7/10/2023 0 Comments Soundsource for pc![]() 688 Attack Sub - Title Music, Sound effects.It is also usually used in tandem with a AdLib sound card as said card officially was a music card and while it could be put into a mode to handle sampled audio, it could not play sampled audio and music at the same time. The Covox plug couldn't directly substitute any of the popular cards of that age ( AdLib, Sound Blaster, Gravis Ultrasound, etc.), but several games / platforms supported it directly. It is also emulated by the popular DOSBox emulator. In 2015 the hardware was reverse engineered so compatible circuits can be built from easily available off the shelf components. Contrary to the Speech Thing the output rate is determined by the hardware (7 kHz) and the design features a 16 byte FIFO allowing for autodetection and flow control of the output. It used external power (9 volt battery) and could be turned on/off by software. Its price was set to only $14 and it was supported by many games (see below). It consisted of 3 parts: a FIFO and a DAC on PCB plugged into printer port and separate amplifier / speaker box. Disney Sound Source - a hardware system with a similar design to the Covox Speech Thing, marketed by Disney Software in early 1990s. ![]() Covox Speech Thing - the simplest hardware DAC, bundled with speech synthesis software, marketed originally as part of voice synthesis and recognition system.Nevertheless, the sound quality of the Covox plug is far superior compared to the PC speaker even today, a self-built Covox plug is still an inexpensive way to give old computers sound capabilities. If normal parts are used, the values get shuffled, especially for quiet sounds, resulting in distortion. The plug was also quite popular in the demoscene.Īn inherent problem of the design is that it requires very precise resistors. The plug was used long into the 1990s, as sound cards were still very expensive at that time. The Speech Thing was introduced on Decem by Covox, Inc of Eugene, Oregon, for about US$70 (US$79.95 as of 1989 ), but as its parts were much cheaper than the complete plug, and as its design was fairly simple, people soon started to build their own variants. It was composed of a primitive 8- bit DAC using a resistor ladder and an analogue signal output, and plugged into the printer port of the PC. The Covox Speech Thing is an external audio device attached to the computer to output digital sound.
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