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1993-09-07
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Ultrasound Daily Digest Tue, 7 Sep 93 :46 MDT Volume 6: Issue 6
Today's Topics:
GUS vs TB
help
Help, how do I use program PatchCaching?
Line-in, FAR file
Reply to question on Gravis Support
Turn on line-in
Wolfenstein 3-D
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: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 15:08:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: Antonio Guia <guia@CC.UManitoba.CA>
Subject:
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061501.A18848-9100000@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
there was a comment about enabling the line-in under os0.5, if nothing
else works try using the windows compattibility to run the ultrasound
mixer, and enable the line-in only as well as volume, etc, then just swap
out of that leaving it in memory
i haven't tried that so let me know if it works
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 93 15:36 MSK
From: "DR. S.RUSAKOV" <L914%SUEARN2.BITNET@vm.gmd.de>
Subject: GUS vs TB
Message-ID: <9309061346.AA25307@orca.es.com>
Hi!
I am a GUS owner "in what use to be Russia" <g>. I'm a killer
musician (sorry yourz minds ain't blown yet with my .mids coz i
havent built my connector box yet...!) - so, bein' bored with all
that analog studios I aimed first to buy smth. no less than Turtle
Beach Multisound just to make my tough stuff at home neat'n'easy.
But after collectin' some info (it took even a phone call to Roland
since they have no email) I am what I am now (see the begining).
Why? Even not considerin' bucks I saved I can state this.
First. When you go thru preset timbres of some ordinary-next
keyboard you're always showered with whole lotta borin' stupid
dreary cheap'n'worn-out sounds; I used to think Proteus was the best
brain I knew since I handled it some time ago (anyway, from about
400 (387) smart patches some 40 (common ratio) should be not quite
boring...)
Some >Considering the Proteus pricing, I thought it was a
TBM owner >good deal, but I realize that the price is steep for
who didnot >someone that only wants sounds for games, etc. Even so,
alas reply >I expected to see more activity regarding the
me when I >Multisound on comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard; but it seems
asked for >GUS is the rage in this group. If you are a musician,
some details>the Multisound is a great deal (IMHO).
Looks so. But a few months later (I hope) I'll have a bit more
than 40 good patches... Now, Turtle Beach releases Tahiti card that
is Multisound MINUS Proteus XR/1 and it costs only $100 less! (So,
why then not "Proteus-only" for $100?..) Strange. Looks like the
remaining part of TBM is far better and popular...
TBS> Tahiti provides two tracks of 16 bit CD-quality hard disk
TBS> recording, the legendary Hurricane Architecture, and the same
TBS> audiophile specifications that made the MultiSound the most
TBS> talked about sound card in the industry today. <...> The
TBS> Hurricane architecture is designed specifically for multimedia
TBS> applications. It uses a Motorola 56001 Digital Signal Processor
TBS> Chip, capable of 20 Million Instructions per Second (MIPS), and
TBS> a proprietary buffering system to help offload the incredible
TBS> amount of work required for playing and recording digital sound.
TBS> Competitors use an outdated process call DMA (Direct Memory
TBS> Access) which was created by IBM and dropped in 1984. Hurricane
TBS> is up to 8 times faster than DMA.
Roy> "DMA is just not fit to handle Windows Multimedia," said Roy
Roy> Smith (President of Turtle Beach Systems). "Even the fastest
Roy> computers will eventually choke, and that 'choking' means clicks
Roy> and pops in your audio, as well as pauses and breaks in your
Roy> video and animations."
i.e. we pay for Hurricane Architecture, that's especially for
multimedia with its video and animations - I can't imagine any case
of just SOUND data transfer for which DMA would fail (correct me if
I'm wrong). What about videos, so (feel free to blame me) IBM PC
CANNOT WORK WITH VIDEO AT ALL, and all that demos just prove it; you
need computers of other clones to do this. Thus Hurricane A-re seems
to be shooting down crows with a canon while you need a lasergun to
take off an UFO... <excuse me>
Now 'bout all that DSPs. I listen to my gus ONLY via slight hall
- it sounds too dry w/o it. Gus LACKS a DSP. But a good DSP (to me)
is when I can, them, set distortion on chan.1, chorus on 2, long
echo on 5 plus at the same time hall on channals 1-16 (including 1,
2 & 5) w/ different amount for each one. Not too much - an usual
case for a song recording. Minimum (just for a farm) you need NO
LESS THAN TWO differenf effects immediately (you can't treat
percussion sounds and solos same mode!); so what about that Roland's
or TBM's DSP? They all can do ONLY ONE effect at the same time!
Whether hall, chorus or echo... 'Tis better than my external rever
to GUS, but not far better.
TBS> If you'd like to compare MultiSound's amazing quality to other
TBS> sound cards on the market, we offer a free "Audio Taste Test"
TBS> compact disc that compares Sound Blaster, MediaVision, and
TBS> MultiSound head-to-head to illustrate the huge difference
TBS> between game sound cards and our professional one.
(A fittin' comparison! Ain't it the time to update it with GUS?)
Ah, here comes Maui... Now it's to be a kinda hotchpotch (below),
but I have too mahy info to cite it completely:
Roy> Maui is a 2/3 length card with an 8 bit bus interface
Great to work with an XT! ^^^^^^^^^
Imagine: $100 (an old XT) + $200 (Maui) ang you're dangerous!
Alas, Maui works only with Windows...
Roy> The synth is the ICS 2115, which we codeveloped with ICS. It's
Roy> not compatible with anything, including the Emu Proteus. Unlike
Roy> the Gravis, the MIDI interpreter is onboard (a Motorola 68000)
Roy> so there's no CPU brain drain from using the synth.
Cool. Particulary for XT again.
Roy> The 2115 isn't available to the public yet, so all the good data
Roy> book stuff hasn't been prepared yet. I would say it's pretty
Roy> similar to an Ensoniq EPS in architecture. One ENV per voice, 6
Roy> stage, I think. There is no on-chip filtering (a problem we plan
Roy> to fix with the next one). The technical manual will be
Roy> available at extra cost after shipping. anybody will be able to
Roy> order it. ^^^^^ ^^^^
Wonderful!
TBS> Maui's General MIDI compatible 24 voice 16 bit samples are
TBS> stored in 2 megabytes of ROM onboard the card. In addition to
TBS> the 128 General MIDI instruments provided by Maui, Maui ships
TBS> with 256K of sample RAM which is upgradeable to 8 megabytes of
TBS> storage RAM.
Roy> The samples in the 2 meg MAUI set are MuLaw compressed, with
Roy> some minor fidelity loss. <...> Maui does not accept 8 bit
Roy> samples, but the software provided with it can import 8 bit and
Roy> make it 16 bit. <...> All samples uploaded by the user are kept
Roy> in linear 16 bit format. This allows a user with 4 or 8 megs to
Roy> augment the ROM GM set by adding "golden" instruments, such as a
Roy> 3 megabyte grand piano, or whatever.
What a kick! 8 megs! 3 megs piano patch! It's time to sell my
gus... Well, read on:
Roy> Maui takes standard SIMMs and has 2 sockets, allowing 2m, 4m,
Roy> and 8m RAM options. I don't know the required speed, but
Roy> standard PC simms can be used, so probably 70ns is fine.
That means 8 megs will cost $300! (when I bo't 6 chips to upgrate
my gus for less than $19) ...Pretty neat. Now next: REAL piano can't
be simulated even with a 120 megs patch! (but, well, I'm not against
a half-meg good piano.pat for Gravis since there's so many pianists
under this sun!) Even with 1 meg Gravis can go far usin' dynamic
patch loadin' (where is software??!) while Maui can work only with
pre-loaded patches & samples because of its 8-bit bus... Now last:
Roy> <...> WaveMaui is only a sound editor. We don't plan to include
Roy> a MIDI sequencer. Windows includes a MIDI file player, called
Roy> Media Player. We do plan to offer a patch editor later, but it
Roy> will not be available at first ship. There will be no technical
Roy> information at first ship either. We will release a developer's
Roy> manual a month or two later.
Later, later, later... A wildcard (*.?). A fren'o'mine wants to
buy Maui cause he likes only rare and exotic things to have. If he
does I'll taste it, but now... THIS IS THE END OF PART "WHY I DID
BUY MY GUS. Sorry I may seem too iron - nevertheless I respect TB;
Maui is into the card #2. Roland's RAP-10 may be a good one but I
beware of SoundCanvas.>>>>
...Readin' answers is more interesting than readin' questions (I
think) but I do have one:
- HOW SHOULD I MANAGE TO FIT SYNCHRONOUS MIDI + AUDIO PLAYBACK?
(i.e. .mid+.snd or .wav) I know GUS can do it! I don' ask even 'bout
synchro recording (it may be done with external [analog] audio
monitoring)... Answers may be:
a) "Share a good programmer lendin' him the SDK <or what?..>"
b) "Wait for brave new software <name> comin' soon..."
c) "This program already exists..."
d) "The daughterboard <GUS-MAX> shall do it easily..."
e) ?
Any suggestions, please...
Lexy F
Voice: +7(095)4324641 E-mail: L914@SUEARN2.BITNET Subj."For Avtor"
Post: Leninski pr. 102-37, Moscow, 117415, Russia.
P.S. Great thanx to F.Dion for patches!!!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 11:38:38 +0100 (METDST)
From: Dick Verweij <hpverwei@cs.ruu.nl>
Subject: help
Message-ID: <199309060938.AA00566@hermans.cs.ruu.nl>
help
--
DICK H.P. VERWEIJ
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D:-) I:-) C:-) K:-) email : hpverwei@cs.ruu.nl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 93 17:16:26 BST
From: Jason Dore <jase@praxis.co.uk>
Subject: Help, how do I use program PatchCaching?
Message-ID: <8389.9309061616@wiener>
Hi,
I'm a happy GUS owner.
I've just met someone who has written a pretty damn good
notation-based sequencer. It's not being distributed yet, and is
intended mainly for the Roland sound cards and modules. But wait!
It does not do PatchCaching, but the author is willing to put in the
extra function calls so that it will support the GUS.
So, exactly how (and when) do I use the two patch caching functions?
Thanks in advance,
Jase.
--
-------------------------------------------------------------------
jase@praxis.co.uk My opinions - not those of my employer
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 15:21:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Line-in, FAR file
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061556.A9039-b100000@sciborg>
> Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 23:09:43 -0600 (MDT)
> From: Jody L. Baze <jbaze@carina.unm.edu>
> Subject: Line-in
> Message-ID: <9309060509.AA23302@carina.unm.edu>
>
> I recently purchased a CD-ROM drive. I would like to play a CD from
> OS/2, but I cannot reliably enable the GUS's line-in. If I use
> sbos -L to do it, OS/2 eventually gets upset. I can not use
> MEGAEM to do it since it will not run in a DOS session under OS/2.
You should be able to use ultrinit.exe to enable the line in. In a DOS
window, type ultrinit -l -o. -l turns the line-in on, and -o turns the
output on. (If the switches do not work, you may need to get a more
recent version of ultrinit.)
> Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 11:29:41 +1000 (EST)
> From: s904858@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (Stuart Gough)
> Subject: What is a FAR file
> Message-ID: <9309060129.4717@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU>
>
> Hi all,
>
> Recently someone uploaded a file called comunion.zip - it is a music file of
> some sort with the extension .FAR! I tried to play it using damtrak ( or
> whatever it is called) but nothing happened except that the program said it
> was a 15 sample mod!
>
My hunch is that a .far is the file format used by Farandole, a new 16
channel tracker for the GUS. A beta of Farandole is on Epas, but it just
locks up my machine.
Phat.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 19:35:54 +0501 (EDT)
From: Gunnar Swanson <gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Reply to question on Gravis Support
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061954.A12188-9100000@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
Dear Phat,
As I wrote a few days ago Impressions has come out with a a set of
drivers for Rules of Engagement 2. Be aware however that they are only
for AIL support and does not support GUS in native mode. Needless to say that
I was very disappointed. The game is not that great anyway save your
money and wait for Microprose's Moon Over Orion or the crossover of Pax
Imperia.
GUSincerely
Gunnar Swanson
gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu
end.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 12:44:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: houlton@CS.ColoState.EDU (david houlton)
Subject: Turn on line-in
Message-ID: <9309061844.AA07616@vivaldi>
> I recently purchased a CD-ROM drive. I would like to play a CD from
> OS/2, but I cannot reliably enable the GUS's line-in. If I use
> sbos -L to do it, OS/2 eventually gets upset. I can not use
> MEGAEM to do it since it will not run in a DOS session under OS/2.
>
> Is there some utility out there that enable the GUS's line-in and
> nothing else? Do I need to get the GUS SDK and figuare out how
> to do it myself? If I do need to do it myself, are there any tips
> you can give me.
>
> Thanks,
> John
I don't have OS/2, but this is what I use to turn on line-in under DOS.
I have it as a DOSKEY macro, but it would work equally well as a batch
file.
AUDIO <-- Load audio TSR
PLAYDIGI -n1 <-- Turn on line-in
AUDIO -F <-- Unload TSR, doesn't change line-in status
Good luck,
Dave
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 10:23:57 -0600 (MDT)
From: bfreeman@NMSU.Edu
Subject: Wolfenstein 3-D
Message-ID: <9309061623.AA19217@NMSU.Edu>
I have been having lots of trouble getting Wolfenstein 3-D to work
with my Gravis. I saw that the FAQ mentions it and that there should
be no problems with it working. I have SBOS 2.08 and have even tried
it with SBOS 2.10B. But on either one, a large amount of sounds being
produced at the same time (the gattling gun, machine gun, or pistol
and immediately opening a door, shooting someone, etc.) will cause my
computer to lock up.
Has anyone else had this problem? I have a 486 DX2/66, Gravis w/256K,
joystick, and my drive is doublespaced. I am afraid it may be the
doublespace messing another program up, but I have no proof.
If anyone has a suggestion (I have already tried various combinations
of O's and X's), please let me know.
Thanks
------------------------------
End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #6
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