A Sound Card Before Its Time

Re:A Sound Card Before Its Time by js2 on Thursday August 16, 2018 @10:35PM (#17779923)

> With appropriate software, the VCA could respond to voice commands, function as a voice-controlled keyboard, record and play back digital audio, synthesize speech from text, detect and produce dialing signals, and function as a 1,200 baud modem. All that in 1985.

This is very similar to the Novation Apple-CAT II which was available by 1981 or so:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novation_CAT#The_Apple-CAT_II

https://web.archive.org/web/20160508112704/http://www.jammed...

Ironically, Novation was wiped out when they retooled to produce a card for the PCjr.

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Re:A Sound Card Before Its Time by 394549 on Friday August 17, 2018 @11:50AM (#17783665)

Could that do the voice recognition functions? The Apple-CAT II sounds like a conventional modem.

I think the unique thing about this IBM sound cards is that it had a programmable DSP which made it much more flexible.

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Re:A Sound Card Before Its Time by js2 on Friday August 17, 2018 @01:03PM (#17784246)

Yes, my recollection is that it could recognize voice on the line. Besides that:

- It had a four-voice synthesizer, so it could play music / synthesize voices, etc over the line.

- It had a handset input, I think w/digitizer, so it could be used as a voice distorter.

- It supported Bell 202 1200 bps half-duplex to another Cat II.

- It could control a tape recorder, so it could be used as an answering machine.

- It could control home appliances via BSR X-10.

- It had RS-232 support, so it could be used as a serial printer controller.

It was not a conventional modem.

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