DOS Days

Orchid NuSound PnP 32

The Orchid NuSound PnP 32 was a sound card released in 1995.

	Released	1995
	Interface	ISA 16-bit
	FM Synthesizer	Crystal CS9233
	Audio Codec	Crystal CS4232
	Ports	3.5mm jacks for speaker-out, line-out, line-in and mic-in. 15-pin MIDI/Game port.
	CD-ROM	Panasonic and IDE
	Wavetable	Onboard wavetable + WaveBlaster header
	Plug & Play	Yes
	Part #	-
	FCC ID	DDS7EFNSND-16-PNP
	Price	-
	See Also	-

The NuSound PnP 32 featured plug and play compatibility, "Spatializer" 3D audio technology, and supported Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro, Windows Sound System, Roland MT-32, and General MIDI standards.

The General MIDI capability comes from the onboard Crystal Semiconductor/Dream SAM9233 in combination with the 1 MB ROM, Crystal CS4112. The patchset is either Dream's CleanWave 32, or the one they got into trouble over with Roland. It falls into my 'middling-quality' category of General MIDI wavetables, alongside the Sound Blaster AWE32/AWE64's EMU-8000 and EMU10K1 Sound Blaster Live! cards, some Ensoniq cards (OPUS and OTTO), and ICS Wavefront used on Turtle Beach Tropez, Maui and Rio cards.

Because the Crystal CS4232 does not contain an OPL3 chip embedded, there should be another 24-pin OPL3 chip somewhere on the board, but I cannot see such an IC. **UPDATE** The Crystal CS9233's host processor interface also includes FM synthesis support for Ad Lib-compatible audio as well as an MPU-401 (UART mode) interface.

Orchid Technology also produced an optional accessory for the NuSound PnP 32 in the form of the NuPanel. This was a 3.5" drive bay-sized control panel for audio inputs and outputs. It features sockets for all four of the ports on the faceplate of the card: Speaker, Line Out, Line In, and Mic, plus 3D on/off, mute and a volume control. Another optional accessory was Orchid's wavetable daughterboard, called WaveBooster. The WaveBooster had been released the year before the NuSound, and was considered their higher-end

I wrote a full review of the Orchid NuSound PnP 32 back in June 2024.

Board Revisions

I have no information on the various board revisions of the Orchid NuSound PnP 32.

Competition

In the Media

"Orchid is to launch a revolutionary new soundcard which combines wavetable synthesis with 3D surround sound and full games compatibility. The NuSound PnP supports the Intel/Microsoft Plug and Play specification, and is the first product to combine all these features onto a single board. The NuSound features 16-bit stereo sound and is compatible with SoundBlaster Pro, General Midi, Windows Sound System and Roland, amongst others. It is expected to retail at £129.00." PC Review, Iss.47 September 1995

Setting it Up

See my full review of the NuSound PnP 32 for details.

Downloads

Operation Manual
NuSound PnP 32

The original user manual for the NuSound PnP32.

Original Utility Disk
(missing)

Get in touch if you can provide this missing item!

More Pictures

Orchid NuSound PnP 32 (1995)