Turtle Beach Malibu 64?

I got a retail Sound Blaster kit around 1999 or so from a big-box store. It was supposed to be a combo of a PnP Sound Blaster 16 ISA card, and a 48x IDE CD-ROM drive. Inside was a 52x CD-ROM drive and a note explaining that it was faster. I can't find any traces of this kit online from searching briefly. I'm also not sure how long it had been sitting in inventory at the time.

kolderman wrote on 2020-05-19, 01:05:

Turtle Beach Malibu 64?

I think this may be correct... or at least close. There was a 3-D audio comparison in the Feb 1999 issue of PC Mag that included that card.

After the big players leave the market, smaller companies scavange the remains. I think the latest retail ISA soundcard is a budget offering with eyecatching "3D" capability. Perhaps something like Aztech SC16-3D?

I have some noname OPTi and Avance Logic cards that were made in ~1999 according to some datecodes on the parts used on them (though actual sound chips have like 1996 or 7 date) and have stocking date stickers with 2001 on them from shop they were found in.

Thanks for all the replies. I found a round-up of PC sound hardware from the January 6, 1998 issue of PC Magazine. That means this issue was on newsstands in late 1997. The round-up reviews only four sound cards, but it includes both ISA and PCI cards, and an ISA card won the "Editor's Choice" award: the AWE64 Gold. The other ISA card was the Malibu, and the PCI cards were the Ensoniq AudioPCI and the Diamond Monster Sound.

On the inexpensive side there where these budget cards which had good DOS compatibility.

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-19, 03:01:

kolderman wrote on 2020-05-19, 01:05:

Turtle Beach Malibu 64?

I think this may be correct... or at least close. There was a 3-D audio comparison in the Feb 1999 issue of PC Mag that included that card.

Turtle Beach Malibu Surround 64 was released in late 1997.

kixs wrote on 2020-05-19, 19:00:

cyclone3d wrote on 2020-05-19, 03:01:

kolderman wrote on 2020-05-19, 01:05:

Turtle Beach Malibu 64?

I think this may be correct... or at least close. There was a 3-D audio comparison in the Feb 1999 issue of PC Mag that included that card.

Turtle Beach Malibu Surround 64 was released in late 1997.

Yeah... the OP's question wasn't super clear about whether or not it was the last card released or the last ISA card being sold in stores so I was just going by latest sold in stores that I could find.

I was more interested in "big name" manufacturers that had flashy packaging in big box stores. I'm not saying that these are necessarily superior cards, only that I know that mom and pop stores sold "generic" ISA cards (albeit with good chipsets like YMF71x) well into the 2000s.

The Terratec EWS64S is another card that springs to mind. The v1.0 manual found here (http://terratec.ultron.info/Audio/EWS/64S/Man … S_Manual_GB.pdf) is dated March 1998.

The Soundblaster 16 WavEffects was still being sold in 1999 as I bought one at the time. The pack-in CD-ROM is dated 1999 as well.