Hey there,
I had a Cricket! sound box for the Apple //c by Street Electronics on my //c back in 1984. It is basically an Echo ||+ board sitting in a box, tied to the //c via serial cable.
Here's a picture of the Cricket!:
http://apple2history.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Street-Electronics-Cricket.jpg
I have been, lately, wondering about the specs of the device. I know the speech is generated by a TMS-5220, but what was the hardware behind the music and sound effects? I put the Cricket!'s music capabilities to good use in EAs' Music Construction Set. It sounded pretty nice.
The Cricket! was eventually replaced by the Echo IIc, which lacks music, sound effects, and a clock. I believe it is the same hardware as the Echo IIb, basically -- but I am not sure of this.
There seems an utter lack of tech details on the music hardware in the Echo II+ and Cricket! on the 'net.
Can anyone help me out here? Thanks.
bp