Turtle Beach TBS2000 (1995? 1996?) ISA Audio Interface features OPL3 FM

[chrisNova777]

http://www.dancetech.com/item.cfm?threadid=255

Turtle Beach TBS-2000
http://web.archive.org/web/19970125151244/http://www.etcetera.co.uk/et03003.htm

TURTLE BEACH TBS 2000
The TBS 2000, is Turtle Beach's cheapest card.....Currently (24/10/96)...125 Quid...(UK Sterling)

The card is Full-Duplex, (simultaneous record & play), and comes with a 128 Instrument 2MB Wavetable ROM set synth on board..... We use one in a secondary machine, & it's good & reliable...offering no set-up problems (as usual with Turtle products)...The sound quality of these cards is easily good enuff for adding audio to a midi track all the way to product level...!!

If you want to use the Yamaha DB50 XG card in a system with a TBS 2000, you will have to hang on to your Soundblaster card, and mount the Yamaha Daughterboard on that, cos the TBS 2000 will not accomadate the DB50 XG....... (groan!!)...

Alternatively, you could get the Yamaha SW60 card, which is a full card version of the DB50 XG daughterboard.....(yes!!).....

The audio spec's are :

    Signal to Noise: -85dB (A weighted) -84dB (Unweighted)
    Total Harmonic Distortion: < 0.01% (A Weighted) < 0.02% (Unweighted)
    Frequency Response: 20Hz-22KHz, +0/-1dB
    Sample Rates: CD quality audio up to 48kHz
    Resolution: 16-bit and 8-bit
    Audio Channels: Stereo or Mono
    Simultaneous Play and Record Capability

The card is Win 95 Plug 'n' Pray compatible (for what it's worth), and has a standard MP 401 Midi interface.

Turtle Beach cards are ALWAYS reliable, and never seem to give any problems when setting up. This card is an ideal starter, and if you upgrade in the future to say a Tahiti card, the TBS will act as a secondary output card to give you 4 audio outs..... They are not great cards, but worth a look....

All in all, I'd say the TBS-2000, is one of the best budget priced starter card on the market, so give it a shot, just don't expect some mega-synth from it's onboard GM synth engine....(kurzwiel chip)

What is the TBS-2000?

TBS-2000 is a SoundBlaster compatible sound card with a 32 voice wavetable

synthesizer and Windows 95 Plug n Play compatibility. It uses the Yamaha

OPL3 FM synthesizer and the ICS WaveFront Lite wavetable synthesizer.

TBS-2000 has all the features of the original Tropez sound card, without

SampleStore capability.

Compatibility

Windows 95 Plug 'n' Play compatible
SoundBlaster compatible
Windows Sound System compatible
MPU-401 compatible MIDI interface
Key Features

Stereo 16-bit recording and playback
Game compatibility, MPU-401 interface (DOS and Windows)
ICS WaveFront Lite wavetable synthesizer with a 2MB ROM set
Yamaha OPL3 FM synthesizer
4KHz to 48KHz sampling rate (Software selectable)
Enhanced IDE (EIDE) ATAPI controller on-board
Simultaneous record & playback (PC dependent: requires 2DMA's from 0,1,3 and Pentium PC)
System Requirements

PC with Windows 3.1x or Windows 95
Powered speakers or headphones
TBS-2000 Specifications

Digital Audio

Sample Rates: Selectable between 4KHz and 48KHz
Resolution: 16-bit and 8-bit
Audio Channels: Stereo or Mono
Audio Performance

Signal to Noise: -88dB (A Weighted)
Total Harmonic Distortion: < 0.01%
Phase Response: +/- 0.1 degrees
Stereo Crosstalk: 100Hz -88dB, 1kHz -86dB, 10kHz -82dB
IM Distortion: < 0.01%
Frequency Response: 10Hz-22KHz, +0/-3dB
Supported Interfaces

MIDI Interface: Up to 2 MPU-401 compatible external interfaces using optional cables
CD-ROM Interface: AT-API (Enhanced IDE)
Joystick Port
Inputs: Line level & Mic Level
Wavetable Synthesizer

General MIDI compatible: Yes
MPU-401 compatible interface for DOS and Windows compatibility
2MB Wavetable ROM set
128 Instruments
32 Simultaneous Voices
FM Synthesizer

Stereo FM Synthesizer (Yamaha OPL3)
Adlib Compatible
20 independent stereo voices of FM synthesized sounds
4 FM operators per voice
Windows Software

Wave SE(tm): WAV audio and sample editing program with Loop Editor
MicroWave(tm): OLE compatible .WAV recorder/editor for business applications
Stratos(tm): MIDI song writing software
Sierra Audio Rack: Featuring stealth mode
MousePlayer: MIDI controller