Audio 4.94 - Over 11,000 Files/audio-11000.iso/msdos/sndbords/proaudio/pas16.rev

Text File | 1994-02-07 | 15KB | 285 lines

Review of the Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Soundcard
--------------------------------------------
By Eric Hsiao for Gamebytes Magazine
   [e-mail]
   Review Update: 1/21/93

Hardware description:

True 16-bit stereo sound
--16 bit stereo playback and recording (16 bit linear DAC & ADC)
--Sampling/playback at 8, 12, and 16 bit PCM 4kHz-44kHz in stereo
--Dynamic filtering 2Hz-22kHz programmable
--ADPCM compression (2:1) and decompression (2:1, 3:1, 4:1) mono mode
--Microphone, external line-in, and CD-audio inputs (enables you to
  make CD-quality 16-bit recordings from a variety of sources)
--Shielded circuitry and dynamic filtering for low noise and clear
  sound

Advanced 20 Voice Stereo Synthesizer

--Yamaha YM262 (OPL-3) synthesizer
--4 operator FM synthesized sound for true stereo
--16 bit FM DAC
--General MIDI compatible

Audio Mixing

--Internal synthesizer (stereo)
--Digital audio (stereo)
--CD audio (stereo)
--External line-in (stereo)
--Microphone
--PC speaker
--10 channels with stereo enhance

Volume Control

--Master volume:  0 to -62dB (1 dB/step)
--Input mixer +1 to -60dB (2dB/step)
  Signal quality (1 V p-p reference)
  Dynamic range and signal to noise
--Synthesized and mixed audio:  85 dB
--Sampled audio PCM:            90 dB
--Total harmonic distortion:  0.05%

Frequency Response

--30 Hz - 20 kHz (+- 3 dB)

Audio Outputs

--Drive level: 11.5 V (p-p)
--Power:  4 watts per channel (software controllable volume, bass, and
  treble)
--Load impedance:  will drive 4 or 8 ohm speakers
--Output connections:  stereo mini jacks

16 bit PC Interface

--16 bit DMA
--Selectable IRQ (2-7, 10-15)
--Selectable DMA (0-3, 5-7)
--Software selectable DMA and IRQ settings with auto configuration

MIDI Interface (Requires Optional MIDI Mate)

--Full duplex MIDI port (can record and playback at the same time)

IBM Standard Joystick Port

High Performance SCSI Interface (Requires Optional SCSI Cable Kit)

--Supports CD-ROM drives, SCSI hard drives, removable/erasable optical
  drives or removable cartridge drives
--690 kB per second

System Requirements

--IBM PC, AT, 80286, 80386, 80486, or 100% compatible
--640k RAM memory
--DOS 3.1 or higher
--Hard disk with 6 MB free space
--External speakers (4 to 8 ohm)
  Optional
--Headphones:  1/8 inch stereo phone plug
--Microphone:  600 to 10K ohm dynamic
--External amplified speakers

3 Year Limited Warranty


    I bought my Pro AudioSpectrum 16 card, back in early June.  At
the time, it was the only card out there to use the new stereo FM
synthesizer chip called OPL3.  This chip offers what is called
4-Operator FM, providing better sounding instruments, compared to
its older brother, the YM3812 chip, which was only a 2-Operator mono FM
chip.  Cards that used the older YM3812 chips include: Soundblaster,
Soundblaster Pro Version 1, original AdLib, and Thunderboard.

    Firstly, installation did not give me any problems.  Before
installing, I was already familiar with my system's IRQ and DMA
configuration.  A program such as Checkit 3.0 or Microsoft's MSD (comes
with Windows 3.1) will tell you what IRQ's and DMA's are used by
your system.  Mediavision is working on the next version of the DOS
installation software, which will automatically scan the system and
suggest the settings for you to use.  Right now, it's advisable to
be somewhat familiar with your peripherals, in order to avoid
conflicts.  In a typical configuration running DOS, IRQ 5 would be
free and IRQ 7, which is used by the printer port, can also be shared
with the soundcard.  The Pro AudioSpectrum-16 (PAS-16 for short)
needs two usable IRQs and two DMA channels.  The reason for this is
that the Soundblaster part of the card needs its set, and the
PAS-16 part needs its set.  In essense, there are two separate
Digital-Analog-Converters (DAC) on board, and each needs its own
setting.  This allows the PAS-16 to simultaneously output two different
DAC sounds at the same time, without resorting to mathematical waveform
superposition.  Playing two .WAV files at the same time in Windows
is possible with the PAS-16.  However, if you do not wish to have
Soundblaster compatibility, you can easily disable the Soundblaster
DAC, thus requiring only one free IRQ and one free DMA channel.
However, most systems do have enough free IRQs and DMA channels, so
there shouldn't be too much problems finding the setting that works
for you.

    After getting the card up and running, I proceeded to test some
of the software that came bundled with it.  First thing that gets
loaded is a 7K config.sys driver that tells the PAS-16 what IRQ and
DMA settings to use.  It also enables volume control using the
Control-Alt-U (for Up) and Control-Alt-D (for Down) keys.  The DOS
software comes with some really nice programs and some really
not-so-nice programs.  One program that's a favorite is Trakblaster
Pro, an excellent Soundtracker .MOD file player.  It plays .MOD files
in stereo at either 44.1 KHz or 32 KHz.  While doing this, it sports
an impressive display of VGA graphics, complete with a spectrum
analyzer and real-time oscilliscopes.  However, a 386-33 MHz machine
or better is needed if you want to see all the graphics at once.  If
you have a slower machine, you can get away with just playing .MOD
files by turning off the graphics options.  Also, if you chose an IRQ
higher than 10 or DMA higher than 5 during installation, Trakblaster Pro
will lockup.  This is because most DOS software does not support
settings that high.  Next, the software comes with Monologue
text-to-speech software, which is licensed, speech-synthesis software
from First Byte.  The program speaks with an understandable male voice,
and it has the capability of reading standard text back to you.  It
also includes a TSR that allows you to highlight something on the
screen in any application and it will try and read that back.  When
installing Monologue, it is important to select the IRQ & DMA
settings to what the Soundblaster part of the card is set to.  Next,
I tried sampling some of my CDs with the card.  I used the DOS program
provided, called RECFILE.  Sampling to my harddrive on a 386-33 MHz
machine at 44.1KHz 16-bit stereo proved to be a problem, as I kept
getting an error about my drive being full, even though I had plenty
of room.  It turns out my drive could not keep up with the huge amounts
of data transfer, and that is why the error was ocurring. It seems that
486 machines do not have this problem.  However, it is still possible
to sample on 386 machines.  To do so, I sample to a large RAM drive,
setup Norton NCACHE and enable Intelliwrite, or try a harddrive
defragmentation program.  Other DOS programs I really didn't get into was
the waveform editor and the Voyetra sequencer program. The waveform editor
does not support 16-bit samples yet, and I'm not really into MIDI. Next, I
took a look at the Windows software.  The Windows installation was not
hard, and again, it requested IRQ and DMA settings.  However unlike DOS,
using higher IRQ and DMA settings are not problems for Windows programs.
Windows software includes a control panel where you can change volume,
treble, bass, and other aspects of the mixer.  Also included is a recorder
program, which lets you sample and perform a variety of waveform effects
like adding echo, increasing amplitude, and so on.  The Windows disk also
includes some .MID files that can be played using the Media Player program
that comes with Windows 3.1 -- which plays using the new OPL3 FM
instruments.  There also exists a shareware MOD player, called Win Mod
Pro, that does stereo playback. Overall, software that comes with the card
is a mixed bag, but recently Version 1.44 Windows Drivers was released
and fixes many bugs. Also, OS/2 driver support for the PAS-16 right now
is in beta form and is floating around on the net.  From what people say,
the SCSI port works well in OS/2, but it looks like OS/2 2.1 will not have
the drivers bundled with it since the final version will not be completed
in time. Instead, OS/2 2.1 users will be able to get the drivers from
Mediavision when the final version is ready.

    How is third party software support for the card?  Right now, the
card has only some support for its full potential.  Most games now use the
card in its Soundblaster mode.  However, this will be changing as you
read this review.  Microprose's Rex Nebular, Ancient Art of War in the
Skies, F15 Strike Eagle III, Access' Amazon, Interplay's Battlechess 4000,
Knowledge Adventure's Multimedia series all support the Pro AudioSpectrum
Plus and 16 boards in its native stereo mode, providing rich sounding music.
Also, currently in the works is ID Software's DOOM! game, which will have
native PAS-16 support. Also, MediaVision has been kind enough to release
programming information into the public domain, which means good news for
future support. Mediavision is even holding a contest right now for the
best shareware program to support the PAS-16.  Among the prizes are $100,
$1000, $2000, and $5000 shopping sprees, free t-shirts to all entrants,
a potential software contract where your program can get on Mediavision's
future multimedia CD-ROM, and other prizes.  If you would like even
more technical information about the card, you can call up the MediaVision
ISV developer's support program at 1-800-472-6147.  For contest entry
information, on Compuserve, type GO PASCONTEST and go to library #1 and
download PASCON.TXT or call their BBS at 510-770-0968. Voice: 1-800-356-7886
or 1-408-655-6014 ext 211 -- The contest deadline is July 15, 1993.

    How is the Soundblaster compatibility?  Overall, it's very good,
working about 99% of my software.  However, some people may have problems
with Wolfenstein 3-D and other programs.  In this case, just add the
following to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file:
    SETBLASTER = A220 I5 D1 T3
The I5 in the above statement signifies the IRQ 5 setting for the
Soundblaster part of the card.  If you set your IRQ to a different
setting, change the number after the I.  Overall, these programs worked
on my machine: Ultima 7, Wing Commander, Jill of the Jungle,
Kiloblaster, Links 386 Pro, all older Sierra games using the Soundblaster
option, Modplay v2.19b, Super Pro Play, Wow II, and many others.  If a
program still gives problems, contact the author.  Most likely, the
programmers assumed the Soundblaster to be set at IRQ 7. A few titles
will not work because they use a certain version of the Creative Labs'
developer's kit, which was designed purposely to crash if a Thunderboard
or PAS card is found.  Among these titles are: Mindcraft's Siege and
Three Sixty's Theatre of War.  These programs use a set of drivers with
the filenames: SB15.DRV, SB20.DRV, and SBPRO.DRV -- If you find these
three files in your program, give Mediavision or the game manufacturer a
call.

    So, how does this card compare to the Soundblaster Pro?  Well,
different people will tell you different things, but technically
speaking, the PAS-16 is a much superior product.  The hardware design
is so much better -- it includes shielding against noise-pickup from
the motherboard and power supply, an on-board clock crystal so playing
.MOD files in protected mode environments (QEMM, EMM386, OS/2, etc.)
do sound normal, a standard 50-pin SCSI port with a transfer rate of 690
kb/sec for CD-ROM hookup (the SB Pro has a 40-pin proprietary port that
can only connect to Panasonic drives), 16-bit 44.1KHz stereo DAC and ADC
for CD quality sound (SB Pro is 8-bit 22KHz stereo), a mixer that allows
you to sample from more than one source at once, and 62-step volume
settings (SB Pro is only 8-step). However, the SB Pro has been out longer
so there's more software support for it, but with the popularity of the
PAS-16 and the availability of the developer's kit to anyone, support for
it will not be too far behind.

    With all these technical specifications, how's the card sound?
Basically, the card is great.  The .MOD file player sounds excellent,
games like Rex Nebular and King's Quest VI use stereo to add a new depth
of dimensionality.  Basically, the OPL3 FM provides a good improvement
over the older FM chips, and 16-bit sampling is quite extraordinary.
Using 16-bit stereo .WAV clips gives Windows 3.1 a new life.  Also, since
the DAC has filtering and components are shielded, samples sound cleaner
and less noisy than a Soundblaster.

    Overall, if you're in the market for a great stereo soundcard,
the PAS-16 is the way to go.  You will not be disappointed with its
capabilities.  For some people, installation is easy, for others it is
difficult.  If you have a standard PC configuration, the default choices
provided by MediaVision should work fine.  Only when a system contains
many other peripherals that also use IRQ settings like network cards and
scanners, will conflicts occur.  Being familiar with your system's IRQ and
DMA settings will be helpful in installation.  Once installation is
complete, the card will serve you very well.  The current retail price
for the card is $299 for the 16 version and $199 for the Plus version.
The big difference between the 16 and Plus is the 16 has the 16-bit
DAC/ADC capability, and the Plus has an 8-bit DAC/ADC.  I would
definitely recommend getting the 16 over the Plus.  If you only want to
spend money in the low one hundreds, then you might be better off
getting the Gravis Ultrasound.  Else, mail order prices for the  PAS-16 is
around $180-$200, about the same price as the SB Pro.

    A special note to multi-media enthusiasts: MediaVision has just
released the "Fusion" CD-ROM bundle.  There are two models: Fusion and
Fusion-16.  The regular Fusion model has a PAS Plus and a CD ROM
drive.  The Fusion-16 model has a PAS-16 and a SONY CD-ROM drive, and
comes with several CD's, including Wing Commander II.  Also included
is "Quick Start", an installation program that will configure every-
thing for you.  You insert the disk and just type install and it will
take care of the rest. Street prices for Fusion-16 range between $500-$600.

     How to contact Mediavision:

Media Vision, Inc.      Main:         [phone] or [phone]
3185 Laurelview Ct.     Sales:        [phone]
Fremont, CA 94538       Tech Support: [phone] or [phone]
                        FAX:          [phone] or [phone]

BBS: [phone] 2400 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)
     [phone] 2400 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)
     [phone] 9600 (8 bits, no parity, 1 stop bit)

Tech Support can be reached at [e-mail]