Re: What are the best sound and video cards?

["Jason Whorton" <jason at microxl.com>]

Hi, Supertimer.  Are you saying the AE Sonic Blaster is the best stereo
card for a IIgs?  I don't have a stereo card in my IIGS, but I was
thinking about getting one sometime.  Do you know of any others that are
available?

Thank you,
Jason Whorton


"Supertimer" <supertimer@aol.com> wrote in message
20030726142655.21731.00000916@mb-m07.aol.com">news:20030726142655.21731.00000916@mb-m07.aol.com...
> "S M Trimble" <fate7@removespamswbell.net> wrote:
>
> >Hello,
> >Any opinions as to what the best sound and video cards for the IIGS
are?  I
> >get the impression from the FAQ that the Mockingboard Rev D is a good
sound
> >card... Are the video cards available for the IIGS currently for PC
monitor
> >compatibility?
>
> Mockingboard would be a downgrade for the IIGS.  The
> onboard sound is the best in the Apple II world, add-in
> cards included.  The IIGS is like the nForce2 platform
> from nVidia*, the top integrated motherboard of the
> Apple II world.  If I remember correctly, the Mockingboard
> had four, maybe six FM voices whereas the IIGS's
> Ensoniq chip had 32 wavetable oscillators commonly
> paired in 16 voices, one reserved for timing.
>
> [*Note: I do not mean to say the IIGS is equivalent to
> an nForce2 but that it occupied the same position in
> the Apple II world during its day relative to the what
> the nForce2 occupies today.]
>
> There was only one add-in graphics card for the IIGS,
> released near the end of the IIGS market's life.  It was
> called the Second Sight.  You can connect an SVGA
> monitor with it.  There was one game for it.  There was
> a picture viewer (JPEG, etc.) which allowed you to
> view the pictures same as on a PC.  But that was it.
>
> I still have my card.  It works but the SVGA modes
> were not well supported because a tool-patch was
> never made to enable the modes to be taken advatage
> of by existing IIGS software.
>
> I would not have bought the card if I knew support
> would dry up months after I bought it.  If the tool
> patch had been completed, it would be a different
> story.
>
> >I currently have a old AE Sonic Blaster with a Roger Wagner
HyperStudio and
> >am using the basic RGB video port for video.
>
> Stick with these.  I had a similar set up, minus
> the stereo card.  This is really the best setup you
> can hope for.