Editing Sound card (section)

===Hardware manufacturers===
One of the first manufacturers of sound cards for the IBM PC was AdLib,<ref name=autogenerated1 /> which produced a card based on the [[Yamaha YM3812]] sound chip, also known as the OPL2. The AdLib had two modes: A 9-voice mode where each voice could be fully programmed, and a less frequently used ''percussion'' mode with 3 regular voices producing 5 independent percussion-only voices for a total of 11.{{efn|The percussion mode was considered inflexible by most developers; it was used mostly by AdLib's own composition software.}}

[[Creative Labs]] also marketed a sound card called the Creative Music System (C/MS) at about the same time. Although the C/MS had twelve voices to AdLib's nine and was a stereo card while the AdLib was mono, the basic technology behind it was based on the [[Philips SAA1099]] chip which was essentially a square-wave generator. It sounded much like twelve simultaneous PC speakers would have except for each channel having amplitude control, and failed to sell well, even after Creative renamed it the [[Game Blaster]] a year later, and marketed it through [[RadioShack]] in the US. The Game Blaster retailed for under $100 and was compatible with many popular games, such as [[Silpheed]].

A large change in the IBM PC-compatible sound card market happened when Creative Labs introduced the [[Sound Blaster]] card.<ref name=autogenerated1/> Recommended by Microsoft to developers creating software based on the [[Multimedia PC]] standard,<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=November 11, 2013|author=English, David|pages=82}}</ref> the Sound Blaster cloned the AdLib and added a sound coprocessor{{efn|This was likely an [[Intel]] microcontroller relabeled by Creative.}} for recording and playback of digital audio. The card also included a [[game port]] for adding a [[joystick]], and the capability to interface to MIDI equipment using the game port and a special cable. With AdLib compatibility and more features at nearly the same price, most buyers chose the Sound Blaster. It eventually outsold the AdLib and dominated the market.

Roland also made sound cards in the late 1980s such as the MT-32<ref name=autogenerated1 /> and [[Roland LAPC-I|LAPC-I]]. Roland cards sold for hundreds of dollars. Many games, such as Silpheed and Police Quest II, had music written for their cards. The cards were often poor at sound effects such as laughs, but for music were by far the best sound cards available until the mid-nineties. Some Roland cards, such as the SCC, and later versions of the MT-32 were made to be less expensive.

By 1992, one sound card vendor advertised that its product was "Sound Blaster, AdLib, Disney Sound Source and Covox Speech Thing Compatible!"<ref name="cgw199207">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1992&pub=2&id=96|title=Computing Will Never Sound the Same|magazine=Computer Gaming World|date=July 1992|access-date=July 3, 2014|type=advertisement|pages=90}}</ref> Responding to readers complaining about an article on sound cards that unfavorably mentioned the [[Gravis Ultrasound]], ''Computer Gaming World'' stated in January 1994 that, "The de facto standard in the gaming world is Sound Blaster compatibility ... It would have been unfair to have recommended anything else."<ref name="cgw199401">{{Cite magazine |date=January 1994 |title=Sound Philosophy |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=114 |department=Letters from Paradise |magazine=Computer Gaming World |pages=120, 122}}</ref> The magazine that year stated that ''[[Wing Commander II]]'' was "Probably the game responsible" for making it the standard card.<ref name="brooks199405">{{Cite magazine
 |last=Brooks
 |first=M. Evan
 |date=May 1994
 |title=Never Trust A Gazfluvian Flingschnogger!
 |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1994&pub=2&id=118
 |magazine=Computer Gaming World
 |pages=42–58}}</ref> The Sound Blaster line of cards, together with the first inexpensive [[CD-ROM]] drives and evolving video technology, ushered in a new era of [[multimedia]] computer applications that could play back CD audio, add recorded dialogue to [[video game]]s, or even reproduce [[full motion video]] (albeit at much lower resolutions and quality in early days). The widespread decision to support the Sound Blaster design in multimedia and entertainment titles meant that future sound cards such as [[Media Vision]]'s [[Pro Audio Spectrum]] and the Gravis Ultrasound had to be Sound Blaster [[computer compatibility|compatible]] if they were to sell well. Until the early 2000s, when the AC'97 audio standard became more widespread and eventually usurped the SoundBlaster as a standard due to its low cost and integration into many motherboards, Sound Blaster compatibility was a standard that many other sound cards supported to maintain compatibility with many games and applications released.