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.
The YM2612, a.k.a. OPN2, is a sound chip developed by Yamaha. It is a member of Yamaha's OPN family of FM synthesis chips, and is derived from the YM2203.
The digital sound revolution refers to the widespread adoption of digital audio technology in the computer industry beginning in the 1980s.
The FM Towns is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. In 1993, the FM Towns Marty was released, a game console compatible with existing FM Towns games.
The YM2413, a.k.a. OPLL, is a cost-reduced FM synthesis sound chip manufactured by Yamaha Corporation and based on their YM3812 (OPL2).
There have been various families of Yamaha audio controllers labelled as YMF7xx.
The PC-9800 series, commonly shortened to PC-98 or 98, is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more than 18 million units had been sold. While NEC did not market these specific machines in the West, it sold the NEC APC series, which had similar hardware to early PC-98 models.
MDX is a Music Macro Language (MML) based format designed to be played on the X68000 series of computers. The music data is programmed then compiled into the MDX file. An optional PDX file containing PCM data may be present.
The AY-3-8910 is a 3-voice programmable sound generator (PSG) designed by General Instrument in 1978, initially for use with their 16-bit CP1610 or one of the PIC1650 series of 8-bit microcomputers. The AY-3-8910 and its variants were used in many arcade games—Konami's Gyruss contains five—and pinball machines as well as being the sound chip in the Intellivision and Vectrex video game consoles, and the Amstrad CPC, Oric-1, Colour Genie, Elektor TV Games Computer, MSX, and later ZX Spectrum home computers. It was also used in the Mockingboard and Cricket sound cards for the Apple II and the Speech/Sound Cartridge for the TRS-80 Color Computer.
The Yamaha YM2151, also known as OPM is an eight-channel, four-operator sound chip. It was Yamaha's first single-chip FM synthesis implementation, being created originally for some of the Yamaha DX series of keyboards. Yamaha also used it in some of their budget-priced electric pianos, such as the YPR-7, -8, and -9.
An MSX-ENGINE chip is a specially developed integrated circuit for home computers that are built according to the MSX specifications. Generally, such a chip combines the functions of many separate, older/simpler chips into one. This is done to reduce required circuit board space, power consumption, and production costs for complete systems.
A programmable sound generator (PSG) is a sound chip that generates audio signals built from one or more basic waveforms, and often some kind of noise. PSGs use a relatively simple method of creating sound compared to other methods such as frequency modulation synthesis or pulse-code modulation.
The Yamaha Y8950 is a sound chip, produced in 1984. It is also known as MSX-Audio as it was designed for inclusion in an expansion cartridge for the MSX personal computer.
The YM2203, a.k.a. OPN, is a six-channel sound chip developed by Yamaha. It was the progenitor of Yamaha's OPN family of FM synthesis chips used in many video game and computer systems throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. It was used in a variety of NEC computers, along with various arcade game machines.
The YM2610, a.k.a. OPNB, is a sound chip developed by Yamaha. It is a member of Yamaha's OPN family of FM synthesis chips, and related to the YM2608.
The Yamaha YMF278, also known as the OPL4, is a sound chip that incorporates both FM synthesis and sample-based synthesis by Yamaha.
The YM2414, a.k.a. OPZ, is an eight-channel sound chip developed by Yamaha. It was used in many mid-market phase/frequency modulation-based synthesizers, including Yamaha's TX81Z, DX11, YS200 family, the Korg Z3 guitar synthesizer, and many other devices. A successor was released as the upgraded OPZII/YM2424, used only in the Yamaha V50.
The YMF292, aka SCSP is a multi-function sound chip developed by Yamaha for the Sega Saturn, and was also used in Sega's arcade version of the Saturn, the ST-V, along with the Model 2 and Model 3.
The OPL series are a family of sound chips developed by Yamaha. The OPL series are low-cost sound chips providing FM synthesis for use in computing, music and video game applications.
