Music Box PC/Music Box PC(1995).iso/disk3/_modac11.exe/MODAC110.DOC

Text File | 1993-10-18 | 17KB | 388 lines

MODAC Copyright 1993 by Cornel Huth. All Rights Reserved.
MODAC1.EXE, 18-Oct-1993.


      MODAC. A shareware mod file player and digital VOC and WAVE file
      player/recorder. Continued use requires registration of $15, US
      DOLLARS ON US BANK. No Credit Cards. Pre-paid orders only. US
      Currency accepted for foreign orders. See the sign-on screen for
      order address.

      MODAC was written using my RUCKUS-DAC, with Mod extensions, sound library.
      Also available is RUCKUS-MIDI. The graphics is done with my QB/EVGFX,
      level 2, graphics library. The compiler used was Microsoft BASIC 7.1.
      The sound and graphics libraries are shareware, available for download
      on my BBS.

      The latest version Modac, and my other shareware products, may be
      downloaded from The Fortieth Floor BBS, 1(210)684-8065. 16 hours
      of operation: 17:00 to 09:00 Central Time (1pm-9am weekends).

      Minimum Requirements:

              IBM PC or compatible
              256K RAM
              DOS 3.0+
              VGA

              Note: See the Additional Notes at the end of this document.

      PC speaker can be used, as can an LPT-DAC on the first LPT port,
      the Disney Sound Source, the AdLib, the Sound Blaster and the
      Sound Blaster Pro. Recording requires either of the Sound Blasters.

      Additional Recommendation:

              IBM AT or compatible (for mod file playback, a 386/25+)
              1MB extended RAM
              XMS 2.0 (3.0+ required for XMS use under 386 memory managers)
              Mouse
              Sound Blaster Pro sound card


      Incompatibilities:

      Use of DOSMAX has been demonstrated to affect performance by as
      much as 50% in mod file playback. 386 memory managers have no
      noticable effect.

      Tandy 2000-series computers may have an incompatible timer chip.
      DMA-only operations should not be affected.

      -- This software was developed on an Intel 486/33, Symphony chipset,
      using the Sound Blaster Pro, and a Tseng VGA card w/ET4000AX.

      Bus-based mouse should not be using a Microsoft MOUSE.xxx driver in
      the version 7.xx. Use 6.xx or the 8.xx versions.

      Some 386 and 486 machines are unable to play Mod data when using both
      DMA and BG modes. Neither of my two machines are affected by this,
      but be aware that some machines will lock up when DMA+BG is used for
      mod file playback.

      Performance:

      Varies, depending on machine. DMA mode offers good across-the-board
      sound performance on VOC/WAVE data, regardless of CPU power. For
      TIMER-0 operation, the more CPU power, the better. AdLib digital
      output demands lots of CPU power.

      For mod processing, the best performance is achieved with foreground
      processing (BG disabled) and DMA processing. 45.5kHz processing rate
      is possible with a 486/33 and an SBPro. With DMA-BG processing, 40kHz
      is about it for a 486/33. In stereo, a mod process rate of 22.75kHz
      is no problem for a 486. If you've never heard a mod played in stereo
      using Modac and an SBPRO, you just haven't heard a mod played.

      You should be aware that over-taxing the machine when playing a
      mod may lock your machine up. Use the CPU RESERVES: status in the
      NOSCOPE scope window. If it doesn't say OKAY, you are over-taxing
      your system.

      The AdLib output level may be rather low so turn up your volume.
      For mod playback you should limit the rate to no more than 10kHz.
      13kHz tops.


      BASIC INFO -----------------------------------------------------

      At start-up, Modac scans for sound devices. The highest numbered
      device is the device that Modac uses by default. Modac knows
      about the following devices:

              0-PC speaker (PCSPK0 at startup)
              1-LPT-DAC
              2-Disney Sound Source
              3-Adlib (ADLIB0 at startup)
              4-Sound Blaster
              5-Sound Blaster Pro

      Note that the LPT-DAC is found if there is a parallel printer
      port, even if no DAC is hooked up to it.

      All PCs have the PC speaker device. Modac has two PC speaker
      drivers. PCSPK0 is the default. PCSPK1 up-samples and offers a better
      quality sound than PCSPK0. Use Ctrl-S to toggle between the two
      when the device is selected. Ctrl-S also toggles the ADLIB0/ADLIB1
      mode. Do not use the -1 versions to playback voc/wave files that are
      already at a high sample rate (over 8kHz or so). The -1 versions
      are for voc/wave playback; there is no difference when playing mods.


      The AdLib is a very slow device for doing digital output. It can
      be done but for best results (as far as the AdLib goes), a fast
      CPU is desired. When using ADLIB1, make sure that the original
      sample is no greater than 8kHz. After loading the VOC/WAV file,
      adjust the desired sample rate so that it is slightly less than
      the actual files sample rate. In some cases ADLIB1 can simply not
      be used. Use ADLIB0 mode if you have too much trouble with ADLIB1.


      Modac down-samples where required so even the PC speaker can
      play a 44kHz stereo WAV file, for example. Adjust the interrupt
      rate in the STATUS BOARD to approximate the desired rate. Modac
      makes on-the-fly adjustments to meet the desired rate. For PCSPK1,
      set the sample rate equal to the actual file sample rate. The
      result will be a 2x up-sample for remarkably clear sound. To
      have the SB (non-PRO) play stereo or high-rate samples, you must
      use timer-0 mode.

      ------------------------------------------------------------------
      Note: To adjust a rate with the mouse, use the LEFT MOUSE BUTTON
      to decrease, and the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON to increase. In the case
      of adjusting the sample rate, each click results in a 100Hz change.
      For 1000Hz changes, press CTRL while clicking, or for finer
      adjustments, hold down the ALT key while clicking. BG must be enabled
      for adjustments to be made while playing. If you click the right
      mouse button on a volume/level control, all related sliders are
      set to that position.
      ------------------------------------------------------------------

      For overriding Modac defaults or using Modac without a mouse, see
      section II. COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS.

      Device Select.

      Available devices are in low-green. Unavailable are low-red. The
      currently selected device is in hi-green.

           Note: The AdLib card is a supported device in Modac. It is
           also supported in the CHIMPS program. CHIMPS is similar to
           Modac, except that it plays MIDI files (General MIDI, MT-32,
           and CMF).

      To change the current device, click on its button. If the PCSPK or
      ADLIB is currently selected, you can use Ctrl-S to switch between
      the two playback modes available.


      File Select.

      Modac starts up in DIGITAL file mode. The file manager scans for
      all *.VOC or *.WAV files in the current directory. To load a
      file, click on its name in the FILE MANAGER window. Use the
      up/down buttons to scroll through the file list.

      To change file modes, go to the STATUS BOARD and click on the
      file mode button until MOD is displayed.

      To change directories, click on the desired directory name.  To
      move back to the parent directory, click on the .. entry.

      To move to another drive, click on the drive's letter to the
      right of the file entries.

      Foreground/Background Play Mode.

      Before playing, you may want to select background play by click-
      ing on BG in the SPECIAL FUNCTION BOARD. If BG is not selected,
      all computer resources are spent playing. To exit foreground
      play, press Ctrl-Alt.

      BG has the advantage of letting you perform other tasks while the
      playing takes place. You can scan through directories, looking
      for what to play next or select one of the various scope meters
      to give the audio a visual accompaniment. You can also adjust
      volume, filters, playback rate, etc.


      Play.

      To play the loaded file, click on the PLAY button in the STATUS
      BOARD.


      Stop.

      To stop play, click on the STOP button or press the Esc key.


      Exit Modac to DOS.

      To end the program and return to DOS, press Alt-X or click on the
      EXIT button at the lower-right of the display.


      DOS ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE & COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS ---------------------

      Modac uses the DOS variable MODAC=. To have Modac start up in a
      certain state, you can set this variable to your values. Command-line
      options take precedence over the MODAC environment variable states.

      For example:

              SET MODAC=FILE:*.MOD BG SR:44

      has Modac start up in mod file mode, background processing, and
      a process rate of 44kHz (de-rated to 22kHz if stereo is selected--
      the default mode of the SBPRO). You can use a command-line option
      to override this, say, by using a sr:32 on the command line.

      Example command line:

              C>modac file:daisychn.mod sr:32 color:67

      To override some of Modac's defaults, you can use the following
      options:

      FILE:file.ext

           Load file.ext and play. Also switches Modac file mode to
           .ext. File must reside in current drive\directory. 8-bit VOC
           or .WAV files are supported, up to 45.5kHz, mono and stereo.

      BG

           Start up in background play mode.

      SR:nn

           Set sample rate in kHz. For example, use 22 for 22kHz. For
           stereo playback of FILE:file.ext on the SBPRO, double the
           value. E.g., to play DAISYCHN.MOD in stereo at 22kHz, use SR:44.

      DMAX:nn

           Sets the startup mod file DMA background buffer fill slice count.
           Higher numbers devote more processing time to the buffer fill
           routine. This may be beneficial to slower machines. On fast
           machines the default value of 1 should be just fine. Setting the
           value too high may cause the time-of-day clock to loose time.
           The max value for DMAX:nn is 64. This value should be set to
           1 if BG is not enalbled. DMAX: only affects mod file processing.
           If DMAX is set 64-99 then DMAX is set to 512.

      DEVICE:n

           Select startup device. Device must be installed. Devices are:

                      0-PC speaker
                      1-LPT-DAC on first parallel printer port
                      2-Disney Sound Source
                      3-AdLib
                      4-Sound Blaster (1.03 or above)
                      5-Sound Blaster Pro

      COLOR:hh

           Alter Modac color scheme. The first h is for the underlying
           screen color; the second for the board foreground. h is a
           hex value, 0-F. The default scheme is COLOR:67.

      NoUMB

           Prevent Modac from using UMB memory for storing some mod
           file data. If DOS=,UMB is in CONFIG.SYS, Modac uses as much
           UMB memory for mod file data as it can.

      muSBP

           For Sound Blaster emulation of the SB PRO's mixer facility
           and data display.

      KEY:

           Unlocks advanced save feature to save recordings made by
           Modac. Also performs format translation. You can load a
           .WAVfile and save it in .VOC format, or vice versa.


      CONTROLLING MODAC --------------------------------------------------

                                 The L-R MOD switches  The FAST MOD is for
                                 left/right output     slow PCs attempting
                                 channels on stereo    to play mod files.
                                 mod output.           Click to toggle state.

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────┬─────
│ DEVICE BOARD  Device selection is made here.                 │L-R  │FAST
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────┴─────
┌─────┐┌──────────────────────────────────┐┌─────────────────────────
│ S F ││  CONTROL BOARD                   ││  STATUS BOARD
│ P U ││                                  ││
│ E N ││ In VOC/WAV mode, this board      ││ Various Modac states are set
│ C C ││ controls volumes and SBPRO mixer ││ here. With the SB, you can use
│ I T ││ levels, filters, input source,   ││ DMA or TIMER-0. XMS memory needs
│ A I ││ and record mode (stereo/mono).   ││ DMA mode. Memory used/reming is
│ L O ││                                  ││ shown, as is timer-0 priority,
│   N ││ In mod mode, it controls volumes,││ scope mode, running clock, file
│ B   ││ DMA buffer size, output filter,  ││ mode, interrupt process rate,
│ O   ││ and stereo/mono output mode.     ││ CPU stats and more.
│ A   ││                                  ││
│ R   ││ The lamp at the lower-right is   ││
│ D   ││ red when the SB speaker is on.   ││
└─────┘└──────────────────────────────────┘└─────────────────────────
┌────────────────────────────┐┌──────────────────────────────────────
│ FILE MANAGER               ││ SCOPE
│ ┌────────────────────────┐ ││
│ │Z:\CURRENT\FILE.VOC     │ ││  Various scopes are available. Scopes
│ └────────────────────────┘ ││  operate only if BG is enabled, or if DMA
│ ┌─┐┌────────────┐          ││  processing and not in mod file mode.
│ ├─┤│FILE.VOC    │  Drives  ││
│ │e││..          │          ││  Not all scopes are available for all devices
│ │r││MOREDIR\    │ A  B  C  ││  in all modes. SBPRO has all scopes available
│ │r││OTHER\      │          ││  when in DMA mode.
│ │o││WAVS\       │ D  E  F  ││
│ │r││ Click on file/dir     ││
│ │ ││ entry to load or move ││
│ ├─┤│ to new directory.     ││
│ └─┘└───                    ││
└────────────────────────────┘└──────────────────────────────────────────
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
│ INFO WINDOW  Messages/error messages
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────


      TIPS:

      When recording using the Sound Blaster or Pro, the SB speaker output
      should be off. This is automatically done by Modac when recording
      starts. However, if you adjust the Main Volume, the SB speaker
      is set on. To turn it off, turn the Main Volume to 0.

      When RECORD is selected, all available memory is allocated for
      the recording. You may stop recording at any point. To clear
      memory, press the SCANSOFT button in the SPECIAL FUNCTION BOARD.

      The PRIORITY window in the STATUS BOARD may be set to 2 to disable
      normal BIOS clock updating and gives all background time to the
      RUCKUS digital processing code. Setting the PRIOR to 0 is not
      recommended.

      The mod DMA 4/8/16K buffer size gives good results at 4 with a fast
      machine. Larger buffer sizes makes the VUMETER bars out-of-sync
      since the VU meters respond to the mod data currently being processed,
      while the sound playing is coming from buffered data. The slower the
      rate the more noticable the effect. For slow machines and higher mod
      processing rates, a larger buffer makes for a smoother sound.


Additional Notes.

Modac.exe has also been tested on a 286 machine using a mono video system.
It works. No UI is available; you need a VGA for that. But you can use the
CL options and have Modac operate as a foreground task. To play a file on a
mono system, do:

        C>modac FILE:filename.ext SR:16

To end playback early, press Ctrl-Alt. Otherwise, the tune plays until it's
over.


To use your registration key, either add it to the command line, as in

        C>modac KEY:yourkey

or use it in the MODAC environment variable, as in

        C>SET MODAC=KEY:yourkey


To activate saving mode, press the upper-left button that looks like a
lock. When this button is out you can press the SAVE VOC & SAVE WAV buttons
to save what's in memory to disk. The filename is entered at the bottom line.
Note that when saving from XMS, you should allow at least 100K for loading.
In other words, don't fill up XMS memory recording and then expect MODAC to
load it in since MODAC uses additional XMS memory as workspace on loads.