Monster Media 1996 #15

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// // // // \\ \\ \\ \\ // // // UPER // ONIC Version 1.61 Copyright 1995-1996 Robert Morton Morton Software Development 81-887 Tournament Way Indio, California 92201 (619) 347-7563 or (760) 347-7563 after 3/22/97 Compuserve: 76524,1450 Internet: 76524.1450@compuserve.com http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/mortonsoftware ------------------------------------------------------------------ | TABLE OF CONTENTS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1-0 Legal Stuff 1-1 Copyright Notice 1-2 Disclaimer 1-3 License Agreement 1-4 Trademarks 2-0 Introduction 2-1 What's New 2-2 System Requirements 2-3 Microsoft Windows Compatibility 3-0 Installing SuperSonic 4-0 Setting Up SuperSonic 4-1 Video Driver 4-2 Sound Driver 4-3 Tuner Driver 4-4 Mouse Driver 4-5 CD-ROM Drive 4-6 Wiring Setup 4-7 Sample Directory 5-0 Going SuperSonic 5-1 Command Line Parameters 6-0 Using SuperSonic 6-1 Mixer 6-2 Compact Disc Player 6-3 Tuner 6-4 Sample Player 6-5 Sample Editor 6-6 Spectrum Analyzer 6-7 Wave Analyzer 6-8 Peak Analyzer 7-0 Edit Wirings 8-0 Edit Devices 9-0 Edit Cursors 10-0 Edit Hotkeys 11-0 Edit Cd Titles 12-0 Appendix A - Questions & Answers 13-0 Appendix B - Advanced Information 13-1 Editing Device Image Files 13-2 Editing Cursor Image Files 13-3 Creating Sample Effects ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 1-0 LEGAL STUFF | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1-1 Copyright Notice -------------------- This documentation and the software included with it as described in this documentation are copyrighted by Morton Software. Altering, modifying or adapting this software or documentation, including, but not limited to, translating, decompiling, disassembling, or creating derivative works is prohibited. 1-2 Disclaimer -------------- Morton Software, makes no warranties or representation, either express or implied, with respect to this software or documentation, including their quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will Morton Software be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this software or documentation. 1-3 License Agreement --------------------- You are licensed to use this software on a trial basis for a period of fourteen days. If after the trial period, you wish to continue using this program, you must purchase the registered version from Morton Software. You are granted a limited license to copy the trial version of this program only for the trial use of others subject to the agreement described above, and also the following: * SuperSonic MUST be copied in unmodified form, complete with all of the included files and only these files. However, the archive format used to pack the program files may be changed at will. * The trial version of this program MAY be distributed in conjunction with other products or services without a specific license to do so from Morton Software. * Disk vendors, bulletin boards, and computer networks MAY distribute and sell the trial version of this program without written consent from Morton Software. * You are not allowed to modify this software under any conditions. 1-4 Trademarks -------------- SuperSonic is a trademark of Morton Software. MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. PC-DOS is a registered trademark of IBM. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 2-0 INTRODUCTION | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SuperSonic offers you all of the features and functionality found on a home stereo system on your computer. Beyond this, SuperSonic delivers many capabilities that neither a home stereo nor professional audio equipment can. SuperSonic includes the following rack-mount devices: Mixer, Compact Disc Player, Tuner (Radio), Sample Player, Sample Editor, Spectrum Analyzer, Wave Analyzer, and Peak Analyzer. Each device has the look and feel of a rack- mount audio component and controls are just as intuitive. This software is packed with features and fun that you won't find elsewhere. Although SuperSonic is tailored for the audio enthusiast, it's undeniably alot of fun for those of us who like to dabble. 2-1 What's New -------------- Ver 1.01: * Prohibit execution from Windows 3.x. * Added VENDINFO.DIZ file for shareware distributors. Ver 1.10: * Added tuner (radio) device. * Added sound driver for ESS 688 Audiodrive cards. * Added Cd/Ext/Mic buttons for selecting input source for those sound cards which only permit one active record/monitor source. * Corrected bug which prohibited record/playback of sample files larger than 65535K. Ver 1.20: * SuperSonic can be executed from Windows 95 without the need of Windows 95 shutting down. * Corrected bug which caused Windows 95 wave files (among some others) to play incorrectly. * Corrected bug which caused divide overflow when some dirty cd's were inserted into cd-rom drive. * Mixer displays N/A for those mixer functions which are not applicable with the selected sound driver. * Context sensitive help added to SuperSonic. Press and HOLD DOWN the right mouse button on any button/slider /display and detailed information will display until you RELEASE the right mouse button. Ver 1.50 * Fixed problem with installation. * Fixed problem with some cd's not working correctly. * Fixed problem with some Windows 95 wave files not editing correctly. * Fixed problem with some wave files created by SuperSonic not being compatible with Windows Media Player and some other wave players. * Fixed SuperSonic limitation of recording/playing wave files no more than 10 minutes in length. * Fixed problem with SuperSonic not detecting mixer presence on some Sound Blaster cards. * Fixed problem with SuperSonic not detecting media change for some cd-rom drives. * Fixed problem with SuperSonic locking the cd drive door thus causing eject to fail on some drives. * Added support for up to 16 cd-rom drives. * Added volume control to cd player. * Added left/right recording level meters to Mixer. Ver 1.60 * Reduced price from $70 to $40. Ver 1.61 * Fixed sound card autodetect bug. * Fixed bug in CD Title Editor. * Allow more features to be used without registration. 2-2 System Requirements ----------------------- * IBM compatible computer with 80386 processor or better. * PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 4.0 or later. * Sound Card (recommended) * SVGA monitor and video card. * Mouse * CD-ROM drive (optional) * Radio tuner card (optional) 2-3 Microsoft Windows Compatibility ----------------------------------- Windows 3.x users must exit Windows before running SuperSonic. Windows 95 users, please note: You shouldn't experience any problems when executing SuperSonic from Windows 95. However, if you do, try restarting your computer in DOS mode and then executing SuperSonic. This may help you isolate the problem. If Windows 95 pops up over SuperSonic when you change cd's, you must disable Windows 95 Autoplay feature: Pull up the Device Manager (from the System applet in Control Panel), expand the branch that has your cd-rom drive on it, and bring up the Properties sheet for the drive. There's a check box on the Settings page marked "Auto Insert Notification". Clear the box and Autoplay will be disabled. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 3-0 INSTALLING SUPERSONIC | ------------------------------------------------------------------ To install SuperSonic to your hard drive: 1. Insert SuperSonic program disk in floppy disk drive A: or B:. 2. From DOS prompt, type: A: <Enter> or B: <Enter> 3. Then type: INSTALL <Enter> The SuperSonic program will be installed to the destination drive and directory you specify. Before running SuperSonic or any of the support programs, change the current drive and directory to the one you installed SuperSonic to by typing from the DOS prompt, for example: C: <Enter> CD \SS <Enter> An easy to use menu program is provided that gives you quick access to SuperSonic and it's support programs. To run the menu program, type from the DOS prompt: MENU <Enter> ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 4-0 SETTING UP SUPERSONIC | ------------------------------------------------------------------ Before running SuperSonic, you must configure it to operate with your computer. To run the setup program, select Setup SuperSonic from the menu. The setup program allows you to change the following settings: Video Driver, Sound Driver, Tuner Driver, Mouse Driver, CD-ROM Drive, Wiring Setup, and Sample Directory. 4-1 Video Driver ---------------- This option allows you to select a video driver/display mode. If you are unsure of which display modes your computer supports, select <Autodetect> and a list of detected drivers/display modes will be displayed. Selecting higher resolution display modes, such as 1024x768x256 colors, will give you greater detail but less speed. Selecting lower resolution display modes, such as 640x480x256 colors, will give you less detail but greater speed. 4-2 Sound Driver ---------------- This option allows you to select a sound driver. If you are unsure of which driver to select, select <Autodetect> and a list of drivers detected will be displayed. Port Address: This option allows you to specify which base I/O address your sound card is configured to operate on. After selecting a sound driver, this setting is auto detected on most sound cards. IRQ Number: This option allows you to specify which IRQ number your sound card is configured to operate on. After selecting a sound driver, this setting is auto detected on most sound cards. DMA Channel: This option allows you to specify which DMA channel your sound card is configured to operate on. After selecting a sound driver, this setting is auto detected on most sound cards. Monitor Rate: This option allows you to specify the sampling rate used to monitor audio. Monitoring audio is required to generate the spectrum/wave/peak analyzer displays. Higher sample rates yield greater sound detail. Notice: Select this option to display any notes related to the sound driver you've selected. 4-3 Tuner Driver ---------------- This option allows you to select a tuner or radio card driver. Port Address: This option allows you to specify which base I/O address your radio card is configured to operate on. Notice: Select this option to display any notes related to the tuner driver you've selected or to display ordering information if you are interested in ordering such product. 4-4 Mouse Driver ---------------- This option allows you to select a mouse driver. If you are unsure of which driver to select, select <Autodetect> and a list of drivers detected will be displayed. Mouse Speed: This option allows you to select the speed in which the cursor responds to mouse movement. You may select either slow, medium, or fast. Mouse Cursor: This option allows you to select the cursor you wish to use. Please select one from the menu of available cursors. 4-5 CD-ROM Drive ---------------- This option allows you to specify whether or not a CD-ROM drive is present. To use the Compact Disc device, you must select Yes and the MSCDEX driver must be loaded. Consult your CD-ROM drive manual for more information about installing MSCDEX. 4-6 Wiring Setup ---------------- This option allows you to select a wiring setup. The wiring setup indicates how things are wired. Among other things, it indicates which devices are being used and the order in which to initially display them. You can create new wiring setups and edit existing ones by selecting Edit Wirings from the menu. 4-7 Sample Directory -------------------- This option allows you to specify the default directory for samples (*.WAV files). ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 5-0 GOING SUPERSONIC | ------------------------------------------------------------------ To run the SuperSonic program, select Go SuperSonic from the menu. 5-1 Command Line Parameters --------------------------- The default wiring setup used is specified in the setup program. (See Edit Wirings for a description of wiring setup files.) The default device settings file initially loaded is AGLOBAL.SET. (Device settings files contain all device settings saved using the Mixer's Save/A-L button combination. See Using SuperSonic/Mixer for more information about device settings.) SuperSonic allows you to specify an alternate wiring setup and/or device settings file to be loaded by specifying such on the command line. Syntax: SS [filename.WIR] [filename.SET] [filename.WIR] denotes an alternate wiring setup to be used. [filename.SET] denotes an alternate device settings file to be used. Examples: SS FAVORITE.WIR SS FGLOBAL.SET SS FAVORITE.WIR FGLOBAL.SET ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 6-0 GOING SUPERSONIC | ------------------------------------------------------------------ The program begins by displaying as many devices on-screen that will fit. Each device consists of displays, sliders, and buttons. Use the left mouse button to select from displays, move sliders, and press buttons. Use the right mouse button to display context sensitive help about a display, slider, or button. Press and HOLD DOWN the right mouse button on any button/slider/display and detailed information will display until you RELEASE the right mouse button. All displays, sliders, and most buttons are related to the device they appear on. Some buttons have special functions and occur on every device. They are: Device Up: Press this button when lit to move display up one device. Device Dn: Press this button when lit to move display down one device. Device Del: Press this button when lit to remove that device and place it at the bottom of device list. Power: Press this button to toggle device power on/off. Exit: Press this button to exit the program. 6-1 Mixer --------- This device allows you to control volume levels and sound characteristics such as bass, treble etc. It also allows you to get/save/delete device settings. Device settings include slider positions and button settings for all devices (eg. spectrum analyzer trails slider, compact disc shuffle button, etc.). Not all sliders and buttons are include in device settings (eg. mixer volume level sliders). Mute: Activate this button to mute audio output. Cd/Ext/Mic: Buttons that toggle compact disc/external/microphone volume input respectively. Aux1-Aux3: Auxiliary buttons that toggle audio functions distinct to your sound board. Main: Used to select main volume output. CD: Used to select compact disc volume input. Ext: Used to select external volume input. Mic: Used to select microphone volume input. Dig: Used to select digital (sampled data) volume output. Rec: Used to select recording level of input sources. Bass: Used to select bass level. Treble: Used to select treble level. Balance: Used to select left/right audio channel output balance. Load: Activate this button before selecting desired settings to load. Save: Activate this button before selecting desired settings to save to. Del: Activate this button before selecting desired settings to delete. A-L: Select the desired letter you wish to Load/Save/Del settings from/to. Rec Level: Displays realtime left/right recording levels. The colors green, yellow, and red reflect 0-59%, 60-84%, and 85-100% respectively. 6-2 Compact Disc Player ----------------------- This device allows you to control your CD-ROM drive for playing musical compact discs. Disc Title: This window displays the title of the compact disc in the CD-ROM drive. [Unknown] indicates that the disc hasn't been catalogged and so can't be identified yet. See Edit CD Titles. Disc Tracks: This window displays the track names of the compact disc in the CD-ROM drive. You may point and click inside this window to select a track. Preview: Activate this button to preview 5 seconds of each track. Deactivate this button to discontinue preview mode. See Edit Devices for information on changing seconds per track to preview. Repeat: Activate this button for repeat play. After the current track has finished playing, it will be repeated. Shuffle: Activate this button for shuffle play. When a track has finished playing, the next track, picked from random, will begin playing. Continuous: Activate this button for continuous play. When a track has finished playing, the next track will begin playing. If there are no more tracks to play, the first track will begin playing. Eject: Press this button to eject compact disc or to close disc tray. Stop: Press this button to stop compact disc playing. Play: Press this button to activate compact disc play at the selected track and at the specified elapsed track time. Pause: Activate this button to pause compact disc playing. To resume play, press pause again. Goto Start: Press this button during play to reset playing from the start of the current track. Goto End: Press this button during play to reset playing from the end of the current track. Total CD: This display reflects the total compact disc play time in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Total Track: This display reflects the total track play time, of the selected track, in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Elapsed CD: This display / slider reflects the total elapsed time from the start of the CD in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Elaps Track: This display / slider reflects the total elapsed time from the start of the current track in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Drive +/-: Use these buttons to select current cd-rom drive when you have more than one. Volume: Used to select audio output level from cd-rom drive. (NOTE: Some cd-rom drives don't have volume control.) 6-3 Tuner --------- This device allows you to control your radio card and do things such as select / tune radio stations. Additionally, you can seek and preview stations, assign stations to any of 10 memories, and assign memories to any of 12 letter keys. This is useful to separate music formats. (After executing SuperSonic, station memories are loaded automatically from the "A" button, so save your favorites here!) Furthermore, you can have SuperSonic record your favorite radio program (if you have one) while you're away. Note: We recommend that you plug your radio card's audio output into your sound card's external (Ext) input jack. Freq / Time: This window displays the current radio frequency tuned to and the current time. Additionally, a music note symbol will appear next to the frequency if the station is tuned in. Use the slider below this window to change the frequency. Volume Up: Press this button to increase tuner volume. Volume Dn: Press this button to decrease tuner volume. Mute: Press this button to mute tuner volume. Preview: Activate this button to preview 1 second of each station memory. Deactivate this button to discontinue preview mode. See Edit Devices for information on changing seconds per station to preview. Seek: Activate this button to seek for a radio station from the current radio frequency. Deactivate to abort seek. Mem Save: Activate this button and then press the station memory (1-10) which you would like to save the current radio frequency to. Mem Del: Activate this button and then press one of the station memories (1-10) to delete. 1-10: Select the desired station memory number that you wish to activate. Mems Load: Activate this button before selecting desired memories to load. Mems Save: Activate this button before selecting desired memories to save to. Mems Del: Activate this button before selecting desired memories to delete. A-L: Select the desired letter you wish to Get/Save/Del the current memories from/to. Rec Start: Use this display/slider to select the time you wish recording to start. Note: Be sure to select the desired sample rate and other related settings on the sample player. To deactivate this function, make start time same as stop time. Rec Stop: Use this display/slider to select the time you wish recording to stop. 6-4 Sample Player ----------------- This device allows you to play and record WAV sample files. It includes the same luxuries and button logic of the CD player with other relative necessities. Supports sample files up to 4 gigabytes in size, any sample rate. File Select: This window displays the currently selected sample file, and if none is selected, it displays the current file directory. You may point and click inside this window to type in a sample file name. This is useful when you want to record into a new sample file. File Names: This window displays a list of samples found in the current directory. You may point and click inside this window to select a sample or change the current drive and directory. Del: After selecting a sample, press this button to delete it. You will be prompted to confirm. Press Y to continue or N to abort. Copy: After selecting a sample, press this button to copy it. You will be prompted for a new name. Type in the new name and press Enter or press Esc to abort. Mono: Activate this button to indicate recording should be done in mono. Stereo: Activate this button to indicate recording should be done in stereo. 8 Bit: Activate this button to indicate recording should be 8-bit. 16 Bit: Activate this button to indicate recording should be 16-bit. Preview: Activate this button to preview 1 second of each sample. Deactivate this button to discontinue preview mode. See Edit Devices for information on changing seconds per sample to preview. Repeat: Activate this button for repeat play. After the selected area of the current sample has finished playing, it will be repeated. Shuffle: Activate this button for shuffle play. When a sample has finished playing, the next sample, picked from random, will begin playing. Continuous: Activate this button for continuous play. When a sample has finished playing, the next sample will begin playing. If there are no more samples to play, the first sample will begin playing. Stop: Press this button to stop sample playing. Play: Press this button to play the selected area of the selected sample. If no area is selected, the entire sample will be played starting at the specified elapsed time. Record: Press this button to record into the selected area of the selected sample. If no area is selected, the entire sample will be recorded into starting at the specified elapsed time. Pause: Activate this button to pause sample play or record. To resume play or record, press pause again. Goto Start: Press this button during play to reset playing from the start of the current sample. Goto End: Press this button during play to reset playing from the end of the current sample. File Rate: This display reflects the sample file's sample rate. Play/Rec: This display/slider reflects the sample rate desired Rate: to play or record the selected sample at. Total Time: This display reflects the total sample play time, of the selected sample, in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Elaps Time: This display / slider reflects the total elapsed time from the start of the current sample in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Play: Activate this button to play one of the samples assigned to the A-L buttons. Save: Activate this button to assign the current sample to one of the A-L buttons. Del: Activate this button to delete any sample assigned to one of the A-L buttons. (The sample is not deleted; just it's assignment to the button.) A-L: Select the desired letter you wish to Play/Save/Del a sample from/to. 6-5 Sample Editor ----------------- This device allows you to edit WAV sample files. Two separate waveform displays are provided (one for left channel and one for right). All sample effects and tools can be applied to either or both channels. Effect Title:This window displays the effect's name that you're currently working with. Effect List: This window displays a list of effects that can be applied to the current sample. You may point and click inside this window to select an effect you wish to apply. Waveform L: This window displays a waveform representing the left audio channel of the selected sample. You may point, click, and drag inside this window to change the selected time and the sample player's elapsed time displays. Waveform R: This window displays a waveform representing the right audio channel of the selected sample. You may point, click, and drag inside this window to change the selected time and the sample player's elapsed time displays. L Channel: Activate this button to select and include the left channel for sample play and sample edit operations. R Channel: Activate this button to select and include the right channel for sample play and sample edit operations. Select Time: This display / slider reflects the amount of time selected within the sample, starting from the sample player's elapsed time, in the format minutes, seconds, 100ths. Undo: Press this button when lit to undo the last edit or sample effect operation. All: Press this button to quickly select the entire sample. Del: Press this button to delete area selected and place it in clipboard. Ins: Press this button when lit to delete area selected and insert data in clipboard at the point of elapsed time. Copy: Press this button to copy area selected and place it in clipboard. Mix: Press this button when lit to mix audio in area selected with that in the clipboard. Crop: Press this button to delete all audio data not selected and place it in clipboard. Dots: Activate this button to select dot representation of waveform. Lines: Activate this button to select line representation of waveform. Bars: Activate this button to select bar representation of waveform. All sample effects (that apply to a selected area) and editing buttons will effect the selected area. If no area is selected, they will effect the entire sample starting from the elapsed time onwards. Using the standard editing buttons, you can create a variety of effects. For example, to perform a phase shift on a stereo sample, delete 1/100th of the beginning of either the left or right audio channel. Now the sample is in surround sound! However, some operations must be performed by dedicated sample effects. SuperSonic includes the following: Change Format: This effect allows you to change the sample format to 8-bit, 16-bit, mono, or stereo. (Applied to entire sample) Change Sample Rate: This effect allows you to change the sample rate. You can maintain the original speed/pitch of the sample or choose to ignore it. (Applied to entire sample) Change Offset: This effect allows you to change the verticle offset of the sample data. Select increase / decrease to move the offset higher / lower respectively. (Applied to selected area) Reverse: This effect allows you to reverse the sample data. (Applied to selected area) Invert: This effect allows you to invert the sample data. The waveform is flipped over on it's horizontal axis. (Applied to selected area) Add Echos: This effect allows you to add up to 65535 trailing echos to the waveform. You must specify the number of echos, the delay time between echos, and whether echos become softer, louder, or remain the same volume. Depending upon the location and size of the waveform selected, the waveform may be extended to give room for trailing echos. (Applied to selected area) (Apply the reverse effect before and after adding echos and you'll get preceding echos instead of trailing.) Add Loops: This effect allows you to add up to 65535 loops to the waveform. The selected waveform area will be looped the specified number of times. You can specify that loops become shorter, longer, or remain the same length. (Applied to selected area) Swap Left/Right: This effect allows you to swap the selected area of the left audio channel with the selected area of the right audio channel. (Stereo samples only) (Applied to selected area) Volume Change: This effect allows you to specify a new volume level as a percentage of the original. (Applied to selected area) Volume Fade: This effect allows you to fade the volume from/to a percentage of the original. (Applied to selected area) Volume Pan: This effect allows you to pan the volume in a stereo sample from/to the left/right audio channel. You must specify the percentage of volume to be panned. For example, 100% is a full pan from left to right or right to left. (Stereo samples only) (Applied to selected area) Volume Cycle: This effect allows you to cycle the volume level in eight different ways among the area selected: Fade Out, Fade In, Fade Out/In, Out/In, Pan Left, Pan Right, Pan Left/Right, and Left/Right. (Pan modes only available for stereo samples.) The easiest way to familiarize yourself with each of these cycle modes is to simply try them! In addition, you must specify the percentage of volume to be cycled and the length of each cycle. (Applied to selected area) Speed/Pitch Change: This effect allows you to change the sample's speed and pitch at the same time. To do this, SuperSonic will either remove or duplicate samples (audio bytes) within the sample. Removing samples will increase the speed and pitch while duplicating samples will decrease the speed and pitch. You must specify the percentage of samples to keep. (Applied to selected area) Speed/Pitch Fade: This effect allows you to slide the sample's speed/pitch up or down. You must specify a percentage of samples to fade from/to. (See Speed/Pitch Change for a better understanding of "a percentage of samples") (Applied to selected area) Silence Insert: This effect allows you to insert the specified amount of silence into the waveform starting at the Elapsed Time point. Silence Replace: This effect allows you to replace the selected area with silence. 6-6 Spectrum Analyzer --------------------- This device displays a spectrum of sixteen bands for both left and right audio channels in real-time. A variety of effects are available. Peak: Activate this button to have the alternate color applied to the peak brick of each band. Split: Activate this button to have the alternate color applied to bricks in the upper half of the display. Fade: Activate this button to have all colors between the specified base and alternate color faded horizontally among the bricks. Cycle: Activate this button to have each color between the specified base and alternate color cycled through the entire display. Slow: Activate this button to have display updated less frequently. Pause: Activate this button to pause display. Base Color: Used to select base color used for spectrum display and effects. Alt Color: Used to select alternate color used for spectrum display and effects. Stack Grav: Used to select gravity value applied to the stacks of bricks. Increase gravity to see stacks of bricks fall more quickly. Peak Grav: Used to select gravity value applied to peak bricks. Increase gravity to see peak bricks fall more quickly. Brick Gutter:Used to select distance between bricks. Band Gutter: Used to select distance between bands. 6-7 Wave Analyzer ----------------- This device displays waveforms of audio data for both left and right audio channels in real-time. A variety of effects are available. Peak: Activate this button to have the alternate color applied to entire display when one or more waveforms reaches the top or bottom of display. Split: Activate this button to have the alternate color applied to the upper half of display. Fade: Activate this button to have all colors between the specified base and alternate color faded horizontally among the display. Cycle: Activate this button to have each color between the specified base and alternate color cycled through the entire display. Slow: Activate this button to have display updated less frequently. Pause: Activate this button to pause display. Base Color: Used to select base color used for waveform display and effects. Alt Color: Used to select alternate color used for waveform display and effects. Trails: Used to select the number of waveforms permitted on display at one time. 6-8 Peak Analyzer ----------------- This device displays spectrum analyzer output as a line graph. Before each update, the graphs are scrolled up or down to make room for the next. Multiple graphs can be viewed concurrently and allow you to analyze spectrum output over time. A variety of effects are available. Fade: Activate this button to have all colors between the specified base and alternate color faded vertically inside each graph. Cycle: Activate this button to have each color between the specified base and alternate color cycled through the entire display. Slow: Activate this button to have display updated less frequently. Pause: Activate this button to pause display. Display Up: Activate this button to have display travel up. Display Dn: Activate this button to have display travel down. Base Color: Used to select base color used for peak display and effects. Alt Color: Used to select alternate color used for peak display and effects. Gravity: Used to select gravity value applied to the peaks of each graph. Increase gravity to see peaks fall more quickly. Peak Max: Used to select maximum verticle distance allowable to graph each peak. Graph Gutter:Used to select verticle distance between graphs. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 7-0 EDIT WIRINGS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ This program allows you to add, edit, and delete wiring setups. A wiring setup tells SuperSonic which devices to load, the order to initially display them, and the gutter size between them. To change the wiring file used, select Setup SuperSonic from the menu or specify it as a command line parameter. (See Going SuperSonic/ Command Line Parameters for more information.) To run the wiring editor, select Edit Wirings from the menu. When adding or editing wiring setups, you may change the following options: Description, Gutter, and Device List. 7-1 Description --------------- This option allows you to change or give the wiring setup a descriptive name of up to 30 characters. This name is only used for your reference. 7-2 Gutter ---------- This option allows you to specify the gutter between the displayed devices. The number may range from 0 to 255 and indicates the number of blank pixel lines to be left between devices. 7-3 Device List --------------- This option allows you to specify which devices you wish to use and the order in which they should be initially displayed. All devices selected for this wiring are listed in the order to be displayed. You may add, delete, and move devices within the list. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 8-0 EDIT DEVICES | ------------------------------------------------------------------ This program allows you to add, edit, and delete device setups. A device setup tells SuperSonic what type of device it is, the image file to use, display/font/button colors, and other things related to that particular device. A wiring setup contains the names of device setups. (See Edit Wirings) You may edit and use existing device setups or you can create your own. To run the device editor, select Edit Devices from the menu. When adding or editing device setups, you may change the following options: Description, Type, Image File, Settings. 8-1 Description --------------- This option allows you to change or give the device setup a descriptive name of up to 30 characters. This name is only used for your reference. 8-2 Type -------- This option allows you to select/change the type of device. (eg. Mixer, CD Player, etc.) 8-3 Image File -------------- This option allows you to select/change the device image file. (These are PCX Paintbrush files which you can create and edit if you like. See Appendix B - Advanced Information) 8-4 Settings ------------ This option allows you to change other settings which are specific to the selected device type: Show Color Table: This option displays a color table which may be used to determine which color values yield which colors. Color Button On: This option allows you to change the button on color. This is the color value used to indicate that a button is on. Color Button Off: This option allows you to change the button off color. This is the color value used to indicate that a button is off. Color Numbers: This option allows you to change the numbers color. This is the color value used to display the digital number displays. Color Display BG: This option allows you to change the display background color. This is the color value used for the background of all displays which contain NON-text information. Color Display FG: This option allows you to change the display foreground color. This is the color value used for the foreground of all displays which contain NON-text information. Color Display HI: This option allows you to change the display highlight color. This is the color value used for the highlight of all displays which contain NON-text information. Text BG: This option allows you to change the text background color. This is the color value used for the background of all displays which contain text information. Text FG: This option allows you to change the text foreground color. This is the color value used for the foreground of all displays which contain text information. Text HI: This option allows you to change the text highlight color. This is the color value used for the highlight of all displays which contain text information. Uppercase Text: This option allows you to specify whether or not text information displayed for this device should be in uppercase. Preview Seconds: This option allows you to specify the number of seconds duration of play time for each item when preview is activated. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 9-0 EDIT CURSORS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ This program allows you to add, edit, and delete cursor setups. A cursor setup tells SuperSonic the cursor's image file and it's verticle/horizontal hotspots. To run the cursor editor, select Edit Cursors from the menu. When adding or editing cursor setups, you may change the following options: Description, Image File, Hotspot Verticle, and Hotspot Horizontal. 9-1 Description --------------- This option allows you to change or give the cursor setup a descriptive name of up to 30 characters. This name is only used for your reference. 9-2 Image File -------------- This option allows you to select/change the cursor image file. (These are PCX Paintbrush files which you can create and edit if you like. See Appendix B - Advanced Information) 9-3 Hotspot Verticle -------------------- This option allows you to specify the verticle pixel location of the cursor hotspot. A hotspot, defined here, is the pixel within the cursor image file which marks the location you pressed a button at. 9-4 Hotspot Horizontal ---------------------- This option allows you to specify the horizontal pixel location of the cursor hotspot. A hotspot, defined here, is the pixel within the cursor image file which marks the location you pressed a button at. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 10-0 EDIT HOTKEYS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ SuperSonic allows you to assign device major functions to keyboard hotkeys. In other words, you can use your keyboard to control SuperSonic's devices. This is useful when a device is off-screen since you can still control it using the keyboard. To run the hotkey editor, select Edit Hotkeys from the menu. A window is displayed containing a list of all device functions that support a hotkey. To change the hotkey for a function, select it and press Enter. You will then be prompted to press the key or key combination which you wish to assign to that function. Press Ctrl-Esc if you wish to assign no hotkey to that function. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 11-0 EDIT CD TITLES | ------------------------------------------------------------------ This program allows you to maintain a catalog of your CD titles. When you insert a CD into your CD-ROM drive during SuperSonic operation, SuperSonic would like to display the CD title and track names. If you haven't entered this information, SuperSonic will display Unknown instead. This program allows you to enter this information and maintain a catalog of your CD's. To run the CD titles editor, select Edit CD Titles from the menu. Once inside the program, you may add, edit, delete, and alphabetize your CD titles. Selecting add or edit will present you with a menu of CD track names for that title. From this menu, you can add, edit, delete track names, and change the CD title name. When editing the CD title or track names, use the following keys to edit: Home, End, LeftArrow, RightArrow, Ins, Del, and Backspace. Press Enter to finish or Escape to abort without saving the changes made. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 12-0 APPENDIX A - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | ------------------------------------------------------------------ Q. I'm only getting sound in one speaker OR the mixer doesn't seem to be mixing the audio correctly? A. Make sure everything is wired correctly. The OUT jack should be connected to your amplifier/speakers. The IN or EXT jack should be wired to an external audio source such as a tape player or compact disc player. The MIC jack should be wired to a microphone or a mono audio source. Your CD-ROM drive's audio should be wired to a jack on the sound card labeled CD Audio IN or something like that. All cables and jacks except for MIC must be stereo cables and have stereo plugs. The mixer channels CD, EXT, and MIC reflect the sound card jacks CD Audio IN, IN or EXT, and MIC respectively. Q. The analyzer displays only respond when I play samples? A. If your sound card is only compatible to one of our sound drivers, the mixer device may not work. If this is the case, you need to set mixer levels (using your sound card's mixer program) before executing SuperSonic. Be sure to set input volume levels for the Cd, External, and Microphone channels at their maximum setting so that SuperSonic can record/monitor these audio sources. Also, be sure to select one or more of these channels for recording mode. Refer to your sound card manual for more information. Windows 95 users: Run the volume control program located in the Multimedia menu. Select "Properties" from the "Options" menu. Select "Adjust Volume for Recording" and press "OK". Click on "Select" for the Cd, External, and Microphone channels and set their levels at maximum. If this doesn't solve the problem, try restarting your computer in DOS mode and then executing SuperSonic. Q. Windows 95 pops up over SuperSonic when I change cd's? A. You must disable Windows 95 Autoplay feature: Pull up the Device Manager (from the System applet in Control Panel), expand the branch that has your cd-rom drive on it, and bring up the Properties sheet for the drive. There's a check box on the Settings page marked "Auto Insert Notification". Clear the box and Autoplay will be disabled. Q. Sometimes the wave analyzer doesn't cleanup old trails. What should I do? A. SuperSonic sometimes may not have enough time to cleanup old waveform trails. This is likely to occur in any, or a combination, of the following conditions: your computer is slow, lots of wave trails are selected, the sample rate for monitoring audio is set very high, you're using the 1024x768x256 video driver, and/or the peak and/or spectrum devices are on-screen too. For a quick remedy decrease the number of wave trails and press the wave pause button twice to reset displays. For a lasting remedy (if that gets old), decrease monitoring sample rate or power off the wave and/or spectrum device. Q. I press the Left / Right Channel button on the Sample Editor but the channel remains selected. How do I unselect the Left / Right Channel? A. Only stereo samples have distinct left / right channels. To select or perform operations on one channel of a mono sample, you must first convert it to stereo. Q. I copied an area of one sample to the clipboard but when I inserted it into another sample, it sounded messed up. What happened? A. When working with data from multiple samples, you need to make sure that each sample is in the same format (8/16/Mono/Stereo) and sample rate. SuperSonic makes no assumptions in regards to what it thinks you want to do. Therefore, in this instance, you must convert one sample to the format / sample rate of the other before moving audio data to / from the clipboard. ------------------------------------------------------------------ | 13-0 APPENDIX B - ADVANCED INFORMATION | ------------------------------------------------------------------ 13-1 Editing Device Image Files ------------------------------- Each device includes a Zsoft PaintBrush image file which can be edited with a paint program. All image files have the extension PCX. All elements such as buttons, sliders, and displays have a special pixel in the upper left and lower right corners. The color of these two pixels must not be changed since they define the element and mark it's location. All elements can be resized, repositioned, and repainted as long as these two special pixels remain in their respective position and retain their original color. The colors 176 to 255 (the last 80 colors in the pallette) are reserved for defining elements and must not be used anywhere else inside the image. The image must be saved in the standard 256 color palette. If your paint program doesn't support this, use the FIXPCX.EXE program to correct the palette before using the image with SuperSonic. (FIXPCX.EXE is in the MISC subdirectory) All device images must be the same width as the video mode used (eg. 1024 pixels wide for 1024x768x256). However, device images can be any height. 13-2 Editing Cursor Image Files ------------------------------- Each cursor setup includes a Zsoft PaintBrush image file which can be edited with a paint program. All image files have the extension PCX. You can create new cursor image files or edit existing ones. Cursor images can be any size but cannot have more than 65535 pixels. They must be saved in the standard 256 color palette. If your paint program doesn't support this, use the FIXPCX.EXE program to correct the palette before using the image with SuperSonic. (FIXPCX.EXE is in the MISC subdirectory) 13-3 Creating Sample Effects ---------------------------- We've included the Assembly language source code to one of our sample effects in the MISC subdirectory. If you're familiar with Assembly language and you would like to create your own sample effects, then please refer to this source code.