[jazzy intro tunes]
[computer buzzes, beeps] Greetings folks, and this here may just be,
without exaggeration, the single best retro sound card
you can buy right now. It is of course the Orpheus II, a new 16-bit
ISA sound card for DOS PCs that began shipping in March of 2023. And the price is currently ā¬340, or around
364 dollars US, including worldwide shipping. Not a budget card by any means, but the amount
of stuff it can do makes it legitimately worth considering to the right user. This is effectively three cards in one: a
Sound Blaster Pro, an intelligent mode MPU-401, and a Gravis Ultrasound. Not those exact cards of course, but cleverly-made
clones of them on a brand new card, with all the compatibility and functionality youād
expect from the real things. Purchased individually, these can easily add
up to $400, plus you still have a trio of cards taking up three slots. So yeah, the Orpheus II performing the jobs
of three different cards at the price it does is pretty impressive. [ultra-sounding Epic Pinball gameplay] This is accomplished using an array of old
stock chips and modern components, neatly assembled together in harmony onto a fresh
PCB from the folks at PCMIDI.EU. Full disclosure, this card was sent to me
for review by Leo Dallas, one of the creators of the card and longtime friend of the show. So a huge āthank youā to him as this video
would not be happening otherwise, because honestly? I didnāt plan on getting one. And thatās simply because Iām still happy
using the Orpheus 1, which Iāve had installed in the LGR Woodgrain 486 since 2020. It does everything I need it to, itās just
a wonderful sound card for DOS machines of that type. That being said, itās no longer being made,
and has been superseded not only by the Orpheus II but more directly by the Orpheus 2LT. Which is effectively an improved
Orpheus for 220 euros, just without the Gravis Ultrasound bits. But yeah, the full fat Orpheus II here has
some notable upgrades and additions, and itās kind of a no-brainer if you donāt have a
Gravis Ultrasound. And statistically speaking, you probably donāt
unfortunately. Iāve made a full video about the GUS if
you want the details, but to make a long story short, the thing is legendary and commands
a price to match. Selling these days for between two and four
hundred dollars, depending on the model. But in the past year or so, several GUS clone
cards have come about, like the ARGUS card I covered on LGR Blerbs. And other replica cards built and sold by
people like David Larsson, each based on the GUS Plug 'n Play and its AMD InterWave chip. But thatās all those cards do, they donāt
provide an MPU-401, FM synthesis, or proper Sound Blaster support. And thatās where the Orpheus II comes in,
packing that InterWave for GUS PnP compatibility, as well as all the components needed for Sound
Blaster and MIDI stuff that the original Orpheus already did. Namely the Crystal Semiconductor CS4237B,
a popular chip on mid-to-late 90s PnP sound cards and laptops like my
beloved IBM ThinkPad 380XD, and the same one used on the original Orpheus. Alongside a real Yamaha OPL3 chip, the YMF289B. This is in addition to the Crystalās on-chip
FM synth, which previously was the only thing that worked under Windows. But the Orpheus II has been designed to allow
the real OPL3 chip there as well, not just in DOS. Otherwise, beyond an improved analog audio
path, itās largely the same card as the OG Orpheus! And thatās nothing but a good thing with
solid Sound Blaster Pro and Windows Sound System compatibility, UART and intelligent
mode MPU for MIDI, a wavetable header for daughterboard synths, 44.1kHz 16-bit audio
outputting through 3.5mm stereo and coax S/PDIF out, along with microphone, line in, and a
DB15 gameport for both joysticks and MIDI adapters. Plus a dedicated MIDI out port providing a
5-pin DIN MIDI connector using the included cable. Itās a full-featured sound card that handles
practically everything from the mid 80s to late 90s with ease, and not that long ago
was nothing more than a dream sound card with a combination of features that didnāt exist. Well sometimes dreams do come true, so letās
get this thing set up! And first, Iām gonna add some RAM to the
Ultraside sound of things! -Sorry what was that? -āthe Ultraside sound of thingsā -Ultra SIDE sound of things?! --āthe Ultraside sound of thingsā
[cracks up] The Ultraside sound of things! The maximum supported 16 megabytes worth. The Orpheus II does have a one meg InterWave
ROM on-board, but adding RAM to the SIMM socket not only allows for larger sample sizes, but itās required to enable GUS Classic mode at all. And with that, just drop it into a free 16-bit
ISA slot on your machine of choice, and everything else is handled by software. In theory, anyway. Considering everything on this one card, resource
conflicts are a true consideration, especially on pre-1995 systems like my Woodgrain 486. Unfortunately, due to its lack of Plug 'n
Play BIOS and reliance on an annoying multi-IO controller card, I was unable to get the Gravis
side working at all here. The Sound Blaster-compatible stuff worked
great, same as the Orpheus 1 did! But after a few hours of disabling ports and
swapping hardware and settings, the GUS PnP never fully functioned. I could get it eventually but for timeās
sake I plopped it into the Quantex 486, and it worked perfectly straight away, since it
has its own IO controller on-board you can fully customize in the BIOS. So yeah, on a system free of conflicts, itās
simply a matter of installing the MS-DOS Crystal and Gravis drivers, along with Windows drivers
if you so choose. Under DOS, Orphinit takes care of the Crystal
side of things, with the latest version available on the PCMIDI website and the official Vogons
thread. But the Gravis side is the raw 90s experience,
since you use the original GUS PnP software, for better or worse. As I discovered testing the ARGUS, there are
lots of version changes and annoyances making this software a pain. But thankfully, thereās a preinstalled version
on the PCMIDI website now that lets you skip the buggy Plug 'n Play setup programs, a far
easier option indeed. And with that, letās do a little testing,
starting with that glorious Gravis Ultrasound! [thunder sound effects] [One Must Fall 2097 theme music plays] [castle_city.it by Siren plays on Impulse Tracker] Mm, such crispy beautiful results, ya gotta
love a good Gravis. As covered in my previous videos on the OG
Ultrasound and the ARGUS, the additional fidelity and overall cleanliness of its sample-based
music and sound is wonderful. Especially compared directly to contemporaries
like the Sound Blaster Pro, which makes for an ideal pairing having both capabilities
on-board the Orpheus 2. [Jazz Jackrabbit music plays] Yeah, the difference is substantial on games
and programs that make specific use of it. But thatās *only* on those titles, with
the majority of DOS games expecting a Sound Blaster. And most Ultrasounds were notorious for their
junky Sound Blaster emulation. So again, having a proper SB Pro-compatible
chip working beside a GUS PnP here is just about the best of both worlds. And while this kind of thing existed in the
90s in the form of the Gravis Ultrasound Extreme, those are some of the rarest, most expensive
GUS cards of all. So typically, youād want a GUS installed
alongside a Sound Blaster of some kind, and thatās what makes having both on a single
card in the Orpheus II so special. Now as for the rest of the cardās capabilities,
theyāre more or less unchanged, itās the same awesome Orpheus. Other than some improvements to the drivers
and analog audio bits, itās still the reliable 16-bit workhorse that it was before. See my prior Blerbs video for more details,
but really all you need to know is that in terms of Plug 'n Play Sound Blaster imitations,
it very much hails from the creamiest corner of the clone card crop. [Day of the Tentacle intro plays] About the biggest enhancement here is how
you can use the YMF289 chip instead of only CrystalFM emulation in Windows 95. Ideal for proper-sounding FM synth DOS gaming
under a Windows DOS prompt. [DOOM gameplay happening, doomily] But of course there are all kinds of musical
possibilities on-board, in that respect the Orpheus II is a fountain of riches. In addition to the FM synth you have those
Gravis soundbanks, plus the wavetable header and external MIDI output allowing for even
more. At the moment I have the Reptile Paradise
Yucatan FX installed, one of my favorite Roland GS ROM daughterboards. Each MIDI option has its charms, but that
Yucatan is somethinā special. [Duke3D theme plays, back-to-back across chips] Oh and with those PCMIDI chips on-board, you
also have intelligent mode MPU-401 support! So controlling a Roland MT-32 without SoftMPU
loaded is no problem. Plus, you donāt need an external MPU-401
breakout box either, yet another huge plus in the cardās favor. Ahh man, honestly, if you donāt see all
the advantages adding up here, then I donāt know what else to say. The Orpheus II is a phenomenal ājack of
all trades, master of manyā sound card solution for retro computing enthusiasts, and if you
value this kind of top notch integration then itās kind of a godsend. Though of course it isnāt without its drawbacks,
biggest being the price point. $364 is nothing to sneeze at, even when adding
up all the costs of all the individual cards it can replace. And finally thereās the Plug 'n Play nature
of it all, with your target system determining whether or not this card makes sense. A vintage PC with a PnP BIOS is recommended,
though not required. And at the very least youāll want a way
to disable, swap around, and free up the proper resources for the many integrated chips on-board. Something thatās no small task on systems
like my Woodgrain 486, and this is why I wonāt be keeping the Orpheus II installed in there. In another PC, absolutely, but not the Woodgrain. Not unless I either find a better multi-IO
card, or just an improved motherboard altogether. And besides, the original Orpheus is still
fine! Ultrasound capability is neat but I truly
donāt need it, not in that system anyway. And whenever I do wake up in the middle of
the night having such urges, I can drop in a GUS Classic and be content. But yeah, for the majority that donāt have
an original Gravis card on-hand, or simply want a phenomenal all-in-one sound solution
for mid 90s PCs, then youād be hard pressed to consider anything but the Orpheus II right
now. Thereās simply nothing else being built
that does as much as it does, as well as it does. And the fact that it exists at all is incredible,
and I commend all the skilled people involved for making it happen. This thing is a gift to the hobby. [OMF 2097 gameplay clangs about] āKay, so now the question is: what would
you add to an Orpheus III? An AdLib Gold clone? A higher-end Sound Blaster chip? Personally Iād love integrated SCSI or IDE,
but lemme know your own feature wishlist in the comments. And if you enjoyed this video, stick around,
Iāve got plenty more where this came from here on LGR. And as always, thanks for watching!
-the UltraSide sound of things...
an encore of "hoddware oddness" from the Thermaltake Xray video