First post, by keropi
- Rank
- l33t++
Hello!
I am happy to present you yet another thing that has been in the works for quite some time : the Orpheus II 😁
OrpheusII page: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2.html
23-06-23: LT boards now available, you can check the page here for more info: http://pcmidi.eu/orpheus2LT.html
LT is an orpheusII without the Gravis PnP stuff
Orpheus II final version photo:
prototype photos:
As it is apparent the main addition is the AMD Interwave chip (of the Gravis Ultrasound PnP fame).
The IW chip is only used as a playback device on the Oprheus II , audio I/O and non-GUS functions are all handled by the CS4237 audio controller.
There is space for full-length wavetable daughterboards like the DB50XG/SCB-7~55 and the low profile SIMM socket can accommodate a 16MB RAM stick without obstructing the next ISA slot - so the Interwave chip can be coupled with it's max ram configuration.
But the enhancements do not stop there!
Thanks to 640k!enough 's deeper understanding of the inner workings of the CS4237 audio controller we now have superior interfacing for the YMF289 OPL3 chip - and I dare say not even Crystal themselves would imagine this 😀
Because of these enhancements we can now have under Windows a selection between CrystalFM and OPL3FM devices while still maintaining the same digital connection to the CS4237 and everything else that was already possible with the Orpheus I.
Under Windows the card works with the stock Crystal and Gravis drivers - no tricks needed to get things running:
For DOS there is a new and enhanced ORPHINIT made for Orpheus II in development and for now the GUS part needs either the stock Gravis or Unisound driver to get initialized.
The whole card behaves like 3 cards on 1 pcb: Orpheus + PCMIDI + GUS PNP and as such it is resource heavy:
The card will require from the end user a certain degree of knowledge to get 3 cards going at the same time - as expected from such a setup.
Systems/motherboards that were previously problematic with Orpheus will not see an improvement - as the PnP functions and workings are internal to the CS4237 and no "fixes" can be made on them.
But everything else on the board is improved, from pcb design to components and functionality - all thanks to the experience gained from previous cards.
Currently the card is more or less done on the hardware side, this is the latest/final prototype card with no patch wires needed 🤣
Final card color will be "classic green" for that retro look.
I cannot think to add anything else atm, feel free to ask about things in the thread below since it is certain I have forgotten some important detail 🤣
Thanks for looking!