DOS Days

Crystal CS-4238

The CS4238 was Crystal Semiconductor's last ISA-based multimedia audio controller/codec, introduced in late 1997.

 

Released Late 1997
Bus ISA 16-bit
FM Synth None
Sample Range 4 - 50 kHz
Packages 100-pin TQFP (-JQ or -KQ)
Standards Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Windows Sound System
Plug & Play Yes
See Also CS-4236, CS-4237

It's the same chip as CS4237 but has QSOUND surround sound (from QSound, Inc.) instead of SRS.


Revisions

The CS4238 is backward-compatible with the CS4232 / CS4232A, and CS4236/CS4237.

There are two revisions of the CS4238:

Rev.0 (non-'B') - Requires DOS initialisation for the MPU-401 to work in Windows
Rev.1 ('B') - No DOS initialisation necessary for MPU-401 to work in Windows

Competition

 

In the Media

 

Setting it Up


Downloads

The drivers below are the generic Crystal drivers for the 4237 and related/compatible models in the CX423x family.

Datasheet
Sep 1997

 

CrystalWare Drivers
v1.8, 14 Feb 1997

Extracted from the Turtle Beach Malibu driver disk, believed to be unmodified from the Crystal v1.8 reference drivers.

Windows 3.1 Drivers
v1.8, 14 Feb 1997

Compatible with CS4232, CS4236, CS4237B, and CS4238B chipsets.

Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0 Drivers
v1.51, 30 Oct 1996

Compatible with CS4232 and CS4236 chipsets

Windows 95 Drivers
v1.8, 14 Nov 1996

Compatible with CS4232, CS4236, CS4237B, and CS4238B chipsets.

OS/2 Warp & Merlin Drivers
v1.60, 25 Nov 1996

Compatible with CS4231, CS4232, CS4236, CS4237B, and CS4238B chipsets.