1-6
Hardware Overview
Block Diagrams for Sound Blaster Family of
Audio Cards
After presenting the introduction to the major building blocks of Sound Blaster
cards, we will now present the block diagrams for SB2.0, SB2CD, SBPRO and SB16.
C T 1 3 3 6
B U S
I N T E R F A C E
C H I P
J O Y S T I C K
P O R T
C T 1 3 5 1
D S P
F M
S Y N T H E S I Z E R
A D / D A
F I L T E R
M I D I
P O R T
C M S
A G C
P O W E R
A M P .
S P K R
I S A
B U S
C O N T R O L
C O M M A N D /
DATA
M I C
L I N E I N
Figure 1-2: Block Diagram of the Sound Blaster 2.0
Note that the CMS chip is optional. The CMS uses Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
technique to synthesize music. The quality of the sound is not as good as that from a
FM synthesizer, and therefore, has been gradually phased out. All Sound Blaster
cards that is later than SB2.0 does not have the CMS upgrade socket.
Please note the SB2.0 does not contain a mixer chip on board.
