Legendary Gravis Ultrasound sound card gets new open-source clone — Beavis Ultrasound remake includes complete KiCad schematics, PCB layout, sample ROM, and mor

Legendary Gravis Ultrasound sound card gets new open-source clone — Beavis Ultrasound remake includes complete KiCad schematics, PCB layout, sample ROM, and mor

KiCad schematics, PCB layout, sample ROM, and reverse‑engineered GAL logic are all provided, but you’ll still need to source an old AMD InterWave chip.

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A particular strength of the Beavis Ultrasound is its authenticity. It could be described as a faithful hardware‑level reproduction rather than a functional approximation. No microcontrollers take the place of real hardware here; there’s no emulation software, and features like the aforementioned GAL logic and IDE interface aren’t swerved by the developer.

However, this authenticity could also be an Achilles heel, as you’ll need to source an old AMD AM78C201 InterWave chip to complete a Beavis Ultrasound build and enjoy once again its marvelous sound. Actually, there’s another point to note before following schlae’s plans. There are no tried and tested footsteps to follow at the time of writing, as the dev admits they “have not actually fabricated the board and tested it for functionality,” so interested parties are instructed to “build this board at your own risk.”

In recent weeks, we also reported on the return of the Orpheus II ISA soundcard due to “popular demand.” This device includes some GUS functionality but is a commercial, non-open-source proprietary product. Probably the most popular DIY-able solution around would be the PicoGUS , built around a Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040) microcontroller, which handles all its GUS‑compatible audio playback in software – eschewing the need for rare vintage components like the AMD Interwave.

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