The Ad Lib Legacy

[Cloudschatze]

"I will tell you the beginning..." - William Shakespeare

   Looking back, perhaps it can be said that the humble Ad Lib Music Synthesizer Card, released in mid-1987, was responsible for the widespread development and emergence of PC-based music. With this relatively inexpensive product, coupled with ever-increasing developer support and groundbreaking software interfaces (such as the Macintosh-inspired "Visual Composer"), Ad Lib Inc. enjoyed a nearly three-year reign at the top of the burgeoning soundcard market.

   Here, too, began the long-standing relationships with Yamaha LSI, whose multi-generational contribution to the personal computer - the FM Operator Type-L - became standard equipment on many soundcards throughout the next decade, and with composers Henri Chalifour, Gerard Jones, and Raymond Skilling, whose musical talents would be commissioned to demonstrate and promote a number of soundcards.




• Synth - Yamaha YM3812 (OPL2)

♫ "Highways" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Elecrock", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Gargoyles" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Spy's Eye", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Bach's Aria", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Vivaldi's Spring", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Oh! When the Saints!", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Railroad Story", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Clockmaker", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Soft Acid Rain", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Crystal Eve", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Softblue", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Breathing", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Classy Night", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Dance Beat", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "Do it !", Yamaha OPL2
♫ "* Very Busy *" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL2

Additional resources:

           

MSC Programmer's Guide - by Tero Töttö
MSC Software Development Toolkit

"JukeBox" - v1.5, Disk Image
"JukeBox" - v1.6, Disk Image
"JukeBox" - v1.64, Disk Image
"JukeBox Registration Bonus" - v1.51, Disk Image
"JukeBox Registration Bonus" - v1.62, Disk Image

"PopTunes" - v1.0
"PopTunes" - v1.5

"Classical Favorites #1" Album
"Classical Favorites #2" Album
"Jazz Vibes" Album
"Latin Rhythms" Album
"New Age Echoes" Album
"Pop/Rock Grooves" Album
"Christmas Carols" Album
"Children's Corner" Album

"Visual Composer" - v1.51, Disk Image
"Instrument Maker" - v1.51, Disk Image


"All that glitters...." - William Shakespeare

   Ad Lib's interdependency with Yamaha proved disastrous however, as production delays with Yamaha's first multimedia chipset resulted in an extended, and costly, vaporware marketing campaign for Ad Lib's successor card, the Gold PC-1000. Unable to maintain solvency, Ad Lib Inc. declared bankruptcy and closed their doors on May 1, 1992. After several months of negotiation, Ad Lib's assets were sold to German conglomerate Binnenalster GmbH, and following a drastic reduction-in-force, "Ad Lib MultiMedia Inc." was born.

   With new ownership, Ad Lib MultiMedia Inc. went on to ship the remaining Ad Lib Gold stock, developed the Gold Sound Standard, and later released the (arguably) lackluster MSC/ASB 16/32/64 cards.

~ The End ~

...

Or was it...?

• Synth - Yamaha YMF262 (OPL3)
• PCM - Yamaha YMZ263B (MMA)
• Effects - Yamaha YM7128 (SP)

♫ "Buildings Over Buildings" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "The Cave" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Flight Commando" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Gold Highways" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "The Rhythm of Industries" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Kraken" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Lords of the Unknown" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "tHE mACHINE" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Mirrors of the Sea" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "New Era" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Ultimate Landscapes" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM
♫ "Walk in the Park" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL3 + PCM

Additional resources:

Gold Sound Standard - Software Development Toolkit


"A rose by any other name..." - William Shakespeare

   Behind the scenes, another Quebec-based company, Mediatrix Peripherals Inc., had also been involved in a bid to acquire Ad Lib's assets. Though unsuccessful in their attempt, a different kind of opportunity presented itself following Binnenalster's dismissal of the the engineers at Ad Lib. Seeking to preserve and utilize this talent, Mediatrix hired these individuals, and set them to work on a new task - the design of the AudioTriX Pro.




• Synth - Yamaha YMF278B (OPL4)
• PCM - Crystal CS4231
• Effects - Yamaha YSS225 (EP)

♫ "Aliens at the Supermarket" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL4
♫ "Hawk of Lite" - Gerard Jones, Yamaha OPL4
♫ "Fashion" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL4
♫ "Technovox" - Gerard Jones, Yamaha OPL4 (44-voice, Wavetable+FM)
♫ "Euroman" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha OPL4 (44-voice, Wavetable+FM)
♫ "Fiddler³" - Gerard Jones, Yamaha OPL4 (44-voice, Wavetable+FM)


Additional resources:
User's Guide
Software/Documentation Archive




• Synth - AdMOS QS1000
• PCM - Crystal CS4236



• Synth - Crystal CS9233
• PCM - Crystal CS4232
• Effects - Crystal CS8905

Additional resources:
MSC/ASB Original Installation CD


"The setting sun, and music at the close..." - William Shakespeare

   Here, our narrative concludes with the 1997 release of the AudioTriX 3D-XG, bringing to close a full decade of soundcard design, talent, and innovation - a legacy that began with Ad Lib, and lived on through Mediatrix!




• Synth - Yamaha YMF715E (OPL3-SA3), Yamaha DB60XG
• PCM - Yamaha YMF715E (OPL3-SA3)
• Effects - Yamaha DB60XG

♫ "Techno Spy" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha XG
♫ "Chamber" - Gerard Jones, Yamaha XG
♫ "Great Spaces" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha XG
♫ "Aliens at the Supermarket" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha XG
♫ "Maria" - Gerard Jones, Yamaha XG
♫ "Fashion" - Henri Chalifour, Yamaha XG


Additional resources:
User's Guide
Software/Documentation Archive
Original Installation CD

[Salient]

Nice.

I have the MSC (1987) and the Gold 1000 (but without the reverb module). Both boxed with all accessories.
Think I saw an Audiotrix some time ago on ebay but didn't think of getting it. Maybe I should after all.

[Cloudschatze]

The sound samples are up (that's all that anyone really cares about, right? ). I apologize for not having enough hosting space to re-upload all of the recordings from my prior "AdLib Gold" post. In any event, I hope it's obvious that the same composers were involved throughout the Ad Lib/MediaTriX history. I'm still trying to confirm with Henri Chalifour which compositions are his from the Ad Lib days.

Still working on the write-up... 

[Rhizome]

I had never heard of the "AudioTriX Pro" until now.

[shad0wfax]

Very interesting! BTW, OPL4 is not FM at all, but PCM synthesis, isn't it?

[Great Hierophant]

Very interesting! BTW, OPL4 is not FM at all, but PCM synthesis, isn't it?

It has the functions of an OPL3 and 24 voice sample-based midi. 

Essentially, this line of cards neatly tracks Yamaha's contributions to PC-compatible Computer Music.  OPL2->OPL3->OPL4->XG.

[Cloudschatze]

I had never heard of the "AudioTriX Pro" until now.

I'd never given much thought to any of the MediaTriX cards until not long ago. While looking at a photograph of the AudioTriX Pro, it struck me that it shared far too many design similarities with the AdLib Gold to be mere coincidence. An old Usenet post confirmed my suspicion...

Very interesting! BTW, OPL4 is not FM at all, but PCM synthesis, isn't it?

As Great Hierophant mentioned, the OPL4 chip provides both FM and Wavetable synthesis. The three recorded compositions for the AudioTriX Pro are somewhat unique in that they employ both FM and Wavetable voices (hence the "44-voice" moniker).

[Cloudschatze]

Still info-gathering...

Does anyone know for certain when the Ad Lib Gold was released? That is, was it before Ad Lib Inc. closed their doors on 01-May-1992, or did it follow their subsequent acquisition and resurrection as Ad Lib MultiMedia Inc., sometime around 06-Aug-1992?

Most information seems to indicate the latter, however, a few inconsistencies suggest that a quantity of the Gold cards were shipped before Ad Lib folded. For example, the Ad Lib Gold box belonging to Salient states "Ad Lib Inc.", while the box that I have states "Ad Lib MultiMedia Inc." Likewise, the identification stickers, found on the back-sides of the cards, can be found in both varieties.

In any event, I don't plan on adding "MultiMedia" to the Ad Lib Gold logo...

[BlueMax]

That OPL4 was impressive!  If only it'd come out much sooner, it might've been taken seriously and USED!

[Cloudschatze]

That OPL4 was impressive!  If only it'd come out much sooner, it might've been taken seriously and USED!

MediaTriX attempted to get the demoscene interested in the OPL4, but, like you mention, it was a bit late in the game. Had it been released a few years sooner, the OPL4 might have supplanted the GUS' GF1, given the arguably better capabilities. (Then again, the same could be said for the EMU8000...). Still, at least two MOD players support sample-playback via the OPL4: Renaissance Music Player, and MOD4WIN.

I have to give kudos to MediaTriX for their textbook implementation of the OPL4 on the AudioTriX Pro. If you look at the OPL4 datasheet, all of the advanced capabilities and options have been provisioned for, by means of the various daughterboards and hardware/software interfaces.

[Cloudschatze]

This doesn't really belong in the parent post, but kind-of goes along with my previous reply.

Having just installed a 512K RAM daughterboard on the AudioTriX Pro, here is an example of multichannel MOD playback, via the OPL4:

Guitar Slinger - Jogeir Liljedahl

Since a YSS225-based effects board is also installed, I enabled SRS and added a bit of reverb. Totally legit. 

(I'm not sure what caused the hiccup at 1:06/1:07.)

[Ari]

That's one hell of a MOD. Could you perhaps run Steelchambers2 from Pinball Fantasies through your card as well and post it? It's my absolute favorite!

[shad0wfax]

The "Guitar Slinder" was indeed one of the most famous MODs on the Amiga. As far as I recall, though, the OPL4 version sounds quite smoother than the Paula version (for those who don't know, "Paula" was the name of the Amiga sound chip. In fact, it was actually some kind of co-processor that, besides producing sound, did many other things, such as controlling the floppy drive).

[BlueMax]

Nothing beats "Beyond Music" and "Space Debris" by... Awesome, I think it was. 

[Cloudschatze]

More OPL4 MOD playback...

Steel Chambers 2 (Pinball Fantasies) - Olof Gustafsson

Space Debris - Captain

[mace]

Wow, this is amazing!

I really want one of those MediaTrix OPL4 cards now.

Is it in any way adlib gold compatible?

And the XG card, did it come with a DB50 standard?

[Ari]

More OPL4 MOD playback...

Steel Chambers 2 (Pinball Fantasies) - Olof Gustafsson

Space Debris - Captain

Thanks a lot, Cloud!

I wish someone could take that theme (Steel Chambers) and... er, update it with some better samples. But it still sounds great even after 17 years.

[Cloudschatze]

I really want one of those MediaTrix OPL4 cards now.

They seem to be a bit uncommon, which is unfortunate. I feel like an idiot, having passed on the opportunity to buy one of several dozen of these cards years ago from a parts recycler.

If you get the chance, snag one. There's a lot to like, in my opinion, and unlike other manufacturers, MediaTriX put an uncommon amount of effort into the little things...

Like the "startup" sound that plays when the card is initialized (in DOS)...

Or the ridiculously configurable OPL4 driver...

Is it in any way adlib gold compatible?

Only as concerns the OPL4's backwards-compatiblity with the OPL3. 

And the XG card, did it come with a DB50 standard?

The AudioTriX 3D-XG came standard with the DB60XG attached.

The DB60XG is utilized in a completely unique way - the card's default configuration routes the PCM/FM output from the OPL3-SA3 chip through the DB60XG's two analog inputs (via the WB header), allowing for the application of XG effects, MIDI-controllable volume, etc. Of course, this setup has its, ah...drawbacks...

[Cloudschatze]

Still (slowly) working on this. I've dropped the two Ad Lib "Album" songs, in favor of the original demo tunes, now re-recorded using an actual MSC for authenticity. (I prefer the SB2.0 output, FWIW.)

Perhaps more impressive than the actual post content is the ridiculous amount of SMF "code" behind it. In the words of H.P Baxxter, "I feel hardcore." 

[NewRisingSUn]

In the words of H.P Baxxter, "I feel hardcore."

And there I thought that America would be spared.