Back in the heyday of DOS gaming, you absolutely needed a quality soundcard if you wanted to hear the games as intended. As we now know looking back, Creative dominated the market with the Sound Blaster and FM synthesis. But there were other alternatives too, such as sample-based or “wavetable” synthesis, and this is where the Gravis UltraSound or GUS made its impact. The cards are highly sought after and collectors prize them, so trying to get your hands on an original GUS will set you back anywhere from $500 to over $2000 for boxed cards! However, this amazing Gravis UltraSound replica uses real surplus licensed Gravis chips and comes tested and ready to rock!
The PCB sports the same bright red as the original (a tip of the hat to its Canadian heritage, perhaps?) and has a 72-pin SIMM socket for RAM. You need to install at least some RAM to get it working, but 72-pin RAM is very easy to find and inexpensive, so it’s recommended to just install the maximum supported 16MB. This will enable the most samples and the widest compatibility with demoscene music and video games. Get some of that wavetable goodness in your ears!
If you’re still enamoured with FM synthesis, David’s Electronics has you covered there too. Along with the GUS, he also makes a Sound Blaster 2.0 with Creative Music System clone! Check out the listing page for links to videos showing the different sounds you can get with the OPL chip versus the CMS chips on board.
Between these two cards, you can experience just about every single DOS demo and video game made from the late 1980s through the mid-1990s! Both of these boards come fully tested and should be very easy to find drivers for and install. Very cool; we tip our hats to the creator!
