*********************************** AM/FM ***********************************     AM/FM EDITOR LEAVING THE AMIGA?    - Nope, I won't. Since I wrote my letter to CU Amiga a few months ago, I've been surprised over the number of people who actually read those letters pages! I've got literally dozens of letters from people who have seen my letter in CU Amiga, and they're all telling me why I shouldn't abandon the Amiga, like I threatened to do in the letter. That goes to show how the Amiga society keeps together and worries about losing "just another" Amiga-freak! I'm really surprised! Anyway: I will NOT abandon the Amiga and buy a PC or an Atari Falcon. There are a few things that need to be cleared up around this whole letter thing: First of all, when I wrote the letter to CU Amiga; I was a bit more upset than I normally am. I was sitting there, feeling let down by Commodore, and I had to get it out. I never in my wildest dreams thought that CU Amiga would publish the letter. This was back in January, and I had just heard that the A1200 and A4000 had the same old sound capabilities as my old A500 from 1987, and I had also heard that the Falcon had a DSP and 16-bit sound. Second, my letter to CU Amiga was  NOT  the same letter as the one that appeared in the magazine. CU Amiga had edited it and made it sound even more angry than it in fact was. First of all, in my original letter to CU, all my views were thoroughly argued, with sensible statements and arguments. Unfortunately, CU Amiga just printed the strongest of my views, and cut out all my arguments. (I suppose they needed to make it as short as possible). Also, I did not use one single exclamation mark ("!") in my letter, but when it appeared in CU, the whole letter was full of them... Hmmmm! So, CU Amiga must take part of the blame for the letter coming out like it did. Ok, I did write that I would drop the Amiga and turn to Atari or PC, but well, em, I didn't really mean it... :-) Come on now, did you really think I would stop making AM/FM? And give up you lot? Never! Since then, I have also learned a great deal more about the Atari Falcon and the future Amiga DSP that Commodore are working on. The fact is that the DSP in the Atari Falcon is a great processor, but unfortunately, it is let down by the poor machinery in which it is trying to do it's job. It's no use having the worlds best state-of-the art, scientific wonder ultimate CD player in the whole world, if your speakers are crap! The same thing goes for the Atari Falcon - it has a DSP, but it is placed in the middle of a working environment where it can't do anywhere near what it should be able to do. Another thing has also led me to look much brighter to the future - it was just one single line of text in the July issue of CU Amiga - the interview with GVP's Vice President; in his answer to the question about what they were going to use the A1200's PCMCIA slot for; he was very secretive but said something like: "What would you say to a 16-bit sound sampler for under £200? Keep your eyes out for it..." (I don't know if these were the exact words, because I don't have the mag right here right now, but this was basically what he said). These few words were of course the best news us Amiga musicians have heard for a long long time. This means we could see a 16-bit sampler for the A1200, not just the A4000, and for a reasonable price! I'm typing this on my (relatively) new A1200, and I have no plans whatsoever of abandoning the Amiga. Even though Commodore's done some very rotten things to us users (especially the musicians), the Amiga itself and the society surrounding it is far too colourful to just abandon. Bjørn A. Lynne AM/FM-Editor and musician using the AMIGA! *********************************** AM/FM ***********************************