Introduced in 1996.

FM synthesizer: YMF262-M (OPL3)

Chipset: ES688FC

Non-Plug & Play.

DAC: Yamaha YAC512

IDE, Panasonic, Mitsumi and Sony CD-ROM connectors.

Compatibility: Ad Lib, Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Windows Sound System, Windows 95 DirectSound, MPC, and MPCII.

The MPU-401 (UART) interface is emulated in software, so a driver must be loaded to use a Wavetable daughterboard.

The ES688FC is a single, mixed signal VLSI chip found in various cards and also embedded on motherboards. It offers 16-bit 44.1KHz stereo recording and playback, a 5 channel mixer and ESPCM compression (as well as ADPCM). The software volume control has 64 steps.

The ESFM synthesizer features 20 voices / 72 operators. Most rival cards at the time supported only 36 operators.

The onboard power amplifier provides 2W per channel.

This card provides good sound in Windows, but the DOS drivers only allow for Sound Blaster Pro compatibility (8-bit stereo) and it has a lower sound quality than a real Sound Blaster Pro or the Pro Audio Spectrum.

Sound cards from Creative and Advanced Gravis can be called the flagships of the mid-90s without exaggeration, but in the rapidly growing PC-Audio market they certainly had their competitors at a simpler level. One of the most famous manufacturers of "alternative" sound cards can be called ESS , which in the 90s decided to actively take up the development and promotion of its own sound solutions.

Its processors are widely used due to their relatively low price, compatibility with the Sound Blaster standard and OPL3 MIDI. In the case of the latter, the company did not hesitate to use analogs of the famous Yamaha synthesizer from other manufacturers, and soon developed its own FM synthesizer ESFM, which it integrated into later models of sound chips.

One of the most common boards from ESS in 94-96, perhaps, can be considered the AudioDrive ES688 models . Today the collection has been replenished with two such cards at once, sold under the brands Magique Melodie and Miss Melody.

The ES688F chip underlying them does not support PnP and does not have a built-in MIDI synthesizer, however, it provides quite acceptable sound quality when using multimedia speakers. Also, the Miss Melody model boasts a rear-panel volume control for the combined Line-Out / Speaker output interface. At that time, it could be useful when using speakers without their own power amplifier.

Both cards support the connection of CD drives from various manufacturers, play MIDI well and are easy to initialize in both Windows 98 and DOS. Of course, OPL3 cannot be compared in quality with WaveTable synthesis, nevertheless cards from ESS were an adequate replacement for expensive and coveted Creative AWEs.