Greetings and welcome to an LGR thing! And today’s thing is a legend of ‘90s personal
computing hardware, the Gravis UltraSound. Affectionately known as the GUS, the UltraSound
was introduced to the market in late 1992 by Advanced Gravis Computer Technology at
a listed price of $199.95. And no, the name has nothing to do with diagnostic sonography,
and everything to do with providing MS-DOS and Windows 3.1-based computers with “ultra”
levels of sound capability. Specifically, the Gravis UltraSound is a sound card that
not only provides up to 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo sound and mixes up to 32 sound channels, but
it does so using some impressive sample-based music synthesis, commonly known as “wave
table synthesis.” In other words, instead of music in games sounding like this...
[Duke Nukem 3D Adlib music plays]
...you could have music that sounded like this!
[Duke Nukem 3D UltraSound music plays]
Not only that, but in some situations the GUS was a cheaper
option than similarly-specced competitors, making it an appealing upgrade option for
a time. However, its reputation as a reasonably-priced wavetable sound card is absolutely not the
case decades later, with classic Sound Blasters remaining relatively cheap and a loose UltraSound
commonly selling for anywhere from two to four hundred dollars at the time of this recording.
As such I owe a massive thank you to those of you who donated all the Gravis products
you’ll be seeing throughout this video. I’ve been wanting to make this episode ever
since I started LGR, so truly, thank you, this would not have happened without your
generosity. That being said, there must be a reason for the UltraSound’s continually
rising price tag and avid fan base, so let’s dive into the history of the card, unbox this
original GUS Classic, and set it up with the LGR Woodgrain 486 and see how it performs.
Advanced Gravis Computer Technology was a Canadian company formed in 1982 based in Burnaby,
British Columbia. And throughout their first decade on the market, computer peripherals
were their bread and butter, largely consisting of input devices for the Apple II, Macintosh,
and IBM PC-compatible machines. Things like the Advanced Gravis Joystick, the Advanced
Gravis Super Mouse, and a fascinating combination device, the Gravis MouseStick. But their real
claim to fame, and the first time I heard of Gravis personally, was the legendary Gravis
GamePad. Introduced in 1991 for the Macintosh, Amiga, Atari ST, and PC platforms, the 4-button
GamePad was a godsend for computer gamers who wanted a console-like controller to go
with the increasing number of console-like computer games. Especially platformers like
Prince of Persia, Commander Keen, Zool, and Jazz Jackrabbit, not to mention the growing
popularity of fighters like Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II which were even more
ideal with a controller. And with the Gravis GamePad being such an early console-style
gamepad for home computer systems, it sold like crazy, making Gravis the world’s largest
producer of PC game controllers for a time. But ‘91 was a huge year for Gravis for another
reason, and that was the Gravis UltraSound, stepping into the limelight with a press release
from the 1991 Fall Comdex show in Las Vegas, claiming that it was “the ultimate all-digital
sound solution for IBM PCs. Gravis UltraSound matches or exceeds all other PC sound products.”
After several delays and lots of hype, it finally hit the Canadian market in October
of 1992, with the US and elsewhere following in the coming months. It was met with its
fair share of praise, largely due to its hardware-driven wavetable synthesis, outputting at frequencies
up to 44kHz. And with many sound card owners upgrading from AdLib and Sound Blaster cards
that could only play FM synthesized music with far fewer instrument channels, moving
to the Gravis UltraSound for just under $200 was an easy sell. In fact, the GUS could be
downright affordable by comparison. For instance, the Sound Blaster 16 was $349 when it launched
in 1992. And that didn’t even have dedicated wavetable synthesis, for that you needed to
buy an additional daughterboard upgrade. And then by June of 1994, the wavetable-focused
AWE32 was $265, with the original Gravis UltraSound having dropped to $129 by then. Hardware reviewers
directed some well-earned praise towards the GUS, pointing out how impressive its 32-voice
wavetable audio could be, but also pointing out drawbacks like a lack of games designed
to take advantage of it in its first couple years on the market. There was also its subpar
Sound Blaster and FM synth support, making compatibility with existing PC games a chore
due to it relying on a somewhat messy software emulation method to pull it off. Still, the
UltraSound sold decently enough that game developers and Gravis continued to support
the card, with around a couple hundred compatible games and multiple card revisions hitting
the market over the next several years. Speaking of which, let’s go ahead and take a closer
look, starting with this Gravis UltraSound Classic. And man is this a childhood dream
come true, just having one of these in my possession is honestly a bit surreal. First
up we get the card itself, a 16-bit ISA board with a pleasant bright red PCB. Ahh I love
crimson-colored boards, though it seems like it was mostly ATi and Gravis that went with
red back then. Guess it’s a Canadian thing. Next is a plastic package filled with all
sorts of paperwork including a Gravis product registration card, and this one being sold
in the US it referred you to their distributor in Washington state. Next are a couple of
ads for related products, like the Gravis Analog Pro and PC GamePad, as well as games,
adapters, and the GUS memory upgrade kits. Aw yeah, this was back when you could easily
upgrade the RAM to your sound card and it was awesome. Then you get several documentation
booklets, with hundreds of pages of instruction manual goodness covering everything from the
setup of the card, to using the including software, to tweaking your PC in order to
attain sound that is as “ultra” as possible. And while there were multiple bundles available
over time this one came with five high density 3.5” floppy disks containing drivers, demos,
MIDI patches, and programs for playing back and recording digital audio, including UltraSound
Studio 8. Mine also came with this additional package ordered from Gravis, containing the
GUS Software Development Kit version 2.01. So whoever bought this originally had larger
intentions than just gaming. Let’s get back the card itself and admire all those connectors,
interfaces, and ports, oh my. From left to right we have DIP sockets for RAM expansion,
a 4-pin compact disc audio interface, and some lengthy headers for adding either a CD-ROM
controller or a daughterboard for stereo 16-bit recording. And at the heart of the GUS is
a chip known as the GF1, designed in cooperation with Forte Technologies. It’s based on an
older Ensoniq chipset, the ES5506 OTTO, most often used in the Ensoniq VFX line of synthesizers
from the late 80s. Then on the I/O panel you can see we have mic and audio inputs, a joystick/MIDI
interface, line out, and amplified out ports, as the previous owner so thoughtfully noted
for us. Getting it installed is quite simple, and we’ll be using the venerable LGR Woodgrain
486 running at 66MHz for this one. Just gotta take out the Sound Blaster card I had installed,
snap the UltraSound Classic in its place, plug in some speakers and we’re ready to
go with the software. I’ll be using the 2.04 disks that it came with, which provides
a helpful installation menu letting you choose which features of the nearly 17 megabytes
of software you’d like to install. [sounds of disagreeable disk noises as LGR groans]
Or, I tried to at least. Seems the floppy disk didn’t quite agree. I was also sent
this collection of 2.06 disks and well, those turned out to be even worse. DOS couldn’t
even get a directory reading. Thankfully there are plenty of archives online so I wrote my
own disks and all was well. After it’s installed you’ll reach the GUS setup utility to make
sure everything’s working, with a variety of features being adjusted through software
instead of jumpers on the card itself, and if it’s working you’ll hear
plenty of bombastic sound effects.
[sound effects bombastically play]
Finally you’re free to test out the
software that it came with, including an incredibly basic MOD player with various sample tracks,
like this one from the game Star Control II.
[“Commander Hayes Theme” MOD plays]
You can also test out some MIDI playback capabilities using the included MIDI player and sample
files. It’s also an example of the card’s lack of hardware reverb and chorus effects,
so you’re not gonna have the kind of room-filling, wet MIDI renditions you’d get on, say,
a Roland MT-32 or a Sound Canvas.
[upbeat yet dry MIDI tune plays]
Finally, there’s UltraSound Studio, an incredibly simple
and rather clunky audio recording and editing program. Still,
I would’ve found this plenty impressive in 1992, with the ability to quickly record,
cut, and mix audio clips together. -This is a test of the Gravis UltraSound Classic’s
microphone recording capability. "This is a test of the Gravis UltraSound Classic’s
microphone recording capability.” But that’s enough of that, let’s check out some games!
And for me there was no question, the first game I had to try was Jazz Jackrabbit, the
very title that introduced me to the Gravis UltraSound’s existence in the first place.
[music and sounds play, incredibly clearly]
-I don’t know if it’s just me but that sounds... better than I’ve ever heard.
[more Jazz sounds play] Like that right there?
Wow. I didn’t think I’d be able to hear the difference but... good grief, that sounds good.
[sound effects play]
Holy crap!
Yeah, that was my legit first reaction. I was seriously awestruck
by how good this sounded having come from the Sound Blaster Pro 2.0. It may not come
across well depending on YouTube audio compression
and your sound setup, but just listen to these side-by-side.
[Jazz Jackrabbit theme plays]
Here’s another title that makes great use of the card, Epic Pinball
and well, just listen to this awesomeness.
[Epic Pinball menu song plays]
Dude those samples are so crispy and it actually plays more consistently
than my SB Pro. That’s another GUS plus: with games programmed to take advantage of
it, they’ll not only receive high-quality sound but you might also get improved performance
due to how things can be mixed on the card itself without taxing your CPU. As an example,
playing Descent on this 486 machine with my Sound Blaster Pro results in the music irritatingly
speeding up and slowing down. But with an UltraSound? Nah man, the music continues playing
at a more constant tempo, regardless of frame rate.
[sounds of Descent descend soundly]
The thing is, while this makes the GUS a solid choice on lower-end hardware, it is unfortunately
a real toss-up as to whether or not the game you want to play fully supports it. While
hundreds of titles claimed to have Gravis UltraSound support, what that actually means
can vary quite a bit from game to game. Sometimes you get improved performance and great sound
quality when a game has a sound mode specifically built for the GUS, but other times it’s
just wrapping up a General MIDI implementation and mixing audio using your CPU like any ol’
random sound card. Also, it’s worth mentioning that while the GUS Classic is capable of 44kHz
stereo sound, it can only output 14 of its possible 32 channels at that rate. With the
maximum number of channels playing back at once, the quality drops to just 19kHz, so
that’s something to keep in mind when working with more involved music. Keeping on the topic
of tunes, you might see the program ULTRAMID come into play with various games. This program
is sometimes required, and often comes with, games that rely on MIDI playback and use the
Miles Audio Interface Libraries. How well this works depends on how the game loads instruments,
how many it uses at once, how much conventional memory you have, how much RAM your UltraSound
has etc. But typically when you see something using ULTRAMID, I found that results weren’t
exactly optimal, especially on the original UltraSound Classic with the factory-installed
256K RAM on-board. [splat] Oh and in case you’re wondering, yes
you can take advantage of MIDI in and out using
something like the Gravis UltraSound Universal MIDI Connector Box.
While the GUS doesn’t provide MPU-401 compatibility through hardware, there are
some software solutions like Mega-Em to achieve this. Not only that, but this program also
allows you to emulate Roland hardware through software, loading in samples mimicking the
sound of those devices. Although good grief, the headaches I went through to get this working
were all for naught, especially on this 2.4 revision of the unexpanded GUS Classic. It
not only doesn’t have enough RAM to emulate anything close to a full version of General
MIDI, but again there are no reverb or chorus effects built-in, and it won’t load all
the custom Roland patches and parameters for all games anyway. Speaking of lackluster emulation,
Mega-Em as well as another Gravis program called SBOS can attempt to emulate the features
of a Sound Blaster. This was Gravis’s way of getting around the card’s lack of OPL
synthesizer chip or Sound Blaster-compatible DAC, and provide some semblance of compatibility
for games that don’t support the UltraSound. And while the digital audio emulation is actually
pretty good, the Adlib FM synth portion really, really sucks.
[terribly emulated version of Xargon theme plays]
That is just sad. I mean, they tried, it’s better than no sound at
all I suppose, but wow, it makes Adlib music sound like an ice cream truck.
Just listen to Duke Nukem II here.
[Duke Nukem II Ice Cream Edition™ plays]
But all of these positives and negatives so far have
mostly revolved around commercial software, and the appeal
of the Gravis UltraSound reached another, far less mainstream audience as well: the
demoscene. In case you’re not aware, the demoscene subculture is one where programmers,
artists, and musicians work together and compete to produce impressive software demonstrations,
often pushing the hardware beyond what had been seen before. And much like the Commodore
Amiga computers, the GUS became popular among demosceners for its ability to play dozens
of custom, simultaneous sound samples without overreliance on the computer’s CPU, leading
to more impressive audio while freeing up resources for intensive graphical effects.
And this was extra impressive considering Gravis initially hadn’t published any detailed
hardware references for the card. But in 1992 the GUS was reverse-engineered by Thomas Pytel
and Joshua Jensen, members of the group Renaissance known as Tran and CyberStrike, two of the
most fantastically 90s handles ever. Once the nitty gritty details were freely released
through a text file known as "Gravis Ultrasound Tech Specs: The Unofficial Dox," the floodgates
were open, whether Gravis wanted it or not. After the Unofficial Dox spread plenty of
demos, intros, and software was developed to take advantage, including a boom in tracker
software like GUSMOD, FastTracker II, and Impulse Tracker.
[fantastic MOD tunes play for a bit]
Gravis eventually embraced this themselves, releasing their own programming
guides and even partnering with demosceners to create Gravis demos to display at trade
shows and such. Gravis then continued to update their line up with multiple revisions and
new cards over the years, with the first major one being the UltraSound Max in 1994, which
doubled the included RAM to 512K, added multiple CD-ROM interfaces, and a Crystal Semiconductor
4231. No need for a daughterboard anymore, now you just had 16-bit recording out of the
box and support for the Windows Sound System standard and improving SB emulation. Next
was the Gravis UltraSound ACE, or Audio Card Enhancer, in 1995: a cut-down version of the
GUS Classic with no game port or recording ability. But the idea was to provide something
similar to the Creative Wave Blaster daughterboard but on a standalone ISA card you’d install
alongside another sound card of choice, so you could have GUS wavetable synthesis on
top. A neat idea and something you’ll probably be seeing on LGR again! Another major update
was the UltraSound Plug n Play in 1995, which is a total overhaul of the GUS based on the
AMD Interwave chip to provide 44kHz playback at all times, 1MB of sample ROM, and the ability
to address 16MB of RAM. Unfortunately, as awesome and enjoyable as each iteration of
the GUS can be, Gravis couldn’t really catch a break when going up against the might of
Creative Labs. The UltraSound may have been a cheaper option for a time but Sound Blasters
continually dominated in terms of overall game support, advertising, and heavy-handed
business moves that left companies like Advanced Gravis Technology in the dust. By the time
the UltraSound had enough game support to make it more worthwhile to a larger number
of PC users, plenty of other wavetable sound cards and daughterboard upgrades had hit the
market at competitive prices and with hardware support for the Sound Blaster. In one final
course correction, Gravis produced the UltraSound Extreme cards in 1996. It combined the UltraSound
Classic with an ESS AudioDrive chipset to finally provide hardware Sound Blaster support
on top of wavetable goodness, but it was too little too late. Gravis discontinued the UltraSound
line and started fielding acquisition offers, leading to them being bought outright by Kensington
Technology in January of 1997, falling back to selling input devices under the Gravis
brand into the mid-2000s before bowing out of the market completely. However, while it
was abandoned by the company decades ago, the GUS has been kept alive by fans ever since,
with multiple attempts at software emulation through emulators like DOSBox, and more recently
a GUS-compatible card known as the ARGUS in development by a bunch of people on VOGONS.
And I can see why! I was always a bit mystified by these cards before doing this video but
now I think I really get it. For 1992, what the Gravis UltraSound was pulling off with
such high quality sample-based playback? It honestly took me by surprise. It’s a shame
that they couldn’t hold onto that little bit of an early start because, man, the ability
to load custom samples into its RAM is super versatile and the output is just so clean.
Clean in more ways than one, not just in terms of clarity. I experienced very little line
level noise coming out of it, say, compared to my Sound Blaster Pro 2.0, 16, or even the
AWE32. It just sounds better. At the same time though, the reality is that the GUS is
a card with less than 200 games that natively support what it can do, making it the less
reasonable choice considering there are thousands of Sound Blaster-focused titles. It is at
least enough for me to want to keep these cards around and continue to mess with them
for no doubt years to come. And that is absolutely what I’m gonna be doing so if you enjoyed
this video perhaps you’d like to stick around, I am sure that this is not the last time a
Gravis UltraSound of some kind is going to appear on LGR. And once again I wanna thank
those who donated all these devices, as well as Mr. Jim Leonard and Charles Scheffold for
providing all sorts of really useful information on first-hand experience with the demoscene
and technical specs and all sorts of things from back in the day. There really is a wealth
of information about the UltraSounds out there, which is a testament to how uniquely enjoyable
they can be. But anyway that’s enough for this time
and as always thank you very much for watching!