Large Pack of OldSkool DOS MOD Trackers/liqdt127.zip/LIQ.Q&A

Text File | 1997-01-11 | 11KB | 190 lines

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          │                Questions And Answers                 │
          │                                                      │
          │      A part of the Liquid Tracker documentation      │
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   Q: Why do I need this "Interpolation" option in the Output Setup anyway?
      It sounds like just another filter, which actually DECREASES sound
      quality rather than increasing it!
   A: It is more true to say that playing WITHOUT the Interpolation option
      is like using a digital filter. It is true that mixing a channel
      without Interpolation is faster, but then the produced waveform
      contains tiny bends which result in more "metallic" sound, which,
      under some circumstances, seems to give BETTER sound quality. But
      when playing high quality samples like PIANOS, STRINGS and SINE WAVES,
      it is very noticeable that the sound is distorted. If you like such
      kind of "sharp" sound, it is better to ENABLE Interpolation and adjust
      the Hi-Fi equalizer accordingly.
      NOTE: If you have a high quality Hi-Fi system or headphones, you
      will usually find that using Interpolation is a MUST. On the other hand,
      if you are using SB Speakers, or cheap, low quality Hi-Fi system,
      you might prefer NOT to use the Interpolation as without it there
      will be imaginary "sharp-alike" output sound.

   Q: Why does "Interpolation" causes clicks in playback?
   A: It doesn't causes clicks. The "waveform bends" which cause
      "metallic" sound under non-Interpolation playback tend to hide
      the clicks, but still, if you'll listen carefully and isolate
      the channel producing the clicks, you'll see that even without
      Interpolation there are, though very soft, clicks at the very
      same time points, and they come from the SAMPLE.
      NOTE: The same clicks appear in all softwares which supports
      correct Interpolation implemetation.

   Q: Hey, this is, ...a DOS program! how can you expect me to work
      with it? there are no windows of which I can control, I can't
      run multiple tasks at once, and there's no mouse!
   A: You're right, Liquid is a genuine DOS program. But after learning
      to use it, your work will be as triple efficient. The program
      responds FAST, and in addition, the whole machine is dedicated
      to program (hence no multitasking allowed). So, even if you are
      a relatively slow user, you can't miss the fact that opening a window
      of many Windows(95)(tm)'s programs, even on P200 CPU, is rather a
      slow process! An expect composer works as fast as lightning: loads
      SAMPLES, goes to PATTERNS, puts notes, goes to INFOSCREEN, goes to
      PANNING EDITOR, back to pattern, and so on..  and all this is done in
      a quite short period (so the Muse won't be lost ;-)- and using KEYBOARD,
      because it's more comfortable and faster! (not that mouse isn't
      a nice thing, and it will be probably implemented here in future)
      So, it's true that users which are used to a graphical-mouse-interface
      must get used to a rather different work fashion, but it's worth the
      difficulties at the beginning, for it's suitability for efficient
      sound-tracking purposes.

   Q: The screen is unstable and swings, all the time!
   A: It is incompatibility of your monitor with 8 bit display.
      (default DOS screen is 9 bit, but 8 bit display has some graphical
      advantages) try switching to 9 bit display from the Setup->Video menu.

   Q: I would like to use the extended SVGA text-modes, but the screen swings
      every time I switch between the Pattern Editor and other screens!
   A: With some monitors (or video cards) there is a great swing when
      switching to 132 columns mode and vice-versa. If this disturbs you
      so much that you can't work, don't enable extended superVGA modes
      ("Setup->Video Setup->Video Card->VGA")

   Q: When there are volume slides, especially with strings samples, the
      slide isn't as "smooth" as it supposed to be!
   A: Keep the master volume always on 64, and to change the volume use
      your sound card's mixer program.

   Q: I have a slow machine. How can I listen to MultiChannel modules
      and still maintain high frequency?
   A: First, always execute LIQ with the -R switch (more significant
      if you are using a v86 memory manager such as QEMM,EMM386). Verify
      that all the panning position are on the LEFTmost or the RIGHTmost
      (use the '1' or '6' key from Panning Editor). Lock the Panning Setup
      using the 'K' key. Go to menu 'Setup->Loader options', change the
      option 'Modify Panning Setup' to OFF. Go to menu 'Setup->Output
      options', change the 'Digital Gain' value to 1. Now, save the setup.
      With such configuration, you can listen to 9-14 channels module
      on 386-SX in frequencies of 33,000-44,100Hz, 16bit, stereo, using the
      Liquid Tracker.

   Q: I've installed VESA driver, why the VESA modes don't work?
   A: There might be few answers to this:
      - There might be a bug in your VESA driver (or VESA BIOS, for that
        matters) which prevents you from using the extended text modes
      - Your video card is not capable of using those modes
      - If your vesa driver is UNIVESA (last version checked 3.2) then
        this is the problem. UNIVESA does not supports extended SVGA
        text-modes. Fetch yourself a VESA driver from the card manufacture.

   Q: I have to wait too much when I switch between the Info Screen & the
      Pattern Editor screen!
   A: For compatibility reasons, Liquid uses the BIOS built-in routines to
      switch video modes. The time this process takes vary from one VGA BIOS
      to another (and it is not dependent if the card is considered "FAST"
      itself) and when a lot of CPU time is used by the playing routines
      this can take a while. If this is REALLY LONG process, pause the music,
      (using CTRL-P), switch the screen, and resume the music (CTRL-P again)

   Q: In the Pattern Editor, I'm trying to move around channels using
      the Gray-Left/Right keys, but they sometimes tend to change field
      as if I were pressing White-Left/Rights keys.
   A: The problem is in the PC-Layout. The BIOS identify the gray keys
      in the way known as "E0 codes" which cannot ensure 100% a gray key
      will not be identified as white one. But you can always toggle
      Numlock ON in the pattern editor, which locks the arrow keys on
      Scroll Mode.

   Q: Some S3M's (notably WATER.S3M) are played like garbage, even with
      other players like DMP, MDP 1.1.  Why is that?
   A: Apparently some old S3Ms hold the samples in signed format.
      If you encounter this, try patching the S3M and change the byte
      in offset 2Ah (S3M File Format Version byte) to 1. This will cause
      Liquid (and any player that supports this S3M feature, including
      ST 3.2 (but not ST 3.01b!)) to load all the samples correctly.

   Q: I'm working under UMB_DRVR.SYS, and when running Liquid my machine
      always hangs, why?
   A: There is a bug in UMB_DRVR (last version I have checked was 5.22)
      which causes INT 67h to point nowhere. Since this interrupt is used
      to check EMS existence, the machine hangs.
      (If you familiar with programming, you may 1 - write a simple TSR that
      hooks INT 67h and ensures it will return to the caller (just IRET),
      2 - get interrupt 67h vector and patch the code to return IRET
      (although this is not fully safe) or 3 - patch UMB_DRVR itself)

   Q: I am Sound Blaster 2/Pro owner. A friend of mine has PAS16, and when
      he plays on his card in 8 Bit, Mono, 44Khz, the sound is much better
      than mine, even though I can achieve these conditions too!
   A: The SB 2/SB Pro suffers from loud background noises, and a lousy DAC.
      Also, using higher frequencies than 22Khz is not really recommended,
      because the card will not really take advantage on it.
      The PAS/SB16, however, are equipped with enhanced CODEC DAC with
      sound filter, which result in great sound quality even with 8 bit
      output (this also applies to most 16bit card there are)

   Q: Is there a major difference between the sound quality of the PAS16
      and the SB16?
   A: There is no difference in sound quality. Both cards are equipped
      with similar CODEC chip, and offer very similar mixer capabilities.
      Also, a test that has been performed, indicated that the internal
      amplifier in both cards produces similar overall power.

   Q: When playing with PAS, the left/right flip positions, and in some
      cases the sound is badly distorted, so I have to stop and replay.
   A: This is because the PAS hardware isn't so good in synchronizing with
      the PC BUS, and if there's big overload on the BUS, the PAS's internal
      flip-flops lose tracks.
      suggested solutions are: make sure that the BUS will run as fast as
      possible (Turbo button on), use 16BIT DMA if possible, don't use too
      high mixing frequencies (like 59000Hz, which the PAS16 is capable of)
      If this thing occur only when starting to play, try resetting the
      PAS's internal flip-flop by pressing CTRL-P few times.

   Q: Can Liquid work with the PAS's SB emulation mode?
   A: Yes, but you should set the sound card to SB 1.5 rather than SB 2.0.
      this is because the PAS's SB emulation does not support SB 2.0.
      (however, mistakenly the card reports SB 2.0 in the detection scheme;
      you should force SB 1.xx when possible with other programs too (like
      Visual Player 2, for example))

   Q: When stopping or replaying using CTRL-P or the F5-F8 keys, the
      SB1, SB2 or SBPro cards produce clicks, why is that?
   A: To prevent problems, upon stopping the music, the card is fully
      resetted, and upon restarting, most initialization code is
      re-issued. Apparently, The SB1,2,Pro cards produce clicks on
      those events.

   Q: With my SB2, when using "Sound Blaster 1.5" mode LIQ plays OKay,
      but when using "Sound Blaster 2.0" mode, it plays fragmented and
      corrupted!
   A: Use SB1 mode. The SB2 mode doesn't give any benefit, except
      that it allows Frequency > 20833 (which is irrelevant with SB2)
      This is a bug, and will be PROBABLY fixed someday.

   Q: Under DESQview, Liquid plays "corrupted" sound and sometimes
      hangs the machine.
   A: The Liquid Tracker was not designed to work under multitaskers,
      and should not be executed under DESQview window (although if
      executed as the first window, it will run ok for few seconds...)



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