Subj : Play audio from a serial port
To   : AKAcastor
From : Bob Worm
Date : Sat May 25 2024 10:21:03

  Re: Play audio from a serial port
  By: AKAcastor to Bob Worm on Fri May 24 2024 13:18:52

Hi, Chris.

 > I think a big part of the concept of these parallel port sound interfaces
 > like Covox (or the similar Disney Sound Source) was that they were SO CHEAP
 > to make because they didn't even need an IC.

Yes, the link you sent had a video from (I think) 8 bit guy showing the Covox clone alongside Disney Sound Source - I had forgotten all about that thing! My friend had one and I remember it was better than what I had (nothing) but it barely worked with any software. I never imagined it was sub-$20 to buy, though - that's pretty amazing for something with a power supply, amp & speaker, plus it sounds like it did some buffering? Crazy.

Then again, I seem to remember my first SoundBlaster clone was about GBP20 so there is that... Orchid Sound Producer, possibly? Got to love the naming of off-brand stuff.

I was going to say I think I remember parallel adaptors with a DAC for the Amiga (not that I had one), but I that's probably all in my head because the Amiga had that capability on-board anyway so why make an external one? Probably I'm just getting confused with the multitude of parallel ADC units for the Amiga used for sampling.

The link Spec posted has ASCII art diagrams* for putting together your own parallel adaptor with a DAC chip (a couple of different DACs, actually) - funtionally the same but probably better quality. I imagine someone must have cranked out a manufactured version of that at some point.

* Said ASCII art was in a file with a .DOC extension - I was suddenly reminded that .DOC used to mean plain text before Word hijacked it. It's funny that I'm still finding things like that which give a sudden, unexpected burst of nostalgia.

BobW
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