Windows Sound System

Last updated
Microsoft Windows Sound System REV.B front.jpg
Microsoft Windows Sound System REV.B back.jpg
Front and back of an original Microsoft Windows Sound System sound card

Windows Sound System (WSS) is a sound card specification developed by Microsoft, released at the end of 1992 for Windows 3.1. It was sold as a bundle which included an ISA sound card, a microphone, a pair of headphones and a software package. [1]

Contents

WSS featured support for up to 16-bit, 48 kHz digital sampling, [1] beyond the capabilities of the popular Sound Blaster Pro, although it was less frequently supported than Sound Blaster and Gravis sound cards, as well as Roland sound cards, daughterboards, and sound modules. [2] In addition, the WSS featured RCA analog audio outputs, an uncommon feature among sound cards of this era; other connections were a microphone input, a stereo line input and a stereo headphone output. [1]

WSS was supported by most popular DOS sound libraries developed in the 1990s, such as the Miles Sound System and HMI Sound Operating System, as well as less popular ones such as Loudness Sound System, Digital Sound Interface Kit, Digital Sound & Music Interface and Junglevision Sound Drive. [2]

Much like with the Intel High Definition Audio standard of today, the actual hardware was also standardized as well. WSS was based on the Analog Devices AD1848 codec chip and had an on-board Yamaha YMF262-M (OPL3) FM synthesis sound chip for MIDI playback [1] (supporting up to 18 simultaneous MIDI voices). [3]

Drivers

WSS 1.0a drivers were released in February 1993. They introduced single-mode DMA, supported games in MS-DOS, Ad Lib and Sound Blaster emulation. [4]

WSS 2.0 drivers, released in October 1993, added support for OEM sound cards (Media Vision, Creative Labs, ESS Technology) and included an improved DOS driver (WSSXLAT.EXE) that provided Sound Blaster 16 compatibility for digital sampling. [4] However, they did not provide support for FM or wavetable synthesis.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound card</span> Expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals

A sound card is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces used for professional audio applications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster</span> Family of sound cards by Creative Technology

Sound Blaster is a family of sound cards and audio peripherals designed by Singaporean technology company Creative Technology. The first Sound Blaster card was introduced in 1989.

AC'97 is an audio codec standard developed by Intel Architecture Labs and various codec manufacturers in 1997. The standard was used in motherboards, modems, and sound cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gravis UltraSound</span> Sound card for IBM PC compatibles

The Gravis UltraSound or GUS is a sound card for the IBM PC compatible system platform, made by Canada-based Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. It was very popular in the demoscene during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Covox Speech Thing</span> External digital-to-analog audio converter

The Covox Speech Thing is an external digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that plugs into the parallel printer port of a PC. It converts 8-bit digital sound using a simple R-2R resistor ladder into an analog signal output.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intel High Definition Audio</span> Specification for the audio sub-system of personal computers

Intel High Definition Audio (IHDA) (also called HD Audio or development codename Azalia) is a specification for the audio sub-system of personal computers. It was released by Intel in 2004 as the successor to their AC'97 PC audio standard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamaha YMF7xx</span>

There have been various families of Yamaha audio controllers labelled as YMF7xx.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster X-Fi</span> Computer sound card

Sound Blaster X-Fi is a lineup of sound cards in Creative Technology's Sound Blaster series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq Soundscape S-2000</span> PC sound card

Soundscape S-2000 was Ensoniq's first direct foray into the PC sound card market. The card arrived on the market in 1994. It is a full-length ISA digital audio and sample-based synthesis device, equipped with a 2 MiB Ensoniq-built ROM-based patch set. Some OEM versions of the card feature a smaller 1 MiB patch set. It was praised for its then-high quality music synthesis and sound output, high compatibility and good software support.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq Soundscape OPUS</span>

The Ensoniq Soundscape OPUS (SS-3016-NCD) is a Gateway 2000 OEM sound card, and possibly was used by other OEMs, but was never sold to Ensoniq's customers directly. It was a Soundscape-like board, using the Ensoniq "OPUS" multimedia sound chip that only was used on these OEM boards. It had a 1MB patch set ROM chip, resulting in a lesser MIDI quality compared to the Soundscape and Soundscape ELITE. The "OPUS" cards again carry the Motorola 68EC000 CPU. The variety of CD-ROM interfaces have been removed. Otherwise, however, the card is simply a cost-reduced Soundscape-compatible board with similar capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq Soundscape Elite</span> Ensoniqs high-end ISA PC sound card offering

The Soundscape Elite was Ensoniq's high-end ISA PC sound card offering. It offers the highest MIDI quality of any PC sound card Ensoniq produced. The board is an evolution of the company's previous Soundscape S-2000. The Soundscape ELITE was launched in March 1995.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq AudioPCI</span> PCI-based sound card

The Ensoniq AudioPCI is a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI)-based sound card released in 1997. It was Ensoniq's last sound card product before they were acquired by Creative Technology. The card represented a shift in Ensoniq's market positioning. Whereas the Soundscape line had been made up primarily of low-volume high-end products full of features, the AudioPCI was designed to be a very simple, low-cost product to appeal to system OEMs and thus hopefully sell in mass quantities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster Live!</span>

Sound Blaster Live! is a PCI add-on sound card from Creative Technology Limited for PCs. Moving from ISA to PCI allowed the card to dispense with onboard memory, storing digital samples in the computer's main memory and then accessing them in real time over the bus. This allowed for a much wider selection of, and longer playing, samples. It also included higher quality sound output at all levels, quadrophonic output, and a new MIDI synthesizer with 64 sampled voices. The Live! was introduced in August 1998 and variations on the design remained Creative's primary sound card line into the early 2000's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster Audigy</span> Computer sound card

Sound Blaster Audigy is a product line of sound cards from Creative Technology. The flagship model of the Audigy family used the EMU10K2 audio DSP, an improved version of the SB-Live's EMU10K1, while the value/SE editions were built with a less-expensive audio controller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster 16</span> Sound card by Creative Technology

The Sound Blaster 16 is a series of sound cards by Creative Technology, first released in June 1992 for PCs with an ISA or PCI slot. It was the successor to the Sound Blaster Pro series of sound cards and introduced CD-quality digital audio to the Sound Blaster line. For optional wavetable synthesis, the Sound Blaster 16 also added an expansion-header for add-on MIDI-daughterboards, called a Wave Blaster connector, and a game port for optional connection with external MIDI sound modules.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster AWE32</span> Sound card for PCs

The Sound Blaster AWE32 is an ISA sound card from Creative Technology. It is an expansion board for PCs and is part of the Sound Blaster family of products. The Sound Blaster AWE32, introduced in March 1994, was a near full-length ISA sound card, measuring 14 inches (356 mm) in length, due to the number of features included.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum</span>

The Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum family of personal computer sound cards included the original 8-bit Pro AudioSpectrum (1991), the 8-bit Pro AudioSpectrum Plus, 16-bit Pro AudioSpectrum 16, Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Basic and 16-bit Pro Audio Studio. All PAS cards with the exception of Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Basic could connect to CD-ROM drives—variants having SCSI or various proprietary interfaces—and many were sold in multimedia kits with compatible CD-ROM drives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E-mu Systems</span> American music technology company

E-mu Systems was a software synthesizer, audio interface, MIDI interface, and MIDI keyboard manufacturer. Founded in 1971 as a synthesizer maker, E-mu was a pioneer in samplers, sample-based drum machines and low-cost digital sampling music workstations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sound Blaster X7</span> USB audio device

The Sound Blaster X7 is a USB audio device that can work without a computer. It was announced on 3 September 2014. It supports Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X computers but requires a power supply to work. The Sound Blaster X7 has the SB-Axx1 sound chip built-in. Android and iOS devices can change SBX Pro Studio audio settings with the Sound Blaster X7 Control app.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brown, Bruce (1992-11-24). "Microsoft Sound System Gives Windows a Voice". PC Magazine : 36–38 – via Google Books.
  2. 1 2 "Microsoft Windows Sound System standard support in DOS games". www.vogons.org. 2014-05-29. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  3. ↑ Strehlo, Kevin; Lyons, Patrick (1992-09-21). "Microsoft's Audio Bundle Blasts the Competition". InfoWorld : 137 – via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 "Comparing Features of Windows Sound System 1.0, 1.0a, and 2.0". support.microsoft.com. 2014-02-28. Archived from the original on 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.