Retro Review: Yamaha Audician 32 Plus - Part 4

28th April 2025

 

In Part 3, I started an addendum to this article from over two years ago, as I got hold of a Yamaha Audician 32 Plus with the onboard wavetable synthesizer - the Admos QDSP QS1000.

In this final Part 4, I will record the output of this wavetable synth and provide comparisons with other sound cards for the same game.

Onboard Wavetable

The QDPS QS1000 here is complemented by a QS1001A, which is a 512 KB ROM chip for its instrument samples. For other Admos wavetable scenarios, you can tell if the ROM is 512 KB, 1 MB or 2 MB:

• QS1001 or QS1001/A - 512 KB ROM (4 Mbit) in a SOP32 package
• QS1002 - 1 MB ROM (8 Mbit) in a SOP32 package
• QS1003 - 2 MB ROM (16 Mbit) in a SOP44 package

The QS1001 and QS1002 are identical ICs, only their stored content is different.

Dune (Virgin Games) **Settings** Song: Intro ESS 1868: Sound Blaster (music+sounds) Game supports Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Ad Lib Gold, and Roland MT-32/LAPC-I. Sync Play    Audio loading, please wait... Admos QDSP1000* Roland MT-32 Roland SC-55* Yamaha MU80* Sound Blaster 16 CT2770 Sound Blaster 16 CT2940 Ad Lib MSC16 PnP ESS1868 Audiodrive Aztech SG Pro 16-II 3D Sound Blaster AWE64 OPL3SAx Aztech SG Nova 16 Extra *not directly supported by the game

Duke Nukem 3D (3D Realms) **Settings** Song: Main Menu ES1868=SB (mono) SB16=8 voices,16-bit mixing, 22 KHz SBPro=8 voices,8-bit mixing, 22 KHz Sync Play    Audio loading, please wait... Admos QDSP1000 Yamaha MU80 Roland SC-55 Roland MT-32 AudioPCI GM 2MB+SBP AudioPCI GM 4MB+SBP AudioPCI GM 8MB+SBP Sound Blaster 16 (CT2770) Sound Blaster 16 (CT2940) ESS1868 AudioDrive Ad Lib MSC16 PnP Aztech SG Nova 16 Extra OPL3SAx

Raptor: Call of the Shadows (Apogee Software) **Settings** Song: Main game (sound effect volume at 0) ESS 1868: Sound Blaster Game supports Sound Blaster, General MIDI Sync Play    Audio loading, please wait... Admos QDSP1000 X2GS AudioWave 16 AISP MED1931 Yamaha Audician 32 Plus Orchid NuSound 32 PnP Terratec Base 1 ProAudio Spectrum 16

Having gone into these tests with some negative preconceptions, I was pleasantly surprised by the QDSP1000.

The Dune intro actually came out nice and clean, despite the game not supporting GM - running the QDSP with the game configured for Roland MT-32. Yes, it's wrong to evaluate it in this way, but if you didn't have a real MT-32 it's good to know whether it's too bad to play. In direct comparison with the SC-55 and MU80, the incorrect GM instruments were softer so it came out a little better than both the SC-55 and MU80. What's very evident is the lack of reverb compared to the MT-32.

The Duke Nukem 3D intro soundtrack is hard to beat on the Yamaha MU80 due to its full-bodied bass so well-suited to this track. Having said that, the QDSP does a fine job though has a little too much overdrive and not enough atmosphere.

Raptor's simplistic tune is also a solid delivery, though comes across more squashed/muffled than the X2GS, which provides a better high range.

In summary then, the QDSP1000 will never match the high quality and atmosphere of the Roland or Yamaha GM modules, but for a cheap 512 KB sample-based wavetable synth, it produces passable results.