Chips › Sound & audio › PC audio › Sound Blaster DSP
Sound Blaster DSP
1989
Creative's Sound Blaster digital signal processor, the chip that made PCM sample playback and recording a PC audio standard.
Emulators
| Emulator | Type | License | Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boxer | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| DOSBox ECE | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| DOSBox Pure | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| DOSBox Staging | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| DOSBox-X | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| Fake86 | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| PCem | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| XTulator | downloadable | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
| em-dosbox | online | GPL-2.0 | Website ↗ |
Reference & documentation
External technical references for programming Sound Blaster DSP and for writing emulators.
| Resource | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Intel MCS-51 Microcontroller Family User's Manual ↗ | Datasheet | The DSP core is an 8051; opcodes, pinout |
| DOSBox-X Wiki: Sound Blaster DSP commands by value ↗ | Instruction set | Every DSP command 0x00-0xFF, incl. undocumented |
| TFM's DSP commands page ↗ | Instruction set | Hex command list with programming procedures |
| Sound Blaster Series Hardware Programming Guide (Creative) ↗ | Programming | Official guide: DSP, mixer, DMA, IRQ, ports |
| Sound Blaster Programming Information (Baresel & Jackson) ↗ | Reference | 40+ commands, all I/O ports, timing constants |
| DOSBox-X Wiki: Sound Blaster DSP busy cycle ↗ | Reference | Undocumented busy-bit toggle timing per model |
| Sound Blaster: The French Connection (OS/2 Museum) ↗ | Reference | DSP chip identity: Intel MCS-51 with masked ROM |
| Sound Blaster 1.0 Principles of Operation (TubeTime) ↗ | Schematic | Full board dissection: DSP bus, DMA, DAC |
| CT1741_DSP: Sound Blaster 16 DSP disassembly ↗ | Source | Firmware dumps and AS31/D52 disassembly source |
| The Sound Blaster DSP project (VOGONS thread) ↗ | Source | SB16 firmware reverse-engineering, hanging-note bug |