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My first sound card was a Gravis Ultrasound Max I bought for around $400 maybe? Cut out a part of the PC cage so it could fit. Added memory from an old video c

by pasta 8y ago

My first sound card was a Gravis Ultrasound Max I bought for around $400 maybe? Cut out a part of the PC cage so it could fit. Added memory from an old video card to it and it worked great. But things were going so fast that maybe one/two years later the Soundblaster 2 came on the market. Maybe it was $200 and producing much better sound. Edit: changed the prices as others point out they are wrong.

ttul 8y ago
Someone patched Wolf3d to work with the Ultrasound. It was amazing...
caf 8y ago
The SoundBlaster 2.0 was in the $200 ballpark when it came out, not $20.
- pasta 8y ago
  Then I think the GUS was around $400. The only thing I remember I was amazed and sad at the same time when I heard the SB2. Halve the price twice the sound. And ofcourse Dr. Sbaitso..
flukus 8y ago
> But things were going so fast that maybe one/two years later the Soundblaster 2 came on the market. I was profoundly disappointed to have to deal with this sort of nonsense when we "upgraded" from our Amiga 500.
einr 8y ago
The GUS Max came out in 1994, the SoundBlaster 2.0 came out in 1991 and was a significantly more limited card than the GUS (no wave table synthesis, no 16-bit audio or stereo) In 1994 the state-of-the-art SoundBlaster would have been the AWE32 and it was $399. You must be misremembering :) Sound cards did not drop to anywhere near $20 until the very late 90's or early 00's and those $20 cards were bottom barrel stuff that would have been less advanced in many ways than the GUS Max even then.
- pasta 8y ago
  Mmm. I guess my memory is bad. I really thought the GUS came before the SoundBlaster, but maybe I didn't have a GUS Max but a GUS.
- sundvor 8y ago
  "In 1994 the state-of-the-art SoundBlaster would have been the AWE32 and it was $399." Now I remember why I was never able to save any money in my late teens...
- raverbashing 8y ago
  I don't remember when the AWE32 came out, but I had gotten one in 96 Too bad it died after a couple of years, seems to be a design flaw
sbarre 8y ago
Yeah! I still have my Gravis Ultrasound in a box somewhere.. The red PCB was so cool (16-year-old me thought) and I also remember having to modify my case to make it fit. That card was so good for demoscene stuff.. I was also proud that it was Canadian-made (it sat alongside my Matrox video card)

by pasta 8y ago

ttul 8y ago

Someone patched Wolf3d to work with the Ultrasound. It was amazing...

caf 8y ago

The SoundBlaster 2.0 was in the $200 ballpark when it came out, not $20.

pasta 8y ago
Then I think the GUS was around $400. The only thing I remember I was amazed and sad at the same time when I heard the SB2. Halve the price twice the sound. And ofcourse Dr. Sbaitso..

flukus 8y ago

> But things were going so fast that maybe one/two years later the Soundblaster 2 came on the market. I was profoundly disappointed to have to deal with this sort of nonsense when we "upgraded" from our Amiga 500.

einr 8y ago

The GUS Max came out in 1994, the SoundBlaster 2.0 came out in 1991 and was a significantly more limited card than the GUS (no wave table synthesis, no 16-bit audio or stereo) In 1994 the state-of-the-art SoundBlaster would have been the AWE32 and it was $399. You must be misremembering :) Sound cards did not drop to anywhere near $20 until the very late 90's or early 00's and those $20 cards were bottom barrel stuff that would have been less advanced in many ways than the GUS Max even then.

pasta 8y ago
Mmm. I guess my memory is bad. I really thought the GUS came before the SoundBlaster, but maybe I didn't have a GUS Max but a GUS.
sundvor 8y ago
"In 1994 the state-of-the-art SoundBlaster would have been the AWE32 and it was $399." Now I remember why I was never able to save any money in my late teens...
raverbashing 8y ago
I don't remember when the AWE32 came out, but I had gotten one in 96 Too bad it died after a couple of years, seems to be a design flaw

sbarre 8y ago

Yeah! I still have my Gravis Ultrasound in a box somewhere.. The red PCB was so cool (16-year-old me thought) and I also remember having to modify my case to make it fit. That card was so good for demoscene stuff.. I was also proud that it was Canadian-made (it sat alongside my Matrox video card)