Programming Sound Cards/Programming Sound Cards.iso/sound_62/sbnews01.txt

Text File | 1995-01-01 | 23KB | 401 lines

Digital Revenge's

         Guide to the Sound Blaster Card: One Expert's Observations
                               (update 1.00)

                                                    (C)1990 USBO

1) When converting .ROL files using ROL2CMF, it is not neccessary to have
   .INS and .SBI files present, just an Adlib .BNK file. You can find these
   .BNK files everywhere. The larger, the more instruments it contains.
   Then use ROL2CMF with just the BNK file option.

2) When using TrakBlaster, it is not neccessary to always run the TRAKINST
   program (on most machines anyway).

3) A good add-on: Realistic (Radio Shack) SA-10 Solid State Stereo Amplifier.
   If you don't have one of these, you need to get one. Not that expensive.
   Make sure you get all the adapters to use it with your Sound Blaster's
   earphone jack output, or if you are using a stereo, get some RCA-RCA phono
   cords to run from the LINE OUT on your stereo to the Tape/Tuner input on
   the SA-10. Help on this subject can be obtained from almost any audio
   /speaker freak. The SA-10 seems to get rid of frequency noise (at least,
   with my speakers) and evens out the volume balance problem in old Sound
   Blaster's (the Adlib less volume than the other two modes). Another good
   thing about having one of these is you can use a portable stereo with
   it when you're not tearing out music from the Sound Blaster. I have a
   portable CD/AM/FM/Dual Tape player that takes input from the Sound
   Blaster when it's in AUX mode and by flipping a switch on the stereo, I
   can listen to radio, etc through the same speakers that my Sound Blaster
   uses (which are much better than the stereo's internal speakers).

4) When sampling off of radio or TV directly, it's helpful to use the
   talking parrot's oscilliscope-like display to find the correct volume
   at which to set the input (so that it's not too quiet and not too loud
   to cause the VOC output to make clicking noises). You'll know it's at
   a good volume when the highest peaks just reach the top line.

5) When sampling off of VCR tape, it's best to unplug cable service if
   you have it. This (for some unknown reason) causes a humming noise when
   recording through the Sound Blaster (only audible when you play back
   through the Sound Blaster). The humming noise is so loud, you can't hear
   anything you meant to record. This may be just with my VCR and cable
   company, but if it does happen to you, this is the cause.

6) You have a 33MHz machine... nothing you do with the Sound Blaster
   works with it... my only advice here is to slow down the machine via
   ctrl-alt-minus (or in CMOS setup). Can't slow down this way? Shouldv'e
   gotten a computer that allows it. Slow-down software which fools stuff
   into thinking you have a slow computer may work, but remember: the
   Sound Blaster is HARDWARE and all its input is off the bus line.

7) I use relatively inexpensive speakers with my system. I'm not sure
   of the exact model.. just they they came with my mom's Radio Shack
   stereo (old -- plays 8 track tapes!)... but they do have phono plugs.
   Can't offer much advice the way of speakers, I'm no expert there.
   Can't reccomend Bose too much, since the Sound Blaster isn't exactly
   worth it. Bose, fine for compact disc players, etc... but for a
   Sound Blaster?.... only if they're shared with your compact disc
   player, etc!

8) Want to purchase that newly released software for your Sound Blaster
   from Creative Labs/Adlib, Inc.?? Check around on the BBS's first.
   Although it's wrong for a BBS to carry that sorta stuff, some do get
   the software inadvertantly. If you find it on a BBS, hey, download it!
   Rusty and Eddie's BBS carries a lot of stuff.. unfortunately, you have
   to pay before you can download (where this smart idea originated, I
   have no idea.. doesn't seem fair to me.. it'd be better to let users
   download 10-20 files before paying).

9) If you have a question on your Sound Blaster card, the best thing to
   do is call Creative Labs' tech support. Don't bother other BBS users
   with your questions (else make them private and to the individual who
   seems to know the most).

10) If you do not as of now have a Sound Blaster, here are some things
    to consider before getting one (assuming you're looking for one):

    ** Your machine should be 100% IBM compatible.. if you've experienced
       any problems with compatibility, the Sound Blaster may not function.

    ** Your machine should be able to do 10-16MHz. I don't care what CPU
       you have, it should be able to do within this range as a LOW speed
       or as the highest possible (I have a 10/20 MHz machine).
       Why: A lot of software out there now will either require a minimum
       of 10 MHz (graphics, etc, as in Sierra's games). Also, digitized
       song software doesn't handle too well at high speeds (20 Mhz on my
       machine and it locks up).

    ** If your machine is an XT (4.77MHz) -- skip the Sound Blaster idea.
       1) All the games that support it will run too slow on your computer.
       2) A lot of the newest digitized song software for the Blaster is
          too fast for the CPU, and it's the best stuff available!

    ** If you live a multi-task life, you're gonna have to go DOS.
       1) DESQView can't play music through the Blaster while in other
          windows (I haven't tried it, but it may be possible to set
          background ticks higher than foreground, and at the same time
          make your application run like it's 6 feet in mud -- not worth
          the sacrifice. Want to listen to music at same time that bad??:
          tape it on a cassette tape and play it back while word processing,
          etc.
       2) Windows 3.0 is a bit clumsy on sound card stuff. There's some
          new software out there to use Sound Blaster/Adlib under Windows 3.0,
          but I have not seen it yet.

    ** Shareware support for the Sound Blaster sucks. Almost everything
       out there will restrict itself in some way or make you impatient as
       hell. The best I've seen is MuchMusic by Mr. Tsung Hu. It plays
       .CMF and .ROL files in a great menu format, which isn't restricted
       in anyway (just a polite, quick, shareware registration notice at
       the END). All shareware should be like this. The worst I've seen
       is Blaster Master v. 2.00.. one, it's too damn complicated to
       use and two, it restricts about everything except your ability to
       exit it! I upload it to boards as a DEMO. Anytime you come across
       something like this, do that. Call it a DEMO so that we innocent
       Sound Blaster people won't get our hopes up when looking at new
       files.

    ** If you see a price for a Sound Blaster over $150, then there's
       something wrong here. Creative Labs took out a couple of chips
       back when the card was selling at around $200. Some dealers
       still sell it at the exact same price, although it's a different
       card! You're paying extra for something nonexistent! I don't
       believe it makes any notice of this on the box, so BE CAREFUL.
       Creative Labs is to blame for this. It's also best to get a
       Sound Blaster locally if possible. Back when I was shopping
       for an Adlib (no Sound Blaster back then), no one was carrying it,
       so I had a dealer order it for me, and I got a good price on it
       PLUS it was local! Now all the computer stores are carrying it
       around here (although it's almost obsolete now). I did the same
       thing as soon as the Sound Blaster came out and got one of the
       first ones (the dealer had it shipped next day delivery). If there
       isn't a place that sells the Sound Blaster near you, go through
       the chain of command. Talk to someone who can supply it to you,
       like I did. I don't think this will work with franchises, like
       Electronics' Boutique and Babbages since they are in the
       position to sell only what's in their store. The places I got my
       sound cards supplies computers to local businesses! No store-front
       or mall place. Usually the places like where I got mine have the
       better deals, and if you're nice enough, they may even sell it to
       you for close to what they paid (unlike store-fronts).

    ** Don't mail order a Sound Blaster unless you are SURE of what
       you are doing. Like I said before, the new one is still being
       sold at the old price, and mail order companies are too busy
       to pay attention to details like that (since it's not even mentioned
       on the box, I hear).

    ** Music professionals shouldn't buy the Sound Blaster. You're
       a music professional IF: 1) You have a room dedicated to MIDI
       keyboards, guitars, drums, the like.  2) You publish music to
       record producers, etc.  3) You own 3 or more CD players (each
       with it's own pair of Bose speakers). 4) Your car booms.
       This could be made into a whole other text file, but in short,
       those are the 4 best ways to be considered one in my opinion.
       The Sound Blaster is best for you if you: 1) Hate the internal
       speaker. 2) Still listen to cassette tapes. 3) Have completed a
       Sierra game in the past (even if you used the solution).
       4) Managed to print/list this file with no problems.

  Back to tips:

11) You can play .CMF files in the background while playing .VOC files
    in the foreground. Why you'd use this, I'm not sure. To do it,
    load PLAYCMF using the /s parameter on the end. This will give
    you a dos shell during playing. Then you can use your favorite
    .VOC player to play those files.

12) Don't play .CMF files in background while telecommunicating over
    BBS (tested with /s parameter -- if creative labs develops a
    "play-CMF-in-background-while-doing-other-stuff" package, they'd
    better pay attention!!!).   Doing this causes extreme loss in
    characters received. Impossible to put up with.  Adlib's PopTunes
    seemed to run with no problems under communications programs, but
    PLAYCMF xxxx /s won't cut it.

13) ZIPping bit-compressed .VOC files doesn't save much disk space.

14) ZIPping .ROLs saves a LOT of space! I am currently working on a
    ZIP/ROL/CMF interface to play .ROLs/.CMFs from ZIP files using
    your favorite ROL/CMF player (not one built in, since some are
    better than others I've noticed - more on this later).

15) .ROLs store better than .CMFs, contrary to Creative Lab's messages.
    .CMF's take up more space than a .ROL file, since they have all
    the instrument data in each .CMF. All the .ROL files you have
    use the same instrument bank.

16) .ROL's sound better than .CMF... some people say there's no difference.
    I converted some songs using the same bank file as the .ROL files used.
    The melody line plays back pretty close, and I guess there's no
    difference there. The difference is in the drums. The drums in .CMF files
    are pretty weak sounding. Not as good as .ROL drums.

17) Playrol and Sputrol are not good at playing .ROL files. Hey! Wait a minute!
    you say... Let me tell you now.. I've compared several songs played
    with Adlib's Jukebox (the A1 standard) with the same songs played
    under Playrol and Sputrol. They did NOT come out the exact same way.
    CHEERS.ROL is a good example of this. I reccomend MuchMusic. It may
    not be perfect as Adlib's Jukebox, but it is one of the best. We still
    need a good DOS-line .ROL player... the main problem is the current
    ones (such as Playrol and Sputrol) probably do not take advantage
    of Adlib's "new" added synthesis mode (ver. 1.5 of Adlib software).
    I believe there are some inconsistencies in Adlib's released programmers'
    manuals also.

18) When coming upon a game that does not behave correctly with your
    Sound Blaster, call the game company voice and work your way up
    the ladder until you can talk to someone who's used a Sound Blaster
    with the game before. Don't use reps on CompuServe and GEnie. I've
    seen instances where they've been wrong in the past. If possible, try
    to talk to the programmer him/herself. This IS possible, believe it
    or not! After all, they are people too, and like other people, they
    can talk! It's not like they're covered by secret service agents
    wherever they go. The only reason you can't get them directly through
    most game company telephone numbers is that the person you first talk
    to will not let you (probably don't even know who that person is). Keep
    talking to people until you get to someone who will let you speak to one
    of the programmers. All else fails, speak to the president and get a
    refund.

19) VOUT does not allow use of the F3 key after you run it. I like to
    be able to use VOUT over and over again, and hate to retype the
    whole command over again. For this reason (and others), I registered
    my copy of The Sputter Sound System. It allows that and a lot more.

20) If a piece of software claims to sample higher than 13KHz, don't
    believe it. The Sound Blaster can only SAMPLE up to this speed;
    however, it can PLAY BACK up to 22KHz. The hardware just won't
    allow it. Creative Labs will say this and their specs on the
    Sound Blaster say this. I'd rather believe Creative Labs than
    the programmer after seeing the Playrol/Sputrol releases.

21) Don't believe what ANYONE says about the Sound Blaster without proof.
    I've seen too many cases where even the experts have goofed (even if
    it was a minor typo, it still brainwashed the minds of all who saw it).
    Stores will claim stuff about the Sound Blaster without knowing
    what they are talking about. Especially since Creative Labs took
    out the 12 voice stereo music chips (by the way, THIS IS TRUE, I've seen
    soooo many people asking "did they really? huh? huh? huh?"). You
    don't believe me? Walk to up the guy in charge of a computer store with a
    Sound Blaster box in hand and ask him if it has Game Blaster
    compatibility. If he says "yes", 99 times out of 100 he'll be wrong
    (after all, there may be a *few* models *still* out there, but that's
    like having a Volkswagen Beetle being sold in the new car lot -- well,
    maybe not THAT extreme, but you get the picture. It's been about 6
    months as of the date on this document).

22) Should I get the 12 extra stereo voices?  Qualifications (if you
    meet all of them, get them! If not, think about it awhile):
    If you:
    1) Used to own a Tandy 1000, PC Jr., or Commodore 64 (not an Amiga!)
    2) Like having 4 Tandy 1000 sound chips combined into one plus the
       option of stereo.
    3) Like composing/transposing music into the computer all the time.
    Some of you probably think my qualifications lists are a bit strange,
    but trust me on them. Explanation of #3: Those who don't like composing/
    transposing music into the computer will always be looking for files
    composed by other people for the 12 stereo voice chips. Since they
    listen to more music files than they type in/compose themselves, they
    learn to seperate poor music from good music, and the 12 voice music
    isn't exactly Mozart meets Bach. There is a growing support of
    Game Blaster (another name for the 12 voice music) on local boards
    here. Some of the songs are very good, considering they were
    written on a poor quality sound chip.  The 12 is available through
    Creative Labs. Call them today (don't go to local dealers, since
    Creative Labs doesn't distribute them to distributors, except in
    the form of the Game Blaster, which includes a lot of other wires,etc).
    Someone should release the composition program to BBS's (without
    Creative Labs' consent) since that would spark interest (Adlib's
    visual composer is on most all BBS's that have support for sound
    cards and that made it available to all the Sound Blaster users
    wishing to compose music, and therefore a lot of .ROLS appeared).

23) If you must release a .ROL to a BBS, please give us the right
    to edit it and re-release it. Most of the .ROLs I see now days
    are pitiful. The people who enter them have no musical talent
    whatsoever. If you can't understand anything on a piece of
    sheet music, you shouldn't enter that particular piece of music.
    All too often I've seen songs where the transposer totally goofed
    up the concept of tied notes. This sucks people! Let the more
    musically talented type in and edit .ROL files. So don't copyright
    a .ROL file. Give it a version number. Each time it's changed
    by an expert, it should be increased by a version number. Even if
    it's a simple change in instruments. I've never seen this system
    put to use except by myself on my own files.

Things I want to see.. how bout you.. let's get busy!

 1) There should be an international list of Adlib/Sound Blaster BBS numbers.
    I believe there is one for MIDI BBS numbers. There is a list maintained
    on a BBS here by the users, but it doesn't contain all the numbers.
    I say international because foreign boards usually produce better software
    for the Sound Blaster than do American boards (TrakBlaster for instance).

 2) The list of Adlib/Sound Blaster BBS's must have a special character
    placed by BBS's which REQUIRE payment before downloading. Frankly,
    it's a pain in the ass to log onto a BBS and not be able to download
    something right then and there.

 3) Creative Labs has the right idea of setting up a BBS. Only one
    problem... they're a bit inexperienced. I'm sure this will improve
    over time, as all good BBS's do. Support them any way you can.
    Upload as much music as you can to them. Get the ball rolling.

 4) Any BBS that carries Adlib/Sound Blaster BBS's should have a way
    to get to the section quickly and without confusion. Most boards
    do, it's the users to blame. They skim right past the opening
    messages which explain how to list the files, thinking they're
    just general newuser info messages. I've put a lot of stuff
    this way on purpose just to seperate which users actually read
    and which are only there for files (the ones just there for
    files ask the most questions and get themselves in a mess).

 5) A TSR program should be written to intercept the DOS beep and
    output it as one of the tones on the Sound Blaster. FM preferably,
    since not all Blaster's have the 12 voice synth, and the DAC would
    take up a bit of space. Sputter Sound System will play a .VOC
    file each time a Ctrl-G is encountered, but this is slow and not
    that great. However, if a simple code was to reside in memory -
    like that in Adlib's TEST1.COM - to be preformed each time a
    beep is encountered, it'd be great. I believe BELLS.ZIP does this
    with PC speaker notes. Someone should get in touch with the author
    and get him to write an update that will support the Adlib/Blaster
    (after all - that is how the Sputter Sound System evolved to
    support the Blaster).  Don't think the next guy who reads this will.
    Everyone who reads this should. The more, the better, right!?

 6) A program to reroute all speaker calls to the Blaster would be more
    difficult, therefore I just want to see #5. I say it'd be more
    difficult because of the possible ways the internal speaker is
    accessed. Consider this: Access Software's Mean Streets. It uses
    special programming to pinpoint the speaker to a T. You tell it
    the speaker is the Blaster, and it may get confused with all
    the workings not present. And since it'd have to be processed
    more thouroughly, it'd be slowed down considerably, whereas the
    speaker has it's own processing garbage, no need for software to
    interpret it.  However -- this all may be possible in the future.
    Programs like the Sputter Sound System can either use the internal
    speaker or the Blaster at the flick of a /switch. So how do they
    do it and why can't a program be written to handle ANYTHING
    sent to the speaker to be sent to the Blaster? C'mon guys, work on it!

 7) .ROL files have been receiving a lot of bad words lately. They deserve
    more credit. WHY?
      1) Pitch control is available - unlike .MID files (that I know of)
      2) The instruments are very flexible.
      3) It's the only format I've seen that produces the best sound
         quality in FM mode. This being heard using the .ROL files
         from Adlib Inc. on their Album disks.  CMF doesn't come close
         with its poor drum quality.

 8) Become friends with local people that own Sound Blasters. Form a group.
    Have one of ya'll represent yourselves. Come up with a fancy name with
    a good acronym. A group of Sound Blaster owners is better than one
    indiviudal in that each person will probably find something that the
    other guys don't have.  We'll show those darn MIDI groups!

 9) All novices to the Sound Blaster should direct their questions to
    Creative Labs, their BBS, or the SYSOP of any sound card BBS which
    directly offers to help with questions (some don't like to be
    bothered when the questions can be answered, sometimes even better,
    by Creative Labs staff). However, all experts and the like should
    leave questions public and on as many boards as possible, and on
    the Sound Card Relay. They're the best and are very educational.

10) Find friends that don't have a modem, but do have the Sound Blaster
    and give them Visual Composer (or whatever other composer may come
    out at the time of this writing) and let them compose some good
    songs for you. WE NEED SOME NEW ONES. Give it to your users' group
    as a new addition to the library. Hack the opening to make it
    public domain. All I'm saying is, we are in need of more STUFF.

11) Find someone on your local users' group BBS who owns a Sound Blaster.
    The people who hang out on those BBS's usually don't call long distance
    and don't upload very much. They probably have several disks of unseen
    .ROLs stashed away.

IN CONCLUSION!!!

        If you know of any tips, good BBS's, good software, bad software,
        bad BBS's, news, or any other observations on the Sound Blaster
        card, please write your own text file (use what ever prefix
        you want). ZIP the text file (use the acronym of your group if
        you'd like) and upload it to The Ultimate BBS at [phone].
        I can download it and have an accumilative release of this thing.

'preciate it!

11/13/90 release ver. 1.00 hereby concluded -- upload this to
Rusty & Eddie's for me! (heh heh)