Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II / BX II Extra
Aztech's successor to their first ever sound card, the BX, was the Sound Galaxy BX II, released in mid-1992. It was the first to support Sound Blaster 2.0 audio.
|
Released | 1992 |
| Bus | ISA 8-bit | |
| FM Synth | Yamaha YM3812 (OPL2) | |
| Chipset | AZTSB0792-U07 (1st generation) | |
| Standards | Ad Lib, Sound Blaster 2.0 | |
| Ports | Speaker-Out, Mic-In, Line-In, thumbwheel volume control Game port |
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| CD-ROM | None | |
| Wavetable | None | |
| Plug & Play | No | |
| FCC ID(s) | I38-SGB21 (BX II), I38-SGBX21 or I386-MMSNBX2 (BX II Extra), KRNKTL-3180 | |
| Price | $59 (Oct 1993, BX II) | |
| See Also | Sound Galaxy BX, Sound Galaxy BX III, Sound Galaxy NX |
The Sound Galaxy BX II was arguably what you would call their second 1st-generation card after the Sound Galaxy NX. This made use of a dedicated Aztech audio chipset - the AZTSB0792, first used on the NX.
Its Sound Blaster 2.0 compatibility means digital audio was now played back at up to 44 KHz in mono, and recorded at 22 KHz (also in mono). Like the earlier BX and NX, it did not support Covox Speech Thing or Disney Sound Source.
The backplate contains the following (from top): Line-In, Mic-In, thumbwheel volume control, Speaker-Out, Game/MIDI port.
A BX II Extra was also sold. This bundled the BX II card with some powered speakers and over 12 programs on 3.5" floppy disks.
The card is known to be "noisy", both in picking up interference from the rest of your PC and due to the design of the card. Given the basic / budget nature of the card, there is no onboard mixer that can be controlled to cut volume on things like the CD-Audio if that is not going to be used.
The Orchid Sound Producer is an officially licenced version of the Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II (similar to v2.2 of the Aztech card), so the Aztech drivers should work just fine with this card. The BX II was also sold by KTL Research as the KTL-3180.
Board Revisions
Several board revisions are known to exist:
Version 1.0 (FCC ID: I38-SGBX21) got the YM3812 in a DIP-24 package. The CD-Audio header was positioned just behind the Mic-In port on the right side of the card.
Version 1.1 (FCC ID: KRNKTL-3180) was the version sold by KTL as the KTL-3180. This had the CD-Audio header moved to the top-left of the card.
Version 2.2 (FCC ID: I38-SGBX21) got the smaller 24-pin SOP version of the Yamaha YM3812.
Version
2.3A (FCC ID: I38-SGBX21) got the smaller 24-pin SOP version of the Yamaha YM3812. Both green and brown silkscreen versions are known to exist for this version, and also original Aztech ones and licenced Packard Bell ones.
All versions had pin headers on the card for CD-Audio and Speaker-Out. Sadly, no line-out to circumvent the amplifier (and the associated noise that invariably comes with it).
Competition
At its time of release, Creative Labs were already onto their second generation, with the original Sound Blaster having arrived about 2 years prior, and the Sound Blaster Pro about 3 months before the Sound Galaxy BX II. Even the Sound Blaster Pro II had launched a few months before, making use of the new Yamaha YMF262 single stereo chip. It is therefore apparent that Aztech's business model was simply to compete at a lower price point than Creative, probably targeting PC-compatible OEMs with discounts on bulk orders.
In the Media
I've not been able to find any retail advertisements for the Sound Galaxy BX II. It was certainly sold via mail order from adverts in magazines in 1992, but was also sold to OEMs including Packard Bell to be sold in their PCs.
Setting it Up
The Sound Galaxy BX II's settings are configured via a jumper block on the centre-bottom of the card:
| Jumper | Purpose | Available Settings |
| J1 | I/O Base Address | 1-2 = 240h, 2-3 = 220h (default) |
| J2 | Game Port Enabled/Disabled | 1-2 = enabled (default), 2-3 = disabled |
| JP1 | IRQ | Topmost two pins = IRQ7 Second row = IRQ5 (default) Third row = IRQ3 Bottom two pins = IRQ2 |
To install the Sound Galaxy BX II Extra software in DOS, insert disk 1 of the utility disks set and run INSTALL.EXE. This must be run from the root directory (expecting it to run from the floppy drive). It will look for the presence of a Sound Galaxy BX II sound card - if not detected you will see the message "Invalid or no sound card detected" and the program will abort.
Downloads
Operation Manual Get in touch if you can provide this missing item! |
BX II Extra Includes DOS utilities and Windows 3.x VXD driver. |
Windows NT 3.51 Driver Windows NT 3.51 drivers for Sound Galaxy BXII, NXII and NX Pro cards. |
More Pictures
The Aztech Sound Galaxy BX retail box - this came with just the sound card
Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II Extra which came bundled with a set of cheap off-brand speakers.
A Packard-Bell branded version of the Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II (Rev 2.2) - image courtesy of Andrew Welburn of andys-arcade
Another Packard-Bell branded version of the Aztech Sound Galaxy BX II (Rev 2.3A)