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| Thread ID: 29742 | 2003-02-01 03:20:00 | Use old SB16 soundcard as an Amp/Preamp | somebody (208) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 117598 | 2003-02-01 03:20:00 | Hi, I have an old SB16 soundcard lying around, and I am trying to turn it into a standalone Amp or Preamp. Does anybody know how this can be done, without a motherboard? |
somebody (208) | ||
| 117599 | 2003-02-01 04:05:00 | Hi somebody Just thinking about this, if the inputs and outputs are there, in theory all you need to do is apply power and input/output cables. However the problem arises that the whole shebang is intended to be contolled by a set of drivers and associated applets, so I rather doubt that a sound card can be persuaded to operate without a psu, motherboard, RAM, OS, HDD etc. In fact, without most of the trappings of a computer it probably won't do anything at all. But then, I could be wrong. Cheers Billy 8-{) :D |
Billy T (70) | ||
| 117600 | 2003-02-02 00:41:00 | Hi Billy T, I was planning to have an old CD ROM drive plugged in to the soundcard, so it will give a slightly more powerful output, than directly from out of the drive. Do you know what parts of the card I need to apply power to, in order to make it work? I'm willing to give anything a try, as it's a disused card. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 117601 | 2003-02-02 01:07:00 | If you can say whether it is an ISA or a PCI card, then I possibly can give the pin-outs. If its an ISA then basicly there are only a few +/-5v, +/-12v and grounds, if its a universal PCI then there are heaps of connections for 3.3v 5v, 12v, and heaps of grounds, it would get quite complicated. To give you an idea, 16 bit ISA socket has 2 sections, 62 pins in one and 36 in the other, A PCI socket has two rows of 94 connections with something like 33 odd voltage input connections and as many grounds. It would be difficult to describe so many pin outs without a diagram. The pinouts are given in Scott Muellers Upgrading and Repairing PCs. |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 117602 | 2003-02-02 02:21:00 | I suspect that it uses a digital volume control . . . which is driven by the computer . (If it's a P&P one, you might have to set it up using a computer) . You could connect a PIC microcontroller to a pair of ISA connectors, and write a "bit of code" :D to respond to "up" and "down" buttons for volume, and a few more to control the door open etc . I'd build it in a computer case . . . with the motherboard and PSU still there . You could run it from a floppy and with DOS . . . but that would be the easiest way . ;-) Or find a cheap amplifier and use that . Sound cards are intended to be driven with computers . :-( |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 117603 | 2003-02-03 08:12:00 | Hi Terry, I can confirm that it is an ISA card, as it came out of a really old 486. Would you be able to send me a diagram (if you have an electronic copy somewhere), or if you know any websites which have it. My email address is pei@nzoomail.com Thanks. |
somebody (208) | ||
| 117604 | 2003-02-03 08:55:00 | As Graham has mentioned, many functions will be driven by data lines on the PC bus. You may need to recreate clock pulses, addressing of registers etc, and this will not be evident in a schematic. If it follows traditional ISA priciples, there will be registers needing setting to determine which input is used, the volume, the output to use etc. These are not available directly off the edge connectors but by strobing pulses to gate data settings off the bus. It will likely be an expensive preamp by the time you build the logic, better to use a Dick Smith preamp kit? |
godfather (25) | ||
| 117605 | 2003-02-03 09:01:00 | Here is a pin out diagram of an 8-bit and a 16-bit ISA slot . . physics . utah . edu/~ko/WebEshop/E-stuff/pinout_isa . html" target="_blank">www . physics . utah . edu You may encounter some difficulty though because parts of the card are digital - ie the pc interface, and parts will be analogue . The digital sections will need clock signals from somewhere (ie the host PC), and these may digital parts probably control the analogue sections (ie the amplifier), so without a host PC, or some way of controlling and powering the whole card, I doubt you will have much success . I would suggest a look in some local second hand shops and pick yourself up a decent amp . You will be lucky to drive much more than a pair of cheap speakers anyway . . . I used to use an old ISA card to drive my small stereo speakers, and I blew the amp up running it at half volume, so take your pick . . . |
craig_b (2740) | ||
| 117606 | 2003-02-03 09:14:00 | One of the most useful sources of connection data on the net is The Hardware Book, which can be downloaded from here: http://www.hardwarebook.net/ This gives pinout for ISA bus connectors. Some of the old soundcards had fairly standard op-amp ic a/f amplifiers like LM386 or similar. If you can identify the output ic and have a data book telling you the connections, then it may be possible to trace the tracks to the ic, eg supply rails, input/output etc and it may be possible to mod the card to bypass the digital circuitry and just use the analogue bits. It would still be much easier in the long run to use an audio kit from DSE or Jaycar though :) |
Terry Porritt (14) | ||
| 117607 | 2003-02-03 18:51:00 | Thanks for all the help everyone. I will probably take your advice and go and buy a cheap amp/preamp kit from Dick Smith or somewhere. | somebody (208) | ||
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