Intellivoice
| Intellivoice | |
|---|---|
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| The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module (model 3330) with its volume thumbwheel (Evan-Amos, CC BY-SA 3.0) | |
| Manufacturer | Mattel Electronics |
| Type | Speech synthesis module |
| Release date | 1982[1] |
| Discontinued | 1983[1] |
| Price | US$79[1] |
| Interface | Intellivision cartridge port |
| Compatible | Intellivision, Intellivision II[2][3] |
| Model | 3330 |
| Power | +5 V from the console through the cartridge port[4] |
The Intellivoice is Mattel Electronics' speech synthesis module for the Intellivision, sold as the Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module, model 3330.[2] It plugs into the console's cartridge port and has its own cartridge port on the far end. Ordinary cartridges play through it as if it were not there; specially marked Intellivoice cartridges add spoken voices to the game.[2] Speech comes from a General Instrument SP-0256 speech synthesiser, fed either from phrases stored in its own ROM or from speech data held in the game cartridge, and reaches the television through the console's audio path.[5]
Mattel's service manual for the module, with a full parts list and schematic, is hosted at Intellivoice Service Manual. Care is on Intellivoice Maintenance, fault-finding on Intellivoice Troubleshooting, and the two electrolytic capacitors on the Intellivoice Capacitor Replacement Guide.
History
[edit | edit source]Mattel introduced the Intellivoice in 1982 at US$79. Four cartridges were released for it: Space Spartans, B-17 Bomber, Bomb Squad and Tron: Solar Sailer. World Series Major League Baseball also speaks when used with both the Intellivoice and the Entertainment Computer System. The module sold below Mattel's expectations, was later given away with Master Components, and was dropped in August 1983.[1]
Hardware
[edit | edit source]| Location | Device | Function | Mattel P/N |
|---|---|---|---|
| U1 | 74LS12 | Triple 3-input NAND | 0086-0171 |
| U2 | SPB-640 | Buffer/interface | 0086-0173 |
| U3 | SP-0256 | Speech synthesiser | 0086-0172 |
| U4 | LM324C | Quad op-amp (audio filters) | 0098-1210 |
| U5 | LM358C | Dual op-amp (buffer and bias) | 0086-0170 |
From Mattel's parts list; functions from its technical description.[6][5] The parts list also includes one 40-pin and one 28-pin low-profile IC socket.[6]
The module sits between the game cartridge and the console. The data and address lines DB0–DB15 and the bus control lines BC1, BC2 and BDIR pass straight through from the cartridge to the console, which is how ordinary cartridges keep working. When the bus control lines select it, the buffer/interface chip U2 passes speech addresses to the synthesiser U3, or converts custom speech data sent by the console from parallel to serial and loads it into U3.[5] Speech can therefore come from the phrases in U3's internal ROM or from data in the game cartridge.[5] Wikipedia gives the synthesiser as the SP0256-012, with 2 KB of internal ROM holding the digits, some common words and the phrase "Mattel Electronics presents".[1]
U3's output is pulse-width modulated, not conventional audio. It passes through a chain of filters: C3, a high-pass filter limiting response below 150 Hz; two active filters built from U4 that cut frequencies above 5 kHz; C8, which removes most of the PWM "hash"; the volume control; the buffer amplifier U5A with C14 as a further low-pass filter; and finally C9 with R25 as a high-pass filter.[5] The other half of U5 generates a +1.8 V bias, used as an artificial ground for the active filters, from the divider R7 and R8 at test point TP17.[5] The audio leaves the module on pin 6 of the console connector J1.[4] The synthesiser runs from a 3.12 MHz ceramic resonator (Y1).[6]
A removable port cover on top of the module covers a 30-pin stacking connector (J2). A jumper block, JB2, must be fitted on it for the module to work; Mattel's troubleshooting chart checks it first when the +5 V supply is missing at TP7.[7][4] Wikipedia says Mattel planned to use this connector for wireless hand controllers.[1]
Operation
[edit | edit source]Plug the Intellivoice into the console's cartridge port, all the way in, then plug an Intellivoice cartridge into the module's own port. Set the game's sound effects with the television volume, then the voice level with the thumbwheel on the Intellivoice; turning it anticlockwise makes the voices louder. The thumbwheel does not change the game's sound effects.[2][5]
Mattel's Intellivision II service manual lists the Intellivoice as a peripheral that can be used with that console as well.[3]
Maintenance and repair
[edit | edit source]-
Mattel's component layout of the Intellivoice board -
Mattel's exploded view of the module
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Related pages
[edit | edit source]- Intellivision
- Intellivision II
- Intellivoice Service Manual
- Intellivoice Maintenance
- Intellivoice Troubleshooting
- Intellivoice Capacitor Replacement Guide
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Wikipedia, "Intellivision", revision of 5 October 2026, section "Intellivoice": introduction in 1982, US$79, SP0256-012 with 2 KB ROM, 30-pin expansion port planned for wireless controllers, released games, phase-out in August 1983. Used for history.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Mattel Electronics, Intellivoice Service Manual, Voice Synthesis Module model 3330, cover and "Operation", pp. 1–2. File:Mattel Intellivoice Service Manual Model 3330.pdf.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mattel Electronics, Service Manual, Intellivision II model 5872, "System Description and Operation", p. 5: the Intellivoice may be used with the Intellivision II. File:Mattel Intellivision II Service Manual Model 5872.pdf.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mattel Electronics, Intellivoice Service Manual, model 3330, troubleshooting procedure, pp. 5–6: +5 V at TP7 and the jumper block (steps 4 and 5); audio from R25 to pin 6 of J1 (step 13). File:Mattel Intellivoice Service Manual Model 3330.pdf.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Mattel Electronics, Intellivoice Service Manual, model 3330, "Technical Description", p. 3: pass-through of DB0–DB15 and the bus control lines, U2 and U3, PWM output and filter chain, +1.8 V bias from R7 and R8 at TP17, volume control direction. File:Mattel Intellivoice Service Manual Model 3330.pdf.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Mattel Electronics, Intellivoice Service Manual, model 3330, parts list, p. 12: U1–U5, Y1 3.12 MHz ceramic resonator, JB2, J2 30-pin stacking connector, J3 44-pin edge connector, 40-pin and 28-pin low-profile sockets. File:Mattel Intellivoice Service Manual Model 3330.pdf.
- ↑ Mattel Electronics, Intellivoice Service Manual, model 3330, "Preliminary Checklist" and Figure 2, p. 4: jumper block JB2 on the stacking connector under the port cover. File:Mattel Intellivoice Service Manual Model 3330.pdf.