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The Sound Site Newsletter Issue 06
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| The Sound Site Newsletter |
| |
| Issue #6 August 1, 1991 (T) |
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| Copyright (C) 1991 by David Komatsu All Rights Reserved. |
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| This newsletter may be distributed to bulletin boards, FTP site or |
| other media as long as there is no charge to receive the newsletter |
| o Next Issue due: September 1, 1991. |
| o Submission of material deadline: August 27, 1991. |
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Note from the Editor
--------------------
Welcome to the sixth edition of the Sound Site Newsletter. In this
issue the IBM sound board descriptions continue. In last months
edition we began with the specifications for the Adlib Gold and the
MediaVision Pro Audio Spectrum cards. In this issue the Sound Blaster
Pro and the Roland card are discussed.
Due to the HUGE overhead of managing the mailing list I ask that only
those who have no alternative but receiving by e-mail add to the mailing
list. This newsletter is also available on Simtel20 (and via Simtel's
mail server) and Garbo as well as the bulletin boards listed on the last
page. It is also posted to comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc, comp.sys.mac.misc and
rec.games.misc.
We are several days late this month since we were finalizing the terms of
an FTP site (see story in this issue)
-----> Dave
In this issue
-------------
o Do you want to announce a new product?
o How you can join the Sound Newsletter family
o Sound Bits
o Playbwc: The Complete Sound Package
o Rogue RETURNS!
o The Mod Corner
o Help Wanted
o Product Reviews: Sound Cards Part II
o Specs on the SoundBlaster Pro sound card
o Specs on the Roland MPU Card
o Specs on
o Anonymous FTP sound Sites
Do you want to announce a new product?
---------------------------------------
If you have written a sound related program that is SHAREWARE,
FREEWARE, or PUBLIC DOMAIN and would like to announce your program
to the world contact us. We can feature it here and also can help
you distribute your program worldwide to our sound distribution sites.
Sound Bits
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DISCLAIMER: The sound newsletter is not affiliated with any of the
software and products mentioned below. The information is provided
to give the reader a look at the product. We provide no guarantee
on the performance of the software or products mentioned in the sound
newsletter.
*************
* PlayBwc *
*************
First there was REmac, then there was Playmac and now....
B & J Corporation and Playmac Technologies proudly introduce the Playbwc
sound editing package.
The Playbwc package is the follow up to the successful Playmac package
but now by using the new technology of Kim Heino and Arttu Kontkanen's
new program B's Wave Centre (BWC)... a new generation has dawned.
Below is an excerpt from the BWC manual.
BWC is the best sample editor program available for IBM PC and
compatibles. Only requirements are EGA or EGA-Mono display
adaptor and 256kB of memory. BWC supports JDAC (see JDAC.DOC),
Sound Blaster card and the PC internal speaker.
The best result is obtained by a JDAC connected to your stereo
set. You can easily make the JDAC with the instructions included
in this package. It is a simple 8 bit D/A-converter to be
connected to your parallel port. Also a product named Covox
Speech Thing seems to be compatible with the JDAC. It is
possible to use it with BWC.
Sound Blaster's I/O address and IRQ number can be configured
with CFGBWC. The default settings are IRQ 7 and I/O address
0220h (SB 1.5). The internal speaker routine plays the samples
only with 6 bits. It is IBM's fault! Another internal speaker
playing routines, like RealSound, plays the samples just like we
do. But we convert the 8 bit data to 6 bit in real-time to get
the best result. Note that you can easily hang your computer by
playing samples with too high digirates.
BWC supports MSMOUSE-compatible mouse. Remember to load your
driver before starting BWC.
BWC identifies automatically following sample formats: RAW, IFF,
RealSound (Steve), Sound Blaster's (Voxkit) format, Akai
Professional Sampling Keyboard (see part 4 of this document) and
of course our own format.
So now the familiar power of Playmac is teamed up with BWC to form a
complete sound package. The package can be obtained from ROGUE on
the: rogue/players or sound/players directory as playbwc.zip.
*********************
* Rogue Lives Again *
*********************
Rogue Lives!
To all the users of kfps-roble6.dynamic.stanford.edu (Rogue) welcome back!
To the rest of you... introducing ROGUE!
From Jim R Oldroyd <jr@inset.com>:
Rogue is now moving to saffron.inset.com, an Amiga 3000UX, located
just outside Boston, MA. You can get everything in the archive
with anonymous ftp only at the moment. Saffron normally runs a
mail archive server which will send index lists and all files from
the archive. Unfortunately, due to recent reorganization, the
server isn't there at the moment, although it will be back soon.
Details of how to use it will appear in a later Newsletter. Saffron
also has a small archive of generally useful MSDOS stuff, and also
X-Windows sources. Much of this is not there at the moment, either,
although it will all be put back over the next few weeks.
Saffron is connected to the rest of the world over a 9600 bps SLIP
line. You may find that some transfers are a bit slow. Sorry.
That's life. Don't complain, just find something enjoyable to do
while you wait for your files. If you do need to talk to someone
here, send mail to me (jr@inset.com) rather than root or postmaster.
Too much mail to root or postmaster will just annoy them.
The Rogue directory is a compilation of sound files, sound players,
and several other MSDOS applications. At the moment we are not accepting
GIFS. It is being run by the same people who brought you Rogue
o Michael Minakami
o Dale Chun
o David Komatsu
If you have any questions relating to the files on Rogue feel free to
send e-mail to 'sound@saffron.inset.edu'. We aim to keep the latest
in sound technology as we have done in the past on the old Rogue site.
Also the moderators ask that you limit FTPing to non-prime hours. Please
do not FTP between the hours of 08:30 - 18:30 Eastern Time
-- Happy ftp'ing!
**********************
* The NT MOD Corner *
**********************
In this section you will find the latest news in the NT MOD files.
In the next issue of the Sound Newsletter we will be looking into ways
of editing and playing .mod files so if you have something you would like
to share with the world send it to us.
Also to the users of MODPLAY please note the UOP server is down indefinitely
thus MP116E.ZIP is now available at Rogue (saffron.inset.com) on the
rogue/players or sound/players directory.
******************** If you are looking to hire people in the field of
* HELP Wanted * sound or multimedia place your want ad here FREE!
********************
Concept Digital is looking for programs/programmers for an upcoming hardware
project. The goal is to create a set of 16 bit digital audio editors (capable
of editing files larger than RAM memory) that provide nearly equivalent
functionality between multiple host systems: i.e. Amiga, Mac, PC, etc. These
editors, when available, will be bundled with the hardware version for the
appropriate host system. If you would be interested in contributing to this
project, write to:
Don Kennedy
Concept Digital
2925 Sunny Lane
Fayetteville, AR 72703
or email kcampbel@uafhp.uark.edu
********************************
* Product Reviews * SoundBlaster Pro
******************************** Roland
* A Look at Sound Cards Part 2 * Amiga Sound Card
********************************
Sound Blaster Pro (Due out in August 1991)
---------------------------------------------
- Sound Blaster v1.5 downward compatible (including the Adlib,
voice channels, etc)
- Voice output stereo DAC 8-bit 4-44KHz
- Voice input stereo ADC 8-bit 4-44KHz (microphone, stereo Line-In,
CD-Audio)
- Stereo FM Music Synthesizers
. 22 Voices
. Fully Sound Blaster/Adlib compatible
- Stereo Digital/Analog Mixer, mixing sources:
. Stereo DAC
. Microphone
. CD-Audio
. Stereo FM
. Stereo Line-In
. PC Internal Speaker
- Digital Volume Controls for:
. Stereo DAC
. Microphone
. CD-Audio
. Stereo FM
. Stereo Line-In
. Master Volume
- MIDI interface
. Sound Blaster compatible
. MIDI Time Stamp for Multimedia Extension
- CD-ROM Interface
. Multimedia PC compatible
- Joystick Port
. Standard PC joystick port
- Microphone AGC Amplifier
- Stereo Power Amplifier
. 4.5W per channel
. Manual Volume Control
Software included,
- Intelligent Organ
- SBTalker (text-to-speech speech synthesizer)
- Vedit2 (voice waveform editor)
- SP/PRO (MIDI Sequencer)
- Mmplay (Multimedia Presentation Software)
Estimated list price: $299
Roland MT-32 Sound Card (Available now)
------------------------------------------
- MT-32 Multi-timbre Sound Module
- Sound source: LA [Linear Arithmetic synthesis]
- Number of notes: Up to 32 simultaneously
- Number of timbres: Up to 8 and one Rhythm Part simultaneously
- Preset timbres: 128 for Sound Pars and 30 for Rhythm Part
- Control panel buttons: Part number 1 through 5 and one RHYTHM button
(Parts 6 to 8 also accessible)
SOUND GROUP button
SOUND button
VOLUME button
MASTER VOLUME button
SELECT/VOLUME control
- Display: 20-characters backlit liquid crystal display
- Connectors: OUTPUT jacks - L (mono) and R
MIDI connectors - IN, OUT, and THRu
DC IN jack
- Power supply: 9V DC (supplied by ACB-Series AC adaptor)
- Current consumption: 650 mA (at 9V DC)
- External dimension: 305mm(width) x 220 mm(depth) x 45 mm(height)
12" x 8.5" x 1.75"
- Weight: 1.5 kg/3 lb 5 oz.
- Accessories (Supplied): AC adaptor (ACB-Series)
MIDI cable (1 pc.)
connecting cord (2 pcs.)
Owner's Manual "Sound List", "What is MIDI".
THE VISION QUEST/SUNRIZE AD1016 (For Amiga) Release: Fall/Winter 91
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Designed and prototyped by Vision Quest Systems, Fayetteville, AR.
To be manufactured and distributed by SunRize Industries, Campbell, CA.
Preliminary hardware specifications:
o 16 bit 64k oversampling stereo analog inputs including balanced line
and unbalanced analog I/O
o Sampling rates of 32k, 44.1k, and 48k
o Serial digital audio input/output, switchable between:
Professional: AES/EBU
Consumer: IEC 958
SP/DIF
EIAJ CP-340
o Motorola DSP56001 Digital Signal Processor running at 20 mhz
(27 mhz option)
o 8k SRAM (total) onboard for DSP Program, X, and Y memory (expandable
to 192k)
o External digital audio clock input
o MIDI input/output
o SMPTE reader onboard
o 8x oversampling 16 bit stereo analog outputs (18 bit option)
o Extensive connectors for future daughterboard and external expansion
Editing software from SunRize Industries will be bundled with the card.
Projected retail price: approx. $2000 US
System Requirements:
Amiga 2000 or 3000 with minimum 1 meg fast RAM
(Testing may indicate usage on 500 or 1000 with expansion chassis)
SCSI hard drive controller (DMA or non-DMA) supporting SCSI Direct
We recommend the use of a 100 meg or larger HD with an access time of
not more than 28ms. Recording at the 48k sampling rate uses
approximately 200k of hard disk space per second of sampling time. This
yields about 5 seconds of audio per meg, or about 8 minutes of stereo
audio data for a 100 meg drive. Time availability will depend on system
memory requirements, disk fragmentation, and timing data requirements.
For optimum multitasking, a 68020 or faster processor is recommended.
Intended functions (as software is available):
----------------------------------------------
o Audio editing and equalization
o Sampling keyboard sound generation and editing
o Audio recording clean-up/remastering
o Time compression/expansion
o Digital sample rate conversion
o Digital audio recording/mastering to DAT
o External and MIDI triggering of samples
o Video sound editing, scoring, sound effects, and dialog replacement, all
slaved to SMPTE Time Code
o Sound synthesis and music sampling
For more hardware information, contact:
Vision Quest Systems
2925 Sunny Lane
Fayetteville, AR 72703
Phone: (501) 521-0420 GEnie address: D.KEENEDY15
(501) 253-5264 internet: kcampbel@uafhp.uark.edu
For software questions, availability, and other information, contact:
Anthony Wood
SunRize Industries
2959 S. Winchester Blvd., Suite 204
Campbell, CA 95008
Phone: (408) 374-4962
Fax: (408) 374-4963
Thanks for your interest in what we are doing!
Don Kennedy
Vision Quest Systems/Concept Digital
------------------------------
| Anonymous Sound FTP SITES |
------------------------------
To connect to an anonymous FTP site do the following (we are using the
sound-site as an example)
ftp ccb.ucsf.edu or ftp 128.218.1.13
name: anonymous
password: <email-address>
If you know of any other Sound ftp sites please forward the information
this way. If you know the administrators of the below sound sites or
you are in charge of one of the below sound sites please e-mail me so
we can join efforts. Your input to this sound-list would be greatly
appreciated. (*) denotes sites carrying Sound Newsletter & back issues.
Name IP# What
------------------------------------------------------------------------
abcfd20.larc.nasa.gov 128.155.23.64 amiga sounds
ccb.ucsf.edu 128.218.1.13 (.snd), players. (*)
directory: Pub/Sound_list
garbo.uwasa.fi 128.214.87.1 (.stm), players (*)
ems.media.mit.edu 18.99.99.99 csound
neon.stanford.edu 36.80.0.138 sounds for soundblaster
rtag.ee.lbl.gov 128.3.254.68 sounds
directory: sounds/*.au
saffron.inset.com 192.94.75.2 SoundBlaster/Adlib, (*)
(.mod, .stm, .snd) [Rogue]
sciences.sdsu.edu 130.191.224.2 sounds
snake.mcs.kent.edu 131.123.2.222 SoundBlaster & Adlib stuff
directory: pub/SB-Adlib
sumex-aim.stanford.edu (.snd) files
terminator.cc.umich.edu 141.211.164.8 sounds and misc archive site
ucsd.edu 128.54.16.1 sounds for sparc
uop.uop.edu 138.9.200.1 UOP is currently down
xanth.cs.odu.edu 128.82.8.1 startrek sounds
dir: pub/star-trek/stsounds.
wsmr-simtel20.army.mil 192.88.110.20 Sound players (*)
Attention Bulletin Board owners and FTP site administrators
-----------------------------------------------------------
You can carry the sound newsletter on your site FREE of charge. For
FTP sites please contact me at: komatsu@alcor.usc.edu. You can either
obtain it from one of our sites or we can mail it to you on Fido Net,
CompuServe or Internet.
The following Bulltein board systems carry the Sound Newsletter and
Back Issues. The (*) boards also specialize in sound and MIDI.
United States
Board Speed Phone Sysop
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics Plus 2400 (808) 531-6509 Eric Lui
Network One Systems
Fantasy Island 9600 (HST) (808) 689-0040 Ken Ludwig
Lost City Of Atlantis 2400 (808) 689-7734 Ken Ludwig
Listening Post 9600 (HST) (808) 689-8583 Lou Braun
Random Motion 2400 (808) 689-4043 Lou Braun
The Patchbay (*) 38.4K (Dual) (818) 441-3965 Daniel Bise
Abroad (All contain sound programs also)
Board Speed Phone Sysop
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1B Systems Managment Ltd. 19.2k (604) 753-9960 Ken McVay
(Waffle/XENIX)
1B Systems Managment Ltd. 2400 (604) 753-9964 Ken McVay
(Waffle/XENIX)
1B File request from ftn 14.4K (604) 754-2928 Ken McVay
FrontDoor 2.0/c IMEx 89:681/1 (604) 754-2928
(HST 14.4)
BCG-Box 2400 +358 21 404 036 Kim Heino
(FidoNet: 2:222/151.0)
Einstein BBS 2400 +47 4 53 46 18 Kjetil Krag
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| Introducing the sister sounds sites, twice as good, twice as fun |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| ccb.ucsf.edu: 15 megs of SND files for REmac and PlayBwc |
| saffron.inset.com: 30+ megs of STM, MOD and SND files and players |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------
| sound@ccb.ucsf.edu | Editor the the Sound Newsletter |
| komatsu@aludra.usc.edu | Spreading the word about the |
| -----> Dave | latest in sound technology |
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