Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/PCsoundcards/soundcard-faq

Internet Message Format | 1994-01-06 | 120KB

Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!noc.near.net!delphi.bc.edu!delphi!morgan
From: [e-mail] (Morgan Stair)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard FAQ
Followup-To: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Date: 06 Jan 1994 22:09:33 GMT
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Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked Questions
         (and their answers) about soundcards.  It should be read by
         anyone who wishes to post to the comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
         group.
Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard:30091 comp.answers:3313 news.answers:13790

Archive-name: PCsoundcards/soundcard-faq
Last-modified: 6-Jan-1994
Version: 1.1a
X-Posting-Frequency:  Monthly

* Introduction

 *****************************************************************
 **                                                             **
 **     The comprehensive "comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard" FAQ       **
 **                        Version - 1.1a                       **
 **                                                             **
 *****************************************************************

This article contains the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs) seen in comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.  It is posted to help reduce
volume in this newsgroup and to provide hard-to-find information of
general interest.  Unfortunately this document is just about
guaranteed to have mistakes and be out of date.  If you'd like to help
me keep it as close to updated and accurate as possible, send me
corrections and updates... PLEASE!

If a question/answer is either useful to everyone, or specific to only
one soundcard but truly frequently asked, an answer will hopefully be
provided here.  To save space, the reader may be referred to a more
appropriate document, if one is available.

For a more general introduction to the USENET news group
"comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard" without the brand-specific information
found here, try looking at the "Generic IBM PC Soundcard FAQ"
maintained by [e-mail] (Joel Plutchak).

                Please redistribute this article!

This FAQ was created by, and is currently maintained by Morgan Stair
<[e-mail]>.  Thanks to Kent Villard
<[e-mail]> for being a "spell checker
extrordinare".

Send updates and corrections <[e-mail]> and include "FAQ"
in the subject.

Thanks,
  Morgan

PS.  Try reading this with EMACS!  It'll automagically use outline mode!!

 .....................................................................
** 0.1) Question / Answer Policies
Whenever possible, question/answer sources will be credited.  If you
want a comment of yours removed, let me know and I'll remove it.  If
you think someone else's comment(s) should be removed tell me why, or
offer a replacement comment.  While this document should present a
neutral perspective, it can only contain what people have sent, and
what I know.

Only in the most extreme cases will comments be paraphrased,
summarized, or tabulated.
 .....................................................................
** 0.2) DISCLAIMER

The maintainer of this FAQ claims ABSOLUTELY no responsibility for the
information in this article.  If you act on any of this information
you do so at your own risk because you're hereby warned that it
may be completely wrong.

 .....................................................................
** 0.3) Changes in this FAQ.

Version 1.1a:

    Added  BIG LIST of sound companies and addresses.
    Added  FTP information.
    Added  MicroChannel information.
    Added  A blank template to use for new sound cards.
    Added  Laptop dongle list information.
    Added "What music composition software is available?"
    Added "What music publishing software is available?"
    Added AUDIOPORT (by MediaVision) information.
    Added AudioPort VA (by MicroKey) information.
    Added DSP Solutions Inc and their PORT*ABLE Sound Plus(tm) product.
    Added Diamond Sonic Sound information
    Added Orchid SoundWave information.
    Added Prometheus ARIA 16se information.
    Added Roland SC-7 information.
    Added SoundBlaster, SoundBlaster Pro information.
    Added SoundGalaxy information.
    Added SpeachThing information.
    Added Turtle Beach Maui information.
    Added Turtle Beach Multisound information.
    Added Yamaha CBX-B1 information.
    Cleared up the SB16 entry reguarding 12 bit DA limitations.
    Company Video Associates Labs added.

 .....................................................................
** 0.4) Table of Contents

NOTE:

This section is produced by typing:

     grep '^\*' comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard-FAQ-1.1a | sed 's/\*/  /g'

So if there's an error or addition to make, make it in the body of the
FAQ, not here.

 .....................................................................
   Introduction
     0.1) Question / Answer Policies
     0.2) DISCLAIMER
     0.3) Changes in this FAQ.
     0.4) Table of Contents
   Part 1 - General Information
     1.1)  What are the major FTP sites?
     1.2)  What MAILING LISTS are available and how can I join them?
     1.3)  What FAQs and INFO files are available and where can I get them?
     1.4)  Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?
   Part 2 - Term and Technologies
     2.1)  What is Wavetable Synthesis?
     2.2)  What is FM Synthesis?
     2.3)  What is GS / GM?
     2.4)  What is MPU-401?
     2.5)  What is PCM?
   Part 3 - Existing Companies:  BACKGROUND, POLICIES, and CONTACT info
     3.1)  What can you tell me about Activision?
     3.2)  What can you tell me about Adlib?
     3.3)  What can you tell me about Advanced Gravis?
     3.4)  What can you tell me about ATI?
     3.5)  What can you tell me about Cardinal Technologies?
     3.6)  What can you tell me about Covox?
     3.7)  What can you tell me about Creative Labs?
     3.8)  What can you tell me about DSP Solutions?
     3.9)  What can you tell me about Media Vision?
     3.10) What can you tell me about Roland?
     3.11) What can you tell me about Turtle Beach?
     3.12) What can you tell me about Video Associates Labs?
     3.13) What can you tell me about Voyetra?
     3.14) Is there a huge list of sound companies with addresses?
   Part 4 - Existing Hardware
     4.1)  What are the ATI Stereo F/X products and how good are they?
     4.2)  What is the AudioPort VA and how good is it?
     4.3)  What is the AudioPort and how good is it?
     4.4)  What is the Cardinal DSP 16 [Plus] and how good is it?
     4.5)  What is the GUS and how good is it?
     4.6)  What is the Diamond SonicSound?
     4.7)  What is the Logitech Soundman 16 and how good is it?
     4.8)  What is the Multisound and how good is it?
     4.9)  What is the Orchid SoundWave 32?
     4.10) What is the PAS 16 and how good is it?
     4.11) What is the PORT*ABLE Sound Plus(tm) and how good is it?
     4.12) What is the Prometheus ARIA 16se and how good is it?
     4.13) What is the Pro Sonic 16 and how good is it?
     4.14) What is the Roland LAPC1?
     4.15) What is the Roland SCC-1 and how good is it?
     4.16) What is the Roland Sound Canvas SC-7 and how good is it?
     4.17) What is the SoundBlaster and how good is it?
     4.18) What is the SoundBlaster Pro and how good is it?
     4.19) What are the SB16, SB16Basic, and SB16Asp/Csp and how good are they?
     4.20) What is the Sound Enhancer and how good is it?
     4.21) What is the Sound Galaxy and how good is it?
     4.22) What is the SpeachThing and how good is it?
     4.23) What is the Turtle Beach Systems Maui?
     4.24) What is the ViVa Maestro?
     4.25) What is the WaveBlaster and how good is it?
     4.26) What is the IBM Windsurfer and how good is it?
     4.27) What is the Yamaha Hellow Music CBX301 and how good is it?
     4.28) What wavetable synthesis cards are CURRENTLY AVAILABLE?
     4.29) What sound options are there for MicroChannel?
     4.30) What sound options are there for LAPTOPS?
   Part 5 - Existing Software (no games)
     5.1)  How can I convert between sound formats / how does SOX work?
     5.2)  What are SBOS, MEGAEM, and ULTRAMID?
     5.3)  What voice recognition software is available?
     5.4)  What programs can play what music files on what soundcards?
     5.5)  What music composition software is available?
     5.6)  What music publishing software is available?
   Part 6 - Vaporware (Expected "REAL SOON NOW")
     6.1)  What is the AVM Altra Pro?
     6.2)  What is the Aztech WavePower?
     6.3)  What is the Ensonic SoundScape?
     6.4)  What is the Genoa AudioBahn 16 Pro?
     6.5)  What is the GUS-MAX?
     6.6)  What is the MidiBlaster?
     6.7)  What is the PAS 16XL?
     6.8)  What is the PCM Midi Image?
     6.9)  What is the WaveBlaster 2?
     6.10) What is the Yamaha CBX-B1?
   Appendix A - Unanswered Questions
     - What is the Concurrent sound card?
     - What is the Turtle Beach Monterey?
     - What is the Turtle Beach Rio Synth?
     - What is the Roland TAP-10?
     - What is speech synthesis software is available?
   End of FAQ
     EMACS outline-mode automation
 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 1 - General Information

 .....................................................................
** 1.1)  What are the major FTP sites?

Special thanks to Joel Plutchak <[e-mail]> and
the "Generic PC Soundcard FAQ".

Since archive IP names are usually aliases, and IP numbers may change,
the IP number should only be used as a backup (when nameservers are
failing to properly resolve the IP name into an IP number), and
remember that whenever possible you should use a nearby FTP site.

If any of the information here is wrong, or is expected to change,
please let me know at <[e-mail]>.

KEYWORDS   HOSTNAME                 IP NUMBER      DIRECTORY
======================================================================
pas        ftp.uwp.edu              131.210.1.4    /pub/msdos/proaudio
gus        archive.epas.utoronto.ca 128.100.160.36 /pub/pc/ultrasound
gus        theoris.rz.uni-konstanz.de 134.34.3.12  /pub/sound/gus
msdos      wuarchive.wustl.edu      128.252.135.4  /mirrors/msdos
faqs       rtfm.mit.edu             18.70.0.209    /pub/usenet
mods       ftp.brad.ac.uk           143.53.2.5
sb-prog    ftp.cco.caltech.edu      131.215.139.2  /pub/heathh
cmf+rol    ftp.ulowell.edu          128.63.32.1
sound      garbo.uwasa.fi           128.214.87.1
sound      ftp.sun.ac.za                           /pub/simtel/sound
midi       louie.udel.edu           128.175.1.3
sb-freedom nic.funet.fi             128.214.6.100
sb+adlib   ftp.mcs.kent.edu         131.123.2.222
midi+doc   sol.cs.ruu.nl            131.211.80.17
everything wuarchive.wustl.edu      128.252.135.4

 .....................................................................
** 1.2)  What MAILING LISTS are available and how can I join them?

Special thanks to Joel Plutchak <[e-mail]> and
the "Generic PC Soundcard FAQ".

All the mailing lists are joined by sending a control command to a
list server of some kind.  When sending the mail commands:

  - Replace <your-full-name> with your name (no angle brackets).
  - "Body:" lines should not include the word "Body:"
  - If "Body:", "Subject:" or anything else is not specified in the
    instructions, it isn't used by the server and should be left
    blank if possible.

For example, if John Doe wanted to subscribe to the SoundBlaster
Programmers list, his message MIGHT look like this (see actual
directions below):

        To: [e-mail]
        Subject:                                <-- Yes this is blank
        subscribe blaster John Doe

If John Doe wanted to subscribe to the GUS General Digest, his message
MIGHT look like this:

        To: [e-mail]
        Subject: subscribe
                                                <-- No, there's no body

 .....................................................................
All these lists should send you instructions on how to post when you
join (that's also how you know you've joined correctly).  Now that
THAT'S out of the way, the following lists are known to exist:

IBM Sound Mailing List              To: [e-mail]
                                    Body: subscribe IBMSND-L <your-full-name>

GUS Daily Digest                    To: [e-mail]
                                    Subject: subscribe

GUS Programmer's Digest             To: [e-mail]
                                    Subject: subscribe

GUS Musician's Digest               To: [e-mail]
                                    Subject: subscribe

PAS Lovers List                     To: [e-mail]
                                    Subject: subscribe pas-lovers

SoundBlaster Programmers            To: [e-mail]
                                    Body: subscribe blaster <your-full-name>

TurtleBeach Multisound Programmers   To: [e-mail]
                                    Body: subscribe multisound <your-full-name>

There's also supposedly, an MSDOS Sound Card Forum for PC sound card
discussions and info.  This is all I know about it:

    Commands should be sent to the [e-mail] address,
    while the list address itself is [e-mail].

 .....................................................................
** 1.3)  What FAQs and INFO files are available and where can I get them?

Special thanks to Mark Garlanger <[e-mail]>, Tim
Tschirner <[e-mail]>, and Henry Weckman
<[e-mail]>.

All FAQs posted to USENET news.announce can be found in the FAQ
archive "rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/news.answers".  Some interesting
directories to look into: audio-fmts, dsp-faq, comp-speech-faq (this
one's a file).

The sound file formats FAQ can also be found on ftp.cs.ruu.nl
[131.211.80.17] in the directory MIDI/DOC/archives.

The "Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) FAQ" can also be found on
archive.epas.utoronto.ca in the directory /pub/pc/ultrasound/info, or
by sending an e-mail message to the GUS mail server at
<[e-mail]> with "Subject: FAQ" (the FAQ will be
send to you).

The "List of All PAS Programs and Drivers" can be found in the PAS FTP
site as "ftp.uwp.edu:/pub/msdos/proaudio/PASPROGS.LST".  It is also
posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard once a month, and available on
request from Tim or Henry (see addresses above).

A list of "Where To Get The Latest PAS Drivers Vx.x" is posted once a
week to comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcards with that subject (replace the x's
with version numbers).  It is available on request from Tim or Henry.

Tim also wrote an article on the different MIDI drivers for the PAS
cards under Windows. It deals with installation, setup, etc.  It's
available from ftp.uwp.edu in the pub/msdos/proaudio directory as
MIDDRV12.ZIP and on request from him.

Thanks AGAIN you guys!!!

 .....................................................................
** 1.4)  Where can I get the latest version of this FAQ?

This FAQ is posted monthly to the USENET news group,
"comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard", and it is in the FAQ archive at
"rtfm.mit.edu:/pub/usenet/comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard/".

 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 2 - Term and Technologies
 .....................................................................
** 2.1)  What is Wavetable Synthesis?

        [From the Gravis Ultrasound FAQ]

Written By: [e-mail] (Francois Dion)

        ....The first generation of wavetable synthesis was actually a
_digitally_ controlled _analog_ oscillator(s) where parameters
controlling the waveform were kept in memory. The Curtis based synths
and some others are directly derived from this concept.

        The second generation of wavetable synthesis uses a digital
oscillator, with the waveform held in memory in it's basic form (one
period usually).  Parameters to alter the oscillator behaviour are
also in memory.  I use the general term "memory" instead of RAM,
because in some case it's actually ROM, FlashROM, PROM, EPROM,
switches, buffers etc... The Ensoniq chip found in the Macintosh Plus
is an example (8 bit, 4 oscillators, 4096 byte wavetable).

        The third generation of wavetable synthesis which can be found
in two flavours (RAM or ROM) is based on the second generation, but
uses bigger wavetables to hold the waveform (either in single period
or multi period format) including this time the attack and release....

 .....................................................................
** 2.2)  What is FM Synthesis?

        [From the PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

        "FM Synthesis" simulates music instruments by using a sine wave
(operator) to modify another. Sound quality depends, among other
things, on the number of operators used.  The popular Yamaha OPL2
chip uses two operators, the OPL3 chip found in most recent cards uses
four operators.
 .....................................................................
** 2.3)  What is GS / GM?

-The GS Format-

GS is a format developed by Roland Corporation for sound generating
devices that allows for the addressing of a very large number of sounds
(16,384 total possibilities) while still completely complying with the
General MIDI System.  It also defines many other details for expressive
nuances that can be implemented during performance.

-GS Features-

Effects processing:  Integrated Reverb and Chorus, eight models for each,
                     adjustable for each part.

Tone selection:  These are selected using the Program Change message and a
                 control change message.  The Program Change message can
                 be a value between 0 and 127, likewise for the Control
                 Change method.  Hence, 128x128 possible sounds.

Maximum polyphony:  24 voices minimum.  GS also defines a Voice Priority
                    Ranking so that it is possible to write pieces with
                    a greater polyphony than what the device can handle
                    and have it play back reasonably intact, given the
                    important parts are written for the high priority
                    channels.

Parts:  16

Drums:  Sets are selectable via program change messages.  Roland modules
        typically have 8-9 drums sets.

                        -Peter McCombs <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 2.4)  What is MPU-401?

        The Roland MPU-401 is the industry standard MIDI interface card.
It is used to communicate between a computer and a MIDI compatible sound
device.  The MPU-401 has an on-board co-processor which allows the card
to operate using minimal CPU resources while in intelligent mode.  It
also includes a "dumb" UART mode which is basically a pass-through mode.
Intelligent mode causes the interface to interrupt the computer only when
new data is required.

                        -Peter McCombs <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 2.5)  What is PCM?

        PCM stands for pulse coded modulation.  It is the method used
by most sound cards to record, and playback recorded sound.  Since
computers can't directly manipulate analog sources, devices most
convert analog signals to digital signals with an A/D converter for
the computer to use and opposite needs to occur so that we can
understand the signal (D/A converter).

        There are two main parameters that effect the quality of the
sound.  First is the sampling rate.  This is measured in Hertz(Hz) or
KiloHertz (kHz= 1,000 Hz), typical values include: 4 kHz, 8 kHz,
11.025 kHz, 22.05 kHz, 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz.  In theory signals upto
one half of the sampling rate can be reconstructed for the recorded
signal(look for references by C. E. Shannon for a proof).  Since no
one can create ideal electronic components, the sampling rate is
typically slightly higher the maximum reproduced signal.  The second
parameter that affects the quality is the number of bits per sample.
Typically they are 8 and 16-bits/sample.  The number of bits affect
the dynamic range of the sample and the signal to noise ratio.

        There are many other things in life that use PCM, two of the
most common are telephone communication and CDs.  Due to the cost
benefits of electronic switching over manually switching, your voice
is sample by the telephone company (7 or 8-bits/sample and 8 kHz) and
before it heads down the line to the other person it is then converted
back to an analog signal.  The phones provide reasonable quality for
voice signals.  They allow for signals upto about 4 kHz and a dynamic
range of about 42-48 decibels (dB).  If you you try and listen to
someone's radio over the phone you'll see how poor it is for that type
of signal.  But it only requires 8 Kbytes/second.  CDs provide much
better quality with 16-bits/sample and a 44.1 kHz sampling rate.  This
gives them 96 dB of dynamic range and they are able to play signals
between 20 Hz and 20 kHz.  This is the 'typical' listener's hearing
ability.  The cost is that it requires about 178
Kbytes/second(16-bits/sample * 1/8 bytes/bit * 44100 samples/second *
2 channels(left & right)).

                        --Mark Garlanger <[e-mail]>

        The American digital telephony standard uses a process called
mu-law companding to generate eight-bit PCM samples (mu as in the
Greek letter).  The quantization (assignment of digital codes to
analog amplitudes) is not uniform, but is skewed so that the signal is
sampled with greater resolution when the amplitude is less.  The
rationale is that a low-amplitude signal requires greater resolution
for good analog reconstruction than a high-amplitude signal.  The
result is that the equivalent of 14 bits of dynamic range is
compressed into 8 bits.  The European telephony standard uses a
similar encoding scheme, called A-law companding.

        A reference is:  Gibson, Jerry D.  _Principles of Digital and
Analog Communications_, New York: Macmillan, 1989.  pp. 276-7.

                        --Mike Long <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 3 - Existing Companies:  BACKGROUND, POLICIES, and CONTACT info

  In trying to be useful and fair (not as easy as you might
think) I've decided to format each company entry as follows.

  First, comes the full company name, address, techsupport numbers,
etc (all the official stuff).

  Then I'll allow people to enter their comments, with a MAXIMUM of
three lines!  Your name, e-mail address, and the date will be put in
with your comments, so keep it clean.
 .....................................................................
** 3.1)  What can you tell me about Activision?
BACKGROUND:?
POLICIES: ?
CONTACT:

Activision
PO Box 67001    -or-
11440 San Vincent Blvd., #310
Los Angeles, CA  90049

Phone: [phone]
 .....................................................................
** 3.2)  What can you tell me about Adlib?
BACKGROUND:

Theirs was the first soundcard standard.  When some hardware is
"AdLib" compatible, it's supporting 7-11 voice FM synth and no digital
output.

Creative Labs then took the lead with their SoundBlaster which was
basically and AdLib card + DAC.

POLICIES: ?
CONTACT: (verified 15-Nov-93)

Adlib Multimedia Inc.
220 Grande Allee East, Suite 850
Quebec, QC
Canada G1R 2J1

Phone: [phone]
       [phone]

 .....................................................................
** 3.3)  What can you tell me about Advanced Gravis?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES:

Barring occasional MAJOR exceptions, their tech support tends to be
excellent and well informed, but it's not toll free.  They update
their software frequently and as of this writing have been in the
habit of sending updates to registered users free and often being
asked to do so.  They have a strong internet presence, answering
questions via e-mail and Usenet, and the GUS daily digest.  Their tech
support follows the "GUS digest" carefully, and posts it on the wall
in their office daily!

CONTACT:

USA OFFICE                      CANADIAN OFFICE
1790 Midway Lane                101-3750 North Fraser Way
Bellingham,WA                   Burnaby,BC
98226                           V5J 5E9

Phone Numbers:
Tech Support: [phone]
Sales:        [phone]
BBS:          [phone]

Internet:
Tech Support:     [e-mail]
                  [e-mail]
Sales:            [e-mail]
 .....................................................................
** 3.4)  What can you tell me about ATI?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES: ?
CONTACT:

> Date: Tue, 2 Nov 1993 16:18:16 -0500
> From: Steve DeGroof <[e-mail]>
>
> ... (product info removed) ...
> If you want more information, the following internet addresses
> can be used to contact ATI:
>
> [e-mail]        - Customer Support
> [e-mail]       - Marketing
>
> Phone numbers:
> [phone]          - main switchboard
> [phone]          - Customer Support
> [phone]          - BBS (9600/2400/1200, 8 bit, no parity, 1 stop)
>
> Mailing address:
>
> ATI Technologies Inc.
> 33 Commerce Valley Drive East
> Thornhill, Ontario, L3T 7N6
> Canada
>
> SD
 .....................................................................
** 3.5)  What can you tell me about Cardinal Technologies?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES: ?

CONTACT:

Cardinal Technologies
1827 Freedom Rd.
Lancaster, PA 17601

General: [phone]
Customer service: [phone]
FAX: [phone]
BBS: [phone]
Tech Support: [phone], 9-5 EST Mon.-Fri.

 .....................................................................
** 3.6)  What can you tell me about Covox?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES:   ?
CONTACT:

Covox Inc.
675 Conger Street
Eugene, OR 97402

         Main:    [phone]
         FAX:     [phone]
         BBS:     [phone]
         E-Mail:   [e-mail]

 .....................................................................
** 3.7)  What can you tell me about Creative Labs?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES:   ?
CONTACT:

Creative Labs
1901 McCarthy Blvd
Milpitas, CA 95035
Main: 408-428-6600
Sales: 800-998-5227
Customer Support: 800-998-1000
Tech Support: 405-742-6622  (note: 405, NOT 408)
Tech Support Fax: [phone]
Tech Support BBS: 405-742-6660
Tech Support hours are 8:00am-10:00pm CST, 7 days a week

 .....................................................................
** 3.8)  What can you tell me about DSP Solutions?

DSP Solutions, Inc. is a company specializing in the use of DSP technology for
PC applications.  The company has been an active participant in the IMA group
committee establishing the industry standard ADPCM audio compression.

DSP Solutions, Inc. is an IBM Business Partner since 1989.

Sales Office:  550 Main Street, Suite J, Placerville, California 95667 -
               Telephone: [phone]  Fax: [phone]

Technical Support - Telephone: [phone] Fax: [phone]
 .....................................................................
** 3.9)  What can you tell me about Media Vision?

BACKGROUND: ?
POLICY:

No-one has spoken up about Media Vision (PAS) as a company, except for
one person, Linda Thomas <[e-mail]>, who said "...their
technical support is mediocre to pathetic".  I'd be glad to include
specifics from MediaVision if they'll send me something.

CONTACT:

Media Vision, Inc.
47221 Fremont Boulvard
Fremont, CA  94538

Technical support: [phone]
BBS:               [phone]
Fax:               [phone]

 .....................................................................
** 3.10) What can you tell me about Roland?

BACKGROUND:

        Roland is a company specializing in electronic/digital musical
instruments.  In 1982 Roland, along with a group of other musical
instrument vendors, pioneered the MIDI standard.  Their products range
from effects processing units, to add-on sound boards for the PC, to
expensive studio equipment such as samplers and keyboards.

        There are several subsidiaries of Roland corporation, notably
Boss and Rhodes (though I believe Rhodes has since been phased out).

        Most Boss products fall into the synthesizer, drum machine,
controller, and effects processing areas.  I am not aware of any sound
cards for the PC from this company.

        Rhodes specialized in keyboards only, from what I know of the
company.  The vintage Rhodes sound has been integrated into most Roland
sound devices.  The classic ballad-synth sound, real pretty.

                        -Peter McCombs <[e-mail]>

POLICIES: (unknown)
CONTACT:

Roland Corporation
7200 Dominion Circle
Los Angeles, CA 90040-3647
[phone]
 .....................................................................
** 3.11) What can you tell me about Turtle Beach?

BACKGROUND:
POLICIES:
CONTACT:

If you need to contact Turtle Beach, you can reach them by e-mail at

           [e-mail] (Turtle Beach*Roy Smith)
or         [e-mail] (Jon Victor/Turtle Tech.)
or         [e-mail] (Curtis Crowe)

or you can write to them at

                   Turtle Beach Systems
                   PO BOX 5074
                   York, PA 17405
                       [phone]
                   FAX [phone]

Turtle Beach also runs a support BBS for users of their products.  The
BBS number is [phone] (8N1).
 .....................................................................
** 3.12) What can you tell me about Video Associates Labs?
BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES: ?
CONTACT:

Video Associates Labs, Inc.
4926 Spicewood Springs Rd.
Austin, TX  78759

Phone: [phone]
       [phone]
Fax:   [phone]
 .....................................................................
** 3.13) What can you tell me about Voyetra?
BACKGROUND: ?
POLICIES: ?

CONTACT:

    Voyetra
    333 Fith Avenue
    Pelham, NY
    [phone] (US only)
    [phone] (From anywhere)
    [phone] (FAX)
 .....................................................................
** 3.14) Is there a huge list of sound companies with addresses?

Why yes, thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]>, I have this list:

ACS USA Inc.
[phone]
[phone]

Activision
PO Box 67001
Los Angeles, CA 90049
[phone]

Adlib Multimedia Inc.
20020 Grande Allee East, #850
Quebec City, PQ
Canada  G1R 2J1
[phone]
[phone]
[phone]

Advanced Gravis
101-3750 N. Fraser Way
Burnaby, BC
Canada  V5J 5E9
[phone]

Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd.
1790 Midway Ln.
Bellingham, WA  98226
[phone]

Advanced Strategis Corp.
60 Cutter Mill Road, #502
Great Neck, NY  11021
[phone]

Alpha Systems Lab Inc.
2361 McGaw Av.
Irvine, CA  92714
[phone]
[phone]
[phone]

Altec Lansing
[phone]

Artisoft
691 East River Rd.
Tucson, AZ  85704
[phone]

ASC Computer Systems
PO Box 566
St. Clair Shores, MI  48080
[phone]

ATI Technologies
33 Commerce Valley Dr. East
Thornhill, ON
Canada  L3T 7N6
[phone]

ATI Technologies
3761 Victoria Park Av.
Scarborough, ON
Canada  M1W 3S2
[phone]
[phone] fax

Audiowave Technology Inc.
[phone]
[phone]

AVM Technology Inc.
655 East 9800 South
Sandy, UT  84070
[phone]
[phone]

Aztech Labs Inc.
46707 Fremont Blvd.
Fremont, CA  94538
[phone]
[phone]

Cardinal Technologies Inc.
[phone]
[phone]
[phone] fax

CompuMedia Technology Inc.
[phone]
[phone] fax

Covox Inc.
675 Conger St.
Eugene, OR  97402
[phone]
[phone]

Creative Labs Inc.
1901 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, CA  95035
[phone]
[phone]
(tech support moved to Oklahoma again)

Computer Peripherals Inc.
67 Rancho Conejo
Newbury Park, CA  91320
[phone]
[phone]

Diamond Computer Systems
1130 E. Arques Av.
Sunnyvale, CA  94086
[phone]
[phone] fax

DSP Solutions
2464 Embarcadero Way
Palo Alto, CA  94303
[phone]

Echo Speech Corp.
6460 Via Real
Carpinteria, CA  93013
[phone]

Ensoniq
155 Great Valley Parkway
Malvern, PA  19355
[phone]

ESS Technology Inc.
[phone]
[phone] fax

Genoa Systems Corp.
75 East Trimble Rd.
San Jose, CA  95131
[phone]
[phone]

IBM Personal Computer Corp.
Route 100
Somers, NY 10589
[phone]

Laser Digital Inc.
[phone]
[phone]
[phone] fax

Logitech
6505 Kaiser Dr.
Fremont, CA  94555
[phone]
[phone]

Media Resources
[phone]
[phone] fax

MediaSonic Inc.
[phone]
[phone] fax

Media Vision Inc.
47300 Bayside Parkway
Fremont, CA  94538
[phone]
[phone]

Microsoft Corp.
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA  98052
[phone]
[phone]

MIDI Land Inc.
[phone]
[phone] fax

Miles Design Inc.
10926 Jollyville, #308
Austin, TX  78759
[phone]

OmniLabs/TRM
[phone]
[phone]
[phone]
[phone] fax

Orchid Technology
45365 Northport Loop West
Fremont, CA  94538
[phone]

ProLink Computer Inc.
2530 Corporate Place, Ste A-100
Monterey Park, CA  91754
[phone]
[phone] fax

Roland Corp.
7200 Dominion Circle
Los Angeles, CA 90040
[phone]
[phone]

Sequoia Systems Inc.
400 Nickarson Rd.
Marlboro, MA  01752
[phone]

Sigma Designs Inc.
47900 Bayside Parkway
Fremont, CA  94538
[phone]
[phone]

Sun Moon Star
[phone]
[phone] fax

Tecmar Inc.
[phone]
[phone]

The Audio Solution
PO Box 11688
Clayton, MO  63105
[phone]

Toptek Technology Inc.
[phone]
[phone] fax

Turtle Beach Systems
52 Grumbacher Road, #6
York, PA  17402
[phone]
[phone]
[phone] fax

Turtle Beach Systems Inc.
1600 Pensylvania Av., Unit 33
York, PA  17404
[phone]
[phone]

Vocaltec Inc.
157 Veterans Drive
Northvale, NJ  07647
[phone]
[phone]
[phone] fax

Voyetra Technologies
333 Fifth Av.
Pelham, NY  10803
[phone]

Walt Disney Software
PO Box 290
Buffalo, NY  14207-0290
[phone]

Yamaha Corp of America
Consumer Products Division
PO Box 6600
Buena Park, CA  90622
[phone]
 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 4 - Existing Hardware

 .....................................................................
** 4.1)  What are the ATI Stereo F/X products and how good are they?

Here's a list of ATI sound products:

STEREO-F/X
- low cost SB compatible with stereo capability
- 22KHz stereo record
- 44KHz stereo playback

VGASTEREO-F/X
- STEREO-F/X combined with super-VGA

STEREO F/X CD
- SB compatible
- programmable mixer
- CDROM interface
- OPL3

CD SOUND DIMENSION
- multimedia upgrade kit
- STEREO F/X CD packaged with CDROM drive and CDROMs

                        --Steve DeGroof <[e-mail]>


 .....................................................................
** 4.2)  What is the AudioPort VA and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           MicroKey Inc.
Product:           AudioPort VA (don't confuse with MediaVision product)
Street Price:      under $200
Summary:           12 bit AD/DA parallel dongle

Dig. Playback:     12 bit, mono, 44KHz
Dig. Record:       12 bit, mono, 44KHz
External Ports:    mic-in, line-in (via attenuator), line-out
Instruments:       n/a
Internal Ports:    n/a
Synthesis Method:  n/a
Voices:            n/a

Effects:           none
External Control:  none
S/N Ratio:         55+ dB
Synthesis Chip:    none

GM Compatible:     n/a
GS:                n/a
MPU-401:           n/a
MT-32:             n/a
SB:                Yes
SC Modules:        n/a
SCC-1:             n/a

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  ?
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

The laptop sampling dongle, allows good mono digital sampling and
playback.  The CODEC supports hardware 3:1 ADPCM compression to reduce
space.  It dominates the parallel port, and you lose the printer for
the duration.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.3)  What is the AudioPort and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           MediaVision Inc.
Product:           AudioPort (don't confuse with the MicroKey product)
Street Price:      under $200?
Summary:           12 bit AD/DA parallel dongle

Dig. Playback:     12 bit, mono, 44KHz
Dig. Record:       12 bit, mono, 44KHz (option)
External Ports:    mic/line-in, line-out
Instruments:       n/a
Internal Ports:    n/a
Synthesis Method:  n/a
Voices:            n/a

Effects:           none
External Control:  none
S/N Ratio:         55+ dB
Synthesis Chip:    none

GM Compatible:     no
GS:                no
MPU-401:           no
MT-32:             no
SB:                Yes
SC Modules:        no
SCC-1:             no

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  ?
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

The laptop sampling dongle, allows good mono digital sampling and
playback.  The CODEC supports hardware 3:1 ADPCM compression to reduce
space.  The dongle is sold in two flavors: a play-only and a play/record
version.  It dominates the parallel port, and you lose the printer for
the duration.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.4)  What is the Cardinal DSP 16 [Plus] and how good is it?

Special thanks to Hal Lichtin <[e-mail]> for getting this
information!

Data on the Cardinal Digital Sound Pro (DSP) 16 [Plus] Sound Card
                (AKA MPC700 and MPC700+)

Cardinal seems to be wary of saying too much about the card in any one
place, but if you look at the board, and read through the manual and sales
literature you can glean a lot of info:

HARDWARE INFO
-------------

16-bit board based around:

        Digital Signal Processor:  Analog Devices ADSP-2115
        CODEC:                     Analog Devices AD1848KP "SoundPort"
        SCSI Interface (PLUS only):   Adaptec AL-6260/AL-6360 (from literature)
        plus a large chip with a paper "Cardinal" label on it, presumably
        an ASIC.

Connections
External        Line Input (Stereo)
                Mic Input (mono)
                Line Out (Stereo)
                PC Speaker
                Joystick/Midi
Internal:       CD Sound Input (four pin)
                PC speaker Input/Output
                Sony "CDU31A compatible" 34-PinCD
                SCSI 50-Pin CD (Plus only)
                ROM Socket for Wavetable Synthesis

Jumpers:        Base Address (220 or 240)
                SCSI CD ROM Address (340 or 140)
                All other Addresses, IRQs, DMAs, are software set

Cables Provided:  MIDI/Joystick breakout cable (Plus Only)

NOTES:
        Requires a separate three-connector cable to play PC speaker sounds
        via the sound card.  It is Listed as an option, but is easy to put
        together from reasonably readily available parts.

        Line input and CD Sound input may be electrically identical; at
        least the mixer software uses a single control for both.  Only a
        single input (line/CD or microphone) can be used to record at a time.

        Claims that SCSI controller is identical to the Adaptec 1510.

        CD-ROM sound input connector is said to be identical to Sound
        Blaster connector.  Anyone know where I can get a female connector
        of this type?

ELECTRICAL/PERFORMANCE SPECS
----------------------------
(Literature Claims the following as "typical", which presumably means
some boards don't meet all the specs.

20-20K Hz frequency Resp (+/- 3db on line out, +/- 5 db on speakers)
0.0225% Total Harmonic Distortion on line out
0.2% Total Harmonic Distortion on Speaker jack
Microphone 600Ohm Dynamic
Line In Jack 5KOhm Impedence
Amplifier Output 4 Watts per Channel
5 Watt power consumption (typical, power amp not in use)
10-50 Degrees C Operating Environment
FCC Class B Approval
7.6" X 4.2" Dimensions

SOUND INFO
----------

8 and 16 Bit record/play
5.5 - 48 KHZ sampling rates
8-bit A-Law and U-Law Hardware compression
11-Voice Stereo Basic Music Synthesis
24-Voice Wavetable Music Synthesis is optional

Sound Standards supported:

Microsoft Windows 3.1
Microsoft Windows Sound System
AdLib
SoundBlaster
MPC (level 1 & 2)
Compaq Business Audio
MPU-401 [Does not specify what modes]

CONFIGURATION
-------------

The following is mostly from the manual:


IRQs:                   Default         Options
        SoundBlaster    7               5, 3
        Windows Sound   11              7, 9, 10, 11, disabled
        MPU-401 *       5               3, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 disabled
        SCSI            10              9, 11, 12, disabled
        Sony CD         10              9, 11, 12, disabled
        Mitsumi CD      10              3, 5, 9, 11, disabled

 *= not from manual, from Windows Setup

DMA:
        SoundBlaster    1               0
        Windows Sound   0               1, 3

I/O Addresses:
        Game port       200-201         disabled
        Synthesizer (SB)388-38B         none
        Dig. Audio (SB) 220-23F         240-25F
        Windows Sound   530-537         640-647, EB0-EB7, F40-F47, disabled
        MPU-401         330-337         any? 210-217, 230-237, 310-317, disabled
        SCSI            340-34F         140-14F, disabled
        Sony/Mitsumi-CD 300-30F         3x0-3xF, disabled

NOTES:  Box claims high-number (16-bit) DMA support, but the board/software
        does not seem to do so.

        SCSI controller uses PIO, not DMA.

        At least some DOS Voyetra software (e.g, Mixer, Soundscript) will
        not work without a valid MPU IRQ and Port.

        Use of Port 330 for MPU-401 appears to be incompatible with Reader
        Rabbit 1 and 2.

SOFTWARE
--------

Basic Board "driver" loads board DSP firmware, including SoundBlaster Mode
and exits.

Comes with Adaptec ASPI2DOS.SYS and ASPICD.SYS drivers (Plus MSCDEX)
Supplied ASPICD.SYS driver does NOT support CD-XA, or at least not Kodak
Photo CD.

Comes with drivers for Sony and Mitsumi drives.

Sound software comes from Voyetra and includes:

DOS:    DOSDAT "Digital Audio Transport"
        DOSMIX Mixer
        SoundScript sound/fli script file interpreter
        Simple command line MID and WAV/VOC players
        Various drivers used by the above

Windows:AudioStation; includes Mixer, CD control Module (with playlists),
                Digital Audio Transport VOC/WAV Play/Record module, and MIDI
                Play/Record module
        Record/Playback volume applet
        WinDAT Digital Audio Editor
        Midi Orchestrator MIDI Editor
        Say It Voice Annotator
        Voyetra Jukebox for Windows
        Various drivers used by the above

Plus    A small collection each of .MID and .WAV files

Notes:  As of Mid Sept. the software disks were up to rev 2.03.  These disks
        are available for downloading from the bulletin board, but see below.
        Much of the software on these disks has early August dates.

        The mixers do NOT include a "Master" volume control, despite the
        literature to the contrary.  There is a separate Windows applet
        for "master" volume, but it appears to reset ALL volume controls to
        the same position, so it is not a true "Master" control (but I have
        not played around with this much, so I may be missing something).
        There is no DOS Master control at all.

        There is no DOS command-line method for setting volumes; you must use
        the Mixer.  Actually it is possible to kludge a way of setting the
        volume in DOS via .bat files, but it isn't pretty.

        Early versions of the SW disks did not include the Windows master
        volume applet, but did include a dos midi sequencer that was never
        supported and is not  supplied on more recent disks.

        The manual tells you that you can upgrade a lot of the Voyetra Apps
        (for more money of course).

        A whole bunch of the program names above are Trademarks of Voyetra
        Technologies; Voyetra is a Registered Trademark thereof.

OPTIONS
-------

The Pro Plus adds a SCSI interface and a MIDI/Joystick breakout cable.

Wavetable ROM with 128 General MIDI patches; supports up to 24 simultaneous
voices

Various cable kits

MISC INFO/PRICES
----------------

3 Year Warrantee, based on sales receipt.  Cardinal does not register
ownership, however, Voyetra does ask you to register.

Cardinal has a bulletin board, [phone].  It is hard to get through,
and even when it answers, does not seem to connect successfully much of the
time.

Phone support 9-5 Eastern Time, Weekdays [phone] The best way to get
support is to call, leave a message and the WILL get back to you (if you
are at the phone when they call).  You can also FAX your questions.

Main Number [phone]

Prices as of July '93
                        List    Avail
Sound Pro               $159    $129(Computer City)
Sound Pro Plus          $229    $169(Dell)
MIDI Wavetable ROM      $99      ??

A DSP software developers kit is said to be in Beta Test (as of early Sept'93).

GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
-------------------

I am not an audiophile, so I cannot claim to seriously rate the board's
audio qualities.  On a locally assembled 386/40 ISA system I was able to
record WAV files with reasonable success at nearly all rates except full
44KHz/Stereo/16-bit.  Some samples were noticeably hissy, but I did not play
around enough to see if this could be easily eliminated.  The Basic Sound
Synthesis sounds, well, basic.  It pretends to support all 128 General Midi
patches, but some of them sound far from the names attached to them.  I
assume that the Wavetable ROM fixes this, but I know little about what I
should be expecting here and haven't bought the ROM.

I have relatively few software programs, and none of the "serious" games to
really test it out.  It worked successfully with all my current software,
both hard disk based (e.g., the basic Carmen) and CD ROM base (e.g., Just
Grandma and me, Toolworks Windows Encyclopedia), except for one Shareware
children's program (Animated Words) that uses something called "Real
Sound".

Overall, this appears to be a generally reasonable quality board, with a
few corners cut here and there to keep the price down, and it would appear
to be a reasonable choice for a home user or someone who wants to do some
playing around.  There is significant promise in the fact that the DSP is a
commercial part and that Cardinal has been updating the software.  The
board is brand new (first non-SCSI boards probably shipped in June, first
SCSI boards appear to have shipped around the beginning of August) and has
not made it to any reviews that I know of yet.

                                Hal Lichtin
                                Open Software Foundation
                                [e-mail]  [phone]
 .....................................................................
** 4.5)  What is the GUS and how good is it?

This answer has been compiled from information in the "GUS FAQ", the
"PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide", and personal notes from Tom
Klok <[e-mail]>.

Company:           Advanced Gravis Technologies
Product:           Gravis UltraSound
Street Price:      US$125
Summary:           RAM based wavetable synthesis soundcard

Dig. Playback:     16 bit, 44.1KHz, stereo
Dig. Record:       8 bit (16 w/daughter card), 44.1KHz, stereo
External Ports:    line-in, line-out, ampl-out, mic-in, game (MIDI w/adapter)
Instruments:       128 General MIDI
Internal Ports:    CD audio in, optional daughter cards, unexplained pins
Synthesis Method:  Wavetable
Voices:            32 total polyphonic notes and voices (maximum 14 at 44.1KHz)

Effects:           None
External Control:  No
Patch Editing:     Yes
S/N Ratio:         Excellent (numbers anyone? <[e-mail]>)
Sample Pool:       5MB stored on disk
Synthesis Chip:    Gravis/Forte GF1 (ICS cutom ASIC).
WTS RAM:           256KB RAM (expandable to 1MB for about $35), no ROM

GM Compatible:     Yes (TSR emulator required in DOS)
GS:                Yes (TSR emulator required in DOS)
MPU-401:           Yes (TSR emulator required in DOS)
MT-32:             Yes (TSR emulator required in DOS)
SB:                Yes (DOS only and via TSR emulator)
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             Yes (TSR emulator required in DOS)

NT support:        No
OS/2 support:      No ("It's under development")
UNIX-ish support:  Linux, 386BSD
Windows support:   100% (386 enhanced mode only)

Notes and Quotes:

        GM/SCC1 + SB combined support is expected in 15-Nov-93 MegaEm
release.  The SBOS TSR emulates the SB very well for about 90% of the
games.  Often the patches you hear will be SB-PRO stereo due to a side
effect of a game's SB-PRO support.  Often the patches will sound
better than the SB does.  Then again there's the 10% of the games that
don't run, or run poorly with SBOS.  You should see if MEGAEM or the
AIL drivers will work before sinking to SB emulation, anyway.
                        --Morgan Stair <[e-mail]>

        As a proud GUS owner, I think it is mandatory to mention that
the GUS is currently (and has been for over a year) the ONLY wavetable
on the market with RAM for under $200. Because of this, more and more
musicians have begun to pay attention to this growing niche.
        A GUS Software Development Kit exists for programmers who want
to tap the potential of the GUS, or write new applications for it. The
SDK has considerable support (some tech. staff, but mostly end-users
and other such hackers).
        Many game companies are now writing their code with AIL/MILES
drivers incognito (expl. of AIL and MILES goes here...) which allows
wavetable owners to experience better-than- FM sound.
                        --Steve Bongos Larson <[e-mail]>

        Each voice also has 16 panning positions.  By ganging two
voices together, you can effectively have 4096 pan positions.  The GUS
has automated volume-ramping that can be used as one-shot or
oscillating volume modulators.  Thus, amplitude envelopes use very
little CPU horsepower.
                        --Tom Klok <[e-mail]>

 .....................................................................
** 4.6)  What is the Diamond SonicSound?

Company                 : Diamond
Product                 : Diamond SonicSound
Street Price USA        : $190
Street Price Netherlands: f550
Summary                 : 16 bit ROM based wavetable synthesis
soundcard

--- Technical Specifications (Out of the SonicSound manual)

Digital audio playback at either 8 or 16-bit resolution with 8 to
44.1 KHz sampling rate. Digital audio record at either 8 or 16-bit
resolution with 11.025, 22.05 or 44.1 KHz sampling rate; other sample
rates available through pitch shifting.
DAC Specification: 16-bit stereo; < 0.1% distortion; 92 dB typical
                   signal-to-noise ratio; Up to 44.1 KHz stereo
                   sample output
ADC Specification: 16-bit stereo; Stereo conversion up to 44.1 KHz
                   sample rate
DSP: Clock rate = 42.336 MHz (100ppm)
Synthesis: Sierra Semiconductor Aria chipset including DSP,
           Controller and Sound ROM; 32 simultaneous stereo voices
           (polyphony); 16- bit DAC; General MIDI compliant with all
           patches defined by the General MIDI Specification
Mixing: Synthesizer (stereo); Digital audio (stereo); External line-
        in or microphone input (stereo); CD audio (stereo); Master
        volume control; 8-bit lineair level control on auxiliary and
        external inputs, independently adjustable; External input is
        selectable for line level or microphone (gain of 100) level
Frequency Response and Signal to Noise Ratio:
   Frequency response: 16 Hz to 25 KHz, -3 dB, +0 dB
   Noise             : -70 dB max
   Distortion        : 0.5% max, 0.1% typical
Line Amplifier:
   Frequency response: 16 Hz to 25 KHz, -3 dB, +0 dB, 32 ohm load
   Distortion        : 0.5% max, 0.1% typical
   Output connection : stereo 1/8" mini jacks
MIDI Interface: Industry standard MPU-401 UART mode
SCSI Interface: Future Domain TMC-950 SCSI Controller Chip,
                memory mapped

Standard package includes 0.5 MB ROM, which is upgradable to 1 MB
with the professional upgrade kit, which also includes speech
recognition software.

--- Compatibility

- 100% AdLib compatible
- Sound Blaster 1.5 compatible except for SBMidi, Composite Speech and
  hardware compression of digital audio functions. (This means that
  e.g. in The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes you don't hear any
  voices.)
- 100% compatible with Windows 3.1 and General MIDI
- With the TSR fparia Sierra Adventures starting with King's Quest VI
  produce awesome sound MUCH better than the Sound Blaster Pro !!!
- MPU-401 compliant in dumb-mode
- Supports ADPCM compression (Realtime recording and playback)

--- Contact

If you want more information or have comments/corrections please
E-mail them to [e-mail] and be patient!
            [e-mail]

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    Diamond SonicSound. Wavetable Synthesis with DSP,
    synthesizer chip is Sierra Aria. 32 voices, 128 General
    MIDI instruments. 512k of sample ROM upgradeable to 1MB.
    General MIDI, SoundBlaster, and MPU-401 compatible. $190
    est. st. price.
 .....................................................................
** 4.7)  What is the Logitech Soundman 16 and how good is it?

> From: [e-mail] (Edwin L. Wilson Jr.)
> Date: 5 Nov 1993 08:30:14 GMT
>
> I know it's the exact same board as the PAS 16, without the CD-ROM interface
> or the extra software. Everything written for the PAS 16 runs fine on it;
> and I haven't found any problems with its SoundBlaster emulation. On my
> system (486-33 EISA, 8M ram, 24bit video) it runs fine; I put it in the f
> farthest slot from the other cards to minimize interference. YMMV. I don't
> know the S/N ratio or the THD; my samples sound pretty good from DOS,
> Windows samples don't sound so hot. I also have a lot of ham radio gear
> in the same room, so there's a big possibility for interference. I'm
> pleased with it; for $99 at Wal Mart it's not bad. I wish there was a MOD
> editor that took advantage of its capabilities, tho.
 .....................................................................
** 4.8)  What is the Multisound and how good is it?

Major thanks to Sean McCreary <[e-mail]> for putting
this one together!!

Company:           Turtle Beach Systems
Product:           Multisound
Street Price:      $500
Summary:           (I'm not sure what you want here?)

Dig. Playback:     8 or 16 bit at up to 44.1 kHz
Dig. Record:       8 or 16 bit at 11.025 kHz, 12.05 kHz, or 44.1 kHz
External Ports:    One analog audio out, two analog audio in, all 1/8"
            phone plugs.  One input is for recording, the other
            is just mixed with the output.  The recording
            source can be monitored at the output as well.
                   Two independent MIDI out (32 channels), One MIDI in
Instruments:       Emu Proteus 1/XR synthesizer, 384 memory locations for
            instrument programs (256 in RAM, 128 in ROM)
Internal Ports:    MIDI out and MIDI in to Proteus, 16 channels independent
            of external MIDI ports
           Internal analog audio connector for audio signal from an
            internal CD-ROM drive.  Replaces non-recording
            external input.
                   Game Port (internal header, but no external connector)
Synthesis Method:  Wavetable Synthesis
Voices:            32 simultaneous voices, dynamically allocated

Effects:           Simulated chorus (uses 2 voices, playing simultaneously)
External Control:  The Proteus MIDI ports can be mapped onto the external
            MIDI ports, causing the card to behave like an
            external Proteus synthesizer.  The Proteus responds
            to pitch bend, 4 user-definable MIDI controllers,
            and both channel and polyphonic pressure messages
            sent from an external MIDI controller.
Patch Editing:     Yes, extensive programming capability.  2 digital
            oscillators, 3 5-stage envelopes and 2 LFO's per
            voice, extensive modulation routings, real-time
            modulation of program parameters via MIDI.
S/N Ratio:         -89 dBV A weighted, -85 dBV Unweighted (from manual
            supplied with the card).  The card's output is
            indistinguishable from my CD player's output
Sample Pool:       4 MB Rom samples from Emu Emulator III sound library,
            covering mainly Pop music instruments
Synthesis Chip:    Emu G-chip
WTS RAM:           None

GM Compatible:     A set of GM sound programs is provided with the card
GS:                No
MPU-401:           Some compatibility through a Windows 3.1 386-mode
            virtual device (see note below).
MT-32:             No
SB:                No
SC Modules:        No
SCC-1:             No

NT support:        No NT-specific driver available
OS/2 support:      No OS/2-specific driver available
UNIX-ish support:  None
Windows support:   Windows 3.1 driver provided

Notes and Quotes:  The card is primarily intended to be used with Windows.
            Simple DOS utilities are provided for digital I/O,
            and for uploading patches to the Proteus, but no
            DOS-based MPU-401 emulation is provided.

Notes from the version 2.0 driver release:

Microsoft ADPCM support: With this driver, the DSP in MultiSound is used to
decompress sound data in realtime while playing, if the file is in the
Microsoft ADPCM file format. This saves a lot of work for your computer's
CPU when playing compressed files, since the size of the data is smaller
and the CPU doesn't need to decompress the audio while playing it (as is
necessary with all other non-DSP based sound cards).

Virtual MPU-401: Included with this driver set is the MultiSound virtual
MPU-401 driver, which is actually a different copy of the driver that
contains the necessary support for the MPU-401 emulation. Although we have
tested this function extensively and found it to work in most situations,
we do not warrant that the MPU-401 emulation will work with particular DOS
applications.

Notes and Quotes:

The Multisound is shipped with a set of 128 General Midi patches
(instruments)...  The latest drivers for the Multisound provide
limited MPU-401 emulation under Windows 386 enhanced mode...
The Multisound is really only usable under Windows.  There are some
DOS command-line utilities provided that allow recording and playback
of samples, and the internal Proteus can be set up to respond over the
MIDI interface just like an external Proteus sound module would, but
the Multisound is basically a Windows product.
                                 [e-mail]

If you want true CD quality and lack of noise, get a
Turtle Beach Multisound.  It's used by radio broadcasters and for CD
production because it's the best.  S/N is 74 dB, THD is .02%, and the
response is flat across the entire band (down to about 10 Hz.)  It may
be my next board, or it's bigger brother >Soon To Be Announced<.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>

 .....................................................................
** 4.9)  What is the Orchid SoundWave 32?

    Orchid SoundWave 32. Wavetable Synthesis. Has Analog
    Devices DSP. 32 voices, 128 General MIDI instruments.
    2MB of samples compressed to 1MB of ROM, decompressed on
    the fly by the DSP. General MIDI, MT32, and SoundBlaster
    compatible. CD-ROM interface. $190 est. st. price.

                -The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide

About a week ago I bought myself an Orchid Gamewave 32 sound card from
Fry's on sale for US$139.

I use my sound card mainly for games, although I would like to have
something that would be good for tinkering with MIDI composition in a
very amateurish way.  I also program games and other things as a hobby.
My old sound card was an old SoundBlaster 1.0 with a signal to noise
ratio on the DAC channel approaching 0 db and perhaps lower.  Generally
it was impossible to understand voices due to the blasts of white noise
that accompanied the playback.  The amount of noise was so unpleasant to
listen to that in most games I just used my SB as an adlib board since
the FM channels still functioned properly.
I had been holding out on replacing the SB for more than a year, hoping
for a board with the following characteristics:
  1. Wavetable based
  2. Supports SoundBlaster, GMIDI, and MT-32 in hardware
  3. Firmware stored in RAM for easy upgradeability
  4. samples stored in RAM (upgradeable to 4+MB with SIMMs)
  5. quality sound
  6. low price
The Ensoniq Soundscape based board made by Video7 that I have heard rumors
of on this newsgroup seems to fit the bill more or less, but at this point
it just seems like so much vaporware.  The details are so sketchy and it
could be another 6 months before it appears.  So, when I saw the Orchid
Gamewave on sale for $139 at Fry's my patience finally ran out and I bought
it with the understanding that I would return it if I didn't like it.


    Gamewave 32 technical specifications

chipset:  Analog Devices 20MHz ADSP-2115 DSP

requires:  16-bit ISA slot

card size:  6 inches x 4.5 inches

connectors:
  DB-15 port for joystick/MIDI input/output
  3.5mm stereo jack for amplified speaker output
  3.5mm stereo jack for line out
  on-board interface for Sony CD-ROM drive
  on-board interface for Mitsumi CD-ROM drive

stereo digitized audio playback
  8-bit and 16-bit modes
  sampling rate of 2KHz to 44.1KHz (mono)
  hardware audio decompression ADPCM (ratios of 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1)

audio sampling
  NONE--does not support audio input (the Soundwave 32 does though)

General MIDI mode
  MPU-401 interface
  1 MB wavetable ROM
  24 simultaneous voices

MT-32 mode
  Conforms to Roland MT-32 voice specifications
  32 simultaneous voices
  supports sysex messages for reverb and voice assignment
  does not support sysex messages for partial synthesis

Yamaha OPL2 mode
  conforms to SoundBlaster 11-voice synthesizer

The firmware is uploadable and currently can emulate either SB+GMIDI or
  SB+MT-32.  Orchid MAY provide firmware for SBPro emulation in the
  future.  The SB/GMIDI/MT32 emulation is accomplished with firmware
  that is loaded into the 96KB of SRAM on the GW32 board.  The firmware
  for Gmidi+SB emulation is about 37KB and the firmware for MT32+SB
  emulation is about 40KB.  96KB of room should be plenty for an
  SBPro+GMIDI emulator I would think.

I spoke with Orchid tech support about jumper J12 on the board and
apparently, the wavetable ROM on the board can be upgraded from 1MB to
2MB (the ROMs are socketted).  There was no word on when the 2MB ROMs would
be available or how much they would cost.

I am very pleased with it.  All of my games work in SoundBlaster mode with
it--the DAC is clean sounding, and the FM effects are very good (although
sounding slightly different than a true OPL2--not that it matters though,
since FM effects just sound like nondescript bleeps and bloops anyway).
In one way, the FM emulation is BETTER than a true OPL2--the game
Indianapolis 500 could not initialize the OPL2 registers on my old SB
properly because I have a fast machine (it used to work on a slower machine
I had) and the game was unplayable with the random sound effects that
resulted.  The GW32 is fast enough so that the sound initializes properly
and I can once again play Indy500 (yeah!).

The biggest advantage is the MIDI sound, having MIDI music in my games just
blows away all of the FM sounds I'm used to.  Now the music in Ultima
Underworld 2 has drums and strings and wind instruments--it sounds like
REAL music.  I used Cakewalk Pro for Windows (the demo) to listen to many
of the GMIDI patches on the GW32, and overall I was very impressed with
the sound quality, the patches sounded like the instruments they were
supposed to be.  I don't doubt that the Gravis Ultrasound sounds even
more authentic since the wavetable patches are so much larger for it,
but I was not interested in the GUS because it does SB and MPU-401 emulation
with MS-DOS real-mode TSRs (a nasty kludge IMO).

The GW32 seems to be an excellent soundcard for game players, it offers
a single-board SoundBlaster+GMIDI-in-hardware solution at an affordable
price ($139), it seems to be very compatible with most games, and
it should even be useable under any operating system that will run the
firmware loader in a DOS box.
The quality of the wavetable synthesis may not be the best, but it still
blows away all of the FM-based boards by a large margin and it only costs
slightly more than an SB16.  The only caveat--I could not get the MT-32
emulation to work with all of my games, a few of them locked up (mostly
older ones) so I still have to run those in SoundBlaster mode.  I'm
hoping that perhaps a newer version of the firmware will fix those.

I plan to keep this board for a while, at least until an affordable Ensoniq
Soundscape chipset card comes out (which meets all of my requirements above).
In the meantime I'll be enjoying my Gamewave 32.

                -Christopher Christensen <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.10) What is the PAS 16 and how good is it?

Special thanks to Linda Thomas <[e-mail]>.

Like the SB16 section, I don't know what to do with some of these
questions that have simple clear answers with the WT cards, but not
for the FM cards.

Company:           Media Vision
Product:           Pro Audio Spectrum 16
Street Price:      ?
Summary:           16 bit FM synthesis soundcard

Dig. Playback:     16 bit, stereo, 44.1KHz
Dig. Record:       16 bit, stereo, 44.1KHz
External Ports:    mic-in, line-in, line-out, game
Instruments:       ?
Internal Ports:    CD-audio-in
Synthesis Method:  FM
Voices:            ?

Effects:           None
External Control:  No
S/N Ratio:         ?
Synthesis Chip:    Yamaha OPL3

GM Compatible:     Yes
GS:                ?
MPU-401:           ?
MT-32:             ?
SB:                Yes
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             ?

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  Linux, 386BSD
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

The board sounds pretty good.  Sampled sound at 16 bits, 44Khz sounds
wonderful!  The on-board midi is, like the SoundBlaster family, not
particularly exciting.  I do get a fair amount of his if the mixer volume
is up over 85% and the board isn't playing anything.

The SoundBlaster compatibility is excellent.  Most games, especially older
games don't support the pas-16 directly, but the sb compatibility works
very well though it sounds no better than a sb.

The pas-16 comes with lots of software most of which is pretty cheesy.  The
pro audio studio 16 is the same board with more cheesy software.

Since the card is essentially two soundcards on one board, it requires two
interrupts:  one for pas stuff, one for sb stuff.  Could be a problem for
systems tight on irq's.

There are three versions of this board sold: basic (sound only),
normal (sound + scsi), studio (sound + scsi + even more software +
mic).
                                --Linda Thomas <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.11) What is the PORT*ABLE Sound Plus(tm) and how good is it?

Special thanks here to Michael S. Hogan <[e-mail]>,
<[e-mail]> for typeing in all this!

PORT*ABLE Sound Plus is the complete external Sound Solution for the IBM PC and
compatibles.  PORT*ABLE Sound Plus is based on advanced DSP technology and
supports stereo playback of 16 bit digitized audio, 14 bit recording, and
SoundBlaster / Ad Lib(**) compatible music synthesis.  PORT*ABLE Sound Plus
is also capable of real-time compression and decompression in industry
standard ADPCM sound formats.

PORT*ABLE Sound Plus operates on batteries or an AC/DC power adapter.  A high
quality built-in speaker, omni-directional Electret microphone, and smart
printer port pass-through is included.

FEATURES
--------

- Complete Integrated External Audio Solution
- Microsoft Windows 3.1 compatible
- Supports all MPC programs designed for Microsoft Windows 3.1
- Supported by Voyetra Sound Factory MS-DOS Audio drivers
- Supports both standard and PS/2 Microchannel PC's
- STEREO or MONO playback, 16 or 8 bits per channel
- Sampling rates from 4KHz to 44.1KHz
- Superb digital audio quality suitable for business applications
- External design eliminates noise from internal PC circuits
- Supports DVI (IMA) ADPCM, OKI ADPCM and SoundBlaster ADPCM compression and
  decompression in real-time
- Simultaneous synthesized music and digitized audio playback
- Supports programs designed for SoundBlaster / Ad Lib (*)
- Synthesized music, 9 melodic or 7 melodic and 4 percussive voices
- Connects to parallel port while still allowing access to printer
- MIC and STEREO AUDIO inputs
- STEREO LINE and HEADPHONE outputs
- Software programmable volume control
- Volume Control Knob and Power on/off switch with LED indicator
- Battery or AC/DC powered
- Accepts standard AA size Alkaline or NiCad batteries

(*) Requires 386 or higher CPU with at least 2MB RAM memory.
(**) Supports EMM386, 386MAX and QEMM386.  Currently no support for DOS
     extenders.

=-=-=

MINIMUM SYSTEM CONFIGURATIONS
=============================

PORT*ABLE Sound Plus Audio Applications
---------------------------------------

- IBM PC or Compatible with 8086/8088 CPU
- MS-DOS or PC-DOS operating system v3.3 or higher
- 640KB RAM

Windows Audio Applications
--------------------------

- IBM PC or Compatible with 80286 CPU
- MS-DOS or PC-DOS operating system v3.3 or higher
- Microsoft Windows v3.1
- 1MB RAM

Sound Blaser/Ad Lib MS-DOS Applications
---------------------------------------

- IBM PC or Compatible with 80386 CPU
- MS-DOS or PC-DOS operating system v3.3 or higher
- DSP Solutions' BMaster driver or Microsoft Windows v3.1
- 2MB RAM


HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS
=======================

Effective Bandwidth:
    Playback:   16KHz
    Recording:  4.3KHz

Line-Out:
    D/A Single Frequency Distortion:    -60dB at 1KHz
                                        -55dB at 10KHz
    Max Level:                          1.3V RMS
    Signal to Noise Ratio (unweighted): -72dB

Built-In Speaker:
    Single Frequency Distortion:        -54dB at 1KHz
                                        -50dB at 10KHz
    Signal to Noise Ratio (unweighted): -70dB

Headphone Out:
    Single Frequency Distortion:        -57dB at 1KHZ
                                        -54dB at 10KHz
    Signal to Noise Ratio (unweighted): -70dB

=-=-=

PORT*ABLE Sound Plus package contains:

- PORT*ABLE Sound Plus audio unit with PC Parallel port and printer connectors
- High Quality Internal Speaker and Built-In Microphone
- Volume Control Knob and Power on/off switch with LED indicator
- AC/DC power supply
- Jack for External Electret Microphone
- Jack for Headphones
- Audio-In Jack
- Stereo Line-Out Jack
- Stereo Audio cord for direct recording from CD or Tape Player
- Software Drivers and Applications on 3.5" High Density Diskettes

Software Applications
---------------------

- LOTUS Sound for Microsoft Windows.  LOTUS Sound allows the user to create,
  edit, and save sounds as wave files.  The utility employs OLE (Object
  Linking and Embessing) technology to add sounds to documents created using
  your favorite Windows spreadsheet or word processor.

- WinReader for Microsoft Windows.  Read all or part of any ASCII text file
  out loud with this handy text-to-speech utility.

- DSP Solutions' DOSTalk and DOSReader are MS-DOS text-to-speech applications
  for reading selected text from text-mode screens or ASCII files.

- Show & Tell for Microsoft Windows.  DSP Solutions' easy to use MultiMedia
  Authoring program.

Software Drivers
----------------

- Microsoft Windows 3.1 drivers.  Windows WAVE and MIDI file support.  Supports
  SoundBlaster/Ad Lib MS-DOS programs.

- DSP Solutions' PDIGI Audio and Synthesizer driver for MS-DOS.

- DSP Solutions' BMaster driver allows the PORT*ABLE Sound Plus to run MS-DOS
  SoundBlaster and Ad Lib programs from DOS on PCs with a 386 CPU or higher
  and at least 2MB of RAM.

=-=-=

Technical Specifications, Playback and Recording
================================================

Stereo PCM Playback:
    8 bits per channel:     11.025KHz, 22.05KHz, 44.1KHz
    16 bits per channel:    11.025KHz, 22.05KHz, 44.1KHz

Mono PCM Playback:
    8 bit linear:       4KHz to 44.1KHz
    8 bit uLaw:         4KHz to 44.1KHz
    8 bit ALoaw:        4KHz to 44.1KHz
    8 bit linear:       11.025KHz, 22.05KHz, 44.1KHz
    16 bit linear:      4KHz to 44.1KHz
    16 bit linear:      11.025KHz, 22.05KHz, 44.1KHz

Adaptive PCM decompression (ADPCM) Playback:
    DVI 4 bits per sample (bps):    4KHz to 44.1KHz
    OKI 4 MPS:                      4KHz to 44.1KHz
    SoundBlaster 4 bps:            4KHz to 44.1KHz
    SoundBlaster 2.6 bps:          4KHz to 44.1KHz
    SoundBlaster 2 bps:            4KHz to 44.1KHz

Synthesized Music:
    Mode 1:             9 Melodic Voices
    Mode 2:             7 Melodic Voices, 4 percussive Voices
    Mode 3 (speech over music): 9 Melodic Voices,
                                uLaw/linear PCM at 4KHz to 11.025KHz
    Mode 4 (speech over music): 7 Melodic Voices, 4 Percussive Voices,
                                uLaw/linear PCM at 4KHz to 11.025KHz

Mono PCM Recording:
    8 bit linear:       8KHz, 11.025KHz
    8 bit uLaw:         8KHz, 11.025KHz
    8 bit ALaw:         8KHz, 11.025KHz
    16 bit linear:      8KHz, 11.025KHz

Adaptive PCM compression (ADPCM) Recording:
    DVI 4 bits per sample (BPS):        8KHz, 11.025KHz
    OKI 4 BPS:                          8KHz, 11.025KHz
    SoundBlaster 4 BPS:                8KHz, 11.025KHz
    SoundBlaster 2.6 BPS:              8KHz, 11.025KHz
    SoundBlaster 2 BPS:                8KHz, 11.025KHz


=-=-=

PORT*ABLE Sound Plus is priced at $198.95[US] Suggested Retail Price and will
be shipped starting January 25, 1993.

[Computer Shopper has it in two places - $145 and $155US - look it up ;]
[Doppler Computer, Canada, 1-800-661-2805, has it for $249CAN]

 .....................................................................
** 4.12) What is the Prometheus ARIA 16se and how good is it?

Thanks to Dennis Sacks <[e-mail]> for this info!

The Prometheus Aria comes in two models: the 16 and the 16se. The 16
is a less expensive model which does not include the SCSI-2 interface
and also does not include some of the software that the 16se does. I
don't know what other differences there are. You can upgrade from a 16
to a 16se.

I hope this information is useful. I tried to follow the general
pattern of other FAQ entries...

HARDWARE INFO
-------------

16-bit board based around:

    DSP SC18025 (?)
    Sierra Aria Chip (?)
    Future Domain SCSI-2 chip
    ROM Size 512K
    ROM Width 8bit
    DSP RAM 40K

Connections
External    Line Input (Stereo)
        Mic Input (Stereo)
        Line Out (Stereo)
        Joystick/Midi

Internal:    CD Sound Input
        PC speaker Input
        SCSI-2 CD Connector

Jumpers:    NONE

Accessories Provided:  Microphone Headset
               cable: 1/8" stereo plug to two RCA jacks.

NOTES:
    Requires a three connector cable to play PC speaker sounds
    via the sound card.

    Allows mixing and recording of multiple sound sources at once.

    Requires some kind of SCSI-2 cable to connect your CD-ROM to the
    SCSI-2 port. Requires another cable to connect the audio output
    of your CD-ROM to the CD Sound Input on the card.


ELECTRICAL/PERFORMANCE SPECS
----------------------------
Digital-to-Analog

71dB typical signal-to-noise ratio (A weighted)
0.056% max total harmonic distortion

Mixer and Amplifier

50 mW RMS per output channel (8-32 ohm load)
72 dB typical  signal-to-noise ratio (A weighted).
0.022% max THD (line level output)
17Hz to 20Khz (-3 dB) frequency response.

SOUND INFO
----------

8 and 16 Bit record/play
11.025, 22.05, 44.1 Khz sampling rates
ADCPM 4:1 Compression and Decompression
32 simultaneous stereo voice Wavetable Music Synthesis
8 stage amplitude envelope on each voice
3 low frequency oscillator types.

Sound Standards supported:

Microsoft Windows 3.1
Sound Blaster
AdLib
General MIDI
MPC (level 1 & 2)
Roland MPU-401

SOFTWARE
--------

Sound Blaster Emulation (Downloaded to DSP)
Animotion MusicRack Software (special edition)
Midisoft Recording Session Software
Wired for Sound Sampler
Voice Macro Speech Recognition Software
ARIA Listener Speech Recognition software
HSC Interactive Special Edition Software
3 Episode Edition of Star Trek (speech recog. game)

OPTIONS
-------
As far as I know the ARIA 16se has no options yet. The ARIA 16 has an
option to upgrade to the ARIA 16se.

MISC INFO/PRICES
----------------

5 Year warantee. Lifetime free technical support. Ownership is
registered.

Contacting Prometheus for Technical Support:
Phone: [phone]

Email:
    Compuserve    76004,527
    America Online    Promethean

BBS:    [phone]

Price:

    I bought it at CompUSA. Their price was $169. I got it at a
        slightly lower price through their corporate discount program.

                -Dennis Sacks <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.13) What is the Pro Sonic 16 and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           Media Vision Inc.
Product:           Pro Sonic 16
Street Price:      $105
Summary:           16 bit AD/DA & FM synthesis soundcard

Dig. Playback:     8/16 bit, 6-44.1KHz, mono/stereo
Dig. Record:       8/16 bit, 6-44.1KHz, mono/stereo
External Ports:    line-in, audio-out, mic-in, game (MIDI w/adapter)
Instruments:       ?
Internal Ports:    CD audio in, Panasonic CD-ROM I/O port
Synthesis Method:  FM
Voices:            20

Effects:           None
External Control:  Volume
S/N Ratio:         ?
Synthesis Chip:    Yamaha OPL3

GM Compatible:     no
GS:                no
MPU-401:           Yes
MT-32:             Yes?
SB:                Yes, 100% identical to a SoundBlaster Pro
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             ?

NT support:        no
OS/2 support:      no
UNIX-ish support:  Linux & 386BSD
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:
  Looks like a re-shoot of the PAS-16, and ships with software resembling
the PAS, but it WILL NOT run PAS software as there's no MVSOUND.SYS.  The
only new items are 8 bit 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 compression (like the SB), and
16 bit u-LAW, A-LAW and IMA ADPCM compression, although they're not yet
fully implemented.  The 8 bit compression only runs in SB mode, and one
or two of the 16s are the same.  The "dynamic filtering" runs and saves
some effort, though there's a glitch in mono mode (fixable in software).

  I had a few other troubles with the Pro Sonic and ended up swapping it
with a PAS.  They were: POPs playing 16 bit files, loud background hiss
that came and went, and severe alias distortion if stereo source signals
were used for the mono sampling mode.  As others have experienced, their
tech support was useless or worse.  3 of 4 techs there wanted me to buy
a new motherboard and SCSI controller, $400 or so.  Right.  The mother
was fine (I swapped with a different type), and they were wrong about
how the Adaptec worked.  I'm curious if anyone else has tried the Sonic.

  The 8 bit compressions are virtually identical to the SoundBlaster VOC
compression modes, so should run any of the games that cause all of the
sound board vendors grief.  I ran a few of Creative's programs and they
all thought the Pro Sonic was their SB Pro, even when playing VOC files
using Creative's proprietary compression modes.  The PAS-16 boxes may
read "100% SoundBlaster Compatible", but this one truly is.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
  .....................................................................
** 4.14) What is the Roland LAPC1?

The LAPC1 is is basically a MT32 sound module on a standard PC card
together with a MPU401 interface. The sound generation is Roland's
older (but still quite good) LA Synthesis. The SCC1 is a newer module
being the Sound Canvas on a card with a MPU401. Sound generation
technology is much better and it contains both a General MIDI set as
well as a GS set. It is supposed to be able to support the MT32 sound
set. The difficulty arises if you need MT32 support and you have a
SCC1. If the application sends down sysex (System Exclusive) messages
to create news sounds on the fly on the MT32, the SCC1 will fail since
it will not respond correctly. However most modern games that say they
have Roland support now usually support General MIDI so the SCC1 will
do nicely.

If you have lots of money to spend look at the Roland RAP10 which is a
better Sound Canvas on a card with digital recording and playback
facilities - best price I have seen is $499!

                -Laurence Chiu <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.15) What is the Roland SCC-1 and how good is it?

Special thanks to Peter McCombs <[e-mail]> and the
"PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide".

Company:          Roland Corporation
Product:          SCC-1
Street Price:     $315 (Masters Software 714-479-0999)
Summary:          A GM/GS/MPU-401, PCM ROM based, wavetable soundcard.

Dig. Playback:    None
Dig. Record:      None
External Ports:   MIDI in/out, stereo audio outs, and earphones.
Instruments:      317 Samples and 9 drum sets
Internal Ports:   None
Synthesis Method: Custom (It's wavetable-like, but Roland won't say)
Voices:           16 parts and 24 voice polyphony

Effects:          8 reverb and 8 chorus models.
External Control: Yes
Patch Editing:    Yes
S/N Ratio:        Excellent (numbers anybody?)
Sample Pool:      4MB stored in ROM
Synthesis Chip:   ?
WTS RAM:          None (ROM only)

GM Compatible:    100%
GS:               100%
MPU-401:          100% (integrated smart mode interface)
MT-32:            100%
SB:               No
SC Modules:       Yes
SCC-1:            100%

Windows support:  100%
OS/2 support:     ?
NT support:       ?
UNIX-ish support: ?

Notes and Quotes:

        No doubt one of the best sounding synthesizers on the market.
Go for it if you can afford it.
                                --PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide

       The SCC-1 makes an ideal base for expanding your music set up.  You
can interface and control external modules using it's built-in MPU-401.
It can also be controlled from an external source.  More professional
MIDI software supports the MPU-401 interface than any other sound card
MIDI interface, making this card a top choice for musicians.

       The sound quality is excellent.  Many patches, in my opinion, could
hardly be improved.  The card sounds very professional and offers a wide
variety of sounds for all types of music.

       All in all, the SCC-1 is a great card for musicians.  The SCC-1 can
also work side by side with another sound card.

        You can modify all sorts of attributes, such as envelopes,
using the SCC-1's System Exclusive language.  I've only done actual
patch editing on my LAPC-1, but the SCC-1 has a much greater ability
for this, judging by the size of the technical part of my manual
dealing with SysEx messages.  What happens in the case of the LAPC-1
is that the attributes are stored in RAM, but the actual samples are
in ROM.  So when I make a new patch, I must save it to disk in SysEx
form if I want to keep it.  The SysEx basically tells it which PCM
samples to use and what the envelopes, etc, are going to be.  So
you're actually modifying _existing_ ROM patches.

        As far as noise, it must be pretty minimal since I don't
notice any until I turn my amp up past 10:00.  Of course, since I have
a modular GM/GS synth, it may sound a bit cleaner since it not
touching the computer chassis.  I've heard noisier CD's.

                                --Peter McCombs <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.16) What is the Roland Sound Canvas SC-7 and how good is it?
    Roland Sound Canvas SC-7. Wavetable Synthesis. Samples
    stored in ROM. General MIDI, ? compatible. Module can be
    added to any sound card. $279 at ComputAbility
    800-554-9924.
                                --PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide

The SC-7 is exactly the same as Bank1 of Sound Canvas (SC-55).  This
makes it General MIDI but not Roland GS (which a superset of G-MIDI)

It has a serial port for use with macintoshes, but you need a MIDI
interface to work with games on a PC.  The SoundBlaster 16 has such an
interface.  If you want to spend less, there are cheap ISA Roland MPU
compatible MIDI interfaces on the market ($60-100).

hope this helps
                - alex <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.17) What is the SoundBlaster and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           Creative Labs Inc.
Product:           SoundBlaster (1.0, 1.5, 2.0)
Street Price:      $80 or less
Summary:           8 bit AD/DA & FM synthesis soundcard

Dig. Playback:     8 bit, mono, 44KHz
Dig. Record:       8 bit, mono, 12KHz
External Ports:    mic-in, line-in, line-out, game
Instruments:       ?
Internal Ports:    none
Synthesis Method:  FM
Voices:            11

Effects:           none
External Control:  volume
S/N Ratio:         50 dB
Synthesis Chip:    Yamaha 3812 (OLP2)

GM Compatible:     ?
GS:                ?
MPU-401:           ?
MT-32:             ?
SB:                Yes
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             ?

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  Linux, 386BSD
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

The standard for all PC DAC boards.  The earlier versions were noisier &
had annoying artifacts removed somewhat in the 2.0.  The software is a
joke, and nobody seriously uses it (I hope!) as nearly all the shareware
is significantly better.  Forget using QEMM with the VOC editor.  All
in all, it was a great idea 5 years ago, but shows it's age poorly in
contrast to other sampling AD/DA cards.
            -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.18) What is the SoundBlaster Pro and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           Creative Labs Inc.
Product:           SoundBlaster Pro (1.0 and 2.0)
Street Price:      $150
Summary:           8 bit AD/DA & FM synthesis soundcard

Dig. Playback:     8 bit, mono, 44KHz; 8 bit, stereo, 22KHz
Dig. Record:       8 bit, mono, 44KHz; 8 bit, stereo, 22KHz
External Ports:    mic-in, line-in, line-out, game
Instruments:       ?
Internal Ports:    CD line-in, proprietary CDROM interface (not SCSI)
Synthesis Method:  FM
Voices:            22

Effects:           none
External Control:  volume
S/N Ratio:         55 dB
Synthesis Chip:    (2) Yamaha 3812 (OLP2)

GM Compatible:     ?
GS:                ?
MPU-401:           ?
MT-32:             ?
SB:                Yes
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             ?

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  Linux, 386BSD
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

Just a stereo remake of the old SoundBlaster.  However, if you want
to play stereo, look to one of the 16 bit boards that support a decent
sampling rate in stereo.  The early board was noisy, and was redone for
the 2.0 version.  The DOS software is still the same tired stuff from
the original SoundBlaster, and should be tossed.  The Windows drivers
and applets work, mostly, although you can't access the output filter
from their mixer, and several of the features can't be preset.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.19) What are the SB16, SB16Basic, and SB16Asp/Csp and how good are they?

Special thanks to Richard van Meurs <[e-mail]>,
Jennifer Smith <[e-mail]> and Linda Thomas
<[e-mail]> for their input.

Let me know which "?" entries I can delete.  There's some I was afraid
to get rid of... for now... like instruments.  How many DISTINCT
instruments does this card have when doing their GM thing.  I assume
they can do GM?

Company:           Creative Labs
Product:           SB16/ SB16-Basic/ SB16-CSP
Street Price:      (see below)
Summary:           4 operator, stereo, 16 bit soundcards.

Dig. Playback:     16 Bit, stereo, 44kHz (but see the note below!)
Dig. Record:       16 Bit, stereo, 44kHz (but see the note below!)
Internal Ports:    ?
Instruments:       ?
External Ports:    line-in, line-out, mic-in, amp-out, game/MIDI,
                   PROPRIETARY CD-ROM interface
Synthesis Method:  FM
Voices:            11 in four operator mode (6 Melody & 5 Percussion)
               20 in two operator mode (15 Melody & 5 Percussion)
Effects:           N/A
Extern Controlled: No
Patch Editing:     No
S/N Ratio:         N/A
Sample Pool:       N/A
Synthesis Chip:    Enhanced OPL3 music chip with 4 operators
WTS RAM:           N/A

GM Compatible:     Windows only (DOS too via WaveBlaster add on only)
GS:                ?
MPU-401:           Yes (but buggy)
MT-32:             (via WaveBlaster add on only)
SB:                Yes (BUT NOT SB-PRO!!!)
SC Modules:        No
SCC-1:             ?

Windows support:  100%
OS/2 support:     100%
NT support:       Beta
UNIX-ish support: Linux, 386BSD

Notes and Quotes:

ALL prices in US Dollars!

(THIS SECTION IS GETTING OLD * NOV-93 * SEND ME UPDATES!!)
    -Morgan <[e-mail]>

                     With ASP          Without the ASP
--------------+-----------+--------+-----------+---------+-------------------
Model         | Suggested | Street | Suggested | Street  | CD Rom
              |   Price   |  Price |   Price   |  Price  | Connector
--------------+-----------+--------+-----------+---------+--------------------
 SB16 ASP     |   349.95  |   219  |    ???    |   115   | Same as Basic ???
--------------+-----------+--------+-----------+---------+--------------------
 SB16 Basic   |  N/A - ?! | N/A-?! |   199.95  |   129   | CreativeLabs &
              |           |        |           |         |   Panasonic.
 SB16 MultiCD |   299.95  |   195  |   249.95  |   159   | Sony, Mitsumi,
              |           |        |           |         |  and same as Basic
 SB16 SCSI-2  |   329.93  |   209  |   279.92  |   179   | Any SCSI/SCSI-2
--------------+-----------+--------+-----------+---------+--------------------
 WaveBlaster  |   249.95  |   179  | WB doesn't need ASP |
--------------+-----------+--------+---------------------+

     Some old stores still have the SB16 ASP. Ask specifically what
   model the store has before you buy!

   Suggested price from:
      Creative Labs Ad in Nov 9/1993 PC Magazine

   Street price from:
      Comput Ability Ad in Nov 9/1993, PC Magazine
      1-800-554-9930.
      Mon-Fri 8am-8pm.
      Add 5% for Shipping hardware - min $5

                        --Michael Pohoreski <[e-mail]>

Boards without an asp chip can be upgraded simply by adding the chip;
cost about $70... The sb16 is compatable (though not 100%) with the
sb-pro.  It performed almost identically to my pas-16 for both sampled
sound and midi.
                        --Linda Thomas <[e-mail]>

There is now a SB16 SCSI-2 and a SB16 MCD (Multi CD), both with or
without CSP chips. The SCSI-2 has an Adaptec chipset on it, and the
MCD supports Sony CDU31A, CDU31-003, Mitsumi CRMC-LU005, -FX001,
-FX001D, Panasonic CDR-523, -563.  (From CL Ad, PC Mag, Nov 9/93)
                        --Jennifer Smith <[e-mail]>

The ASP is actually an on-board compression/decompression chip that
can work on 16 or 8-bit samples realtime. Simple programs/algoritms
can be downloaded in the ASP for specific compression techniques.
Creative Labs gives 3 compression tech-niques for free with the card,
but in principle you could write your own (I have no idea how, but it
should be possible).

Sometimes games/demos who like to autodetect a SB think SB16 is a
SB-PRO, which means the machine totaly locks up (because SB16 is NOT
compatible with SB-PRO) because these (mostly) demos use SB-PRO
specific things like stereo FM.  I can not run the demos for Syndicate
and BodyBlows as for this matter.

Sometimes programs written for SoundBlaster just don't work and hang
the machine. I suppose this is just bad programming (not clearing
reserved bits and so on), but this sort of behaviour is very rare. I
can not run Populous II with Soundblaster support however. All other
programs I own work fine.

Because SB16 seems to need less time for initialization than other
SB's, some programs that failed on my 80486DX50 before (I had to
switch off all caches and so on) now run without problems at full
speed. So I realy like SB16 a lot (despite the fact that a few
programs/demos do not work properly)!
            -Richard van Meurs <[e-mail]>

About the 16 bit recording... I've read several time on USENET that
the AD converter in this card is only PRECISE to 12 bits, which would
mean that it gives you 16 bits, but the last four are meaningless.  If
for some reason you REALLY want those last four bits, you're going to
need to spend ALOT more money.  The PAS-16 might give you 14 bits, and
who knows, maybe the $150 add on card for the GUS will do even better,
and currently the Turtle Beach Multisound is supposed to be THE BEST,
but basically, the "reasonably priced" AD converters are not going to
give you 16 bits...
            -Morgan Stair <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.20) What is the Sound Enhancer and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           Activision
Product:           Lifesize Sound Enhancer
Street Price:      $10
Summary:           8 bit D/A IBM parallel port dongle

Dig. Playback:     8 bit, mono, unknown rate(s)
Dig. Record:       n/a
External Ports:    audio out
Internal Ports:    none

External Control:  none
S/N Ratio:         ?

SB support:        no
NT support:        no
OS/2 support:      no
UNIX-ish support:  no
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

The cheapest Windows sound dongle, no speaker or DOS driver included.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.21) What is the Sound Galaxy and how good is it?

It's a SoundBlaster 1.X Clone made by a Taiwan company. They
use lower grade ICs in the card and so the sound quality
is lower than the genuine SB.
Other SB clones includes Master Boomer 2, Sound Master...etc.
                -Chimo Masuda <[e-mail]>

 .....................................................................
** 4.22) What is the SpeachThing and how good is it?

Thanks to Stan Eker <[e-mail]> for this info!

Company:           Covox Inc.
Product:           SpeechThing
Street Price:      under $100
Summary:           parallel port dongle DAC

Dig. Playback:     8 bit, mono, 44KHz
Dig. Record:       n/a
External Ports:    power
Instruments:       n/a
Internal Ports:    none
Synthesis Method:  n/a
Voices:            n/a

Effects:           none
External Control:  volume (on speaker)
Synthesis Chip:    n/a

GM Compatible:     n/a
GS:                n/a
MPU-401:           n/a
MT-32:             n/a
SB:                n/a
SC Modules:        n/a
SCC-1:             n/a

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  ?
Windows support:   Yes

Notes and Quotes:

One of the few transparent dongle devices that allow you to leave the
printer connected to your laptop (buy an internal card if you have a
normal system).  A good buy if you don't need MIDI or sampling.  Use
the 9V transformer if you have a choice, as the 5V supplied from the
printer port causes noise in the sound.
                -Stan Eker <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.23) What is the Turtle Beach Systems Maui?

I might replace my Sound Canvas with Turtle Beach's Maui if all the claims
about it are true.  Turtle Beach sent me the following details, can anyone
give more details?

SampleStore(TM) - More Power for your MIDI
-------------------------------------------
Our new SampleStore technology allows you to take anything you've recorded...
your voice, your dog, a musical instrument, and play it back like one of
the instruments in your synthesizer.  In addition to getting 128 General MIDI
instruments, you have extra memory to create your own instruments.  Maui can
use wave files recorded with your sound card or use pre-existing wave files.
Making samples is easy, you just use your current sound card's recording
tools.

MPU-401 Compatible
------------------
Maui's MIDI interface is compatible with the industry standard MPU-401.  You
simply install it, run Windows, select MPU-401, and you're ready to make
music at a third of the price of a Roland(R) Sound Canvas.

Easy Installation
-----------------
Maui is easy to install and designed to fit right beside your current game
board.  The MPU-401 compatibilty makes MIDI a snap.

Midi Synthesizer
---------------
General Midi Compatible: Yes
Voices:                  24
Synthesis Method:        Wavetable
Wavetable ROM size:      2 Megabyte
Sample Size:             16 bit, Compressed
Synth Engine:            ICS 2115

Sample Store
------------
RAM Size:                256K Sample RAM (upgradeable to 8 magebytes)

Compatibility
-------------
Full General MIDI Compatible
Roland MPU-401 Compatible
Creative Labs WaveBlaster Connector

Connections
-----------
External MIDI In, MIDI Out
Aux Audio In
Line Out

                 -Andy Sim <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.24) What is the ViVa Maestro?
    ViVa Maestro 16 (note the spelling and upper/lower case) is
certainly available. one of my friends bought it in sweden some months
ago, so i guess it should have been available in the states a long time
ago.
        specs:
    uses the aria chipset, so all aria specs apply.
    comes in 0.5mb and 1mb versions (rom size, that is).

        impressions:
    wts instruments weren't that great. they sounded better than
opl2 and opl3, but much worse than gus default gm patch set.
    the card (probably dsp programs) was awfully buggy. maybe it
was just my setup, but every 20 minutes 'something happened'. like
the card refused to make any sound and only power-off helped. or
some software crashed. or the card felt that it was a proper place
to make a 10khz 1 sec beep.
    opl2 emulation wasn't that great. the instruments sounded like
they were synthesized at 22 or 16 khz, i.e. no high end. this was
annoying, because fm instruments have usually much high end.

                                --Ahti Heinla <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.25) What is the WaveBlaster and how good is it?

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]
        [Revise by Sean Micheal McCreary <[e-mail]>]

    Creative Labs WaveBlaster. Wavetable Synthesis,
    uses same ROM samples as E-mu Proteus 1. 32 Voices, 128
    General MIDI instruments, 18 drum presets, 40 effects.
    4MB of sample ROM. General MIDI and MPU-401 (dumb mode)
    compatible. Daughterboard for SoundBlaster 16 or Aztech
    NX Pro 16. $209 est. st. price...  Driven by a Motorola
    68000 CPU chip.

> Date: Thu, 4 Nov 93 11:02:01 EST
> From: Linda Thomas <[e-mail]>
>
> The WaveBlaster is a general midi compatible wave table midi daughtercard
> for the sb16.  It sounds very good.  I played lots of midi files through it
> and they all sounded great!  It is supposed to work with games that are gm
> compatible and most that use MT-32.  I could not get the board to work with
> a single game.  It invariable locked up the system.  Creative Labs tech
> support were very nice but not too helpful.  They said it ought to work,
> but nothing we tried did.
>
> It has 4mb of samples in rom.  No sample ram.
 .....................................................................
** 4.26) What is the IBM Windsurfer and how good is it?

It is available in both MCA and ISA version from IBM Direct >today<

IBM Windsurfer
--------------

1) Works under Windows, OS/2 support will be available "soon"
2) Provides sampling/playback at stereo, 16bit, 44.1 kHz
3) Full MIDI support (synthesis and recording)
4) Wavetable MIDI, not synthesizer
5) 14.4 (V.32bis) modem w/ compression and error-correction
6) FAX machine (9600 bps)
7) Telephone Answering capabilities

It ships with applications that enable all of the functions. It has
SoundBlaster capability in a Windows DOS Box and is software
upgradeable. The modem will support V.34 (V.fast) once the standard
is available and 14.4 FAX will also be available soon.

The same technology is being brought to market by Best Data through
their ACE card, which will be available around Dec. 15.

All of this is made possible through MWave DSP technology.

                        --Erik Troan <[e-mail]>

 .....................................................................
** 4.27) What is the Yamaha Hellow Music CBX301 and how good is it?

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    Yamaha Hello Music CBX301. Wavetable Synthesis,
    synthesizer chip is Yamaha CBX-T3. 192 General MIDI
    instruments, 10 drum sets. Samples stored in ROM.
    General MIDI compatible. External module via serial
    port, can be added to any sound card. $279 at Tiger
    Software.
 .....................................................................

======================================================================
** 4.28) What wavetable synthesis cards are CURRENTLY AVAILABLE?

This is a partial list of wavetable synthesis cards available as of
November 1993.  For more information on a card, see the PC Wavetable
Synthesis Hardware Guide, or it's FAQ entry if it exists.  If the FAQ
entry doesn't exist... send me the info and I'll put it in the FAQ
verbatim (probably).

NO VAPORWARE belongs in this list.

Company                 Product                 Price
Name                    Name                    Retail/Street/Lowest
======================================================================
Advanced Gravis         UltraSound (GUS)        $199  / $125 / $109
Creative Labs           WaveBlaster             ?     / $209 / ?
Roland                  SCC-1                   ?     / $315 / ?
Roland                  SC-7                    ?     / $279 / ?
Turtle Beach Systems    Multisound              $599  / $520 / $499
Yamaha                  Hello Music CBX301      ?     / $279 / ?
ViVa                    Maestro 16              ?     / ?    / ?
IBM                     Windsurfer              ?     / ?    / ?
 .....................................................................
** 4.29) What sound options are there for MicroChannel?

Nowadays there is really only one option: IBM's Mwave Windsurfer card for
MCA.  PC Direct sells it for $429.  Its a really cool card:
It has a DSP chip so it can do anything :
It's a 14.4 modem, 9600 fax, answering machine, MPU compatible MIDI
interface, SoundBlaster emulator, Wave Table General MIDI synth.

It can do all this and is sofware upgradable (v.fast modem for example,
or better instrument table) because of the Texas Instruments DSP chip.

Creative Labs is out of the MCA scene, but if you can find a used one, it
could be cheaper, but you dont get all the functionality, and the SB is
rather buggy, because they did not really follow MCS spec (from what I
understand)

I have not decided myself which way to go (used SB vs. Mwave) but am
leaning towards the more expensive solution.  I'm waiting for April to
get enough cash and to let IBM get all the bugs out.

hope this helps...
                - alex <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 4.30) What sound options are there for LAPTOPS?

I'm just going to add things to this list as I hear of them.  This is
a fairly new arena, so there's likely to be more than what you see
hear.  Look up the details in the appropriate FAQ entry.

    Disney Sound Source        Disney (I assume)
    PORT*ABLE Sound Plus(tm)    DSP Solutions Inc.
    AUDIOPORT            MediaVision Inc.
        AUDIOPORT VA                    MicroKey Inc.
        SpeachThing                     Covox Inc.
 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 5 - Existing Software (no games)
 .....................................................................
** 5.1)  How can I convert between sound formats / how does SOX work?

> Date: Mon, 21 Jun 1993 21:44:01 GMT
> From: Technically Sweet <[e-mail]>
> Subject: SOX Cheat Sheet
>
> Reprint From: alt.binaries.sounds.d, comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard,
>               alt.binaries.sounds.misc.d
>
> Hi-
>
> Here is the long-promised SOX cheat sheet.  Every command
> invocation you ever wanted to know.
>
> --------------------snippity-snip-snip-----------------------
>
> This is a cheat sheet of examples using SOX to
> do various common sound file conversions.
>
> Notes:
>
> The SUN examples all assume the old SUN voice-quality 8khz u-law
> hardware.  If the .AU file doesn't have a proper header,
> you'll need the second command line.  If you don't want the
> old format, you can remove the "-r 8012 -U -b" in front of
> "file.au" when converting TO SUN .au files.  Note that
> you'll need newer SUN sound hardware to successfully
> play these files.
>
> VOC has a similar problem.  All VOC files have a correct
> header, but older hardware (and software) only knows
> about samples made of unsigned bytes.
> VOC files come from the SoundBlaster and compatible
> cards on the IBM PC.  These cards can play many
> sample rates; not quite a continuous spectrum
> but close enough.
>
> The Mac sound hardware traditionally has been capable of
> sample rates 5012, 1025, and 22050, but only with unsigned
> bytes.  Recent models support CD-quality sound.
>
> SUN .au to Mac .snd:
>
>         sox file.au -r 11025 -t ub file.snd
> or:
>         sox -t ul -r 8012 file.au -r 11025 -t ub file.snd
>
> When you copy the file to the Mac, you'll have to set
> the sample rate by hand.
>
> Mac .snd to SUN .au
>
>         sox -r 11025 -t ub file.snd -r 8012 -U -b file.au
>
> The Mac file might also be at sample rates 5012, 22050, or 44100.
>
> PC .voc to SUN .au
>
>         sox file.voc -r 8012 -U -b file.au
>
> SUN .au to PC .voc
>
>         sox file.au file.voc
> or:
>         sox -r 8012 -t ul file.au file.voc
>
> SUN .au to WAV - without clipping
>
>         sox file.au -s -w file.wav
> or:
>         sox -t ul -r 8012 file.au -s -w file.wav
>
> WAV to SUN .au
>
>         sox file.wav -r 8012 -U -b file.au
>
> WAV to VOC
>         sox file.wav -u -b file.voc
>
> VOC to WAV
>         sox file.voc file.wav
>
> --------------------snippity-snip-snip-----------------------
> --
>
> Lance Norskog
> [e-mail]
> Data is not information is not knowledge is not wisdom.
 .....................................................................
** 5.2)  What are SBOS, MEGAEM, and ULTRAMID?
        SBOS is the program to make the Gravis Ultrasound card emulate
a SoundBlaster.  MEGAEM makes it emulate a GM (MIDI) device or the
Roland SCC-1.  ULTRAMID is used for GUS AIL driver support.  For more
information see the Gravis Ultrasound FAQ.
 .....................................................................
** 5.3)  What voice recognition software is available?
        There's Voice Assist, by Creative Labs, for nearly all
soundcards, but I don't have a spec sheet handy. I have used it, and
it's quite good in the voice recognition area.  It's only for Windows,
however, which to me severely limits its usefulness, but it *is*
pretty expandable with regard to adding functions/commands (basically
macros) for new applications that it doesn't already know about.
                        --Jennifer Smith <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 5.4)  What programs can play what music files on what soundcards?

Special thanks to Joel Plutchak <[e-mail]> and
the "General Soundcard FAQ".

      CD-Box - plays most sound files, needs supporting drivers (shareware)
      DIGIStudio - VGA MOD editor for COVOX & SoundBlaster (freeware?)
      DIGITRAK - VGA MOD player for the GUS (freeware?)
      DMP - plays MOD files on most sound boards (shareware)
      GUSMOD 2.11 - MOD player, text mode for the GUS (freeware)
      Modplay Pro - plays MOD files on SoundBlaster & compatibles
         and parallel port DACs (shareware)
      Muzika - Windows MIDI editor (freeware)
      P669 - 669 player for the GUS (freeware)
      PLAY410 - VGA raw sound file player (freeware?)
      ScopeTrax - plays VOC, raw, and Amiga files on SoundBlaster,
         parallel port DACs, or the PC speaker (freeware)
      SOX/Soundtool - converts between various sound file formats
         (freeware, portable source distributed)
      ULTRA Tracker - 16-bit Tracker composer for the GUS (shareware)
      Visual Player - plays MOD files on SoundBlaster (shareware)
      Windows 3.1 - plays WAV and MID files on most sound boards ($$$)
      WOWII - plays MOD files on SoundBlaster and compatibles (freeware?)

   Note: Past issues of The Sound Site Newsletter contain much more
         exhaustive lists of music players.

 .....................................................................
** 5.5)  What music composition software is available?

Cakewalk for DOS ver 4.0
Cakewalk Apprentice for Windows ver 1.0
Cakewalk Professional for Windows ver 2.0
Passport Designs Trax for Windows

The SB16ASP package and MIDI Kit package have Apprentice version bundled.
                -Chimo Masuda <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................
** 5.6)  What music publishing software is available?

Finale for Windows 2.0
Muzika for Windows
                -Chimo Masuda <[e-mail]>
 .....................................................................

======================================================================

* Part 6 - Vaporware (Expected "REAL SOON NOW")

This section is dedicated to all nonexistant hardware and software,
thus dubbed "Vaporware".

Hopefully this will set RUMOURS straight concerning projects that never
existed, set the RECORD straight for products promised but
undelivered, and raise our EXPECTATIONS for those few products truly
under development that look awesome!

Until I hear that a product can be acquired by the average user
(ie. no beta testers) I have to consider it VAPORWARE and keep it on
this list.  This means that some cards on this list may be available.
If this happens, let me know and I'll move it to its proper place.
 .....................................................................
** 6.1)  What is the AVM Altra Pro?

An "Aria" based soundcard with 1MB ROM and an estimated street
price of $280.
 .....................................................................
** 6.2)  What is the Aztech WavePower?

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    Aztech WavePower. Wavetable Synthesis, synthesizer chip
    is Ensoniq. 32 voices, 128 General MIDI instruments. 4MB
    of sample ROM. General MIDI compatible. Daughterboard
    for Aztech NX Pro 16 or SoundBlaster 16. $159 est. st.
    price.
 .....................................................................
** 6.3)  What is the Ensonic SoundScape?

        [From the PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    Ensonic SoundScape. Wavetable Synthesis, synthesizer
    chip is Ensoniq. 32 voices, 128 General MIDI
    instruments. 1-4MB of sample ROM. General MIDI, MPU-401
    and SB compatible. FM emulation. On-board Motorola 68000
    CPU.
 .....................................................................
** 6.4)  What is the Genoa AudioBahn 16 Pro?

An "Aria" based soundcard with 1MB ROM and an estimated street
price of $280.
 .....................................................................
** 6.5)  What is the GUS-MAX?

The "GUS-MAX" hoped to arrive by Christmas, 1993 from Advanced Gravis
Technologies.  It will incorporate all the features of their Gravis
UltraSound card, but will be supplied with 1MB of RAM, a SCSI port,
and 16 bit recording capabilities.
                        --Morgan Stair <[e-mail]>

Digital audio capabilities:
        digital-audio chipset--Gravis GF-1
        Max. stereo sampling res/rate--16 bit/48 khz
        Max. stereo playback-------16 bit/48 khz
        Direct to disk recording---yes
Synthesized audio capabilities
        Type of synthesis----------Wavetable
        Synthesizer chipset--------GF-1
        MIDI ports------------optional(I/I/I)
   Much more but no time to write it all. Pretty much like the regular
ultrasound though. Cd rom controller is scsi and has voice recognition.
Price is listed $299US with the regular Ultrasound listed as $199US. I don't
own a sound card yet but am definately leaning toward the gravis.
                        --Jam <[e-mail]>


In the vapourware arena, the GUS MAX is touted as also boasting
hardware filtering, and even higher S/N ratio than the GUS.
                        --Steve Bongos Larson <[e-mail]>

 .....................................................................
** 6.6)  What is the MidiBlaster?

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    Creative Labs MidiBlaster. Wavetable Synthesis,
    synthesizer chip is E-mu Proteus XR. 32 Voices, 128
    General MIDI instruments. 4MB of sample ROM. General
    MIDI compatible. Unlike WaveBlaster, this can be added
    to any sound card. $180 est. st. price. Sound quality is
    reported by a beta tester to be impressive. Creative
    Labs rep I talked to didn't have any more info, but I
    let you when they send me the specs.
 .....................................................................
** 6.7)  What is the PAS 16XL?

        [From the PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    MediaVision Pro Audio Spectrum 16XL. Wavetable
    Synthesis, synthesizer chip is Korg. 48KHz, 16bit. 32
    voices, 128 General MIDI instruments, digital reverb,
    and chorus. Voice recognition. 4MB of sample ROM.
    General MIDI, PAS 16, SB, and Adlib compatible. Game
    port, SCSI CD-ROM interface. Joint development with
    Korg. $319 est. st. price.  Has not hit the market yet,
    estimated 1st quarter '94.
 .....................................................................
** 6.8)  What is the PCM Midi Image?

        [From The PC Wavetable Synthesis Hardware Guide]

    PCM Midi Image. Wavetable Synthesis. 24 polyphonic
    voices, 128 General MIDI instruments plus multiple
    drumlets and variations. 317 sounds in 8MB of sample
    ROM.  General MIDI, Roland GS, MT-32, SCC-1, and MPU-401
    (UART mode) compatible. 16 bit 44.1 Khz sampling rate.
 .....................................................................
** 6.9)  What is the WaveBlaster 2?

This is all I've got on it (from early November '93) -

In article <[e-mail]>
[e-mail] (Anand Ramakrishnan) writes:
>
>       I just got off the phone with a Creative Labs sales rep who
>confirmed that a new WaveBlaster with RAM + ROM is in the works and
>should be released in a few months.  It really seems like the guys
>at Creative Inc. are making up for past mistakes this year. (i.e. true
>SCSI ports on the SB16, and now this. :0
 .....................................................................
** 6.10) What is the Yamaha CBX-B1?

Yamaha's new soundcard is called the CBX-B1.  Here's some stuff I learned
about it at Comdex:

CBX-B1 supports these standards:

%    Ad Lib
%    Creative Labs' SoundBlaster,
%    Windows Sound System,
%    Windows 3.1,
%    MPC,
%    MPU401.

44 different sounds at once

The CBX-B1 also features the Yamaha exclusive KP-Digital Signal Processor,
which gives the user extensive control over a wide selection of effects
including:

% Digital Delay,
% Reverb/Echo,
% Voice Cancellation, (Karaoke)
% Surround Sound,
% Voice Morph,
% Pitch Change.

Software bundled with the CBX-B1 includes:

% Wave Editing,
% Music Notation
% Sound Control Panel,
% MIDI Sequencer,
% WAVE Files,
%  MIDI Files
% Voice Morph and Files,

                -Brian Johnson <[e-mail]>

======================================================================

* Appendix A - Unanswered Questions

If you feel like writing an answer to one of these questions, PLEASE
go for it and send me the result!  Also, don't forget that MANY of the
other answers are incomplete, or could do with MAJOR improvement.

Here's a blank copy of a template I like!

 <[e-mail]>.

Company:           ?
Product:           ?
Street Price:      ?
Summary:           ?

Dig. Playback:     ?
Dig. Record:       ?
External Ports:    ?
Instruments:       ?
Internal Ports:    ?
Synthesis Method:  ?
Voices:            ?

Effects:           ?
External Control:  ?
Patch Editing:     ?
Sample Pool:       ?
Synthesis Chip:    ?
WTS RAM:           ?

GM Compatible:     ?
GS:                ?
MPU-401:           ?
MT-32:             ?
SB:                ?
SC Modules:        ?
SCC-1:             ?

NT support:        ?
OS/2 support:      ?
UNIX-ish support:  ?
Windows support:   ?

Notes and Quotes:  ?

 .....................................................................

** - What is the Concurrent sound card?
** - What is the Turtle Beach Monterey?
** - What is the Turtle Beach Rio Synth?
** - What is the Roland TAP-10?
** - What is speech synthesis software is available?

* End of FAQ
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____________________________________________________________________
Morgan Stair             Boston College           Work: 617-552-8783
Software Engineer        4 Alfred Cir STE 2       Fax:  [phone]
[e-mail]     Bedford MA 01730-2363