I guess this crappy piece of wordcount does not need any comment. I was a bit drunk and bored when writing that, so keep it in mind, please
Anyway, I felt like sharing:
KINGS OF SOUND
Tandy, AdLib, Ultrasound
are no more in our machines found.
Frequency modulation - that is now just history.
Now we are trapped in DSPs and wavetable misery.
Now we have no education of that lost sound mystery.
Back in the late 80s, with Sid and Paula being best,
there was no space for IBM, niether for the rest.
With Tandies beeping, schreeching loud,
a company came and became proud.
OPL2 was the thing, in the glorious AdLib used,
Its unique sound is unmatchable and cannot be confused.
Only two waves - it may sound small.
But at the time of release, it has beaten all.
Maybe 9 channels too little seems,
but with that FM yamaha chip, it could create dreams.
Be it Monkey Island, Descend, Silpheed or Space Quest,
Back in 1987, AdLib was the best.
What begins, also ends
and so did AdLib, my dear friends.
GameBlaster was little cheat, you have to admit.
And with pricey LAPC you could nowhere get.
But then 1990 came and AdLib was dead.
Long awaited sample playback hit our lonely shelves
in form of crappy market-hurried early SoundBlasters.
With crackling noisy pointlesness,
but with sample playback, more or less.
Buggy, noisy, outdated, nevertheless successful.
It plays digital samples, but still it's kind of dull.
Pro version in '91, that wass little better.
OPL3 on board, not just change in little letter!
No big deal though, until Gravis showed their wares.
The big red monster - Ultrasound - even today demosceners scares.
Hardware mixing, that was great! 32 voices, 16 bits!
In the demoscene, this one was a total blitz!
Then, in 1992, SoundBlaster 16 jumped in and came through.
Cheating in their marketing, with only 12 real bits,
AdLib Gold with its 16 above this one really sits.
But then this was unproven and SB16 sold just well.
AdLib made their last farewell - thanks to Creative's cheat smell.
Another pricey option you've had in hand.
With another HW synth you could you PC expand.
Yes, it was Roland again, with their SCC-1 piece.
Prized at about $500 and being rare enough - Roland hardware, rest in peace!
Meanwhile came in Creative and brought us a merged card.
SB16 with Wavetables, nothing new was found.
AWE32 was the result, cheap enough it was,
although still carrying that little dose of flaws.
Gravis then had their last word,
with Ultrasound Plug'n'Play, the flooded the world.
195 instruments, a hell of a wavetable,
their closed their business in sound cards and bid their farewell death fable.
In '95 this era ended, leaving these behind.
When we mention AdLib today, no one can remind.
Let this be a memory on these memorable things,
on the piece of history, on the vintage sound kings.
