The Roland LAPC-I is a sound card

Sound card

A sound card is an internal computer expansion card that facilitates the input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under control of computer programs. The term sound card is also applied to external audio interfaces that use software to generate sound, as opposed to using hardware...

 for IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible

IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...

 computers produced by Roland Corporation

Roland Corporation

is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on April 18, 1972, with ¥33 million in capital. In 2005 Roland's headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Today it has factories in Japan,...

. It basically consists of a MT-32-compatible Roland CM-32L and a MPU-401

MPU-401

The MPU-401, where MPU stands for MIDI Processing Unit, was an important but now obsolete interface for connecting MIDI-equipped electronic music hardware to Personal Computers...

 unit, integrated onto a single full-length 8-bit ISA

Industry Standard Architecture

Industry Standard Architecture is a computer bus standard for IBM PC compatible computers introduced with the IBM Personal Computer to support its Intel 8088 microprocessor's 8-bit external data bus and extended to 16 bits for the IBM Personal Computer/AT's Intel 80286 processor...

 card. In addition to normal Roland dealers aimed at musicians, it was distributed in the USA by Sierra On-Line for use with the company's games. The MSRP

MSRP

MSRP may refer to:* Manufacturer's suggested retail price, in business* Message Session Relay Protocol, a protocol used for multimedia communications* MSRP Motorsports, a former name of the HP Racing NASCAR team...

 of the card was around USD 425 .

Sierra On-Line was instrumental in working with Roland Corporation in introducing high-end sound modules and sound cards in the consumer gaming market in the late 1980s through early 1990s.

It came with no software or accessories, although no specific software was necessary, since the MT-32 appeared as a MIDI peripheral connected to the MPU-401 on MIDI channels 2 through 10. To connect the LAPC-I to other MIDI devices, an MCB-1

MCB-1

The Roland MCB-1 is a module designed for the Roland LAPC-I sound card. The MCB-1 interfaces to the LAPC-I through a proprietary interface with a DB-15 connector....

 module is required.

A model called the LAPC-N was also released for the Japanese NEC PC-98 system. To connect the LAPC-N to other MIDI devices, an MCB-2 module is required.

The card was and is often mistakenly called LAPC-1, but photos of the card's PCB

Printed circuit board

A printed circuit board, or PCB, is used to mechanically support and electrically connect electronic components using conductive pathways, tracks or signal traces etched from copper sheets laminated onto a non-conductive substrate. It is also referred to as printed wiring board or etched wiring...

 and retail box show an I rather than a 1. Further evidence can be found in the owners manual which mentions the LAPC-I and also MCB-1, clearly showing specific use of I instead of 1. The "I" presumably stands for "IBM PC", and the "N" for NEC

NEC

, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....

.