Put PCjr/Tandy speaker in regular PC?

[JeffPaine]

Hello,

I'm in the process of building a computer specifically designed to run the old Sierra games I grew up on. It's mainly for the newer VGA games, but of course I'd like it to run older games too. I'd like to get the most out of these games, and since the older ones utilize the 3 voices of the PCjr/Tandy speakers, I was wondering if it's possible to take the speaker from a PCjr or an old Tandy and put it in a regular PC, or if I'm stuck with a PC speaker.

[DimensionDude]

The 3 voice sound of the PCjr and Tandy is built into the motherboard. You're stuck with the PC sound. I would suggest getting getting a Sound Blaster or a Sound Blaster compatible for the best gaming experience.

Kent

[mbbrutman]

Yep. And if you looked at the speaker in the PCjr, you would be disappointed. It's just the standard PC 'buzzer'. The 3 voice sound was provided by a TI sound chip, and it's only available through an external hookup or the PCjr specific monitor.

[rmay635703]

But guys Tandy did indeed sell a pc compatible 3 voice sound card for standard ISA systems. Good luck finding one though, they aren't very common.

Something to remember though is without Tandy video many games won't play the tandy sound either, even on a real tandy 1000, I found that out on my Tandy 1000RLX when I tried running ducktalek

[carlsson]

Was there not really any sound card market until the SoundBlaster in very late 80'ties? I understand if sound was not the major concern for an expensive office computer, but on par with the Tandy card mentioned, I would expect some minor manufacturers interfacing AY-8910, SN76489 or other generally available sound chips for home computers/video games to the IBM PC. On the other hand, as long as no software developers support the card, it is a moot point.

[DimensionDude]

A Tandy 1000TX (basically an XT/286) will work fine with an 8bit VGA card. I ran one for quite a while back in the day.

You will also get the 3-voice sound with this setup. Some games balked at the Tandy/VGA combo but would run anyway.

Kent

[daflory]

There was also a sound card called the "Adlib" that Sierra supported early on. It would probably give you comparable sound in an XT if you can find one.