The Apple II had limited sound capabilities until the Apple //gs shipped in 1986. Many third-party manufacturers made sound cards to enable richer sound output.
Contents |
The Mockingboard provided multiple voices of sound output, and was the closest thing to a standard sound card available for the Apple series. It utilized the AY-3-8910 sound generator chip.
The Mountain Computer music system was a two-board set that provided audio output with 8-bit resolution. A light pen was also available with the system.
The Alpha Syntauri was a music system designed around the expansion capabilities of the Apple ][. The hardware consisted of an external piano-style keyboard, with a 3-card set that plugged into the Apple ][, including a keyboard interface card, and the two-board Mountain Computer Music System. Software was designed to support music composition and performance. Herbie Hancock and Keith Emerson were notable early adopters of the Syntauri system. [1][2][3]
The Passport Designs Soundchaser Computer Music System provided similar capabilities, but the software emphasized composition over real-time performance. The Soundchaser included a 49-key keyboard, keyboard interface card, and a choice of sound cards depending on whether the digital or analog option was chosen. The digital option included the Mountain Computer music system cards.[4]
The Echo II card was a speech synthesis card utilizing linear predictive coding technology, as embodied by the TMS 5220 speech chip.
Alpha Syntauri