Editing Sound Blaster (section)

==First generation Sound Blasters, 8-bit ISA & MCA cards==

===Sound Blaster 1.0, CT1310, CT1320A, CT1320B===
[[Image:Soundblaster-1.0-ct1320.jpg|thumb|Sound Blaster 1.0 (CT1320B); C/MS chips in sockets (labeled U14, U15) are seen.]]

The Sound Blaster 1.0 (code named "'''Killer Kard'''"),<ref name="scisco198910">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-10-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_113_1989_Oct#page/n11/mode/2up | title=Sound-board Duet | work=Compute! | date=October 1989 | access-date=11 November 2013 | author=Scisco, Peter | page=10}}</ref> CT1320A, was released in 1989. In addition to Game Blaster features, it has a 9-voice (11 voices in drum mode)<ref>{{cite web |title=Yamaha YM3812 datasheet |url=https://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/84281/YAMAHA/YM3812.html |publisher=Yamaha |access-date=9 December 2022 |language=English}}</ref> [[Frequency modulation synthesis|FM synthesizer]] using the [[Yamaha YM3812]] chip, also known as [[OPL2]]. It provided compatibility with the market leader [[AdLib]] sound card, which had gained support in PC games in the preceding year. Creative used the "DSP" acronym to designate the digital audio part of the Sound Blaster. This stood for Digital Sound Processor, rather than the more common [[digital signal processor]], and is a simple microcontroller from the [[Intel]] [[MCS-51]] family (supplied by Intel and [[Matra|Matra MHS]], among others). It can play back 8-bit [[monaural]] [[sampling (signal processing)|sampled sound]] at up to 23 [[kHz]] [[sampling frequency]] and record 8-bit at up to 12&nbsp;kHz. The sole DSP-like features of the circuit are [[ADPCM]] decompression and a primitive non-MPU-401-compatible MIDI interface. The ADPCM decompression schemes supported are 2 to 1, 3 to 1 and 4 to 1. The CT1320B variety of the Sound Blaster 1.0 typically has C/MS chips installed in sockets rather than soldered on the PCB, though units do exist with the C/MS chips soldered on.<ref>[http://www.cgi.com/261329619999]{{dead link|date=July 2016}}</ref>

Some sources note that the original Sound Blaster 1.0 was produced under the CT1310 number. This however is a topic of ongoing debate. Creative refers to CT1310 for the Sound Blaster 1.0 on its website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=71b7440be27e8887a9b4c0b717ca54ba&topic=2590.20 |title=Pictures of Sound blaster 1.0 |website=queststudios.com |access-date=3 February 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20131114154346/http://queststudios.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=71b7440be27e8887a9b4c0b717ca54ba&topic=2590.20 |archive-date=14 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?23903-CT1310-model-number-for-the-Soundblaster-1-0-a-myth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224115958/http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?23903-CT1310-model-number-for-the-Soundblaster-1-0-a-myth|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 December 2013|title=CT1310 model number for the Soundblaster 1.0 - a myth?|website=Vintage-computer.com|access-date=12 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://support.creative.com/kb/ShowArticle.aspx?url=http://ask.creative.com:80/srvs/cgi-bin/webcgi.exe/,/?st=491,e=0000000000236433705,k=8757,sxi=17,case=obj(10846),kb=ww_english_add,varset=ws:http://us.creative.com|title=Creative Worldwide Support|website=Support.creative.com|access-date=12 July 2016}}</ref>

In less than a year, the Sound Blaster became the top-selling expansion card for the PC. It achieved this by providing an AdLib-compatible product, with additional features, for the same, and often lower, price. The inclusion of a [[game port]] was important to its early success. PCs of this era did not include a game port. Game port cards were costly (around US$50) and used one of the few expansion slots PCs had at the time. Given the choice between an AdLib card or a fully-compatible Sound Blaster card that came with a game port, saved a slot, and included the "DSP" for not much more in price, many consumers opted for the Sound Blaster. In-game support for the digital portion of the card did not happen until after the Sound Blaster had gained dominance.

When Microsoft announced [[Multimedia PC]] (MPC) in November 1990, it suggested to developers that they use the Sound Blaster as it was the only sound card that came close to complying with the MPC standard. The press speculated that Microsoft based the MPC standard on the Sound Blaster's specifications.<ref name="english199206">{{cite news | url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue141/82_Sound_Blaster_turns_.php | title=Sound Blaster turns Pro | work=Compute! | date=June 1992 | access-date=11 November 2013 | author=English, David | page=82}}</ref> By 1993 ''Computer Gaming World'' wondered "why would a gamer" buy a competing AdLib card that was not Sound Blaster-compatible.<ref name="cgw199310">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=111 | title=CGW Sound Card Survey | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=October 1993 | access-date=26 March 2016 |author1=Weksler, Mike |author2=McGee, Joe | pages=76–83}}</ref> Creative advertised the Sound Blaster 16 ("the 16-bit sound standard") with the slogan "Get Real", emphasizing its "real 100% Sound Blaster compatibility" and rhetorically asking "why those other manufacturers spend so much time comparing themselves to Sound Blaster".<ref name="creative199312">{{cite magazine | url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1993&pub=2&id=113 | title=Bumper Crop | magazine=Computer Gaming World | date=December 1993 | access-date=29 March 2016 | type=advertisement | page=131}}</ref>

====Reception====
''[[Compute!]]'' in 1989 stated that with Sound Blaster, "IBM-compatible computers have taken the lead in sound and music for personal computers". Naming it a Compute! Choice, the magazine described the quality of the opening music of ''[[Space Quest III]]'' with the card as "extraordinary", praising the quality compared to the [[Roland MT-32]] and Ad Lib versions. ''Compute!'' approved of the card's [[direct memory access|DMA]] and Creative's dissemination of technical information, and concluded that while the more-expensive MT-32 was superior, Sound Blaster's audio quality was better than that of Ad Lib or Game Blaster.<ref name="leinecker198912">{{Cite magazine |last=Leinecker |first=Richard |date=December 1989 |title=Blast the PC Sound Barrier with this Creative Card |url=https://archive.org/stream/1989-12-compute-magazine/Compute_Issue_115_1989_Dec#page/n89/mode/2up |magazine=Compute! |pages=88–90}}</ref>

===Sound Blaster 1.5, CT1320C, CT1320U===
[[Image:Sound Blaster 8bit.JPG|thumb|Sound Blaster 1.5 (CT1320C); C/MS chip sockets (labeled U14, U15) seem empty.]]

Released in 1990, the Sound Blaster 1.5, CT1320C, dropped the C/MS chips, which were no longer popular with game developers. Instead, the board had two empty sockets, which could be user upgraded by purchasing the C/MS chips directly from Creative or Phillips SAA-1099s from another source. Otherwise the card functions identically to the Sound Blaster 1.0.<ref>Sound Blaster Optional Hardware & Software Catalog, Creative Labs Inc. (Page 2)</ref> The CT1320U variety has the same layout as the CT1320C.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://electricdreams.ath.cx/card/creact1320u.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-11-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225010529/http://electricdreams.ath.cx/card/creact1320u.jpg |archive-date=2013-12-25 }}</ref>

===Sound Blaster 2.0, CT1350===
[[Image:KL Creative Labs Soundblaster 2.0 CT1350B.jpg|thumb|Sound Blaster 2.0 (CT1350B), without C/MS and FM chipset]]

The final revision of the original Sound Blaster, the Sound Blaster 2.0 was released in October 1991,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ibm-pc.org/manuals/other/creative/SoundBlaster2.PDF |title=Sound Blaster |website=Ibm-pc.org |access-date=2016-07-17}}</ref> CT1350, added support for "[[Intel 8237#Modes|auto-init]]" [[Direct memory access|DMA]], which assisted in producing a continuous loop of [[Double-buffering|double-buffered]] sound output. Similar to version 1.0 and 1.5, it used a 1-channel 8-bit DAC. However, the maximum sampling rate was increased to 44&nbsp;kHz for playback, and 15&nbsp;kHz for record. The DSP's MIDI UART was upgraded to [[full-duplex]] and offered [[time stamp]]ing features, but was not yet compatible with the [[MPU-401]] interface used by professional MIDI equipment. The Sound Blaster 2.0's [[Printed circuit board|PCB]]-layout used more highly integrated components, both shrinking the board's size and reducing manufacturing cost.

Owners of previous revision Sound Blaster boards could upgrade their board by purchasing the V2.00 DSP chip from Creative Labs, and swapping the older DSP V1.0x with the newer replacement. The upgraded board gained the auto-init DMA and new MIDI capabilities of the Sound Blaster 2.0 but not the expanded sampling rates. The upgrade was necessary for full compatibility with the [[Windows 3.0]] Multimedia Extensions upgrade.

===Sound Blaster MCV, CT5320===
[[File:SoundBlaster MCV CT5320B.jpg|thumb|right|The Sound Blaster MCV (CT5320B); note that the card has a greater width and thus lacks the typical MCA sled.]]

Sound Blaster MCV, CT5320, was a version created for [[IBM]] [[IBM Personal System/2|PS/2]] [[IBM PS/2 Model 50|Model 50]] and higher and their ISA-incompatible [[Micro Channel architecture]]. The MCV Sound Blaster has some issues outputting audio while running on PS/2s with CPUs running faster than 16&nbsp;MHz. However, the joystick interface is still inoperable on PS/2s it was designed for due to the slow-speed Schottky chips that have been installed. None of these timing issues affect the Yamaha YM3812. Some of the MCV Sound Blasters were released with faster Schottkys which eradicated some of the problems.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ps-2.kev009.com/ohlandl/sound/Soundblaster.html|title=Soundblaster MCV|website=Ps-2.kev009.com|access-date=12 July 2016}}</ref>