Welcome to the Orpheus II Sound Card homepage.
Orpheus II is a PC ISA 16bit soundcard , aimed for DOS usage.
click on image for larger
version
The Orpheus II is a greatly upgraded Orpheus I souncard:
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InterWave is somewhat picky on the ram stick
used, for best results use a single-sided FPM 72pin 5v simm module
with a speed rating of 70ns or 60ns. Double-sided sticks will work but most likely only half their capacity will be detected. |
More info and development log can be found on VOGONS forum,
in the Orpheus
II thread.
Please also check the Orpheus
I homepage for more info as both cards use the same CS-4237
audio controller.
Jumper
Settings:
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PCMIDI Resources Control P - jumper closed = port 330 , open = port 300 3,5,7,2 = select *one* IRQ for use defaults shown: port 330 and IRQ2 selected |
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MIDI Signal Routing Control (to allow
a dual-mpu setup) If PCMIDI is installed and you also activate CS4237 MPU device you can select which MPU device controls each port. Move jumper to position 1+2 (for PCMIDI) or 2+3 (for CS4237) to select MPU. J2 = Wavetable Connector J3 = Joystick Connector J4 = MIDI Out Connector defaults shown: all ports controlled by PCMIDI MPU |
PCMIDI MPU interface info:
If you want to find out more about the PCMIDI MPU part
then please visit the PCMIDI Homepage
FAQ
1. My NEC XR-385 wavetable daughterboard is too loud and
I cannot create good mixer settings for use with it.
The NEC XR-385 wavetable daughterboard is created for use with
a Japanese line of computers from NEC and as such it
uses difffent specifications for it's output - it is almost 3x
louder than what a normal pc soundcard expects.
OrpheusII is finetuned to be used with proper PC wavetable boards
and as such adjusting the XR-385 volume to be
balanced with the rest of audio sources is not possible.
Simply put because of it's volume output the XR-385 is not supported
for use with the OrpheusII.
Tiido over at VOGONS
forum offers a service to convert a XR-385 to a proper PC
wavetable board - the converted board
works perfectly with OrpheusII or any other soundcard out there.
Alternatively you can use a CHiLL interface from Serdashop
to convert the XR385 to an external midi device, the interface
has
hardware volume attenuation jumpers for loud wavetable boards.
2. I have troubles allocating resources for my OrpheusII card,
it seems selected IRQ or DMA does not work
This might happen if your system has a PnP BIOS. What helps is
allocating the needed resources for use with "LEGACY ISA"
option, this is typically found in the "PNP/PCI CONFIGURATION"
page of your system BIOS. Notice in the shot below how
we have set the needed IRQ and DMA options for "LEGACY ISA"
usage - they are basically what the OrpheusII needs:
IRQ2/9 for PCMIDI MPU
IRQ5 and DMA1 for the Crystal chip
to provide SB/SBPRO/WSS
IRQ7 and DMA7 for the InterWave
chip to provide GUS
Changing these settings should help reserve the needed resources
for the OrpheusII. In rare cases you might also need to remove
all
extra cards from your system, boot it once and verify that resources
are good to go and then add any extra cards you had installed
as
this will force BIOS to re-configure itself.
Driver
downloads:
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Orpheus II DOS drivers consists
of 2 parts for now: a. Orphinit that will initialize the CS4237 part b. official Gravis UltraSound PnP or UniSound drivers that will initialize the GUS part |
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For best results remember to MUTE all InterWave inputs on the InterWave mixer application (MIC, Line-IN, CD-IN etc are not used at all on the InterWave portion of the card and muting these sources can lead to better output quality) . |
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OrpheusII Windows9x drivers consists
of 3 parts: a. OrpheusII Win9x driver for the CS4237/YMF289 parts b. official Gravis UltraSound PnP for the GUS part c. PCMIDI driver |
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For best results remember to MUTE all InterWave inputs on the InterWave mixer application (MIC, Line-IN, CD-IN etc are not used at all on the InterWave portion of the card and muting these sources can lead to better output quality) . |
Gravis game patches & info links:
Official AMD InterWave game
patch information webpage 04/02/1997 mirror
How
to use Gravis UltraSound with Tomb Raider
The
Gravis UltraSound Archives
http://dk.toastednet.org/GUS/
https://gona.mactar.hu/GRAVIS/
more to come...
How to
order it:
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Before ordering the Orpheus II please keep
in mind that this is a piece of hardware for advanced users. It requires knowledge about how to effectively use the Gravis UltraSound PnP soundcard, some effort and games patching to make Classic GUS software compatible with it and on top you will have to juggle a 3in1 card: PCMIDI + CS4237 Soundcard + GUS PnP so good IRQ/DMA resource management is expected. This is not a warning to deter people from ordering but a warning of what to expect: you will face the same situations as with having an original GUS PnP card + a main soundcard + a MPU-401 interface installed togethere in a system. |
Please fill this
order form HERE
- treat it as a non-paying pre-order , once a card is ready for
you we will
contact you about payment info. Be careful to enter your email
correctly so we can contact you back!
Price per card is 340eur if paid via paypal "friends and
family" (or 370eur if you prefer to pay via "goods and
services") .
Price includes worldwide registered airmail shipping.
Be advised that these are the only email addresses that
will contact you about a purchase (either Edro or Leo depending
on availability) :
Problems?
Just contact us!
We'll be happy to help and resolve any issue you might have!
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