Turtle Beach Pinnacle sound card with Yamaha DB50XG module, fully working, no box

MultiSound Pinnacle  

Introduced: 1996
Synthesizer: Kurzweil MA-1
Chipset/DSP: Motorola DSP56002
Memory: 2 MB ROM (compressed from 4 MB), with slots to support up to 48 MB RAM max.
DAC: 20-bit
Bus: 16-bit ISA
Known Board Revisions: D, F (see pic above, D)


The Pinnacle is the top of the range of the third-generation of MultiSound cards from Turtle Beach. In December 1996 ICS sold Turtle Beach to Voyetra, and by this stage ICS were no longer marketing the WaveFront, which again left TB without a synth chip. They turned to Kurzweil and struck a deal to use their incredible MA-1 on the 3rd-gen MultiSound Pinnacle.

At its heart is a Motorola 56002 DSP chip (also used by the TB Multisound Fiji), which runs at 40 MHz. The Kurzweil MA-1 is General MIDI-compatible, and contains 128 instruments, 16 channels and 32 voices, plus reverb and chorus effects for each MIDI channel built-in.

The Pinnacle also gets a WaveBlaster-compatible wavetable header which is designed to work with the Kurzweil HOMAC daughterboard (sold separately) which would then act as a second synth engine. These were also bundled together and sold as the Pinnacle Project Studio.

The two 32-bit RAM slots support FPM (Fast Page Mode) SIMM modules only, and the game/MIDI port is MPU-401 (UART) compatible.

The card also comes with an EIDE header for CD-ROM connectivity.

As you would expect from Turtle Beach, the signal-to-noise ratio on these Multisound cards is excellent, -97 dB. In playback [digital-to-analogue] tests conducted by PCAVTech, it got a Signal-to-Noise ratio of -88dB - this is considered very good.


  • Windows95(tm) Plug 'n Pray Compatible
  • MPU-401 compatible
  • Hardware Wavetable Synthesis (Kurzweil Synth Engine)
  • Channelized Effects for MIDI Synthesis
  • 4MB Patch Set - 2MB Wavetable ROM
  • User Expandable Sample Set to 48MB of Sample RAM
  • DSP Based Hurricane (tm) Architecture
  • Digital I/O Option (S/PDIF) with daughter board
  • Inputs: Stereo Mic Level and Line Level
  • Supports condensor and dynamic microphones
  • 20 Bit DAC/ADC
  • Signal to Noise : >-97dB
  • THD: <.005%
  • Phase Response :+/-.1 degrees
  • Stereo Crosstalk: 100Hz-90dB, 1KHz-90db, 10KHz-90dB
  • IM Distortion: <.01%
  • Frequency Response : 10Hz-22KHz +0/-1 dB
  • Sample Rates: 5Khz-48Khz


YAMAHA DB50XG MODULE

The chip on the DB50XG contains 12Mb of sounds compressed to a 4Mb ROM. In fact, there are 676 sounds and 21 drum kits in total. The card works in two modes. In XG mode, it provides 480 melodic sounds and 11 drum kits. XG is Yamaha's answer to Roland's GS. Like GS, XG provides compatibility with General MIDI, but adds variations to existing sounds (in additional sound banks), as well as employing digital effects. In addition, the card can also be set to emulate a TG300B, where it provides 579 melodic sounds and 10 drum kits.

Reviews: 

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/turtle-beach-systems-multisound-pinnacle-fiji

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-db50xg#:~:text=The%20chip%20on%20the%20DB50XG,sounds%20and%2011%20drum%20kits.