea market.
man, i wasn't aware of this at all but i'm VERY aware of adlib and... i like how this sounds more. it is more of a different rather than "better" thing though.
this is amazing, takes me back to me early youth days when visiting local PC stores, had one of em playing midi demo on that IBM MIDI card, which was years before having my own sound blaster card that's sadly didn't have that old demo till decades later upon random finds on youtube. :D
Thanks for giving love to the *mostly* forgotten FB01. I use one for music production, i wanted something that sounded like the sega genisis and pcs of the time, sure doesn't disappoint ❤
Always cool when you explore old hardware like this! I remember at least seeing Tandy sound and the Roland MT-32 listed in game setup menus, but never this IBM card. Thanks for showing this to us -- and thanks to Jeff for loaning it to you! 😎
Getting your hands on New "old" stuff is truly a special moment and is like a weird localized time machine. Product that is forty years old but thanks to sitting in a box is itself as pristine and perfect as though it was made yesterday. At one point all of these cards and similarly old tech looked like this, but because we were only exposed to them after the ravages of time in our brains they all have that layer of wear on them. Really great to get to see something so pristine. kudos to Jeff for letting it happen and great job to LGR for showing it off.
This is cool sound card for 1987, if you’re an audiophile back then composing music for games or even a recording studio! There’s now lots of alternatives for these retro computers with cheap sound cards!
This is why i love this channel. We get to see very interesting old tech, that we probably wouldent have known about otherwise. I love old computer tech. And what is interesting is that a card of this size was not uncommon back in the day. That was just how they came. But today? People looking at an RTX 4090 and going WHOA! That is massive! But a RTX 4090 is about 4cm shorter than a full length ISA card.
There's something about those 80s 4-color CGA animations in the demo program that pleases me, very appealing despite or because of it's obvious limitations
Sound cards were so weird I still can't believe technology got built out in that way. 🤯 Just the idea that a piece of hardware could drastically change the music and sound effects in your games is crazy.
That's the longest card I have seen since my very first office-grade HP printer. It required an ISA (i think) card that spanned the FULL width of the full-sized case. Back when the cases had plastic rails on the BACK of the case for the far end of the card to slide in to. That printer was so old, it took an add-on duplexer to print both sides of a sheet.
man I am SO glad I put on headphones for this vid. Normally I put youtube on through an macbook air speaker. Some of the sample music was so fun! Even the background stuff you had on. Thanks much.
Amazing demonstration of the IMF, Clint! Back in 1987, I was lucky to have two of these (dad worked for IBM, apparently had an employer's discount); I had a PC XT with a 20MB hard drive, and the IMFs were in one of those 5160 expansion units with the huge system interconnect cable. That was one of my earliest setups for composing and playing music. I could beat myself up for getting rid of these, and I have no idea where they went. The only thing left I can find of them is one of the MIDI breakout boxes. Sigh.
This vid captures what i love about lgr. Old computer stuff on full display. He actuslly owns the old stuff, installs it on old computers, and plays it on said old computers. Computers are so boring nowadays!
A card from the dawn of the golden age of sound cards, back when they were an actual product instead of a scam. It sounds amazing too! There's just something special about Yamaha's FM synth chips. That stuff just sounds right. It's also a prime case of IBM consumer hardware. Expensive as all hell, but damn if it ain't powerful stuff. Also, was that a Korg Minilogue that I caught a glimpse of there? Those things are sexy synths.
Audigy cards are not a scam. I use broadcast headphones which can handle a few watts and if I use an internal sound chip you get noise, hiss when driving it at 100% output (which is quiet), the built-in brick wall makes it all but impossible to make the pre-amp distort, multiple inputs, etc. My boxed RX was $60. 60 bucks for good audio? Sign me up. Just like you would never use the built in "video card" for anything but a secondary display or compute, you should buy a bargain Audigy if you plan to game, watch UA-cam or have any sound at all. I would rather have no sound than bad sound.
Sounds similar to the Adlib and Genesis 2612 but still has a unique flavor that distinguishes itself from those. It's crazy how damn there 99% of consumer electronic products from the Mid 70's to early 2000s had either Yamaha FM chips or one of the Square Tone generators like the SN76489 or the AY-3-8910 in them. Though seldom used today in 2023, every now and again I'll come across some device or children's toy making that familiar tone that makes my ears perk up. Thank goodness for the advancements in emulation and software like Furnace or Delfemask that gives us the opportunity to create identical music and sounds completely in software without requiring the original chips. 😇
@@Stoney3K I think you have a good point in terms of the final fidelity after it leaves the chip to the DAC, but the more I'm learning lately I feel like it's more so about how each chip fundamentally arrives to it's sounds beforehand based on the amount of oscillators and algorithm configurations it has that makes the difference or uniqueness. I heard or read somewhere there's a Yamaha chip that has 6 oscillators! Can you imagine how crazy that would be dialing up sounds with that thing? It's hard enough messing around with the basic 2 or 4 oscillator ones like this chip or the YM2612 lol 😄
A fundamental difference between the AdLib and IMFC is that the AdLib exposes the OPL2 chip directly to the host PC, so you can program every aspect of the chip. The IMFC is literally a MIDI interface connected to an FB-01-like device. As such, there is no way to acces the OPP chip directly. Any sound has to be programmed via MIDI SysEx commands, so you're limited to programming parameters through the SysEx commands implemented in the firmware.
Now that’s a fascinating distinction. Thank you for the insight, Scali! Your work proved extremely useful and fun to experiment with throughout making this video :)
That being said, Yamaha exposes most of the native parameters of the OPP chip through SysEx extended controller-change messages. You might not have cycle-perfect timing over the registers, but you could at least set them to what you want. Pretty much bypassing most of the limitations from ordinary MIDI.
Also, I should totally use my IBM Music Feature more!
In layman's terms, the AdLib can communicate with other parts of the computer, while the IMFC can't?
computers are kewwwl
@@Toonrick12 Pretty much it. On the AdLib, the OPL-2 is connected directly to the ISA bus, so you can program specific registers to manipulate the sound directly and you can read the status of the chip, while the IMFC is connected through (on-card) MIDI and through the MIDI output port only, with a limited set of commands that allow you to edit patches but not direct control over the chip's sound generating features.
Sound aside, you've really nailed quality video capture of a CRT screen.
Thanks! I’ve got a good setup going lately and that helps.
I came here to write this. It's not easy to record a CRT so well.
Agreed! I've been scouring the web for pics and footage of EGA monitors this week and this was a godsend! Amazing quality footage- and in 4K! 🤩
This times a million. So many videos of crt are cringeworthy at best. But this is amazing. Granted what you see irl must not be great if it looks that good to us. I’m sure the needed settings for clear video make irl rough.
@@LGR you've managed to perfect what took Stewart Chaifet and the Computer Chronicles team about a decade, and even then they didn't capture it as well (they had to use full screen polarising lenses over the monitor in the mid 90s episodes!). I'm very impressed.
Sierra were truly ahead of their time during that brief window of time when they were putting more effort into their soundtracks than anyone else. They sound really nice on this card!
Starting up the first Wing Commander with a MT-32 still blows me away like it did back then.
Really depends on the game, for example Space Quest 3 really sounded bad on that card. However, Larry 3 probably sounded even better on the MFC: ua-cam.com/video/zvfc0LidqFI/v-deo.html
There is a video out there, where Roberta Williams apologizes for pushing people into buying ridiculously expensive audio equipment that was pretty much abandoned when games had CD-Audio.
Sierra On-line not only heavily supported a wide range of music cards, they really wanted users to buy them to get the most out of their games. They really did believe in the experience. I STILL have an audio cassette tape that Sierra produced and sold (for basically shipping cost) that demoed the different sound cards with some of their games. I used that back in the day to decide that it was worth the insane amount of money at the time to splurge and get a Roland MT-32 instead of an AdLib (or Sound Blaster) card. The soundtracks were mind blowing played through a true stereo system at the time. (In fact, I had an IBM PS/2 Model 50, so I had to get the MicroChannel version of the MPU-401 card to interface with the MT-32, adding even more $$$….)
@@bsd107 Interesting piece of info... I wasn't aware about the cassette shipping!
I had a (used, for cheap) PS/2 model 50Z and was negatively surprised when I wanted to get a Logitech sound card installed... they told me the next day the bus wasn't compatible.
Saved that money to invest it a year later in a P75 system with an original SB AWE32 instead.
Jeff, thank you for allowing LGR to document this rare card! I know him opening and messing around with a pristine example is something most collectors wouldn’t do.
I imagine Jeff was fully planning on opening it up and installing it in a machine, at least for a bit, anyway and he knew it would be treated with care. But yes, many collectors (and that's really what this is these days; a collector's item rather than a usable piece of retro-tech) wouldn't even break the seal on the box...
Having it documented in a high quality video like this will do more to preserve this bit of tech than keeping sealed in plastic ever would, and I'm glad Jeff understands this.
Exactly, I love looking at classic cars in museums, but someone like Jay Leno knows that they’re best viewed in action.
Man, I heard about this ages ago and never thought I'd even see a video about it.
This is why I love LGR. Treating every item reviewed with the enthusiasm someone would have as if it were released yesterday.
exactlyyyyyy :)
New old stock IBM Music card getting installed in a new old stock IBM AT. Both of which were unboxed for our viewing pleasure. What a time to be alive! ☺
There is something about the sound of FM Synthesis that makes me all happy inside. I think it's due to the fact that you're not using instruments, but crude facsimiles of the *sound* of an instrument but are still able to make something incredible sounding from it. There are some music tracks that just sound better as FM Synth, and no Wavetable Synth is gonna tell me otherwise. I really wish more games leaned into it, especially since it's possible to emulate with pretty decent results.
Case in point: the entire soundtrack from Tyrian. Sounds amazing on FM, but a pale imitation on General MIDI. Especially tracks like "Gyges, Will You Please Help Me?", "One Mustn't Fall", "Sarah's Song", or "Tyrian, The Level". That FM guitar sound just can't be beat.
Oh, and special mention to "X_EVIL.IMF" from Spear of Destiny. The MIDI version used in Doom 2's secret level 31 (D_EVIL.MUS) is pretty good, but the original FM version is even better.
If anyone reading this is considering making a retro PC game, consider using S3M's FM support for the music. Powerful and well-documented format, even if the FM capabilities aren't used very often. You can even use both FM and samples together, though few playback programs support both at once.
The early days of sound cards were truly wild. I distinctly remember when my Dad upgraded our family computer to have a Roland sound card, and being absolutely blown away by how good game music sounded all of a sudden. Descent in particular.
Great video!
Along with the prices. Unlike the Amiga 500 they were definitely aimed at the professional music studio as opposed to the casual gamer. I guess back then anything seemed cheap compared to a Fairlight synthesize. When will Clint review one of those ?
I remember trying all the MIDI / AdLib options, just to see how different they sound. When I got a newer soundcard, I'd try all my favorite games again.
Descent had an awesome soundtrack. The CD version of D2s soundtrack blew my mind when I was a kid.
I never played Descent but Foresaken (descent clone) has a rockin' electronic soundtrack. I just had to buy the remaster on Steam when I found out it was a thing just to relive those 90s days and to have dem toons in uncompressed form (I played it on N64 back then).
As someone whose only exposure to the retro tech ecosystem is your content, this is yet another card I've never heard of. Interested to see what it's about, cool to touch on another AdLib Gold-style legend.
EDIT: Man yeah, this thing sounds *pristine*, I love it. Warm and smooth, with a 'depth' to it. What a groundbreaking product. It's actually cool that the sound of it is not unique to the card; it makes experiencing that sound easier.
I also knew immediately that the answer to the titular question would be a resounding 'no', lol, and actually for pretty similar reasons to the Gold which I thought would apply here. It's a case of economies of scale almost - this card was rare back then as it is now for a good reason.
It's not retro, it's a vintage piece of kit.
What an incredibly cool card. I love how beautifully over-engineered old 1980s IBM products could be. (That support bracket!)
Also - Jeff, you're a legend.
I'm guessing that was a stock item for inserting any full length card in certain later IBM machines that lacked the row of brackets in the original PC/G, /XT and /AT. Once IBM stopped including brackets with machines, they would probably sell them separately and bundle them with all later sales of cards.
@@johndododoe1411 Not many people needed 6 full size slots. My PC-AT clone has them though, even if the cards wouldn't fit due to components on the board.
@@joe--cool That's bad board design, eberything around the slots must have clearance for cards that extend backwards according to the specs, even if the case is too short.
The brackets are still a thing to this day, even if it's mostly a server / workstation thing.
@@Fay7666 Big modern GPUs are also full length cards that hang some weight on the brackets.
You have made my day with this! The YM2164 is the same chip used in the following Keyboard synthesizers: Yamaha DX21,DX27,DX100,FB01(tone module),KORG DS8 and KORG 707. It is 4 operator FM and as such it is powerful and is a full featured synth that can be controlled and edited by midi sysex and compatible softwares and plugins!
The IBM card was basically a Yamaha FB-01 on an ISA card that you could send MIDI to.
@@jfwfreo Ah, so that's why those preset names at 11:38 seemed so familiar lol
Also the SFG05. A music cartridge made for MSX computers including Yamaha's own. I can't help wonder if a complete CX5M setup would have been cheaper than this card. Since the system was launched in 1984 by 1987 almost certainly on the second hand market.
p.s. If you aren't familiar with the CX6M most of the Yamaha software cartridges were for things like a DX7 editor. Very handy for the professional musician.
Interesting ! Big thanks to Jeff for letting you open up the packaging and demonstrate the card to the viewers !
This is one more reason out of many why I love this channel: I've never heard of this card before, but now I'm learning all about this space of music production of the time. I love learning about this stuff through this channel. The music feature seems like a very interesting player in the IBM PC soundcard market. I would love to see even more videos of software, hardware, and peripherals related to music production of the 80s and 90s. Awesome work!
Dang. That stereo sound sounds pretty damn good. I never knew this card existed! I entered my sound card world with the Media Vision Thunder Board in the early 90s ;)
I had the SoundBlaster card that came stock with my Gateway Essential tower PC.
@@MrWolfSnack I think my first ever Sound Blaster card was an AWE32. I used that Thunder Board for years LOL.
I only knew it existed from seeing it in Sierra's installers back in the day.
@@mikesol1162 I probably just read over it and never had it register since it was irrelevant to me LOL
@@BollingHolt My first card was the Game Blaster which was the precursor to the Sound Blaster. I then got the Pro Audio Spectrum 16 from Media Vision.
Wow, it's weird for me to say this, but my heart dropped when you opened and removed the sound card from it's packaging for the first time...I can just imagine going back in time to when this sort of hardware was brand new and the idea itself was fresh and exciting...sigh...I miss those days of early computing. As troublesome as it could be (only because I didn't know anything about computers back then) it was still an amazing time worth re-living. This is why I love your channel and your style of reviewing/editing. It's like you're able to experience this old tech as if it were brand new today. Thanks for all that you do, LGR.
Very impressive and quite fascinating since I never heard this Soundcard before because most people already know the Sound Blaster or the Ad Lib with their FM synthesizer capabilities which both are iconic legendary cards but hearing this particular card for the first time and I'm quite impressed since I always love FM synthesizers that organic Chip Tone feel is just awww.
I'll be honest the day that onboard audio came about I was actually pleased. Setting up IRQ's all the time and having conflicts with IDE controllers and VGA cards and a Modem. It's fun and novel to look at it now but this was a pain in the ass since all I really wanted to do was play quake and Warcraft 2 (Dial-up Multiplayer) Audio on PC's was an acceptable compromise .Most people only cared about having an Intel CPU and how big the hard disk was.
I'd like to once again shout out Jeff for letting all of this be opened and aired for posterity like this. Digital historians of the future will thank you.
Just wanted to say thanks for your videos. It takes me back to when I was a kid and wanted to get into computers, but it just wasn't in the cards. It's cool to see all the old tech.
My pleasure, I hope you continue to enjoy!
LGR viewer Jeff, thanks man for sharing this gem. Awesome card and truly awesome owner.
In 1987 that would have absolutely floored me. You wouldn't record an album with that sound, but for a PC at that time it would have been stunning to hear.
I mean, many of its sounds are quite usable in an album, especially if you pair them with some outboard effects.
My mom worked for computerland in the 80s, if only she saved some stuff, I remember seeing blue IBM boxes in crates wrapped in plastic. They were expensive then, and nothing has changed. Thanks for the upload. I also, was born in 87. The narrator is giving me Casey casum vibes.
Oh my. Now I'm even more happy that I bought an FB-01 a while back. I wanted it for music production, as it's famous for certain sounds like the "Solid Bass" aka. "Lately Bass" sound for example, and I'm a big fan of '80s FM synths. But finding out that it's supported as a device for old games? Yikes, I never knew. Suddenly my side-by-side combo of FB-01 and SC-55 looks even cooler ^^
For Lately Bass that would actually be the TX81Z
Nice of you to show the FB-01; I happen to own one too. The fact that it has technical similarities to a sound card that goes for that much money on the used market caught me by surprise.
I’m absolutely addicted to this channel now. It’s so satisfying seeing you review old tech.
It's nice having about 15 years of backlog to marathon, isn't it?
Amazing. These are the videos I love the most. Vintage PC experiences that almost no one had at the time. Great video, and props to Jeff for letting you defile that card lol
Thanks for bring back memories. Jerome Bixby was working on His "The Man From Earth" and the score. He used the IBM Music Feature Card and a wall of keyboards and synthesizers.
He was asked to review MusicPrinter Plus by Temporal Acuity Products, Inc.
He had me do some parts while he did others. It was a very fun time. It came out in Electronic Musician Dec 1990. I miss my friend. I have the MFC and it parts along with the disk for MusicPrinter Plus.
I'm a big fan and user of soundcards. So, this is one of my favorites episodes of LGR! Top quality! Awesome! Thanks! 🍻
That card looked gorgeous. The pcb is so prestine it almost looks like a jewel.
I personally liked the sound of the IBM card over the AdLib. :D
Definitely more depth, as you would expect from twice the number of FM operators.
I think this card sounds awesome, such a warm and rich sound! Much better than the plastic sound of adlib.
The blues demo track is really neat because you can hear the velocity so well on the standup bass instrument. Very cool.
This is one of the earliest consumer uses of the FM synth before the AdLib and the Sega Genesis came out.
Back in 1985 I bought a Toshiba HX-MU900 FM sound cartridge and matching keyboard when they were being sold off cheap. With animated instruments (and unfortunately no MIDI support) it was definitely a consumer product, (far more than this IBM card) possibly a bit ahead of its time at the original price. A demo (not mine) ua-cam.com/video/vvXB7krWf9M/v-deo.html
My School had a fully fledged "studio" in 1989, as this was Scotland, our pc's for this place were all IBM's, donated to the school directly from the Greenoch IBM factory, at that time, those were the only machines I knew off that had a dedicated sound card, and could record to a hard disk, it took another decade before this was even considered normal, so, in that sense, what IBM offered back then was truly groundbreaking.
I love these sound card reviews. It's cool to hear the differences between the special cards and whatever was the generic option of the time. I'm still hoping to find a roland MT-32 here on the European mainland one day 😁
The interface of Playrec is just awesome to look at, especially on that monitor. The aesthetics are just something else.
Apart from a lot of other vintage computer parts, this one certainly seemed very enjoyable. It sounded great.
Not to compare UA-camrs, but it is a joy to see with what care you handle this unique historical relic.
Does anyone else experience ASMR from LGR's voice or just me? I'm so relaxed
Many of us dream of one day having a cool enough, rare enough piece of technology to have LGR review it. What a masterpiece!
The condition is unheard of. So immaculate. Sealed in box all these years. Quite the time capsule
Wow, that is really warm and mellow sounding. Sounds lovely.
Perfect video to watch on the weekend. Love your videos!
An interesting product, can't believe how good it sounds for something this old. Amazing that even back then PCs were capable of being able to compose music with them. I absolutely enjoy seeing you fiddle around with old tech, you gain a true appreciation for it when you see it in action and see an older PC maxed out and pushed to its limits. Keep doing this, I thoroughly enjoy your content.
Awesome card!
I started making music in 1990 on a Atari 1040ST!
Later on, 1992 I purchased an IBM PS1, 386SX with a 387 co-processor and a stunning 8MB of RAM! I also purchased a MPU-IPC card. This is a MPU-401 with the same MIDI adapter as this IBM card. Hooked up my Korg M1 and Roland D10 synthesizers and I was good to go!
Awesome time, awesome era!
Wow, I've always been intrigued by this card, since it's so rare. Finally a proper review! Thanks a million :-)
I'd love to hear more gameplay footage though, especially compared to Adlib.
That did sound great. Back in its period that would sound extraordinary.
Having the letters IBM attached to the card is what made it pricey.
These days, the three letters changed to RGB
Hi lgr first time commenting long time watcher ,just wanted to say thanks for all your videos,they help me relax when i need to be relaxed,thank you and keep up the good work,peace :)
Awesome, I’m glad to hear they’ve been a positive thing :)
The early/mid 80's seems like a truly EPIC time in computing. The stories I've heard from people who were in programming-type jobs at the time only reinforces it.
seems a lot more exciting than web-anything
It was, largely because hardware was iterating faster than we could keep up with it. Things have slowed down a LOT these days.
That card was king back in my days, i had two of them in my system back then. And worked perfectly with FT and my Yamaha keyboard. Could throw anything at it and it would work.
just wanted to stop by and say this man is a legend i found my own IBM PC AT in the dumpster and I've seen how expensive this hobby can get thank you LGR!
Clint, your voice is so soothing. I could listen to you talk for hours.
I thought I knew all about vintage 80's IBM stuff, but once again LGR shows me something "new" and cool!
Amamzing feature of The Feature, Clint! Now this episode just needs to have an OST release since the music today was so awesome!
I LOVE the gradient color shift on the PCB, like pearlescent greens, it's glorious!
I admire your resistance to declaring one superior to the other. One certainly feels that temptation.
The sight of a fresh, dust-free green PCB will never cease to bring me joy.
I hadn't seen that Mindscape Music Board before. Dual AYs, not bad! Looks like they were configured for mono only - would have been nice to have the option of a chip per-channel 😁
This is a beatiful kit - lovely condition, cheers for sharing! That "Rock" demo song had me tickled.
Thanks Jeff! Without you, I would never have known about this card.
Being a low level geek in the 80s and 90s recommended your channel.
Your voice, charisma, and level of knowledge better than my own made me a subscriber.
The absolute respect that you and your fans have for the tech and each other keeps me coming back
I busted out my tube DAC to listen to this and boy was I rewarded! That cannon in D is a masterpiece. That card is worth it. *Stares hard at Tandy 1000* I play colonels bequest all the time!
Thank you Jeff!
I'd love seeing you play through old sierra titles 😇 I'm not good at solving these games myself but they bring back fond memories of my first experiences with computer games. I especially remember the Kings Quest series, Police Quest 1 and 2 and a few of the Space Quest games. And of course Larry Laffer. The first one in the series i remember best.
It's something special with the OPL2 chip that I really love. It's not because of nostalgia, because I was (am) an Amiga guy back then (now), but because the really cold and hard sound one can get out of it.
This was an awesome watch/listen! The PC Music Feature is surprisingly very cool! I had only heard of it in those sierra configuration menus and always wondered what it sounded like. When you started with the Space Quest III intro it sounded pretty bad but the later part was better than the adlib! Very cool. I also appreciate the 4k EGA monitor footage! I've been looking this week specifically for pics/footage like this to compare some of my MiSTer filter experiments against. Thanks LGR!
Absolutely love the late 80s tech. I was cutting my teeth in 91 so alot of this old hardware I am familiar with but never experienced it in a platform at the time. Excellent content as always.
I never knew this sound card existed. My first computer was a Packard bell legend something. I remember it had a sound blaster 16 card inside.
I had loads of fun playing many computer games and enjoy the FM music I would hear from games at the time.
Biomenace and megarace had good music tracks. I cannot forget the awesome soundtrack to star wars tie fighter.
I have a soft spot for sound card for some reason. When my brother bought the first PC in the house it didn't even had a floppy drive, let alone CDrom or sound card, because he was happy he could get the base machine first. It wasn't long before he could get a floppy drive a CDrom and a souond card but it felt like an eternity not having sound. Today I'm buying old sound cards left and right when I see them on my local flea market.
man, i wasn't aware of this at all but i'm VERY aware of adlib and... i like how this sounds more. it is more of a different rather than "better" thing though.
Don't even think I heard of this. Or maybe I forgot about it. Such a great deep dive on these cards man. Keep 'em coming!
this is amazing, takes me back to me early youth days when visiting local PC stores, had one of em playing midi demo on that IBM MIDI card, which was years before having my own sound blaster card that's sadly didn't have that old demo till decades later upon random finds on youtube. :D
Thanks for giving love to the *mostly* forgotten FB01. I use one for music production, i wanted something that sounded like the sega genisis and pcs of the time, sure doesn't disappoint ❤
Always cool when you explore old hardware like this! I remember at least seeing Tandy sound and the Roland MT-32 listed in game setup menus, but never this IBM card.
Thanks for showing this to us -- and thanks to Jeff for loaning it to you! 😎
Getting your hands on New "old" stuff is truly a special moment and is like a weird localized time machine. Product that is forty years old but thanks to sitting in a box is itself as pristine and perfect as though it was made yesterday. At one point all of these cards and similarly old tech looked like this, but because we were only exposed to them after the ravages of time in our brains they all have that layer of wear on them. Really great to get to see something so pristine. kudos to Jeff for letting it happen and great job to LGR for showing it off.
I appreciate that the first time I've seen your musical ability, you demonstrate it on a computer keyboard
that Yamaha program is SO visually pleasing omg
Thanks for jeff that let you document this card and thank you for doing it. 🙏
This is cool sound card for 1987, if you’re an audiophile back then composing music for games or even a recording studio! There’s now lots of alternatives for these retro computers with cheap sound cards!
This video needs to be watched with headphones on. It sounds amazing.
I love the sound of FM Synth.
When you pulled it from the ESD bag, I felt and smelled that so hard
This is why i love this channel. We get to see very interesting old tech, that we probably wouldent have known about otherwise. I love old computer tech. And what is interesting is that a card of this size was not uncommon back in the day. That was just how they came. But today? People looking at an RTX 4090 and going WHOA! That is massive! But a RTX 4090 is about 4cm shorter than a full length ISA card.
I can't put my finger on it but this is one of the most LGR videos ever. Love it. Thank you for taking me on this crazy journey
There's something about those 80s 4-color CGA animations in the demo program that pleases me, very appealing despite or because of it's obvious limitations
Sound cards were so weird I still can't believe technology got built out in that way. 🤯
Just the idea that a piece of hardware could drastically change the music and sound effects in your games is crazy.
The thumbnail is awesome, makes it looks like a forest against a blue sky
The IMFC is clean, but the AdLib (like the Genesis) has that wonderful grit and stank smeared all over every single note. I love it.
That's the longest card I have seen since my very first office-grade HP printer. It required an ISA (i think) card that spanned the FULL width of the full-sized case. Back when the cases had plastic rails on the BACK of the case for the far end of the card to slide in to. That printer was so old, it took an add-on duplexer to print both sides of a sheet.
Wow, that's pricey then and now but it was revolutionary for the PC at the time!
man I am SO glad I put on headphones for this vid. Normally I put youtube on through an macbook air speaker. Some of the sample music was so fun! Even the background stuff you had on. Thanks much.
Amazing that such an old piece of tech would be so fascinating. Truly stellar. And seeing one in such condition! amazing!
I am happy that todays sound cards are much cheaper. Great LGR video like always. Your channel is very informative and entertaining at the same time.
Amazing demonstration of the IMF, Clint! Back in 1987, I was lucky to have two of these (dad worked for IBM, apparently had an employer's discount); I had a PC XT with a 20MB hard drive, and the IMFs were in one of those 5160 expansion units with the huge system interconnect cable. That was one of my earliest setups for composing and playing music.
I could beat myself up for getting rid of these, and I have no idea where they went. The only thing left I can find of them is one of the MIDI breakout boxes. Sigh.
Well someone's missing a Midi breakout box for one of these, probably goes for good $$ to complete someone's setup 😄
Didn't even know this existed until now. In 1987 I was rocking the SID-chipped Commodore 64.😉
Fond memories of this card. My dad bought one and my brothers and I spent endless hours making music and playing games with it.
This vid captures what i love about lgr. Old computer stuff on full display. He actuslly owns the old stuff, installs it on old computers, and plays it on said old computers. Computers are so boring nowadays!
A card from the dawn of the golden age of sound cards, back when they were an actual product instead of a scam. It sounds amazing too! There's just something special about Yamaha's FM synth chips. That stuff just sounds right. It's also a prime case of IBM consumer hardware. Expensive as all hell, but damn if it ain't powerful stuff.
Also, was that a Korg Minilogue that I caught a glimpse of there? Those things are sexy synths.
That it was. It’s part of my main synth setup: ua-cam.com/video/UgNqzbcr2Pw/v-deo.html
Audigy cards are not a scam. I use broadcast headphones which can handle a few watts and if I use an internal sound chip you get noise, hiss when driving it at 100% output (which is quiet), the built-in brick wall makes it all but impossible to make the pre-amp distort, multiple inputs, etc. My boxed RX was $60. 60 bucks for good audio? Sign me up.
Just like you would never use the built in "video card" for anything but a secondary display or compute, you should buy a bargain Audigy if you plan to game, watch UA-cam or have any sound at all. I would rather have no sound than bad sound.
@@hicknopunk Anser is queston YES!
@@hicknopunk What's the point in a sound card when USB has more than 10x the needed bandwidth?
@@tsm688 probably an audiophile
I love how IMFC sounds over than Adlib card. It feels more steady, bassed and clean.
@3:42 When Clint said, "O.P.P.", every single one of us sang, in our heads, "Yeah, you know me!"
Another classic LGR video
Sounds similar to the Adlib and Genesis 2612 but still has a unique flavor that distinguishes itself from those. It's crazy how damn there 99% of consumer electronic products from the Mid 70's to early 2000s had either Yamaha FM chips or one of the Square Tone generators like the SN76489 or the AY-3-8910 in them. Though seldom used today in 2023, every now and again I'll come across some device or children's toy making that familiar tone that makes my ears perk up. Thank goodness for the advancements in emulation and software like Furnace or Delfemask that gives us the opportunity to create identical music and sounds completely in software without requiring the original chips. 😇
The distinct flavor of each card may have been caused by the cards using different DAC chips and output filters.
@@Stoney3K I think you have a good point in terms of the final fidelity after it leaves the chip to the DAC, but the more I'm learning lately I feel like it's more so about how each chip fundamentally arrives to it's sounds beforehand based on the amount of oscillators and algorithm configurations it has that makes the difference or uniqueness. I heard or read somewhere there's a Yamaha chip that has 6 oscillators! Can you imagine how crazy that would be dialing up sounds with that thing? It's hard enough messing around with the basic 2 or 4 oscillator ones like this chip or the YM2612 lol 😄
@@thedrunkmonkshow The six-voice version was the YM2608.