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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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cdr12
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sb16.zip
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SB16
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1993-05-28
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Sound Blaster 16
Many important elements remain the same on the Sound Blaster 16.
* 100% Compatibility with the Sound Blaster 1.x/2.0 and
Sound Blaster Pro
* MIDI/joystick port and CD-ROM interface is unchanged
* All software supported on SB MIDI will work
* SB Pro's CD-ROM drives and drivers will also work
* SB's non-speed-compensating joystick port is carried over
to the Sound Blster 16(which means you'll have to use another
joystick port if you have a fast 386 or 486 PC)
* From the outside the hardware remains identical to the Sound
Blaster line of Sound Cards
What has changed is the new Yamaha OPL3 FM synthesizer chip
that's found on the SB 16. First used on the SB Pro 2 this chip
generates 4-operator, 20-voice stereo FM sounds(improved over the
older 2-operator, 11-voice monaural Yamaha OPL2 (3812) FM chip
that is still used in the Sound Blaster.
* The OPL3 can generate:(in 2-operator mode)
15 melodies
5 percussion sounds
(in 4-operator mode)
6 melodies
5 percussion sounds
Although the new sound campability enhancement is highlitghted
by it's ability to record and play back 16-bit sound files. The
16-bit ADC and DAC circuitry used in the Sound Blaster 16 is of
the same high quality found in some professional DAT (digital
Audio Tape) machines. With this additional horsepower, the
recording sample rate has been fully extended to 44.1 kHz in
stereo ( where as the SB pro could only record in 26 kHz in
stereo and then only 44.1 kHz in mono.)
NOTE:
Many Applications, including games, do not yet take advantage of
the higher-quality sound capability of the Sound Blaster 16. The
enormous storage requirements for sounds of this caliber mean
that CD-ROM will become more important as a distribution and
storage medium. Most of us do not have the storage space on our
hard disks for the next generation of 16-bit, stereo-sound-
enabled applications and games.
The Benefiets of Advanced Signal Processing
Although the implications of the Sound Blaster 16's capability
for 16-bit sound are exciting, putting this technology to use
today makes data compression almost a prerequisite in view of
Sound Blaster 16's heavy storage requirements. That's where
advanced signal processing comes in. The ASP in the SB16 monkier
refers to the it's unique advanced signal processing feature. ASP
is new to the Sound Blaster family. It allows you to write a
program, upload it, and run it from the SB16 board itself,
freeing the computer to do other tasks. It allows functions such
as real-time compression and decompression in 16 bits, and speech
recognition, to occur on the SB 16 without intervention from the
host computer.
If ASP seems to you a frivolous capability for today's faster
386 and 486 computers, consider that the feature is actually
quite important for handling the massive amounts of data from
stereo, 16-bit, 44.1 kHz sampled sounds. For example, with the
SB16 you can load a 4:1 data compression program, and, while
you're recording, perform real-time compression on the data
before it gets passed on to the computer for handling and
storage. This means that you have four times less data to store
on your PC.
One of the most significant additions to the Sound Blaster 16 is
the MIDI extension connector. Currently, the Wave Blaster Upgrade
is the only expansion slated for this slot.
Wave Table Synthesis Technology
The Wave Blaster Upgrade is a daughter board that uses a
patented wave table synthesis technology to generate 32-voice,
moltitimbre music. The board uses a seven-point interpolation
formula on sampled wave-forms of musical instruments to achieve
virtually perfect reproduction of these instrument sounds.
Wave table synthesis technology has been used in music keyboards
and synthesizers for several years and accounts for some of the
best and most realistic sounds you hear on the radio. Creative
Labs's inclusion of this technology in the SB 16 is considered
"obsolescence protection".
One special addition on the SB 16 is in Recording
Recording from more Than One Source.....SIMULTANEOUSLY
A useful enhancement of the SB16 is the ability to record from
more than one source at a time. ON the SB Pro, you can select
only one source for recording. The SB 16 mixer allows you to
slectively record from discrete left and/or right channels of all
inputs. You can then elect to record from the microphone while
recording only the left channel from the line input, the right
channel from the CD input, and both channels from the FM
synthesizer. You can effectivley record yourself singing with
the CD with the entire recording capturing you and the music of
the CD. WHALL-LA a recording studio!!!
The additional flexibilty of the SB 16 mixer also allows you to
record the left channel of any input to the right channel or vice
versa. Or you can record both channels from any input to the left
or right channel only. The combintions are many, providing you
with th most adaptable mixer yet for the Sound Blaster.
Bundled Software of The SB 16
The Sound Blaster 16 includes updated versions of voice
utilities VPLAY and VREC, to support the card's new stereo 16-
bit, 44.1 kHz recording capability. This new .VOC file formt is
vesion 1.20 and SB 16 includes utilities to convert to and from
the previous vesrsion 1.10. All other programs have small changes
since the wave file format already handles the new recording and
playback of the SB 16.