PS-1 Audio

PS/1 Audio
Developer:	IBM
Released:	1990-??-??
Type:	Sound Card
Slot:	24-pin Cable
Icon:
Platforms:

IBM released the PS/1 Audio card for use with its PS/1 model of home computers at the beginning of the 1990s. The sound card was specifically manufactured for the IBM PS/1 which used 24-pin ribbon cables to attach devices to the motherboard rather than the ISA standard of the time. The sound card included a PSG with 3 square wave channels, and 1 channel for noise, and an 8-bit DAC.

The PSG used on the PS/1 Audio is unknown, but sounds very similar to the SN76496 used on PCjr and its PCjr 3 Voice protocol. This was copied by the competing Tandy 1000 computer line with its Tandy 3 Voice protocol, however, Tandy continued innovating and added the Tandy DAC to all their later models, something IBM failed to do. So, by the time the PS/1 Audio card was released, IBM was now playing catch-up to Tandy. Not that it mattered, because the second generation Sound Blaster was now available, making both audio systems obsolete.

The card also features a DA-15 port for MIDI, a 3.5 mm microphone input jack, and a PS/2 joystick port.

Games

Despite already being obsolete before it was even released, the PS/1 Audio card had a fair amount of support.

• Games That Use PS/1 Audio For Music.
• Games That Use PS/1 Audio For Sound.

Picture Gallery

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  The PS/1 Audio card with its data cable attached, and bundled software.

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  The top of the PS/1 Audio card.

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  The bottom of the PS/1 Audio card.

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  A second bottom picture to show the leads.

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  The outer face of the card.

Emulation Status

Some progress has been made emulating the PS/1 Audio card in DOSBox, but it has yet to be incorporated in the full release and must be built from source. Full emulation is available in DOSBox-X.

See Also

• PCjr 3 Voice

Links

• vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=18327 - VOGONS thread for adding PS/1 Audio emulation to DOSBox.