<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
is	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
sound	B-Device
cards	I-Device
by	O
Creative	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
add-on	O
boards	O
for	O
PCs	O
with	O
an	O
ISA	B-Architecture
or	O
PCI	B-Protocol
slot	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
(	O
June	O
1992	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
successor	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
Pro	I-Application
,	O
introduced	O
CD-quality	O
digital	O
audio	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
line	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
optional	O
wavetable	O
synthesis	O
,	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
also	O
added	O
an	O
expansion-header	O
for	O
add-on	O
MIDI-daughterboards	O
,	O
called	O
a	O
Wave	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
connector	I-Device
,	O
and	O
a	O
game	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
for	O
optional	O
connection	O
with	O
external	O
MIDI	O
sound	O
modules	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
retained	O
the	O
Pro	O
's	O
OPL-3	O
support	O
for	O
FM	O
synthesis	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
mostly	O
compatible	O
with	O
software	O
written	O
for	O
the	O
older	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
and	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
Pro	I-Application
sound	B-Device
cards	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SB16	B-Device
's	O
MPU-401	O
emulation	O
was	O
limited	O
to	O
UART	O
(	O
dumb	O
)	O
mode	O
only	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
was	O
sufficient	O
for	O
most	O
MIDI	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
daughterboard	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Wave	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
,	O
Roland	O
SCB-7	O
,	O
Roland	O
SCB-55	O
,	O
Yamaha	O
DB50XG	O
,	O
Yamaha	O
DB60XG	O
was	O
installed	O
on	O
the	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
,	O
the	O
Wave	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
behaved	O
like	O
a	O
standard	O
MIDI	O
device	O
,	O
accessible	O
to	O
any	O
MPU-401	O
compatible	O
MIDI	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
ASP	O
or	O
CSP	O
chip	O
added	O
some	O
new	O
features	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
line	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
hardware-assisted	O
speech	O
synthesis	O
(	O
through	O
the	O
TextAssist	O
software	O
)	O
,	O
QSound	O
audio	O
spatialization	B-Application
technology	O
for	O
digital	O
(	O
PCM	O
)	O
wave	O
playback	O
,	O
and	O
PCM	O
audio	O
compression	O
and	O
decompression	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
featured	O
the	O
then	O
widely	O
used	O
TEA2025	O
amplifier	O
IC	O
which	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
configuration	O
Creative	O
had	O
chosen	O
,	O
would	O
allow	O
approximately	O
700	O
milliwatts	O
(	O
0.7	O
watts	O
)	O
per	O
channel	O
when	O
used	O
with	O
a	O
standard	O
pair	O
of	O
unpowered	O
,	O
4-Ohm	O
multi-media	O
speakers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
was	O
hugely	O
popular	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Creative	O
's	O
audio	O
revenue	O
grew	O
from	O
US$40	O
million	O
per	O
year	O
to	O
nearly	O
US$1	O
billion	O
following	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
and	O
related	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
its	O
popularity	O
and	O
wide	O
support	O
,	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
is	O
emulated	O
in	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
virtualization	O
and/or	O
emulation	O
programs	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
DOSBox	O
,	O
QEMU	O
,	O
Bochs	O
,	O
VMware	O
and	O
VirtualBox	O
,	O
with	O
varying	O
degrees	O
of	O
faithfulness	O
and	O
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
Intel	O
PCs	O
built	O
after	O
the	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
PC/AT	I-Operating_System
typically	O
only	O
included	O
support	O
for	O
one	O
ATA	O
interface	O
(	O
which	O
controlled	O
up	O
to	O
two	O
ATA	O
devices	O
.	O
)	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
,	O
many	O
computers	O
could	O
not	O
support	O
it	O
since	O
both	O
devices	O
of	O
the	O
one	O
channel	O
were	O
already	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
boards	O
(	O
CT2940	O
for	O
example	O
)	O
provided	O
an	O
additional	O
IDE	O
interface	O
to	O
computers	O
that	O
had	O
no	O
spare	O
ATA-ports	O
for	O
a	O
CDROM	B-Device
,	O
though	O
the	O
additional	O
drive	O
interface	O
typically	O
only	O
supported	O
one	O
device	O
rather	O
than	O
two	O
,	O
it	O
typically	O
only	O
supported	O
CD	B-Device
ROM	I-Device
drives	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
usually	O
could	O
not	O
support	O
additional	O
hard	O
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Proprietary	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
standards	O
were	O
also	O
supported	O
by	O
several	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
came	O
with	O
the	O
Panasonic	O
/	O
Matsushita	O
interface	O
,	O
which	O
resembles	O
IDE	O
with	O
the	O
40PIN	O
connector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
with	O
the	O
SCSI	O
controller	O
(	O
SB	O
16	O
SCSI-2	O
,	O
CT1770	O
,	O
CT1779	O
)	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
use	O
with	O
"	O
High	O
End	O
"	O
SCSI	O
based	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
feature	O
connectors	O
for	O
CD-audio	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
a	O
necessity	O
since	O
most	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
and	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
drives	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
did	O
not	O
support	O
streaming	O
CD-audio	O
digitally	O
over	O
the	O
main	O
interface	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
sold	O
separately	O
feature	O
a	O
CT1747	O
,	O
a	O
chip	O
which	O
has	O
the	O
discrete	O
Yamaha	O
YMF262	O
OPL-3	O
FM	O
synthesizer	O
integrated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
model	O
numbers	O
were	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
:	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
:	O
various	O
PCBs	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
model	O
number	O
were	O
shipped	O
with	O
a	O
different	O
configuration	O
regarding	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
interfaces	O
,	O
sockets	O
and	O
presence/absence	O
of	O
the	O
ASP/CSP	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
Easy	O
16	O
(	O
CT2750	O
)	O
was	O
sold	O
with	O
the	O
ASP/CSP	O
chip	O
and	O
a	O
parallel	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
port	O
and	O
1	O
audio	O
out	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
VIBRA	O
16	O
was	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
cost-reduced	O
,	O
more	O
integrated	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
chipset	O
targeting	O
OEMs	O
and	O
the	O
entry-level	O
to	O
mid-range	O
markets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
variants	O
support	O
Plug	B-Device
and	I-Device
Play	I-Device
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
models	O
even	O
lacked	O
the	O
Wave	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
connector	I-Device
while	O
others	O
came	O
equipped	O
with	O
the	O
connector	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VIBRA16C	O
,	O
the	O
next	O
revision	O
,	O
which	O
integrates	O
Creative	O
's	O
CQM	O
synthesis	O
and	O
a	O
Plug-and-Play	B-Device
compatible	O
bus	O
controller	O
into	O
the	O
CT2505	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CT2505	O
is	O
also	O
featured	O
as	O
an	O
on-board	O
sound	O
chip	O
on	O
some	O
motherboards	O
and	O
on	O
Asus	B-Architecture
Media	I-Architecture
Bus	I-Architecture
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
model	O
numbers	O
were	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
VIBRA	O
16	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Note	O
:	O
various	O
PCBs	O
with	O
the	O
same	O
model	O
number	O
were	O
shipped	O
with	O
a	O
different	O
configuration	O
regarding	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
interfaces	O
and	O
sockets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
WavEffects	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1997	O
as	O
a	O
cheaper	O
and	O
simpler	O
redesign	O
of	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
came	O
with	O
Creative	O
WaveSynth	O
also	O
bundled	O
on	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
AWE64	I-Device
Gold	I-Device
,	O
a	O
physical	O
modeling	O
software	O
synthesizer	O
developed	O
by	O
Seer	O
Systems	O
(	O
led	O
by	O
Dave	O
Smith	O
)	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
Sondius	O
WaveGuide	O
technology	O
(	O
developed	O
at	O
Stanford	O
's	O
CCRMA	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
model	O
numbers	O
were	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
WavEffects	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
Creative	O
Technology	O
acquired	O
Ensoniq	O
and	O
subsequently	O
released	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
PCI	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
PCI	B-Protocol
was	O
based	O
on	O
Ensoniq	B-Device
AudioPCI	I-Device
technology	O
and	O
is	O
therefore	O
unrelated	O
to	O
the	O
ISA	B-Architecture
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
,	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
VIBRA	O
and	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
WavEffects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
model	O
numbers	O
were	O
assigned	O
to	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
PCI	B-Protocol
:	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
many	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16s	I-Device
are	O
now	O
around	O
30	O
years	O
old	O
,	O
many	O
cards	O
suffer	O
from	O
symptoms	O
related	O
to	O
aging	O
capacitors	O
,	O
ranging	O
from	O
muffled	O
or	O
distorted	O
output	O
to	O
the	O
cards	O
failing	O
to	O
function	O
properly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
have	O
a	O
flawed	O
digital	O
sound	O
processor	O
on	O
board	O
that	O
causes	O
various	O
issues	O
with	O
MIDI	O
daughtercards	O
attached	O
to	O
the	O
Wave	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
header	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
particular	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
cards	O
that	O
are	O
affected	O
carry	O
DSP	O
versions	O
4.11	O
,	O
4.12	O
and	O
some	O
4.13	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
workaround	O
for	O
this	O
flaw	O
and	O
it	O
occurs	O
with	O
all	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
since	O
it	O
is	O
an	O
issue	O
at	O
the	O
hardware	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
DSP	O
version	O
can	O
be	O
checked	O
by	O
running	O
the	O
"	O
DIAGNOSE	O
"	O
utility	O
in	O
DOS	O
or	O
looking	O
at	O
the	O
DSP	O
chip	O
on	O
the	O
sound	B-Device
card	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computer	O
Gaming	O
World	O
in	O
1993	O
stated	O
that	O
"	O
We	O
were	O
not	O
impressed	O
with	O
the	O
quality	O
of	O
the	O
digital	O
audio	O
"	O
of	O
the	O
Sound	B-Device
Blaster	I-Device
16	I-Device
or	O
16	O
ASP	O
,	O
reporting	O
"	O
pops	O
and	O
extra	O
noise	O
"	O
and	O
incomplete	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
magazine	O
instead	O
recommended	O
the	O
"	O
almost	O
foolproof	O
"	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
Pro	I-Application
or	O
the	O
original	O
Sound	B-Application
Blaster	I-Application
.	O
</s>
