u9hx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (05/04/91)
Recently, I've seen some discussion about sound boards, specifically the sound blaster, adlib, and roland. I'm interested in getting one for general purpose use, especially games. Can someone explain to me the main differences in features? Is the sound blaster worth the extra money than the adlib? I've heard an adlib before, and all the music sounds the same. Are the soundblaster and roland better? Thanks alot.. -Stephen
jayh@ms.uky.edu (Jay Hofacker) (05/05/91)
u9hx@vax5.cit.cornell.edu writes: >Recently, I've seen some discussion about sound boards, specifically the sound >blaster, adlib, and roland. I'm interested in getting one for general purpose >use, especially games. Can someone explain to me the main differences in >features? Is the sound blaster worth the extra money than the adlib? >I've heard an adlib before, and all the music sounds the same. Are the >soundblaster and roland better? The Adlib provides 11 FM synthesized voices, either 6 melody/5 percussion, or 8 (9?) melody. All new games that I've seen that support sound cards include support for the Adlib. The SoundBlaster is 100% Adlib compatible. In addition, it has a DAC channel for 8 bit digital sound sampling and playback. Few games currently use this feature, but software is available that lets you play back sound files from MACs, Amigas, Suns and Nexts. Other software uses the the DAC channel as a voice synthesizer. The SoundBlaster has a built in Amp suitable for directly driving speakers, but it can also be routed through your stereo system's amp. For about $20, you can add two chips to the SoundBlaster which provides 12 voice stereo GameBlaster/CMS compatible sound. The Roland LAPC is the best sound card I've heard for the PC. It has eight synthesizers plus a percusion synthesizer. The sound quality is astounding. All new Sierra games support the LAPC. Of course, at $300-400, you get what you pay for. -- Jay Hofacker, sysop of the Audio/Visual Exchange, (606)254-1751 3/12/24 MNP 5 Mail: jayh@ms.uky.edu / uk02779@ukpr.uky.edu -- Yes, my signature is only 2 lin
sunyat@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Eric Hsiao) (05/05/91)
Read about a new soundboard put out by MediaVision in the May/June 91 issue
of GIF News, available for FTP at wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS
filename for the may issue is gn91-05.zip...grape.ecs.clarkson.edu in the
/incoming directory has many back issues (which include a review of the
SoundBlaster). Or join the GIF News mailing list and have a UUENCODED copy
emailed to you.
Eric
--
| Internet: Eric_Hsiao@MTS.RPI.EDU > Read GIF News - a freely copied news < |
| sunyat@rpi.edu > magazine in .GIF file format. Color < |
| Bitnet: userGJ8L@rpitsmts.bitnet > articles on reviews of programs, < |
| FTP ab20 /incoming/amiga/gifnews > games, industry news, IBM, Amiga, etc.< | ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) (05/05/91)
From article <jayh.673378215@s.ms.uky.edu>, by jayh@ms.uky.edu (Jay Hofacker): > The Roland LAPC is the best sound card I've heard for the PC. It has eight > synthesizers plus a percusion synthesizer. The sound quality is astounding. > All new Sierra games support the LAPC. Of course, at $300-400, you get what > you pay for. First, Sierra games are somewhat boring (by TODAY's standards of Wing Commander and Tycoon). Other game makers like Origin and Microprose has improve themselves greatly while Sierra kept beating the same dead horse. Other than that, there are many more new (great) games supporting Sound Blaster than Roland. (I bought KingQuest V and got tired after ONE DAY, gave it away. I also checked out PoliceQuest 2 at my friend's place, yawn) Second, if the digital voice output (8-bit DAC) should become popular, Roland users would be left out because it does not have Sound Blaster-specification digital voice output channel (if it has any DAC at all). All in all, due to the popularity of Sound Blaster (about 100,000 in the US), and its power in population growth (good hardware at cheap price, a simple Adlib used to cost $400, now SB is only $150), game makers will always has SB in their mind when designing game. You can fight the crowd... if you writes your own games. p.s. I heard that a few motherboard makers are considering building Sound Blaster into their motherboards.
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) (05/05/91)
From article <!74gl9=@rpi.edu>, by sunyat@aix01.aix.rpi.edu (Eric Hsiao): > Read about a new soundboard put out by MediaVision in the May/June 91 issue > of GIF News, available for FTP at wuarchive.wustl.edu in /pub/MSDOS_UPLOADS > filename for the may issue is gn91-05.zip...grape.ecs.clarkson.edu in the > /incoming directory has many back issues (which include a review of the > SoundBlaster). Or join the GIF News mailing list and have a UUENCODED copy > emailed to you. The street price for that MediaVision card is $379, according to a guy in that company. Better use the money for a Roland or a Sound Blaster hooked to a 2x40watts amplifier/speaker set.
rabe@ikki.informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Ralf Bergs) (05/06/91)
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >First, Sierra games are somewhat boring (by TODAY's standards of >[...] Well, it's a matter of taste, isn't it? >(I bought KingQuest V and got tired after ONE DAY, gave it away. I also >checked out PoliceQuest 2 at my friend's place, yawn) One needs a lot of fantasy, you know.... ;-) Ciao, Ralf -- smail: Ralf G. R. Bergs, H"uckeswagener Str. 42, D-5270 Gummersbach-Windhagen phone: (+49) 22 61-2 19 68 email: rabe@cip-s01.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
lrj@CS.Cornell.EDU (Lew Jansen) (05/07/91)
In article <1991May4.221340.12097@d.cs.okstate.edu> ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >All in all, due to the popularity of Sound Blaster (about 100,000 in the US), >and its power in population growth (good hardware at cheap price, >a simple Adlib used to cost $400, now SB is only $150), game makers will >always has SB in their mind when designing game. Just to fight a little bit of misinformation here... Street prices of Adlib and SB are as follows (Electronics Boutique, 6 May 1991): Adlib: $120 SB: $180 When I was making a choice a few months ago, I felt I didn't need another game port (had one on the multi-IO card), nor did I need Speech stuff, so I bought the Adlib card. I have yet to regret my decision. I don't have any numbers as to how many Adlib cards are out there, but it can't be a small number if the SB card emulates it. :) Also, isn't there some additional $30 or $50 chipset you have to buy in order to do some of the voice stuff (input or output?) on the SB? I'm sure someone will be able to give the info. Don't you also have to put some driver in your config.sys with the SB? I may be wrong on this. Adlib is plug'n'play. My computer complains enough as it is, I don't need it being able to talk back to me too! -- -- Lewis R. Jansen, N2KNV lrj@helios.tn.cornell.edu LASSP/LNS Systems Manager (607) 255-6065 '78 CX500 "You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!"
sigma@sun.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) (05/07/91)
lrj@CS.Cornell.EDU (Lew Jansen) writes: >In article <1991May4.221340.12097@d.cs.okstate.edu> ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >>All in all, due to the popularity of Sound Blaster (about 100,000 in the US), >>and its power in population growth (good hardware at cheap price, >>a simple Adlib used to cost $400, now SB is only $150), game makers will >>always has SB in their mind when designing game. > Just to fight a little bit of misinformation here... Street prices >of Adlib and SB are as follows (Electronics Boutique, 6 May 1991): > Adlib: $120 > SB: $180 No. Electronics Boutique != street prices. Close, but not good enough. I got my Soundblaster for $150 from Sierra, when they were selling them at minimum price over Xmas. You can find a dozen mail-order dealers who will do the same any time of the year. Adlib should be about $99 from the same people. The box comes tightly packed and shrinkwrapped; it's unlikely it makes any difference where you buy yours, except that older cards have the CMS chips included for free. > I don't have any numbers as to how many Adlib cards are out there, >but it can't be a small number if the SB card emulates it. :) The SB card emulates it because the Adlib came first. Programming for the Adlib is also easier and in some cases cheaper, since Creative Labs do charge a fair bit for their developer's kit. > Also, isn't there some additional $30 or $50 chipset you have to buy >in order to do some of the voice stuff (input or output?) on the SB? >I'm sure someone will be able to give the info. Don't you also have >to put some driver in your config.sys with the SB? I may be wrong on >this. Adlib is plug'n'play. No. The additional chipset enables a couple of extra melody channels, or something like that. I think it's for Gameblaster compatibility. Someone can correct me here. My card doesn't have these chips, and it can do voice input/output quite nicely. My config.sys has no driver in it. I do have 'SET SOUND=C:\SOUND\SB' in case some program wants to load a driver, but the drivers are then un-loadable, and most games come with the software built in. (Regrettably so, since newer drivers are more compatible.) Soundblaster is plug'n'play. Note: I did spend an extra $40 on a pair of 20w speakers, and I have yet to regret that. The sound is fantastic. -- Kevin Martin sigma@ipl.rpi.edu "Can I kiss one of the bridesmaids instead?"
ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) (05/07/91)
From article <1991May6.173335.6553@cs.cornell.edu>, by lrj@CS.Cornell.EDU (Lew Jansen): > In article <1991May4.221340.12097@d.cs.okstate.edu> ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >>All in all, due to the popularity of Sound Blaster (about 100,000 in the US), >>and its power in population growth (good hardware at cheap price, >>a simple Adlib used to cost $400, now SB is only $150), game makers will >>always has SB in their mind when designing game. > > Just to fight a little bit of misinformation here... Street prices > of Adlib and SB are as follows (Electronics Boutique, 6 May 1991): > > Adlib: $120 > SB: $180 The lowest price for Sound Blaster is $150. See summary below. > When I was making a choice a few months ago, I felt I didn't need > another game port (had one on the multi-IO card), nor did I need > Speech stuff, so I bought the Adlib card. I have yet to regret my > decision. You will, and soon (after the new games with voice output becomes the norm). > I don't have any numbers as to how many Adlib cards are out there, > but it can't be a small number if the SB card emulates it. :) The problem with Adlib (low number of cards out there) is that it used to sell for $400, according to an article by another usenetter. At that price, not too many people would buy. It was only (about) when competition arrived with Sound Blaster that the price came down. Soft Warehouse, the largest computer chain-store in the US, used to carry both Adlib card and Sound Blaster. About 3 months ago they dropped Adlib from their catalog, leaving Sound Blaster there. > Also, isn't there some additional $30 or $50 chipset you have to buy > in order to do some of the voice stuff (input or output?) on the SB? > I'm sure someone will be able to give the info. Don't you also have > to put some driver in your config.sys with the SB? I may be wrong on > this. Adlib is plug'n'play. Talk about misinformation. Please don't spread MISINFORMATION about Sound Blaster until you are sure. You do NOT need additional chipset (CMS chipset $20) to do voice stuff. Both input and output voice are standard on the card. Also, you do NOT need driver in the config.sys file to run Adlib stuff. Sound Blaster is 100% hardware compatible with Adlib. They both licensed the same technology from a third company. > My computer complains enough as it is, I don't need it being able > to talk back to me too! Sure, you don't need a 19" screen too (to complain with bigger words). > -- > -- Lewis R. Jansen, N2KNV lrj@helios.tn.cornell.edu > LASSP/LNS Systems Manager (607) 255-6065 > '78 CX500 > "You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!" I hereby attach a summary by another usenetter in rec.games.misc regarding Sound Blaster vs. Adlib ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Path: d.cs.okstate.edu!uokmax!unmvax!ariel.unm.edu!news.cs.indiana.edu!samsung!rex!uflorida!pine.circa.ufl.edu!hans From: hans@pine.circa.ufl.edu (Hans van Oostrom) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Summary of which sound card to get Message-ID: <28137@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> Date: 23 Apr 91 00:29:31 GMT Sender: news@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU Reply-To: hans@pine.circa.ufl.edu Organization: University of Florida - Dept. of Anesthesiology Lines: 81 News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4 Summary of my posting about which sound card to get Adlib or SoundBlaster. Score: Soundblaster 5 - Adlib 0 Thanks to everyone that replied, I'm gonna order a SoundBlaster From: "Scott Preston" <sp4@reef.cis.ufl.edu> I have a Sound Blaster. I used to have an adlib, the sound blaster has many advantages, it has a joystick connector on it, a digitized sound capability (play and record), and it IS 100% adlib compatable. Go for the Sound Blaster, it is a much better deal! From: Jay Hofacker <jayh@ms.uky.edu> I recently bought a Soundblaster for my '386. The Soundblaster does everything the Adlib does plus it has a single voice digital channel. This DAC can be used to play digitized samples from 5000Hz to 23000Hz. Programs are available that will play digitized sounds from Macintoshes, Amigas, Sparc Stations and Next computers on the Soundblaster DAC. The Soundblaster can also digitize from nearly any audio source, which can later be played back on the Soundblaster. The SoundBlaster also has a joystick game port (which can be disabled if you already have one). For about $60 you can get an external Midi connector box with has 1 MIDI in and 5 MIDI out ports for connecting the Sound Blaster to electronic keyboards or other MIDI Instruments. For about $20 you can add two chips to the Sound Blaster which makes it compatible with C/MS or Game Blaster. The Game Blaster has 12 stereo voices, as opposed to Adlib's 11 Mono voices. From: Stephen M. Smith <smsmith@hpuxa.acs.ohio-state.edu> I have the soundblaster card and it's great. All the games that use the adlib will work on the soundblaster because the soundblaster is 100% adlib compatible. The soundblaster has added features, though, like text to speech sythesis, digitizing features, stereo sound, and other things. Don't get an adlib--get the soundblaster. You can also play Amiga files on the soundblaster with some shareware software. The Amiga files sound REALLY cool--they use digitized voices for instruments!! From: Mark Kern <mek4_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu> I think you will find the SoundBlaster card a much better investment over the Adlib. I have the Sound Blaster, and it sounds great. I read several review of sound cards before making my decision, and all of them agreed that the Sound Blaster sounded better than Adlib, even while emulating it! The Sound Blaster gives you a cleaner digital channel (8-bit 21khz), and all the voices of the Adlib plus optional CMS compatabilty (you need to add two small chips for this). CMS is another sound card that isn't really supported anymore. The Sound Blaster will even give you MIDI if you buy the optional MIDI box for the input and output. The Adlib is at the bottom edge of PC sound technology right now. It will probably be worthless in a year, especially since there are many new sound cards rumored to be coming out from Adlib,Sound Blaster and Roland. From: ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) Sound Blaster. You get 100% hardware Adlib compatible, joystick port, option CMS 12-voice stereo, optional MIDI, 2x4watts power amplifier (no need for external amplifier if you use headset or mini speakers, Adlib I *think* has only 1 watt, correct me if I am wrong), and most important of all, you get the 8-bit voice DMA input/output. The new games are beginning to use the 8-bit voice output. The other cards are simply too expensive. Even the new souped-up "Adlib" card by a company called Multi-Media (I think) wants $379 street-price (spoke to one guy in the company). There are close to 100,000 Sound Blasters in the US and nearly as many outside the US, game makers big and small cannot afford to ignore that kind of popularity! ------ Hans van Oostrom PO Box J-254, JHMHC hans@ufpine (BITNET) Gainesville, FL 32601, USA hans@pine.circa.ufl.edu (INTERNET) -------------------------end-of-summary----------------------------------
lrj@CS.Cornell.EDU (Lew Jansen) (05/07/91)
In article <1991May6.215559.11294@d.cs.okstate.edu> ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG) writes: >From article <1991May6.173335.6553@cs.cornell.edu>, by me: >The lowest price for Sound Blaster is $150. See summary below. Fine, mail order. In general, I don't equate mail order prices with "street" prices, perhaps that's a different perception that others hold. I'm looking at the viewpoint of Joe and Jane Consumer who are walking through the Maul and stop by the software store to look at the toys. Of *course* mail order is less; but I imagine *both* products are similarly discounted. >> When I was making a choice a few months ago, I felt I didn't need >> another game port (had one on the multi-IO card), nor did I need >> Speech stuff, so I bought the Adlib card. I have yet to regret my >> decision. > >You will, and soon (after the new games with voice output >becomes the norm). Perhaps. Perhaps not. Depends on whether I feel the voice output is either annoying or distracting. We'll see what happens. >> Also, isn't there some additional $30 or $50 chipset you have to buy >> in order to do some of the voice stuff (input or output?) on the SB? >> I'm sure someone will be able to give the info. Don't you also have >> to put some driver in your config.sys with the SB? I may be wrong on >> this. Adlib is plug'n'play. > >Talk about misinformation. Please don't spread MISINFORMATION about >Sound Blaster until you are sure. You do NOT need additional chipset >(CMS chipset $20) to do voice stuff. Both input and output voice >are standard on the card. Also, you do NOT need driver in the config.sys >file to run Adlib stuff. Sound Blaster is 100% hardware compatible >with Adlib. They both licensed the same technology from a third company. Oh get real. I specifically stated that I might be wrong, and asked for correction by someone who knew. That is not misinformation; I asked because I was NOT sure. Reread my paragraph, it might be a little more clear if you actually read it. >> My computer complains enough as it is, I don't need it being able >> to talk back to me too! > >Sure, you don't need a 19" screen too (to complain with bigger words). I'm typing this on a 16 inch 1152x900x256 display in an 80 column, 65 line X11R4 window (with a couple windows underneath it). The monitor is a Sony Trinitron display on a Sun workstation (I manage the network). I haven't seen a 19 inch trinitron display, but the 19 inch color display I have is a lot less sharp than this one. We've got a 23 inch color display on an IBM RS6000a in the next room. Having worked with 16 inch color and 19 inch mono (also 1152x900 res) displays for the last five years, I think I can reasonably state that for my purposes I don't currently need more than the 14 inch EGA I have. Actually, let me put another way: the additional capabilities I can get from running windows on a 16 inch trinitron SVGA display are *not* worth the money it would cost me to do so. Likewise, the additional capabilities of a 40 MHz 486 (or 33 MHz 386) aren't worth the money to upgrade from a 12 MHz '286 at this point. Going back to the SB: voice stuff (having played with the audio input/output capabilities of Sun SPARCstations) isn't worth the extra $$$. Perhaps this may change in a year or two? Perhaps not. Last night was the first time in two weeks that I'd turned my computer on. Personally, when it's light out and the weather's good, sitting in front of a CRT is the last thing I want to do; you'll find me out on the road collecting bug splats on my faceshield and leathers. -- -- Lewis R. Jansen, N2KNV lrj@helios.tn.cornell.edu LASSP/LNS Systems Manager (607) 255-6065 '78 CX500 "You can't fight in here, this is the War Room!"
ccw@slee02.srl.ford.com (Chris Warren) (05/08/91)
> Kevin Martin writes: > Note: I did spend an extra $40 on a pair of 20w speakers, and I have yet to > regret that. The sound is fantastic. > I' been looking for a set of speakers to use with my soundblaster card. So far all I've found that seem reasonable are a pair of Koss walkman extension speakers (they're self powered or passive). Does anybody have any other suggestions (my stereo is not nearby so that option is out)? I'd like to keep the cost under $50 if possible. Thanks -- Chris Warren ccw@slee02.srl.ford.com
sigma@obee.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) (05/09/91)
ccw@slee02.srl.ford.com (Chris Warren) writes: >> Kevin Martin writes: >> Note: I did spend an extra $40 on a pair of 20w speakers, and I have yet to >> regret that. The sound is fantastic. >> >I' been looking for a set of speakers to use with my soundblaster card. So far >all I've found that seem reasonable are a pair of Koss walkman extension >speakers (they're self powered or passive). Does anybody have any other >suggestions (my stereo is not nearby so that option is out)? I'd like to >keep the cost under $50 if possible. I'm posting because I've got a question to go along with this. I bought Realistic Minimus 2.5 speakers from Radio Shack. They're rated at 20 watts, and sound fantastic. Turn up the Soundblaster and they can get quite loud. Now, what I didn't realise when I bought the speakers was that the Soundblaster drives 2w or 4w speakers. Like I said, it sounds great with these 20w critters. Why does this work? I was worried I'd have to exchange them for smaller speakers. Apart from this concern, I highly recommend these speakers. -- Kevin Martin sigma@ipl.rpi.edu "Can I kiss one of the bridesmaids instead?"
mascot@bnr.ca (Scott Mason) (05/09/91)
In article <f68gf_h@rpi.edu> sigma@obee.ipl.rpi.edu (Kevin Martin) writes: > >I'm posting because I've got a question to go along with this. I bought >Realistic Minimus 2.5 speakers from Radio Shack. They're rated at 20 >watts, and sound fantastic. Turn up the Soundblaster and they can get >quite loud. Now, what I didn't realise when I bought the speakers was that >the Soundblaster drives 2w or 4w speakers. Like I said, it sounds great >with these 20w critters. > >Why does this work? I was worried I'd have to exchange them for smaller >speakers. Apart from this concern, I highly recommend these speakers. > The 4 Watt rating of the Soundblaster is the maximum electrical power that it can supply to the speakers and still achieve reasonable distortion levels. Normally this is an ``RMS'' value, which indicates that the ``average'' output can reach this level. It can be inflated by specifying it as a ``peak'' value instead, in which case the loudest output can reach this level. Note that this is at best a guideline unless the manufacturer specifies what they consider reasonable distortion. Also, you may not be able to achieve the ``average'' output level specified if your sound contains large peaks which amplifier cannot produce. However, unless you have the volume up high the output level will be below the maximum rating. The 20 Watt rating of your speakers indicates the maximum electrical power that they can receive without damage. Again the manufacturer may have meant peak or average input power. Note that this is not related to how loud the sound produced will be. This is determined by a separate parameter which gives the speaker's efficiently, typically by specifying how loud it is with a 1 watt average input. Efficiency does not scale directly - it is logarithmic. A speaker rated at 90dB at 1 watt will sound twice as loud as one rated at 87dB. A problem can occur if your amplifier is much too small to drive your speakers to the volume levels that you like. This is because the spectrum of a distorted signal is not at all like that of music and can damage speakers whose rating is intended for music. Probably more speakers are damaged by modest amplifiers producing lots of distortion than by powerful amplifiers which produce too much music power. In short, your arrangement is quite reasonable. --
kayd@prism.cs.orst.edu (Kayd) (05/09/91)
A good pair of amplified speakers really does the Sound Blaster justice. I use Realistic(yeah, Radio Shack) amplified speakers when it's not hooked up to my stereo. They're the 5.5" tall x 3" wide x 3" deep model with auto-power on. Give 'em a try, if nothing else, they sound great hooked up to a tape player. Darrek Kay Kayd@Prism.cs.orst.edu (503)737-9410
burkey@duncan.cs.utk.edu (Michael Burkey) (05/10/91)
Someone knows very little about Sound Blaster's obviously.
I do not consider Electronics Boutique a reputable street price.
I bought mine from Computronics for $149 back last September.
I have since seen them for as low as $129.
Statistics on Sblaster.
-- 11 voice FM (full Adlib)
-- 1 DSP digitized voice input/output channel
-- DMA support
-- max output 25khz (if you drive it directly)
-- max input 13khz
-- supports direct record to disk/play from disk
(ie, I have some 47Mb sound files, Pat Benater Greatest Hits CD
-- ALL of it!!)
-- standard IBM style joystick port (analog)
-- this card is plug and play but does need a DMA channel and IRQ address
free for the digitized sound playback
-- it DOES not require a patch to your config file and requires no drivers
(unless you are using the crappy demos -- Parrot et al -- that come with
it)
-- comes with Dr. Sbaitso text to speech converter (bearable at best)
optional --
Midi port connectors (non-standard)
CMS stereo sound chips (ok, do stereo, but rarely supported any more)
(even for $20 its not really worth it)
The card HAS been known to have some problems on SOME high speed 386/486 units.
To my knowledge the adlib emulation always works ok. The DMA channels sometimes
tend to glitch on recording but I suspect that this is primarily software related.
The only really bad problem of high speed units is the joystick port, but then
again, almost all joystick ports have problems on high speed units.
*** eternal curse to the engineers at IBM and APPLE who came up with analog
joysticks!!!! ****
M Burkeyterry@dadstoy.UUCP (Terry Stockdale) (05/10/91)
> I' been looking for a set of speakers to use with my soundblaster card. So fa > all I've found that seem reasonable are a pair of Koss walkman extension > speakers (they're self powered or passive). Does anybody have any other > suggestions (my stereo is not nearby so that option is out)? I'd like to > keep the cost under $50 if possible. I am using passive (not self-powered) Sony SRS-5 speakers, which are a walkman extension type. They were a measly $9.99 for the package of two at Target, a Dayton-Hudson discount store similar to K-mart. The sound is fantastic with my Soundblaster.