DOS Days

Aztech Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 / NX Pro 16 Extra

In the latter part of 1993, Aztech released the Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 and Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 Extra. These were the first Aztech cards to support Sound Blaster Pro and Windows Sound System.

	Released	Late 1993
	Bus	ISA 16-bit
	FM Synth	Yamaha YMF262 (OPL3) or LS-212
	Audio Codec	Crystal CS4248-KL or Analog Devices AD1848JP, AZTDSP38 DSP chip
	Chipset	AZTSSPT0592-U01 (1st generation card)
	Standards	Ad Lib, Sound Blaster 2.5, Sound Blaster Pro, Windows Sound System
	Ports	Speaker-Out, Mic-In, Line-In (stereo), thumbwheel volume control Game port
	CD-ROM	Sony, Panasonic and Mitusmi
	Wavetable	Yes, Wave Blaster-compatible
	Plug & Play	No (but does use Auto-Init for DMA)
	FCC ID(s)	I38-MMSN803, I38-MMSN808 or I38-MMSN812
	Price	$279 (list price at launch), $155 (Nov 1993, NX Pro 16)
	See Also	Sound Galaxy NX Pro

The Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 and Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 Extra support Ad Lib, Sound Blaster Pro 2.0 and Windows Sound System. Unlike other 1st-generation cards, these ones do not support Covox Speech Thing or Disney Sound Source. Despite some articles claiming no Covox/Disney support, others imply otherwise by stating that you can disable the Disney Sound Source and Covox Speech Thing compatibility via a utility

A special version of the NX Pro 16 (I38-MMSN808) featured a 16-pin Philips LMSI CD-ROM interface. The NX Pro 16 Extra (I38-MMSN812) had Sony, Mitsumi and Panasonic CD-ROM interfaces.

The I38-MMSN803 variant was an NX Pro 16 Extra with both a SCSI interface and Mitsumi and Panasonic CD-ROM interfaces (no Sony) - it cost $39 more. The drivers are a little different as a result.

The MIDI/game port is *not* MPU-401 compatible. The wavetable interface is Creative Wave Blaster-compatible, and is supported in DOS.

The NX Pro 16 Extra came bundled with Voyetra's AudioStation for Windows, SoundScript for DOS and Windows, and Audio Calendar, "Say It" voice annotation, Voice Mail for NetWare, WinDAT sound editor, Jukebox for playing .WAV, MIDI and CD music in the background, an audio screen saver, a DOS command-line MIDI player, a collection of sound tracks, and CommVoice, a voice recognition program, a microphone and a Monologue.

In June 1994, it was confirmed the Sound Galaxy Pro 16L sound card was bundled in Aztech Labs' Double Speed Pro 16 multimedia upgrade kit, which went on sale for $499. The kit also comprised the LMSI CM206 (Laser Magnetic Storage, Inc.) double-speed CD-ROM drive with minimum access time of 325ms, a set of fairly good speakers and a microphone. The CD-ROM used a 16-pin Philips interface. Bundled games in the kit were Jones in the Fast Lane, Battle Chess Enhanced CD, and Space Quest IV.

Aztech Labs' Double Speed Pro 16 Multimedia Upgrade Kit (1994)

This card is known to work with SoftMPU when used with the SB MIDI command-line argument.

Board Revisions

Several board revisions are known to exist:

FCC ID: I38-MMSN803 (NX Pro 16) - SCSI, Mitsumi and Panasonic CD-ROM interfaces.
FCC ID: I38-MMSN808 (NX Pro 16 L) - Philips LMSI CD-ROM interface only.
FCC ID: I38-MMSN812 (NX Pro 16 Extra) - Sony, Mitsumi and Panasonic CD-ROM interfaces.

Competition

The NX Pro 16 took a departure from Aztech's business model to provide as many sound standards as possible, dropping support for Covox and Disney, and instead focussing on Sound Blaster Pro and Windows Sound System support.

In the Media

"The card has a pin connector to accept either the Creative Labs Wave Blaster or Aztech Labs' own Wave Power. While the Wave Power runs well under Windows, there is a slight hitch in the SGNXP16 which renders the wave table synthesis option useless for DOS gamers - lack of an MPU-401 MIDI interface. Without this interface, MIDI data will be routed out of the MIDI interface on the back of the card. This is great but if the user has his or her own MIDI synthesizer, but it will not support a wave table daughter card in DOS. The daughter card option works fine with current drivers in Windows, however, DOS gamers will be stuck.

This oversight will be corrected on the Sound Galaxy Pro 16 Extra, which should be out in Fall '93. A spokesperson for Aztech Labs, informed us that this card will have the MPU-401 interface and voice recognition capability, though with less compatibility (Sound Blaster Pro, Ad Lib, and Windows Sound System only."
Computer Gaming World, October 1993

"One of the newest upgrade kits we examined is the Sound Galaxy Pro 16 from Aztech Labs, Inc. A [MPC] Level 1 upgrade kit with a list price of $639 (which should translate to a street price of about $475 or so), it includes an internal [Mitsumi] CD-ROM drive, the Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 sound card, lots of software*, and even a set of earphones and a microphone. Just about everything you need to get started using and even creating your own multimedia applications." PC Upgrade Magazine Vol.2, No.5

*Bundle included 5 CD-ROM titles including Microsoft Works, Macromedia Action, and Battle Chess Enhanced

A magazine advert for the Sound Galaxy NX Pro 16 (1993)