issue02

EMUSIC-L Digest                                      Volume 51, Issue 02

This issue's topics:
	
	"Quest of the Holly Interface"
	Adlib Card along side a Roland MPU-401 in PC? (2 messages)
	MIDIATOR mess (3 messages)
	PC Midi Interface (10 messages)
	PC Soundcard FAQ
	Programming info for popular music cards?
	Reviews of soundcards needed
	Turtle Beach sound card (2 messages)
	Virtual midi driver ?

Your EMUSIC-L Digest moderator is Joe McMahon .
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------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date:         Fri, 23 Apr 1993 11:17:13 -0700
From:         Art Lowery 
Subject:      Re: "Quest of the Holly Interface"

Dave,
I think I would opt for true mpu-401 compatable, and a roland clone.
A cms401 sells for about $70 at several mail order houses around.
Try Sound Logic, advertized in Keyboard Magazine
They have some great prices.
Art

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 1 Apr 1993 18:57:42 GMT
From:         Sang Jin Hong 
Subject:      Re: Adlib Card along side a Roland MPU-401 in PC?

yes, you can use them both...  AdLib (I assume it's not a Gold version)
doesn't uses any hardware ports or hardware interrupts, even it does it
would run fine unles you've filled 'em up, it only uses software
interrupts, so it won't have any problem with MPU, which does use
hardware interrupts and port...  usually set to 2, but it's better to
set it at 5, so you can use IRQ from 9 to 15 through 2...

.sjh

------------------------------
Date:         Sun, 4 Apr 1993 02:21:17 +0200
From:         Adam MIROWSKI 
Subject:      Re: Adlib Card along side a Roland MPU-401 in PC?

> yes, you can use them both...  AdLib (I assume it's not a Gold version)
> doesn't uses any hardware ports or hardware interrupts, even it does it
> would run fine unles you've filled 'em up, it only uses software
> interrupts, so it won't have any problem with MPU, which does use
> hardware interrupts and port...  usually set to 2, but it's better to
> set it at 5, so you can use IRQ from 9 to 15 through 2...
>

Almost everything is messed up in the above post.

The Adlib card does use hardware ports. Their numbers
are fixed and hence rarely discussed. How could you
communicate with it otherwise (it is not memory mapped) ?

"Software interrupts" have nothing to do with hardware.
They are a method of communication between software and
drivers; merely an indirection table.

IRQs above 7 are available even if you use IRQ2. It
has been discussed to death why. Since you are talking
about "9 to 15" and not "8 to 15", you should have also
excluded hard disk and coprocessor reserved IRQs... :-)

------------------------------
Date:         Sun, 11 Apr 1993 01:42:38 GMT
From:         jsjrs1@AURORA.ALASKA.EDU
Subject:      MIDIATOR mess

Cakewalk and 486 clones don't mix?
I have a midiator Key Electronics interface which worked great
with my Toshiba laptop and Cakewalk4 (sequencer).  I bought a
486 clone and now cakewalk won't record. from the synth.
It plays fine and all the cabling works because I checked it
with the old laptop.  Cakewalk helpline said it was a driver
problem then I called back and asked someone else and they said
it was an IRQ problem.Should I just junk the midiator? It runs
off the serial port.

------------------------------
Date:         Mon, 12 Apr 1993 06:33:08 CDT
From:         Mark Borcherding 
Subject:      Re: MIDIATOR mess

I use Cakewalk Pro (windows) with a Voyetra v24s (2 midi in/4 midi out, SMPTE)
and a soundblaster Pro on a 486 with no problem. I recomend the Voyetra. I was
impressed when I sent in comments on improving their manual and they sent a
reply back on with a copy of new manual pages !)


Mark Borcherding.

------------------------------
Date:         Mon, 12 Apr 1993 09:43:00 EST
From:         Robert Depin 
Subject:      Re: MIDIATOR mess

I've  been using a midiator for awhile and have not had any complaints.  I'm
surprised that you haven't been able to get a straight answer from Key
Electronics.  I'd stay with the midiator and push them for the correct
information.  The midiator is by far the most flexible interface available
and I'd hate to see you switch to something less flexible.

I recall an email regarding interrupts and it suggested that interrupt 2 which
is somtimes the default may not be the best choice.  There are a limited number
of interupts available, 2 thru 8, so thru a process of deduction (i.e. which
can I identify as being used) you should be able to eliminate  that as a
problem.

I hope this gives you some help,
Bob

------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 21 Apr 1993 09:30:56 -0700
From:         Art Lowery 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

I suggest a mpu401 interface, a clone from cms, $79 at Sound Logic.
Get a Keyboard Magazine, check out the small ads in the back for sound Logic.
You may opt for a multi port model, or gat a midi split box to go to each
midi device (about $25) cms105t.
Art

------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 21 Apr 1993 22:10:00 GMT
From:         Richard Morey 
Subject:      PC Midi Interface

TO: GKNIGHT%PSTCC.dnet@NET.VANDERBILT.EDU

GK>Can someone give me advice about what I might be able to do with my obsolete
GK>computer and midi equipment?  I know this stuff is old and outdated but it
GK>still works and I can afford it!  :-)  I have an IBM XT with a 40 meg hard
GK>drive, 2 5.25 inch floppies and 640K.  I also have a Yamaha FB01 sound

Try the Voyetra v-22/24.. I have that in an old IBM XT and it works
fine..
---
 . OLX 2.2 . Because a vest has no sleeves...

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 22 Apr 1993 01:51:15 +0000
From:         David HAUBENSACK 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

> Can someone give me advice about what I might be able to do with my obsolete
> computer and midi equipment?  I know this stuff is old and outdated but it
> still works and I can afford it!  :-)  I have an IBM XT with a 40 meg hard
(...)
> I know this is not interesting to most of you with state of the art stuff but
> if someone could help I would appreciate it.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Geoff
> GKnight%PSTCC.dnet@net.vanderbilt.edu

I personaly own a slow PC AT for the moment and I use a Sound Blaster Pro Card
as a midi interface. It's provided with 1 midi-in and 1 midi-out and can also
make noise, FM sounds, etc... (not very powerful). But it's provided also with
a sequencer under DOS, called Voyetra, that is easy to use and that might be
supported by your XT. 40 Meg is enough. I have only 20 Meg...

David.

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 22 Apr 1993 15:14:07 +0200
From:         Adam MIROWSKI 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

> Can someone give me advice about what I might be able to do with my obsolete
> computer and midi equipment?  I know this stuff is old and outdated but it
> still works and I can afford it!  :-)  I have an IBM XT with a 40 meg hard
> drive, 2 5.25 inch floppies and 640K.  I also have a Yamaha FB01 sound
> module, a Yamaha keyboard with midi, a casio midi horn, and Yamaha midi
> drum pads.  Is there a card which will allow these things to interface with
> my computer?  Is there software which will allow me more flexibility over
> the control of the FB01 than I currently have via the front panel?

The is a public domain package called fmpaka at ucsd.edu that
contains an FB-01 editor and librarian. It is supposed to work
with several MIDI interfaces, including the MPU-401 and the
Sound Blaster one.

------------------------------
Date:         Thu, 22 Apr 1993 17:37:12 GMT
From:         Michael Chen 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

In article <9304220651.AA10183@hostsit.cad.cea.fr> David HAUBENSACK
 writes:

   > Can someone give me advice about what I might be able to do with my
obsolete
   > computer and midi equipment?  I know this stuff is old and outdated but it
   > still works and I can afford it!  :-)  I have an IBM XT with a 40 meg hard
   (...)
   > I know this is not interesting to most of you with state of the art stuff
but
   > if someone could help I would appreciate it.
   >
   > Thanks in advance,
   >
   > Geoff
   > GKnight%PSTCC.dnet@net.vanderbilt.edu

   I personaly own a slow PC AT for the moment and I use a Sound Blaster Pro
Card
   as a midi interface. It's provided with 1 midi-in and 1 midi-out and can
also
   make noise, FM sounds, etc... (not very powerful). But it's provided also
with
   a sequencer under DOS, called Voyetra, that is easy to use and that might be
   supported by your XT. 40 Meg is enough. I have only 20 Meg...

   David.

Be warned that the bundled Voyetra sequencer sucks, IMHO.
--
 Michael Chen                   | From the depths of our most lucid horrors |
                                | spring our fond hopes and pure desires... |
 mchen@cs.psu.edu               | except what comes from HELL! :-) 7/23/92  |

------------------------------
Date:         Fri, 23 Apr 1993 09:45:23 -0400
From:         XLAND 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

>
> > Can someone give me advice about what I might be able to do with my obsolete
> > computer and midi equipment?  I know this stuff is old and outdated but it
> > still works and I can afford it!  :-)  I have an IBM XT with a 40 meg hard
> (...)
> > I know this is not interesting to most of you with state of the art stuff
 but
> > if someone could help I would appreciate it.
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > Geoff
> > GKnight%PSTCC.dnet@net.vanderbilt.edu
>
> I personaly own a slow PC AT for the moment and I use a Sound Blaster Pro Card
> as a midi interface. It's provided with 1 midi-in and 1 midi-out and can also
> make noise, FM sounds, etc... (not very powerful). But it's provided also with
> a sequencer under DOS, called Voyetra, that is easy to use and that might be
> supported by your XT. 40 Meg is enough. I have only 20 Meg...
>
> David.
>

But check out first if Sound Blaster Pro Card works in XT 8-bit slot!

Maciek.

------------------------------
Date:         Sat, 24 Apr 1993 01:26:00 EST
From:         "Anthony D. Arviola" 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

In Article  "        Art Lowery
" says:
> I suggest a mpu401 interface, a clone from cms, $79 at Sound Logic.
> Get a Keyboard Magazine, check out the small ads in the back for sound Logic.
> You may opt for a multi port model, or gat a midi split box to go to each
> midi device (about $25) cms105t.
> Art
>
As a consumer who as been stung by CMS, I'll warn you that CMS does not
include drivers with their card (they make you BUY their Windows drivers),
nor do they come with diagnostic software (ie they come with nothing
but the card).  Their customer support is extremely lousey (eg. I called
them several times and had them hang up in my ear on each occation.
I didn't even get a chance to speak.  BTW I confirmed the number with
the store where I bought the card).  The Window's drivers that the Store
bought for me did not work.  My experience with CMS was/is a nightmare.
I do have a PC MIDI card from Music Quest which I highly recomment for
a system like yours.  From what I understand Music Quest and Voyetra
make pretty reliable hardware.
Good Luck,
Tony

------------------------------
Date:         Sat, 24 Apr 1993 09:14:32 EDT
From:         Tim Thompson 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

> I do have a PC MIDI card from Music Quest which I highly recomment for
> a system like yours.  From what I understand Music Quest and Voyetra
> make pretty reliable hardware.

I echo the recommendation for Music Quest.  Their newer PC-MIDI card
can be used for IRQ's up to 12 - a very noteworthy fact if you stuff
lots of things into your PC.   ...Tim Thompson...tjt@blink.att.com...

------------------------------
Date:         Mon, 26 Apr 1993 09:38:09 CST
From:         ddg@DEVLAC.EMS.COM
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

>As a consumer who as been stung by CMS, I'll warn you that CMS does not
>include drivers with their card (they make you BUY theirWindows drivers),
>nor do they come with diagnostic software (ie they come with nothing
>but the card).  Their customer support is extremely lousey (eg. I called
>them several times and had them hang up in my ear on each occation. I
>didn't even get a chance to speak.  BTW I confirmed the number with
>the store where I bought the card).  The Window's drivers that
>the Storebought for me did not work.  My experience with CMS was/is a
>nightmare.  I do have a PC MIDI card from Music Quest which I
>highly recomment fora system like yours.  From what I understand Music
>Quest and Voyetramake pretty reliable hardware.
>Good Luck,
>Tony

Despite what Tony stated about CMS, I've found them to be extraordinarily
 helpful
whenever I've needed to get support.  I'm a MIDI software developer, and was
having a problem on a customer's CMS-444 multi-port card.  After discussions
with CMS, they sent me a card (to try and resolve the problem), _all_ of the
manuals for all of their devices, and several packages of technical literature
for my use.  They also included several reprinted atricles that they thought
might be _helpful_ in my continuing quest to write decent MIDI software.

I've had good success with most MIDI cards (Voyetra being the exception), and
was very impressed with the CMS group's handling of my (and my customer's)
questions/problems.

I'm not sure of Tony's time frame, but I do know that (from rumor) that CMS
had some problems several years ago - mostly related to the products that
they distributed, vs. the hardware they manufactured.  Sorry, but I don't
know any specifics.

As for the driver issue, I'm not sure what their current policy is, but the
mentioned 401-type cards (not the 444) will need no other Windows driver other
than the Roland MPU-401 driver that comes with Windows 3.1


------------------------------
Date:         Wed, 28 Apr 1993 14:03:00 GMT
From:         Richard Morey 
Subject:      Re: PC Midi Interface

MC}   I personaly own a slow PC AT for the moment and I use a Sound Blaster Pro
  }   as a midi interface. It's provided with 1 midi-in and 1 midi-out and can
a
  }   make noise, FM sounds, etc... (not very powerful). But it's provided also
  }   a sequencer under DOS, called Voyetra, that is easy to use and that might
  }   supported by your XT. 40 Meg is enough. I have only 20 Meg...
MC}   David.
MC}Be warned that the bundled Voyetra sequencer sucks, IMHO.

I disagree with you here.. Although the Voyetra software (Sequencer Jr.)
may not have as many features as a lot of other programs available, it has
ample features for a beginner.. And the Voyetra card is easily expandable
and comes with TWO midi ports standard.. You can add parts to it to make it
MPU compatible (I didn't have the MPU part at first - I didn't need it
since I liked their software, and now they have a WINDOWS driver and so I
don't really need it, but I added it anyway.) And you can add Time Code
features and a MIDI breakout box..
---
 . OLX 2.2 . Too Much Information, Running Through My Brain

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 1993 17:15:48 -0400
From:         Joe McMahon 
Subject:      File: "EMUSIC-L LOG9304B"


I've attached the soundcards FAQ. The one question it pretty much handwaves
is "does it work with MIDI"? Still, there are phone numbers and addresses
here; perhaps some enterprising soul could compile a MIDI yes/no list,
given the resources provided here.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Frequently Asked Questions

                                 of the

                        comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

                                Newsgroup


Last update: April 6, 1993           Previous posting: March 12, 1993


This is an attempt to answer a few non-product-specific questions that
get asked a lot in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard newsgroup.  Here are
the topics currently addressed:

   1) What sound card should I buy?
   2) How do I get in touch with company XXX?
   3) Where can I get software and/or documentation?
   4) What programs can play XXX music files on YYY soundcard, or
      convert them into ZZZ type files?
   5) I don't run DOS.  Am I out of luck when it comes to sound boards?

A current copy of this and many other FAQs can be obtained at the
anonymous FTP site rtfm.mit.edu, from the compressed file generic-faq.Z
in the /pub/usenet/news.answers/PCsoundcards directory.  If you can't
use FTP, send email to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with

   send usenet/news.answers/PCsoundcards/generic-faq

as the only text in the message body (NOT in the 'Subject:' field).

Corrections to, additions to, and comments regarding this FAQ should be
emailed to Joel Plutchak (plutchak@porter.brown.geo.edu).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) What sound card should I buy?

   As with any consumer purchase, what you buy depends upon what you
   want to use it for and how much money you're willing to spend.  As
   of this writing, things are fairly muddy, what with one major player
   reorganizing after bankruptcy, other companies announcing new
   products, and new companies jumping into the field.

   Questions to ask yourself:

      Do I want the highest quality sound possible?  Do I want
      stereo?  Do I want MIDI capability?  Do I want it to be
      supported by a wide range of software?  Am I interested
      in multimedia?  Does the company provide good documentation,
      support, upgrades, etc?  Is software available that does
      want I want it to to?

   One person assesses things this way:  If you just want to enhance
   your gameplaying experience, and don't want to spend much money,
   pick up a low-end Soundblaster or Adlib card.  If you have
   high-end interests, and have the cash, buy from Turtle Beach.
   For a good compromise, with MIDI, stereo, etc., get a Soundblaster
   Pro or Pro-16, a Gravis Ultrasound, or a Pro Audio Spectrum 16.
   If you're strictly interested in MIDI, go with something with Roland
   MPU-401 compatibility.  The best thing to do, however, is to hear
   the boards yourself, and test out any relevant software ahead of
   time, if at all possible.

   The diehard do-it-yourselfer can also build his/her own device
   which attaches to the computer's parallel port.  A fair number of
   freeware/shareware programs support such devices, though commercial
   support should not be exepcted.  You can get schematics in the
   Modplay Pro package, among other places.

   A word about MIDI: MPU-401 functionality (in brief, a superset of
   simple MIDI serial functionality) has been the de facto standard in
   the music world for doing MIDI with computers.  So far, most game-
   oriented soundcard MIDI options are *NOT* MPU-401-compatible.  If
   you want a board primarily for MIDI, make sure it can run the software
   you want to use.


2) How do I get in touch with company XXX?

   Here are various names and addresses of soundcard manufacturers
   and major software vendors.  All telephone numbers are in the US
   unless specified:

      Adlib Multimedia Inc. - sound hardware
         220 Grande Allee East, Suite 850, Quebec, QC, Canada G1R 2J1
         Phone: (800) 463-2686 (418) 529-9676

      Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Limited - sound hardware
         111-7400 MacPherson Ave.
         Burnaby, B.C.
         CANADA V5J 5B6
         Phone: (604) 431-5020

      Creative Labs/Brown Wagh (Soundblaster) - sound hardware,
            programming toolkit
         2050 Duane Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95054
         Main:    (800) 998-5227, 998-1461 Support: (408) 428-6622
         FAX:     (408) 986-1777 BBS:     (408) 428-6660

      Media Vision, Inc (Pro Audio Spectrum) - sound hardware
         47221 Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539
         Main:    (800) 348-7116 or (510) 770-8600 Sales:   (800) 845-5870
         Support: (800) 638-2807 or (510) 770-9905 FAX:     (510) 770-8648 or (510) 770-9592
         BBS:     (510) 770-0968 & 770-1661 (2400,8,N,1) (510) 770-0527 (9600,8,N,1)

      Roland Corp. - MIDI hardware, software
        7200 Dominion Circle
        Los Angeles, CA 90040-3647
        (213) 685-5141

      Turtle Beach Systems - sound hardware
         P.O. Box 5074, York, PA 17405
                  - or -
         Cyber Center, Unit 33, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, York, PA 17404
         Main:   (717) 843-6916 FAX:    (717) 854-8319
         CompuServe: 75300.1374@CompuServe.com (Turtle Beach*Roy Smith)

      Voyetra - MIDI hardware, software, programming toolkits
         333 Fith Avenue, Pelham, NY USA
         (800) 233-9377 (US only)
         (914) 738-4500 (From anywhere)
         (914) 738-4500 (FAX)


3) Where can I get software and/or documentation?

   Various commercial and hobbyist bulletin board systems have forums
   dedicated to soundcards, music files, etc.  On the Internet, these
   are a few of the anonymous FTP sites and mailing lists which cater
   to the discerning PC sound enthusiast:


      FTP site                    Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      archive.epas.utoronto.ca    Sound files, Gravis site
         (128.100.160.36)
      ccb.ucsf.edu                SND files and players
         (192.94.75.2)
      ftp.brad.ac.uk              MOD files
         (143.53.2.5)
      ftp.ulowell.edu             CMF and ROL files
         (128.63.32.1)
      ftp.uwp.edu                 Sound (and graphics) demos, PAS files
         (131.210.1.4)
      garbo.uwasa.fi              Sound files
         (128.214.87.1)
      louie.udel.edu              MIDI patches, samples, software
         (128.175.1.3)
      saffron.inset.com           Sounds, games, utilities, newsletter
         (192.94.75.2)
      snake.mcs.kent.edu          Soundblaster & Adlib stuff
         (131.123.2.222)
      sol.cs.ruu.nl               MIDI documentation, software, songs
         (131.211.80.17)
      tybalt.cco.caltech.edu      Soundblaster programming in /pub/heathh
         (131.215.139.100)
      wsmr-simtel20.army.mil      Sound players
         (192.88.110.20)
      wuarchive.wustl.edu         Lots of stuff
         (128.252.135.4)


      Newsgroup                   Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard   This newsgroup.  PC soundcard topics
      alt.sb.programmer           Soundblaster programming topics
      comp.multimedia             Multimedia topics
      comp.music                  Computer music theory and research
      alt.binaries.sounds.misc    Digitized sounds and software
      alt.binaries.sounds.d       Discussion and follow-up group
      alt.binaries.multimedia     Supposedly multimedia sounds and software

      Note: All the above newsgroups except the first two are generic groups, so PC-specific topics probably aren't appropriate.


      Other FAQs (some available in news.answers and at rtfm.mit.edu)
      --------------------------------------------------------------
      gravis-ultrasound/faq       Gravis Ultrasound information
      audio_fmts/part1
      audio_fmts/part2i           Audio file format descriptions


      Mailing lists               Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      MSDOS Sound Card Forum      For PC sound card discussions and info.
                                  Commands should be sent to the
                                  listserv@brownvm.brown.edu address,
                                  while the list address itself is
                                  ibmsnd-l@brownvm.brown.edu.

      PAS Lovers                  For Pro Audio Spectrum discussion and
                                  info.  To subscribe, send a message to
                                  pas-lovers-request@qiclab.scn.rain.com
                                  with the word ADD as the subject.

      Soundblaster Programming    For discussion of Soundblaster
                                  programming issues.  For info,
                                  contact plutchak@porter.geo.brown.edu

      Ultrasound Digest           For Gravis Ultrasound programmers
                                  and users. Send requests to
                                  ultrasound-request@dsd.es.com, or get
                                  info from ultrasound-owner@dsd.es.com


      Miscellaneous               Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      Sound Site Newsletter       An electronic newsletter devoted to the
                                  computer sound hobbyist.  Available on
                                  many BBS' and anonymous FTP archives,
                                  and posted to several newsgroups.


4) What programs can play XXX music files on YYY soundcard, or
   convert them into ZZZ type files?

      CD-Box - plays most sound files, needs supporting drivers (shareware)
      DIGIStudio - VGA MOD editor for COVOX & Soundblaster (freeware?)
      DMP - plays MOD files on most sound boards (shareware)
      Modplay Pro - plays MOD files on Soundblaster & compatibles
         and parallel port DACs (shareware)
      Muzika - Windows MIDI editor (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)
      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?)


5) I don't run DOS.  Am I out of luck when it comes to sound boards?

   As of this writing, commercial support is sketchy, though rumors of
   vendor-supported OS/2 drivers for the PAS, Soundblaster, and GUS have
   been heard.  Also, the Soundblaster reportedly works under OS/2's
   MMPM/2 (multimedia extensions).

   Various people in the community have written device drivers for the
   Soundblaster which run under Unix (BSD and System V) and OS/2.
   Contact Lance Norskog (thinman@netcom.com) for information about an
   AT&T Unix V.3 and V.4 driver, or Steve Haehnichen (shaehnic@ucsd.edu)
   for information about a BSD Unix driver.  A preliminary version of an
   OS/2 driver was spotted at the astro.as.arizona.edu (128.196.176.1)
   FTP site.

   A group of people are working on a Unix driver for the GUS.

   Linux contains drivers for several sound boards, including the
   PAS, SB, Adlib, and some SB-compatibles.

   Also, check the various archives and FTP sites for updates and
   late-breaking news.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer/Analyst
"I'm mentally OVERDRAWN!"

------------------------------
Date:         Fri, 2 Apr 1993 11:54:26 BST
From:         Andy Farnell 
Subject:      Re: Programming info for popular music cards?y

>
> I am looking for ways to send World Meteorological Organization
> radio-facsimile transmissions of weather charts for ships from a
> PC.  This requires the production of discrete tones between 300
> and 2300 Hz.
>

A very interesting application indeed Tony. It comes as no surprise
to me that the falling costs of mass produced sound cards has led to
a situation where they attactively compete with more specialised
hardware for certain non musical uses.  Some will doubtless tell you
that the use of a soundboard for such an idea is, to say the least
'excessive' given the functionality that most of these cards offer.
However when a soundblaster card for a hundred quid or so is compared
to a dedicated D/A board which some companies are asking twice as much for
it is an obvious choice. What you didn't tell us was:

1) the form the images take before encoding

2) the required information bandwidth

3) whether you are encoding to some existing communications protocol for RTTY

In answer to your questions, yes these cards are extremely easy to program
even at a very low level, they are usually well documented and should easily
fulfil the requirements you stipulate. Bandwidth is anything up to about 19k
(the filters aren't very steep on some of the cheaper cards) and the signal
quality from 16 bits is excellent (more than adequate for radio broadcast).

You will find the cards that offer FM synthesis the most useful for information
transfer since you could implement some sort of phase quadrature modulation
or something like a binary tone (touch-tone) encoding system.

A few warnings: If you are planning on using these cards to make a send and
recieve pair, a few cards have 16 bit output but only 8 bit input so you might
find that you can put the information out but can't get it back again as
easily. Using MIDI sequencing to output datastreams at a fast rate might be
a bit dodgy since the timing might not be perfect, better to use low level ops.
Some boards wont let you do A/D and D/A concurrently.

best of luck with your project

Andy James Farnell
Computing and Cognition
Bournemouth University

replies on this matter by private email to:
afarnell@uk.ac.bournemouth

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 1993 23:07:00 LCL
From:         CBDZ117B@GRTHEUN1.BITNET
Subject:      Reviews of soundcards needed

Where can I find reviews for the current-selling soundcards like SB, AdLib,
GravisUltraSound etc? Thanx in advance, Sakis.

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 1993 14:08:18 CDT
From:         Tom Heng 
Subject:      Re: Turtle Beach sound card

Ilia, there is a review of the Turtle Beach Sound Card in the April
27th issue of PC Magazine. It received an editors choice and it
seemed to be head and shoulders above the rest (In cost and quality)
it does use the chip set from the synth that you mentioned so I
assume it sounds the same.
-----------------------
Thomas Heng
Nuclear Design Engineer
Email at tom@oppd.gov
-----------------------

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 1993 14:21:39 EST
From:         Ilia 
Subject:      Turtle Beach sound card

     Luis A. Fuente said:

>      I think the best card is the one that fits your requirements :)  )
> There are bad, good and excellent sound cards for PC (though there is still
> a lot of people that thinks PC is a boring machine, just a computer and not th
> best choice for a musician)

      In the light of this discussion I have a question.  Does anyone
have an experience with Turtle Beach multisound card for PC? It it
supposed to provide both MIDI and digital sound capabilities, and MIDI
sounds are said to be identical to those of E-mu Proteus. I would
like to get a more detailed info on that card. Also, does anyone know of
a card that allows to combined MIDI and sampling (to create a sampling
MIDI synth so to speak)?

       Ilia.

------------------------------
Date:         Tue, 13 Apr 1993 08:19:47 -0400
From:         David HAUBENSACK 
Subject:      Virtual midi driver ?

I recently upload demos from a few sequencer under Windows3 and I
want to try them on my 486-66 PC at work. But there's no midi card
on it so I wonder if there's some kind of midi driver that integrates
a virtual midi card and a simplistic synthethizer playing on the PC's
buzzer ? I'm quite sure it doesn't exist because the PC buzzer is
probably not able to play several notes at the same time, but if
something like this or ressembling to this exists, let me know.

David.
---
David Haubensack  e-mail: hbsk@hostsit.cad.cea.fr
C.E.A. Cadarache, DEP/SIT, 13108 ST-PAUL-LEZ-DURANCE
FRANCE (phone: 33-42254292, fax: 33-42257298)

------------------------------
End of the EMUSIC-L Digest
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