Experimental BBS Explossion 3/Experimental BBS Explossion III.iso/gus/digestv6.zip/V6N23.TXT

Text File | 1993-09-24 | 54KB | 1,246 lines

Ultrasound Daily Digest     Fri, 24 Sep 93  0:07 MDT     Volume 6: Issue  23

Today's Topics:
                           Crack to Mega-Em
                     Dagger of Amon Ra and MegaEm
                GUS+PAS16 or PAS 16 XL- what to buy???
                      Mega-Em crack - so sad...
                      Megem  Whats up with that.
                         OOooh, Freudian Slip
             pausing when using a mitsumi and 16-bit dma
                Recording from CD(Rom) using CD-input
                      Repost just #7        1/7
                      Repost just #7        2/7
                      Repost just #7        3/7
                      Repost just #7        4/7
                      Repost just #7        5/7
                      Repost just #7        6/7
                      Repost just #7        7/7
          Submitting (or adding) files to epas or wuarchive.
                         Ultramid -c (sheesh)
               Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #22 (2 msgs)
                             Unreal demo
                             unsubscribe

Standard Info:
    - Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest.
    - Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 13:04:31 EDT
From: Andreas Turanski <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Crack to Mega-Em
Message-ID: <9309231704.AA08785@milanese>

|> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 09:12:15 +0800 (WST)
|> From: Jayeson Lee-Steere <[e-mail]>

|> Someone has just informed me of a crack to Mega-Em's registration system
|> being uploaded to epas. As you might guess I'm not too thrilled about
|> this. I ask that anyone who finds it anywhere else remove it, or asked to
|> have it removed. I realise many people are against cripple ware, but
                             ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jayeson,

  I do not support the uploading of this "crack" of your software, BUT
some of the "many people" who are against cripple ware is the whole
Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)!!!  Since you have crippled
your Shareware, you will not be able to become/stay a member of the ASP.
Just thought I'd point that out.  I *do* realize that it may be
frustrating to spend time writing something and then have only a small
portion of the steady users pay up.  Sounds like a great program though.

Best regards,
Andreas

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 15:50:09 +0200
From: [e-mail] (Graphik-Gruppe)
Subject: Re: Dagger of Amon Ra and MegaEm
Message-ID: <9309231350.AA09392@welfa5>

> When I play Dagger of Amon Ra with MegaEm the sound used for the typewriters is
> not like any typewriter I ever heard.  It is more like musical notes.  Sierra
>downloads its own data to the Roland/GUS so I would guess that I cannot change
> the sound ...... am I correct?

Try emuset with the /SC option. It worked fine for me with other Sierra games.

Christian. ([e-mail])

!!!fight redundancy!!!avoid signatures!!!fight redundancy!!!avoid signatures!!!
!!!avoid signatures!!!fight redundancy!!!avoid signatures!!!fight redundancy!!!

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 21:39:30 EDT
From: Andreas Turanski <[e-mail]>
Subject: GUS+PAS16 or PAS 16 XL- what to buy???
Message-ID: <9309240139.AA21359@alfredo>

  <putting on flame-retardant jacket after you read my Subject line :>

Hello All,

  First off I have been reading this mailing list for months and am a
strong supporter of the GUS.  I am wanting to get my first sound card,
but since I run OS/2 and have been holding my breath (until blue) for
OS/2 SBOS and/or MMOS/2 drivers I feel that I have to get a card which
is compatible NOW with OS/2.  Soo, I was thinking about getting the
PAS16 and maybe get the GUS later for its wavetable capabilities.  Oh
yeah, I want the PAS16 since I will get a SCSI CD-ROM drive ASAIHTM
(As Soon As I Have The Money :)

  However, I have just heard about the PAS16 XL with wavetable syn.
which will be coming out within 3 weeks.  It has all the features of
the PAS16 with a Korg WaveTable Synthesizer {from MV spec sheet}:

 32 voices polyphony
 16 part multi-timbral
 4 MB of sample ROM  (yeah, I know...can't do sampling)
 128 musical instruments plus 4 drum sets
 Reverb and chorus
 General MIDI compatible

   Also the 16bit at 44.1kHz is nice.

  So what do you guys think.  I was totally psyched to get the GUS a
few months ago when it seemed that there would be some os/2 support
and that SBOS would stabilize and support almost everything <ops! time
to put the fireman's helmet on>, but neither of these seem to be
true...yet.  I do like that you can create your own samples/patches,
but there is also the problem of only being able to load in a 1MB
subset of all the patches.  I am also very intrigued by the 3D sound
capability.  I haven't heard of it being exploited much yet, but still...

  I posted this to get people's opinions -and I'm sure I will- so
let the discussion begin.  Also if people could include justifications
for as much of their opinion as possible I'd be really happy.

Regards,
  Andreas
----
"Can't shake the Devil's hand          \ M \ I \ T \
  and say you're only kidding"  --====@=@=@=@=@=@=@=@=@=====---   andreast@
     -They Might Be Giants             C / R / E / W /         athena.mit.edu

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 17:18:45 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Mike Batchelor)
Subject: Mega-Em crack - so sad...
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Not the Ultrasound Server once wrote...
$
$  Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 09:12:15 +0800 (WST)
$  From: Jayeson Lee-Steere <[e-mail]>
$  Subject: Crack to Mega-Em
$  Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
$
$  Someone has just informed me of a crack to Mega-Em's registration system
$  being uploaded to epas. As you might guess I'm not too thrilled about
$  this. I ask that anyone who finds it anywhere else remove it, or asked to
$  have it removed. I realise many people are against cripple ware, but
$  please remember this is my program and my desired choice of
$  distribution/marketing method.

Oh now that's really low!  Whoever uploaded that, get a life.  There are
no features disabled in Mega-Em, only a time limit.  I don't consider that
to be cripple-ware, unless a feature of the program depends on being run
for a period of time longer than that.  Mega-Em can be fully evaluated
with all its features available, in the 20 minutes Jayeson gives you.

I'd much rather see a time delay, than say, no Sound Canvas emulation
until registered.

$  If anyone has a chance to look at it...let me know a bit more about
$  the article with some specifics.
$
$  Happy Gussing!!!!
$
$
$                      Loves, Hugs and Tugs...
$                          -Socrates

I don't know which article your friend looked at, but Computer Shopper
recently rated the GUS as the WORST at MIDI, if you can believe that.

They obviously have their heads in the same place the person who uploaded
the Mega-Em crack had his.


--
Mike Batchelor      |
[e-mail]  |                  This space for rent
[e-mail]   |

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 14:49:36 +0501 (EDT)
From: Gunnar Swanson <[e-mail]>
Subject: Megem  Whats up with that.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Mr. Steere

    I heard that you telling all those interested in your product
Megem to wait on the registrations that you were in negotiations with
Gravis to sell your program to them.
    I was wondering how that was going, as I have some small interest
in purchasing the program.  Though I do feel that $25 dollars is a little
expensive.  :-)
            An interested party



            Gunnar Swanson


[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 08:43:13 EDT
From: Steph <[e-mail]>
Subject: OOooh, Freudian Slip
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 93 16:08:18
> From: [e-mail]
> Subject: Just to let you know  6/7
> Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
>
> (Continued from previous message)
>
> the attack, decay, and sustain to achieve the final result. For example,
> it might take a sample of a saxophone.  By playing the patch with a
> shallower attack, and lower volume, it would become a tenor sax.  If
> you made it sharper and crisper, the it would change into a alto sex.
                                                              *********
The GUS can do that?  No way!  I've just looked into all my manuals, and
nowhere does it mention this.

Wow, think about it, Alto Sex.  *sigh*

(okay, okay, sorry I couldn't resist!)

Steph.

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 01:54:59 -0500 (CDT)
From: Antonio Guia <[e-mail]>
Subject: pausing when using a mitsumi and 16-bit dma
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

> Speaking of
> pauses and the Mitsumi, I get a lot of them in Windows if I try to play a
> WAVE off a CD-ROM on my GUS if the GUS is using a 16-bit DMA channel.  The
> pauses disappear if I use the GUS on an 8-bit channel.
> I also get pauses when copying files from the CD-ROM to my HD.


just for the sake of saying you tried...

try decreasing the d= option of emm386 down to 1 and then try the 16-bit
dma with the cdrom sound again to see if there's still pauses


------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 13:30:45 +0300 (EET DST)
From: [e-mail] (Pasi Haatanen)
Subject: Recording from CD(Rom) using CD-input
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

I just connected my mitsumi cdrom to GUS' cd input pins. Everything seems to
be just fine, when playing from cdrom (ie. sound comes to gus and goes out
to my stereo via GUS' lineout, without any problems - and the sound quality
is excellent).

However, when trying to record from the cdrom (ie. starting playback and after
that, recording sample same time with gus) the problems came up. Final sample
has MORE NOISE (static/click/pop/what-so-ever) THAN original SOUND. Ehh ??
The outcome is AWFUL!! None in this world can get any idea, what the sound
is supposed to be <grin>.

I've tried USS8/Playfile/NoiseMaster/Prec/Cool and different cd-rom players
- both under windows and dos.

Don't know, if I really have so much disturbances inside that metal box
(audio cable from mitsumi -> gus is quite long(?), about 40 cm), but
I've never had any other problems related to sound quality, which leads me
to expect, that something else is wrong ?? Any of you successfully
recorded a sample from cd-rom using those 4 pins on gus ??? As I read
mitsumi's manual, it says: "Output voltage (RCA): 0.7Vrms, 10Kohm load, max.
volume" .. so what's the "right" input level for GUS' cd-pins ?? any idea ??
should I somehow decrease that signal voltage (as it could (?) possible be
the reason for my problems or NOT...)

Anyway, enough for my speculations - if you've any ideas, I'd appreciate to
hear 'em. Thanks!

Oh, and just in case,

My configuration: 386/40+387/40, GUS, ATI GU+, UltraStor 12F24, 650Mb Maxtor
                  ESDI, Mitsumi LU005S CRMC cdrom + own controller etc..

--
Pasi Haatanen      email or netmail to:    ----------------------------------
Emannankuja 4D15   ** [e-mail] **    Data (24H, V.32B): [phone]
SF-01670  VANTAA   2:220/[e-mail]   ----------------------------------
FINLAND, EUROPE!   14:1500/[e-mail]   PREFER EMAIL. THAT'S ALL FOLKS 8-Q

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:55:49
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        1/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW #7
=======================

Hello fellow Gravoids <g> Just to pre-warn you, this is a long
one. I haven't done an information bulletin about what is new and
hot in Gravis land for nearly two months, which explains the length.

Microsoft Arcade & GUS
======================

Here is a fix for Microsoft arcade. It is compliments of Mark Pfeiffer
on COMP.IBM.PC.SOUNDCARD.

In your WAVEMIX.INI you need to edit the REMIX= line to 2 instead of
the default of 1. It seems Microsoft arcade defaults to 1 for unknown
sound cards which causes the GUS some headaches. So your WAVEMIX.INI
should now read:

[UltraSound Waveform Output]
Remix=2
GoodWavePos=0
WaveBlocks=3
SamplesPerSec=11


Quotes from Developers
======================

I have heard from some people who were curious on how developers
perceive the UltraSound and how well we support them. Here is what
some of them have to say:

"The Gravis UltraSound goes a long way towards raising the standards
 of PC audio. I was impress with how well it recreated my General
 MIDI sequences. It is an easily integrated, affordable solution to
 those seeking higher sound quality than can be achieved with FM
 based sound cards"
                         Hamilton Altstatt, Music and Sound Director
                         Knowledge Adventure

"As a composer, I would much rather have my compositions (as in
 Darksun) heard on this card...it sounds like real music",
 "General MIDI/wavetable synthesis is the future of computer audio
 ...the Gravis UltraSound is there NOW"
                         Ralph Thomas, Music Producer
                         Strategic Simulations Inc.

"Electronic Arts looks forward to supporting the new Gravis sound
 card, which represents breakthrough technology"
                         Larry Probst, President
                         Electronic Arts

"The advaced features of the UltraSound have created an entire new
 genre of sound card."
                         Troy Worrell, Vice President
                         Interplay

"We found the developer support at Advanced Gravis to be exceptional,
 influencing us to support a card that we otherwise would have
 ignored. After installing the software drivers and hearing our
 applications play through the Gravis UltraSound, our engineers
 decided the sound was KILLER!"
                         Chris Weiss
                         MAXIS

"There's no question that wave table synthesis technology, like that
 used in the Gravis UltraSound, greatly enhances the experience of
 playing Sierra's adventure games compared to the more common sound
 boards using FM synthesis. This will help set the benchmark for
 higher quality sound for consumers at an affordable price."
                         Bill Crow, Director of Technology
                         Sierra On-Line


Sierra Announces Support and Releases Driver
============================================

I'm proud to announce that we now have the full backing of Sierra.
Sierra has released a driver that may be found on our BBS, the Gravis
nodes, Internet, Compuserve or the Sierra BBS called GUSDRV.EXE.
This driver will allow you to add full GUS support (General MIDI and
digital audio) to the latest 15 or so Sierra games. Now the
press release:

September 3, 1993

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TORONTO:    AED
VANCOUVER:  AED
OTC BBS:    GRVSF

                Sierra On-Line Pumps Up The Volume
           for Advanced Gravis UltraSound Audio Boards

Vancouver, B.C. -- September 3, 1993 -- Sierra On-Line, a computer
gaming industry leader, announced today its support for the Gravis
UltraSound board.  Sierra On-Line has released drivers that will
allow Gravis UltraSound users to complement their gaming experience

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:55:51
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        2/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

with the realism and natural sounds of wave table synthesis and
quality audio effects.

Until recently, Sierra On-Line games have only supported General Midi
and FM sound cards.  These new drivers will provide support for 15 of
Sierra's latest retail and On-Line games, and will take full advantage
of the Gravis UltraSound wave table synthesis and General Midi
capabilities.

According to Grant Russell, president of Advanced Gravis, "Sierra
On-Line is a long-term player in the games and entertainment software
market.  They have earned an excellent reputation for innovation and
have actually lead the entertainment industry with their consumer
software titles.  Sierra has a history of identifying new technologies
that enhance the game playing experience.  We are please that they have
recognized the versatility that the open architecture that Gravis
UltraSound provides."

The Sierra (UltraSound) drivers are the result of a long working
relationship between Sierra On-Line and Advanced Gravis.  As a result,
all Sierra On-Line games can now be enjoyed to their fullest extent by
users of Gravis UltraSound, considered to be one of the most
technically advanced, yet economically priced consumer audio boards on
the market.

"There's no question that wave table synthesis technology, like that
used in the Gravis UltraSound, greatly enhances the experience of
playing Sierra's adventure games compared to the more common sound
boards using FM synthesis," said Bill Crow, Sierra's director of
technology.  "This will help set the benchmark for higher quality sound
for consumers at an affordable price."

The new drivers will be available from Sierra On-Line's bulletin board
[phone], the Advanced Gravis bulletin board at [phone], or
by calling Sierra's Customer Service at [phone].

Sierra On-Line, located in Oakhurst, CA, develops and publishes
interactive adventure games for IBM PC's and compatibles and Macintosh
computers.  Sierra is best knows for the King's Quest, Space Quest,
Police Quest and Laura Bow adventure game series.

In addition to UltraSound(tm) and UltraSound MAX with 3D, Gravis'
16-bit CD-quality stereo sound cards featuring wave table synthesis
and recording, Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. also designs,
manufactures and markets high quality microcomputer input devices,
including the Gravis Analog Pro Joystick and PC GamePad for the IBM
platform, and the MouseStick II and Mac GamePad for Macintosh.

For more information contact Brad Craig, market development manager
for Advanced Gravis at 604/431-5020 ext 1074.


UltraSound Shipping Titles
==========================

One of the most common questions I get asked is "Who supports the
UltraSound?" or "What titles do you currently work with?". You may
remember a list I posted last Feburary which was suppose to be a
list of all the GUS shipping and future titles. Well as you know
some of those fell through and everytime one did there was a storm
created. Since then I have decided to only tell you about titles
that are VERY close to shipping and as far as the publishers tell
us will definitely have GUS support. The problem in the past was
trying to predict what is suppose to happen 3-5 months down the
rode. Which is virtually impossible. Remember this is only a
small list of titles who are currently supporting the GUS.
Now this months list of new titles are:

Publisher                   Title                         ETA
--------------------------- ---------------               --------
Knowledge Adventure         Kid Zoo                       Shipping
Electronic Arts             Seal Team                     Oct
                            SSN-21 Sea Wolf               Nov
Activision                  Return to Zork                Oct
Strategic Simulations Inc.  Darksun                       Shipping
                            Archon Ultra                  Nov
Ocean                       Jurassic Park                 Oct
Hollyware Entertainment     Jonny Quest                   Oct
Activision                  Mech Warrior II               Nov
Bethesda                    Delta V                       Nov
Psygnosis                   Last Action Hero              Nov
                            Dracula                       Nov
                            Wizard and Microcosm          Nov
                            Hired Guns                    Nov
Broderbund                  Empire Deluxe                 Shipping
Aris Entertainment          Media Clips                   Shipping
                            MPC Wizard                    Shipping
                            Video Cube                    Oct

Also check out these hot patches by:

Publisher                   Title                         Patch Name
--------------------------- ----------------------------- -----------
Maxis                       SimFarm                       GUSFARM.ZIP
                            SimCity Classic               GUSCITY.ZIP
Sierra                      Latest titles                 GUSDRV.EXE
                            Including Kings Quest 5 & 6,
                            Space Quest 5, Quest for
                            Glory III, Slater and Charlie

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:55:54
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        3/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

                            Dagger of Amon RA and MORE!
Impressions                 Rules of Engagement II        ROE2UP.ZIP

There are also other large publishers who are working on patches for
the UltraSound. But I would prefer not to name names until the patches
are done. I should also have the 7th Guest patch by the end of the
week. Trilobyte is fedexing the driver to us as we speak/type ;-).


Dvorak Radio Show
=================

You may have heard us on the Dvorak Radio Show. The show airs
from 11am-1pm PST on Sundays and is syndicated to a ton of radio
stations across North America. The UltraSound is the official sound
card for this show, and as such all jingles, beeps, bloops and other
SFX are all done through the UltraSound. So you may want to drop
an ear on the show on Sundays ;-)


Gravis Race Car
===============

Advanced Gravis sponsored car #13 at the Vancouver Molson Indy this
past August. We placed 12th out of 21 cars, so we are quite pleased.
The photo CD of some of these images should be in this week. At which
time I'll post a series of GIF images to show you all what a painted
UltraSound car looks like. Look for the images in a file
called GUSCAR.ZIP.


Mege Emulator - Jayeson
=======================

You may have heard that Gravis is in the process of negotiating
with Jayeson Lee-Steere, author of Megem. This rumor is true. I can
not say anything else until such time that all the paper work is
signed and done, I'm sure you can understand. Jayeson has also asked
that everyone please hold of registering his product until such time
that the negotiating is over.


What is Shipping
================

Many of you are curious as to what new products are actually shipping.
As of today the Sony, Mitsumi, LMSI, Y-Cable, and the MIDI Connector
box are all shipping.

The 16 bit recording cards are getting closer to shipping. We'll have
some 1200 in stock by the middle of October. At which point the
software should be done (USS, Ultrinit, SETGUS16 and Windows drivers).
You all know how much I hate guessing at shipping dates but so far it
looks like the end of October is looking good. Once I know a definite
date I'll let you know.


Bad Disks
=========

About a month ago we had 2 bad disk duplicators that caused us a ton
of headaches. As of two weeks ago ALL disks are being double verified.
Meaning they are verified once after duplication, left to sit for 48
hours and then verified again.

For people who may have gotten a bad disk I have posted the V2.06a
software on the Gravis BBS. Each disk is a separate downloadable
file that has been PASSWORD PROTECTED. As you know we can not freely
distribute these files. So you will need to call Gravis tech support
at [phone] to get the password. Also, don't try posting these
files anywhere as they are useless without the passwords.


Internet GRAVIS.COM
===================

We are still having problems with our Internet aliases. Our BBS runs
TBBS with a module called PIMP for our Internet connection. Seems
PIMP doesn't like to handle aliases too well (ie: POSTMASTER,
SALES, TECH, NMI, etc...). I have been hounding on the makers of
PIMP for over a month now and they still have not been able to
fix this problem. Since there are no other internet mail processors
for TBBS I'm sort of stuck. Best I can do is keep bugging the PIMP
people until they fix it. So for the time being, if you could direct
any sales questions to [e-mail] and any tech questions
to [e-mail]. And of course I'm [e-mail].

NOTE: PIMP stands for Personal Internet Mail Processor.


UltraSound Software Developers Toolkit
======================================

The next version of the UltraSound SDK will include full support for
Borland PASCAL. This new support will include full programming
examples, and revised documentation.

This version should be available by mid October. I'll announce it
when it is available along with everything that has been updated or

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:55:57
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        4/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

changed.


UltraSound and the NMI
======================

Here is a letter from John Spak, the tech who is investigating this
NMI problem some manufacturers are having.

Dear Ultrasound Customer,

This letter is to inform you of a problem that you might encounter
with motherboards that are not 100% IBM compatible.  One defect found
in these motherboards is that the IO CH/CHK signal is not available
on the PC bus -  to date,  this signal is present in all Industry
Standard  Architecture personal computers made by IBM and others
( Hewlet Packard,  Northgate,  AST,  Gateway, Dell, etc. ).
Obviously motherboards without a working IO/CKCHK can not be
considered  IBM compatible or industry standard by any means.  This
fact is also supported by the IEEE Microprocessor Standards Committee
(Draft D2.02 July 13,  1990) and the Intel ISA Bus Specification
(January 30,  1990) both of which indicate how the IO CH/CHK signal
is to be handled.  Note that it is never disconnected!

In the event that you have a non-standard motherboard you will find
that SBOS (a driver that we supply to emulate the SoundBlaster)  will
not work;  also note that midi input from an instrument will not be
possible from within windows.  We recommend that you confront the
vendor who sold the motherboard to you (I am assuming that it was
implied that you were being sold a 100% IBM compatible motherboard)
requesting the compatible motherboard that you asked for.

For your convenience supporting abstracts from both Intel and
IEEE  documentation have been included with this letter.

Sincerely,

John  Spak
Advanced Gravis Technical Support


 Intel Microprocessor's ISA Bus Specification (January 30,1990)P.37
 ==================================================================

 IOCHCK* [8] [8/16]
  I/O  Channel Check may be enabled by any resource to signal an error
  condition that cannot be corrected, such as a memory parity error...


 IEEE Microprocessor Standards Committee (Draft D2.02 July 13,1990)P.8
 =====================================================================

        SIGNAL                          FUNCTION
                IOCHCK*  ...                            NMI to System Processor

 Excerpt from a letter from Intel Corp. to Gravis (August 18,1993)
 =================================================================

 ...  Further to our conversation of last week,  I would like to state
 Intel's position on the use of NMI in PC motherboard designs.  There
 is no technical reason not to use the NMI input... All of Intel's PC
 chipsets, motherboard products, and design examples use NMI in this
 manner - to do otherwise risks compatibility with the defacto
 industry PC standard...

                                        Rich Heslip
                                        Field Applications Engineer
                                        Intel Corporation


Wavetable and FM Synthesis
==========================

This is a letter passed onto me by an end user, Bryan Del Rizzo. It
explains in good detail the differences between FM synthesis and
Wave table


                                                 SEPTEMBER 16, 1993

                 THE SHIFTING TREND OF MUSIC SYNTHESIS
                           By BRYAN DEL RIZZO


As history has verified, society has always looked for new ways to
simplify our daily existence. The first mechanical calculator, a system
of strings and moving beads called the abacus, was devised in Babylonia
around 500 BC. The abacus provided the fastest method of calculating
until 1642, when the French scientist Blaise Pascal invented a
calculator made of wheels and cogs. From there, we progressed to the
first fully electronic computer named the Colossus, which used vacuum
tubes instead of mechanical relays. Its construction was so secretive
that its existence was not revealed until decades after it was built.
In operation by 1941, the Colossus was the computer that British
cryptographers used to break secret German military codes. Following
that, the first modern general purpose computer would be the ENIAC
(Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator). Designed by two
American engineers,  ENIAC went into service at the University of
Pennsylvania in 1946. Its construction was an enormous feat of

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:55:59
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        5/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

engineering--the 30-ton machine contained 17,468 vacuum tubes linked by
500 miles (800 kilometers) of wiring.

Since then, we have seen numerous revolutions in the computer industry.
Gone are the cumbersome and vociferous vacuum tubes and transistors. In
its place - the microchip. The revolution in microchip technology
occurred in 1971 when the American engineer Marcian E. Hoff combined
the basic elements of a computer on one tiny silicon chip, which he
called a microprocessor. This microprocessor, the Intel 4004, helped
set the foundation for the future.

With all of the progress we have made in computing power, unfortunately
the progression of computer generated music has not been so dramatic.
Quality music and sound have long been lacking in programs and
applications, so it comes as no surprise that only now, in 1993,
developers and consumers are looking for alternate ways to generate
music and effects without using the internal speakers.  The prehistoric
and archaic beeps of 7 years ago are now thankfully a distant memory
due to the success of Frequency Modulation, but once again, as is the
case with any technological industry, evolution breed obsolescence.
With the focus on realism and CD quality reproduction, Frequency
Modulation has been pushed aside to herald in a new dawn of Wave
Table Synthesis. However, before we can discuss the attributes
associated with both forms of synthesis, it is important that we have
a basic understanding of how sound is produced and broadcast.

Sounds can take on a variety of distinctions, but the one variable
they all contain is that all are caused by some sort of vibration.  The
acoustic vibrations disturb the air in such a way that sound waves are
produced. These waves travel out in all directions, expanding outwards
from the source of the sound, until it reaches a destination.  Sound
relies on three things: a vibrating source to create the sound wave, a
medium (such as air) to carry the wave, and a receiver (human ear or
electronic equipment) to detect them. Sound waves cannot travel through
a vacuum.

Sound cards are made up of three principal portions:

(1)The digital portion
(2)The analog portion
(3)The method of synthesis

For playback, electronic components such as computers or CD players do
not transmit an acoustic sound, but rather they transmit a sequence of
numbers, more commonly known as a digital signal. However, before this
digital signal (or series of numbers) can be heard, it must first be
converted from its existing form, to an electronic signal.  This
process is performed by the Digital to Analog Converter, or DAC, for
short. This converted signal is then received by the speaker, thus
causing a vibration in the air, resulting in a sound wave.

Electronic components can also record original sounds for playback.
This is known as sampling.  This process is performed by the Analog to
Digital Converter, or ADC, for short.  This function is opposite to the
DAC, in that it takes an incoming signal, and converts it to a series
of numbers.  The resulting digital signal is then stored either in DRAM
or on the hard disk.  To playback this digital signal, it is then re-
converted back into an electronic signal by the DAC.

When sampling, another factor to consider is that of the sampling rate.
This relates to how often the ADC reads an incoming signal, and
generates a number sequence.  Sampling rates are measured in kHz.  For
comparison, the sampling rate of a CD player is 44.1 kHz.  In other
words, the ADC samples the incoming signal 44,100 times per second, and
generates 44,100 digital values per second.  The result would be a
clear, realistic digital signal.

An important aspect to remember when dealing with electronic playback,
is the final resolution. The bit resolution directly affects the
dynamic range of the sound.  Dynamic range can be defined as the
difference between the softest and loudest sounds generated.  If the
bit resolution is high, then the sound wave generated will be more
natural and realistic than ones generated with a lower resolution.
(see example)

As stated, there are currently two main forms of synthesis - Frequency
Modulation (FM) and Wave Table Synthesis.  While the methods to do so
are different, both utilize vibrations and wave forms to generate the
sounds.

The synthesizer portion on FM based sound cards is comprised of a
series of modulators or operators.  To generate a sound, the electronic
signal is routed through the DAC (as explained above.) However, if the
original operator was routed to another, instead of the loudspeaker,
then the signal from the first operator (called a modulator), would
alter the signal of the second operator (called a carrier). In effect,
the frequency of the carrier would be altered (modulated) at a speed
equivalent to the frequency of the modulator.  This would produce what
is known as a secondary frequency or overtone.  Overtones give sound
waves its tonal quality, also known as timbre.  Each instrument would
have distinctively different overtones.  By altering the frequencies
and amplitudes, you can create an infinite array of timbres.  You can
further alter the effect, when you designate different settings for the
envelope, which includes such parameters as attack, sustain and decay.

Wave table synthesis produces its sounds in a radically different way.
It does not use modulators or operators to create, in essence,
artificial sounds like the FM synthesizers.  Instead, wave table
synthesis produces sounds by sampling real instruments.  Digital

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:56:02
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        6/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

samples of real instruments are recorded (usually at 44.1 kHz) and then
stored either in the read only memory (ROM), random access memory or
directly as a file on the hard drive.  These digital samples are more
commonly referred to as patches. When needing to access the audio patch,
the operating system on the sound card downloads the individual patches
into the sound card's DRAM, and then the sound is generated through the
wave table synthesizer.

Wave table synthesizers can also modify the attack, sustain and decay
in a sound wave. For example, a snare drum, has a very quick attack,
short sustain and very quick decay.  By taking the original sampled
instrument and modifying the envelope, you can end up with endless
variations of an original instrument. Wave table synthesis manipulates
the sound waves depending on your requirements or as per the
applications you are using. For example, a Midi application might send
commands to the synthesizer telling it to  play the sounds in a certain
manner, at a certain time, and then shut off the output at a certain
point.

The difference between FM synthesis and Wave Table Synthesis, is of
course, how the resulting sound waves are received at the destination.
In basic terms, this simply relates to how we like the sound!  FM
synthesizers recreate sound by modulating sound waves. It modulates the
wave until a predetermined sound is achieved. Wave table synthesis on
the other hand, takes a recording of a sampled instrument, and alters
the attack, decay, and sustain to achieve the final result. For example,
it might take a sample of a saxophone.  By playing the patch with a
shallower attack, and lower volume, it would become a tenor sax.  If
you made it sharper and crisper, the it would change into a alto sex.
Because you are always working from the original digital sample, the
end result would end up sounding like the real instrument.  FM
synthesis tries to recreate sounds from scratch. FM synthesis could
potentially recreate any instrument, but the problem is, the end result
will be close, but never match up exactly to the wave form of the
original instrument.  If you were to compare the wave forms that were
generated by both forms of synthesis to the original sampled wave form,
the FM wave form would be skewed while the Wave table wave form would
be an exact match of the sampled instrument.

Another concept to look at while comparing sound cards, is how the
individual patches (sampled instruments) are stored. Many wave table
sound cards allow for storage only in the ROM.  The Gravis UltraSound
however, allows users to store the individuals patches in the RAM. The
Gravis UltraSound allows users the flexibility to create their own
instruments in addition to the standard MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital
Interface) set of 128 sound patches and 64 drum patches.  The only
limitation to this is the size of free space on the hard drive.  For
comparison, the standard 192 patch set takes up approximately 5-6 megs
on a hard drive. Storing the patches in RAM is a tradeoff in hard space
compared to using the ROM only.  However, most developers and musicians
would welcome the opportunity to create and utilize new instruments.
Remember, instruments (or patches), do not necessarily refer to musical
devices. A patch could contain a digital sample of a chainsaw, a
tractor, or a dentists drill!  Many musicians are frustrated by the
limitation imposed with ROM based samples.  By using RAM, the
instruments sampled would be limited only to the boundaries of your
imagination.   With FM you will never have the realism or the naturalism
of the original sampled instrument. There will always be some distortion
of the original wave.

Some criticisms of wave table sounds cards have been levied against the
lack of a midi-coprocessor on board.  They claim that without an on-
board processor, the sound card depends on inordinate amounts of CPU
time (20%-40%)to perform their functions.  However, this is a major
misconception.  Based on the design by FORTE of the GF1 chip and the
operating system, the correct amount would be from 1-3% of the CPU time.
In comparison, a popular FM based sound card takes approximately 25-30%
of the CPU time to play a mixed audio file, while the Gravis UltraSound
can do so without any delays whatsoever!  Again, this is in conjunction
with the design of the GF1 wave table chip, the DRAM, and the operating
system, and not on the method of synthesis the sound card utilizes.

Wave table synthesis does not strive to emulate FM based sound boards.
The reason behind this is that wave table synthesis provides more
natural and realistic sounds than its FM based counterparts.  The only
reason to emulate an FM sound board, would be to provide the end user
the compatibility to use their sound card with past (not present or
future) products.

Another feature of the Gravis UltraSound, is its ability to offer
virtual reality along with a vastly superior method of music synthesis.
Utilizing Focal Point technology, UltraSound's holographic sound
processes audio signals through a technique called convolution.  Right
and left audio signals are generated that create wraparound sound
effects to the human ear.  The sound signal is actually an electronic
signal shaped so that the listener hears the sound as a three
dimensional psychoacoustic effect.

Why do people purchase sound cards?  The number one reason would be for
music and sound quality.  FM synthesis provided a good product for the
time based on consumer demands. Consumers are now requesting CD quality
reproduction, along with a natural and honest synthesis method,
something unfortunately FM based sound cards cannot provide.

The Gravis UltraSound provides CD quality reproduction, backwards
compatibility, and is forging ahead with its new Focal Point 3-D
development.  This combined with economically sensible pricing, makes
the UltraSound an unusually attractive product.  Other products on the
market offer wave table synthesis, but at four (4) or five (5) times the

(Continued to next message)
---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 09:56:05
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Repost just #7        7/7
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

(Continued from previous message)

cost!  Other FM based sound cards  offer add- on wave table modules, but
for exorbitant prices!  While these add- ons will sound comparable, you
must also compare the price structures of the products.  The Gravis
UltraSound wins at all levels of comparison:  price, performance,
development, sound quality, synthesis method and is technologically
advanced compared to any FM based sound card, with or without wave table
add-ons.

<THE END>

If you made it this far you must be commited. ;-)

I'm sure this bulletin is going to stir things up <grin>, take care.

John

PS: Here are my favorite quotes:

"FM synthesis is sucking my will to live, the Gravis is possibly my
 only chance to survive..." or "Nice card, doesn't sound like a kazoo
 from H??L"
                                Ralph Thomas, Music Producer
                                Strategic Simulations Inc.

---
 ~ QMPro 1.50 05-8925 ~ By the way, what does BTW mean? ;-)

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 22:22:38 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Nemesis)
Subject: Submitting (or adding) files to epas or wuarchive.
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Hi, I have a shell for modplayers, 669 players, etc.  that I would like
to add to the GUS ftp sites.  (Actually I was wondering if that was
possible :) )   And I would like suggestions on other places I could put
it.

Thanks,
Craig Peeper

------------------------------

Date: 23-SEP-1993 19:12:19.30
From: Richard Wyckoff <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ultramid -c (sheesh)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

  Does *no one* read the readme file?  Two messages in a row about not being
able to hear music without loading ultramid -c.  Here's the deal: when you
load ultramid *without* -c, you are using it in General MIDI mode.  This
means the Ultrasound will cache patches.  Which means the game must send patch
cache commands.  Which means the game must support General MIDI.  If you
copy the Ultrasound AIL drivers over the game's General MIDI AIL drivers, you
can run ultramid *without* -c.  If you copy the Ultrasound AIL drivers over
ANY OTHER drivers (SB, MT32, etc), then you must use ultramid -c, which will
pre-load the Ultrasound's memory with patches.
  Now, if the patch caching delays in a game are just getting you down (the
only game I've seen where this is severe is 7th Guest, which is just a dog
anyway) then you can run ultramid -c with your General MIDI compliant
game.  If you have 1 meg of RAM, you will sacrifice only the tiniest bit
of sound quality and gain speed in transitions between different songs.
  Hopefully now those unclear on the use of ultramid will have a little more
success with it.  It's great - if only there were more AIL games out there.

--
RWYCKOFF                      /Richard Wyckoff\                      CATULLUS
@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU          /   aka Catullus  \    @PELICAN.CON.WESLEYAN.EDU
             "Sage of the Labyrinth, Knight of the High Odiamor"
                           /- Robert Anton Wilson\

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 10:54:57 +0100 (BST)
From: "Reidar J. Husmo"  <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #22
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Somebody wrote:
>
>I'm busy trying to figure out how to build GUS
>support into the Linux kernel now.  I have several songs (669 and MOD)
>that are too large to fit in 640K, and PMP doesn't support the GUS yet, so
>I hope I'll be able to play them in 32-bit protected mode under Linux!

Um... Hate to tell you this, but... The kernel already supports the GUS. You
will probably have to rebuild the kernel (as it is an option), but that
shouldn't prove too difficult. Of course, it is only an alpha/beta version,
so it comes with interesting warnings about blowing hardware to ... to...
well, wherever...

Radar 'F-U-CN-RD-THS-U-MST-B-A-DOS-USR' Husmo

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 13:31:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Brian Go <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #22
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309231333.B5866-d100000@sciborg>

> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 09:12:15 +0800 (WST)
> From: Jayeson Lee-Steere <[e-mail]>
> Subject: Crack to Mega-Em
> Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
>
> Someone has just informed me of a crack to Mega-Em's registration system
> being uploaded to epas. As you might guess I'm not too thrilled about
> this. I ask that anyone who finds it anywhere else remove it, or asked to
> have it removed. I realise many people are against cripple ware, but
> please remember this is my program and my desired choice of
> distribution/marketing method.
>
> Jayeson Lee-Steere
> [e-mail]

Isn't that a bit low???  Come on, Jay has written an awesome program.  He
must have spent mega amount of time on it.  So support him.  I would feel
guilty using the crack.

> Date: Wed, 22 Sep 93 9:12:36 CDT
> From: [e-mail] (Robert Wiegand)
> Subject: Re: GUS under WinOS/2?
> Message-ID: <9309221412@midnight1>
>
> > Date: Wed, 22 Sep 1993 02:49:32 +1000
> > From: [e-mail] (KWT Wong)
> > Subject: GUS under WinOS2 ??
> > Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
> >
> > Hi.
> > I am not sure if this is a FAQ but I haven't read anything about it
> > for a long long time. Is there anyway to get the GUS to run under
> > WinOS2 in OS/2 2.1 ?? I can get the GUS working under a DOS session
> > but when I try to run the GUS in a WinOS2 enhanced mode session. I get
> > the error that the GUS needs to be working under Enhanced mode but
> > the session is already under Enhanced mode ! Any help appreciated
>
> Sorry, but there is no way to get this to work.
> The Gravis Windows drivers can't work under WinOS2.

Win-OS/2 does not support virtual drivers.   Still patiently waiting too.

> > Gravis come out with the OS/2 drivers quick !! A brand new market
> > just waiting to be tapped !!
>
> We've been telling them that for a year and a half now.

Just keep hounding.  The drivers will be out eventually.
>
> From: [e-mail] (Marius)
> Subject: The Card
> Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
>
> Ok guys. Here's the story: this weekend we're having Computerfest here
> in Toronto and I was planning to get the Ultrasound, but recently when I
> have been listening and looking around I'm starting to be unsure. A
> number of questions have crept up in my mind that keep me from deciding:
>
> 1)How 'Soundblaster'-compatible is the Gus? (i.e. What percentage of IBM
> soundblaster games can run under Gravis??)

SBOS, the emulation provides decent emulation.  With the release of the
Ail drivers and Megaem.  I haven't used SBOS at all.  The Ail drivers
patch the game to work in native mode, with no problem at all, if you are
unconvinced, just find someone who has DUNE2 patched  (my friend returned his
SB-16 when I showed him my GUS w/dune).

Megaem is a Roland MT-32 emulator, which flawlessly convinces the GUS it is
the Roland card.  Music just sounds incredible.  Most games support Roland
MT-32 emulation.

 >
> 2)I hear of newer and newer drivers being released and of the terrible
> long time it takes to get them. Are these drivers also available
> anywhere on the Internet so I could just get them overnight/in-a-week?
>
FTP to archive.epas.utoronto.ca in the pub/pc/ultrasound/submit directory
Full list at the end of the digest.

> 3)How responsive is Gravis to new software/games? If a game comes out
> that the Ultrasound has problems emulating Soundblaster, does Gravis
> eventually release fix/patch to make it work?

Yep.  Comanche Max Overkill is an example I have tried.  I found the patch
on epas.  And it fixed the digital sound problems it had running with SBOS.
 >

> 4)Should I get 256k or should I go all the way and get 1M?

There isn't a choice there.  Just go to your friendly neigborhood Computer
store and ask for Dram chip for your video card.  The same chip are used
in your GUS.  You want to upgrade to 1meg ASAP.

>
> 5)What's this that I heard about a new version/board coming out once the
> Soundblaster emulator get good enough?

???  don't know a thing.
>

Ok, no more advice to give.  I just have one last request. This one is for
you Matt....

I WANT OS/2 DRIVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brian Go             [e-mail]         2nd Year Chem Stud....
If he's chubby, black and carries a Sax.
Chances are, he is amazing!
                      <14eme Festival International de Jazz de Montreal>

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 21:07:56 PDT
From: [e-mail] (Mike Batchelor)
Subject: Unreal demo
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

Any switches and/or SBOS versions for Future Crew's Unreal demo?
My best results so far have been with 2.08 at 20khz, and that only gets
past the opening title before it locks up.  Plays fine with no sound.

1.20 and B10 are worse than this.  Tried -o1-3 and -x1-3 with 2.08, didn't
try any switches with the other two.

By the way, where does SBOS look for the *.sbs files, in the ULTRADIR
directory?  What else does it look for, and where?

--
Mike Batchelor      |
[e-mail]  |                  This space for rent
[e-mail]   |

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 22:14:55 +0000 (GMT)
From: [e-mail] (Peter Cleve)
Subject: unsubscribe
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>

unsubscribe

------------------------------

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #23
*************************************

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Hints:
      - Get the FAQ from the FTP sites or the request server.
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