DOS Days

Aztech Sound Galaxy WavePower

In 1993, Aztech released a General MIDI-compatible daugtherboard called the WavePower.

 Released 1993
Bus Creative Wave Blaster
Chipset Ensoniq OTTO
Standards General MIDI
Memory 2 MB ROM (4 MB samples compressed into 2 MB)
FCC ID(s) -
Price $199, later $129
See Also Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16

The Sound Galaxy Wave Power was based on the Ensoniq OTTO chip which was used by Ensoniq themselves on the VIVO 90 sound card.

From Rich Heimlich back in 1995: "It's a decent Creative Wave Blaster clone but doesn't sound as good as one. Used to be the only other choice.  Thankfully that's long ago now.". He rated the music quality at a poor 3.5 out of 10.

 

General MIDI Compatibility

  • Complies to General MIDI specifications for compatibility with a wide range of MIDI music synthesizers and keyboards

Support 16 MIDI Channels and 32-Note Polyphony

  • Fully supports 16 MIDI channels and 32-note polyphony for realistic reproduction of any music composition. It creates a depth as rich as any live symphonic orchestra

Contains 4MB Waveforms in 2MB ROM

  • The WavePower brings you 4MB of high digitally sampled sounds. Stored in ROM for instant access, creating music on your PC has never been easier.

Package Includes

  • Sound Galaxy WavePower add-on board

  • Midisoft Studio for Windows

  • Manual

System Requirement

  • IBM PC-AT or compatible

  • 640KB RAM

  • MS DOS 3.3 or higher

  • Windows 3.1 or higher

  • EGA or VGA Display

  • Sound Galaxy PRO 16 series sound cards or Sound Blaster 16-bit series sound cards


Board Revisions

Just one board revision is known: v1.2.

Competition

In 1993 there were very few wavetable daughterboards to choose from, so the WavePower was probably a very cost-effective option compared to Creative's Wave Blaster - it's only real competition unless you could afford an external MIDI synthesizer such as the Roland SC-55 or Yamaha MU80.

 

In the Media

"Aztech’s Wave Power is the first OEM of Ensoniq’s Soundscape technology, a General MIDI wave table daughter card that provides wave table synthesis with their Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16. Additionally, it works great with either one of the Sound Blaster 16 cards. In fact, as mentioned earlier, it actually works better for games with the Sound Blaster 16 because of its MPU-401 compatibility. In other words, although the Wave Power works fine for Windows applications with Aztech’s own card, it will only work as a General MIDI card if one uses it with one of the Sound Blaster 16 cards. This may be fixed with software available this Fall. Additionally, Aztech will be releasing the Sound Galaxy Pro 16 Extra around the same time which, as mentioned earlier, will have the MPU-401 compatibility.
We found the Wave Power to be a fine substitute product for the Wave Blaster, however, we noted that it did not possess the same richness of sound that its cousin, the prototype Soundscape from Ensoniq, had.
The documentation for this product along with the full implementation of Midisoft's sequencer and its low price make this a good choice for one whose wave table synthesis needs require a daughter card."     
Computer Gaming World, October 1993

 

Setting it Up

As with all GM daughterboards, there's no configuration required to install and use a MIDI daughterboard like this. If your sound card has an onboard wavetable as well, you may need to run its configuration utility to disable the onboard MIDI - this will redirect MIDI instructions to the Wave Blaster header.


Downloads

Operation Manual
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

 

 

 

More Pictures



Aztech WavePower (1993)