Ensoniq AudioPCI
Ensoniq's low-cost PCI sound card, later rebranded by Creative.
The Ensoniq AudioPCI is a PCI sound card that came out in 1997. It was the last sound card Ensoniq made before Creative Technology bought them. The card marked a change in Ensoniq's strategy: instead of the low-volume, high-end, feature-packed Soundscape line, the AudioPCI was a simple, cheap product built for PC makers to sell in huge numbers.
By the late 1990s, Ensoniq was having money troubles. Their cards sold well to PC manufacturers, but production costs were too high, and their musical instrument business was shrinking. Tough competition, especially from the dominant Creative Labs, forced audio card makers to keep prices low. The AudioPCI, released in July 1997, was built to be cheap. Unlike the older Soundscape boards with many chips and a large size, the AudioPCI used just two chips: a small, software-driven audio chip (either the S5016, ES1370, or ES1371) and a companion digital-to-analog converter. To cut costs further, the usual ROM chip for storing sample-based synthesis data was replaced with the ability to use system RAM instead. This was possible because the PCI bus offered much more bandwidth and better bus mastering than the older ISA bus.
Despite being cheap, the AudioPCI was still useful. It offered many of the same audio features as the Soundscape ELITE card, including digital effects like reverb, chorus, and spatial enhancement, when used with Windows 95 or later. It was one of the first cards to support Microsoft DirectSound3D with four speakers. The four-speaker mode only worked with software that used DirectSound3D quadraphonic mode. Oddly, the rear channel shared the same output jack as the line input; the jack would switch modes when four-speaker output became active.
DOS and Windows drivers supported sample-based synthesis using Ensoniq's ".ecw" patch set format. Several patch sets were available, in sizes of 2, 4, or 8 MB, with varying instrument quality. The ".ecw" file format was never made open, as enthusiasts had hoped. As a result, very few custom wave sets exist, unlike the many homemade releases for E-mu's SoundFont format. This was especially unfortunate because the AudioPCI used system RAM for patch set storage, which offered great potential for new sets compared to traditional ROM storage.
- Release year
- 1997
- Bus interface
- PCI
- Chipset
- S5016, ES1370, or ES1371
- Sample synthesis format
- .ecw (Ensoniq Concert Wavetable)
- Max patch set size
- 8 MB
- Speaker support
- 2 or 4 speakers via DirectSound3D
- Sampling frequency native
- 44 kHz (ES1370) or 48 kHz (ES1371)
Lore & Background
The AudioPCI was designed primarily to be cheap, using a highly integrated two-chip design consisting of a small software-driven audio chip and a companion DAC. To cut costs, the traditional ROM chip for sample storage was replaced with system RAM, made possible by the PCI bus's greater bandwidth and bus mastering. The card offered digital effects (reverb, chorus, spatial enhancement) under Windows 95 and later, and was one of the first to support Microsoft DirectSound3D 4-speaker playback. An oddity was that the rear channel shared the same jack as line input, switching modes when 4-speaker output became active.
For DOS compatibility, the AudioPCI used a software driver that virtualized a Sound Blaster-compatible ISA card via the PC's NMI and a TSR program. This provided more out-of-the-box DOS support than some PCI competitors, though older games sometimes had detection problems. The driver required a memory manager like EMM386, which put the CPU into Virtual-86 mode, conflicting with games using 'flat mode'. FM synthesis was simulated using samples, often with unacceptable results, so configuring games to use General MIDI and digital sound effects was practical. The DOS driver included support for Ensoniq Soundscape 16-bit audio, sample-based synthesis, Sound Blaster Pro, AdLib Gold, General MIDI, and MT-32.
Reader's Guide
The AudioPCI's significance lies in its role as Ensoniq's final product before Creative acquisition, and its subsequent rebranding as several Creative cards (Sound Blaster PCI 64, PCI 128, Vibra PCI). The ES1370 chip was renamed Creative 5507 and revised into AC'97-compliant variants (ES1371, ES1373) used for years on cards and integrated motherboard audio. The .ecw patch set format was never made open, limiting custom wave sets despite the card's use of system RAM for storage—a missed opportunity given the chipset's popularity and longevity. DOS drivers for newer Sound Blaster Audigy cards still used .ecw wave sets, unable to use SoundFonts in DOS, leaving only three official wavesets and one incomplete unofficial one. The ES1370 is also emulated as virtual hardware in QEMU and VMware. Creative later released the Ectiva 1938, a single-chip PCI audio controller based on the ES1371/ES1373, used for integrated audio and cards like the Sound Blaster AudioPCI 64V.
Did You Know?
- The AudioPCI was one of the first sound cards to support Microsoft DirectSound3D 4-speaker playback.
- The .ecw patch set format was never made open, resulting in very few custom wave sets.
- The ES1370 chip is emulated as virtual hardware in QEMU and VMware.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Ensoniq AudioPCI?
It is a budget-oriented PCI sound card that Ensoniq shipped in 1997, designed so OEMs could bundle it into mass-market PCs at a low price point. It marked a sharp departure from Ensoniq's earlier premium, feature-dense Soundscape products.
Which chipsets power the Ensoniq AudioPCI?
Depending on the revision, the card is built around one of three Ensoniq chips: the S5016, ES1370, or ES1371. All revisions handle up to 8 MB of patch data and support 2- or 4-speaker output through DirectSound3D.
Why did Ensoniq pivot to a cheap card like the AudioPCI?
By the mid-to-late 1990s Ensoniq was bleeding money—production costs stayed high while their synth and instrument division kept shrinking. The AudioPCI was a volume play: strip out the premium features, drop the price, and let PC manufacturers sell millions of units to offset losses.
What happened to the AudioPCI after Creative acquired Ensoniq?
Creative folded the AudioPCI into its own product lineup and rebranded it under the Creative name. In practice, the card became one of the last Ensoniq-branded designs before the company's identity was fully absorbed.
What sample-synthesis format does the AudioPCI use?
The card relies on Ensoniq's proprietary .ecw (Ensoniq Concert Wavetable) format for its sound patches. That format capped out at an 8 MB patch set, which was plenty for the card's target audience of everyday PC users rather than studio professionals.
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