IBM Easy Options AC 525 - What Is This Sound Card?

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IBM Easy Options AC 525 - What Is This Sound Card?

Рет қаралды 893

Жыл бұрын

IBM had a line of Easy Options expansions, and accessories in the 90s. This is the AC 525 Game & Audio Card. But what actual sound card is this? We're going to open this new old stock card and find out! Installation, testing, games, and more!
Social Media Links
Website: riksrandomretro.com
Twitter: RiksRandomRetro
Instagram: riksrandomretro
Music Credits
Aries Beats - Celestial Bodies
free-songs.de/free-music/
yanbuck Beats - VHS
/ test-drive-synthwave-x...
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Vyra - Rings of Jupiter
/ rings-of-jupiter
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Etakneon - At Doom's Gate Remix
/ at-dooms-gate-remix
creativecommons.org/licenses/...
#retropc #soundcard #thunderboard

Пікірлер: 25

@RonsCompVids Жыл бұрын

When I worked for MicroAge, we sold many of those cards to schools that were looking to add audio to their early IBM EduQuest machines (models that didn't have a stock sound card option).

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Awesome! IBM's branding mission worked a treat then hah.

@lonewolfniko3525 Жыл бұрын

Nice Video Rik! The old new stock has always very unique filling and feeling!!! I love it! 🙂

@GarthBeagle Жыл бұрын

Those DOS Westwood games have such iconic graphics and sound.

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah I just love Westwood from that era. Production quality even back then was through the roof. It's basically a treat every time!

@PixelPipes Жыл бұрын

Great work man! I can see all the effort you put into this, and the way you evolved your style really works in this video. Really cool to see new-old-stock retro hardware! Although I'm not sure it's any "easier" than any other sound card of the era.

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Thanks, much appreciated! I'll see if I stick with this sort of format or not, but at least in the case of "discovering" a piece of hardware this works for me! And come on... it has Easy printed right on the box!

@UncleAwesomeRetro Жыл бұрын

nice video :) Retro fun is not only about the high end or rare things, but the simpler things as well.

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Yeah I love rare stuff as much as everyone else... but it sure isn't what I used back then. It's a lot of fun just trying out and using the average options too.

@ted-b Жыл бұрын

Nice one Rik. Thunderboard! Worth having, just for the name!

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Yep! Never gets old haha. Unique name for an average sounding card. Which is perfectly fine!

@stevec00ps Жыл бұрын

Nice find and nice video! You will notice a little difference as it's OPL2 vs OPL3. I think the OPL3 is stereo capable, but the game needs to be able to take advantage of the OPL3 features, otherwise it'll be OPL2 compatible and will sound the same.

@bradsmith8977 Жыл бұрын

I heard a big difference in the two sound cards for Descent music!!!

@FOIL_FRESH Жыл бұрын

sound card rik is my favourite type of rik :D

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Haha, more sound card content inbound then. It is the Easy Option after all.

@SUCRA Жыл бұрын

So good opening up new goodies. I don't think a single piece of new tech would get me as excited as a new old stock item like this one. Great music on Nova9, too bad it has no sound effects. On Descent the musis sounds exactly the same, on tyrian for some reason the thunderboard sounds a bit muffled, but still pretty good on both. I can't hear any difference with noise suppressed or not. Great video!

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! It's always a bit fun to explore stuff you don't know quite how it's going to be. This card is actually pretty darn nice for DOS gaming.

@user-ir2sy9ut1e Жыл бұрын

RiK.Happy New Year 2023.and good luck you New Toys?this is sound card i never see beforce

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Thanks and Happy New Year 2023! I've had this card for a while, just haven't gotten to opening and using it!

@schnitzelsamy Жыл бұрын

Okay

@thedopplereffect00 Жыл бұрын

Thunderboard is definitely filtering more of the higher frequency out

@RiksRandomRetro Жыл бұрын

Aye it definitely seems to have a bit more of a muffled sound! Now... I'm not exactly a sound engineer so take results with a grain of salt! That is to say my capture method, cables and volume tweaking isn't exactly on a pro level!

@thedopplereffect00 Жыл бұрын

@@RiksRandomRetro with any decent modern sound card you could do a 96Khz recording and then plot the histogram. You might find interesting spikes at certain frequencies. One thing to check is to make sure you mute any unused inputs in the software. I think some cards will automatically output them, adding to the noise floor.