Ultrasound Daily Digest     Sat, 25 Sep 93  0:07 MDT     Volume 6: Issue  24  

Today's Topics:
							8 channel Mods
				  Announce: The Sound Newsletter #16
							CD-ROM pauses
						   Computer Shopper
						Demo for Cakewalk 2.0
					  Privateer and SBOS,MEGA-EM
				   Race sponsoring is a GREAT idea
							 Ultraclicks
							UltraMID 1.03
					Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #22
			   Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #23 (2 msgs)
				  Wow, my first post to the digest!

Standard Info:
	- Meta-info about the GUS can be found at the end of the Digest.
	- Before you ask a question, please READ THE FAQ.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 09:31:56 -0500 (EST)
From: STU_JABIRCHE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU
Subject: 8 channel Mods
Message-ID: <01H3BLFBNYPU8Y7PXN@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>

Ok. I've seen all these players for s3m's and 8 channel mods, but I have yet to
find an 8 channel mod.  I tried playing OktaMEDs through them, but they puked.
I'd love to try out these fancy players, but I can't find 8 channel mods
anywhere, nor can I find s3m's.  I've tried archie searches and veronica
searches and snooped through the aminet /mods dierectories. Can anyone point
me in the right direction?
-=Marc=-
stu_jabirche@vax.acs.jmu.edu

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 93 16:24:27 HST
From: David Komatsu <davek@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
Subject: Announce: The Sound Newsletter #16
Message-ID: <CMM.0.90.2.748923867.davek@uhunix3.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>

Attention GUS people the 16th edition of the Sound Newsletter is now 
available for downloading:

sound.usach.cl (pub/Sound/Newsletters) [Home base]
oak.oakland.edu (misc/sound)
garbo.uwasa.fi (pc/sound)

And as always pay special attention to the GUS GALLERY by Michael Sutter.
He has outdone himself this time with many informative reviews.


In Issue #16
-------------
o Special Thanks
o Do you want to announce a new product?
o Feature Articles
  o Assembly 93: The Results!
  o The Sound Site Network
o News
  o Sound.usach.cl (Update)
  o Comdex Anybody?
o Columns
  o The Gus Gallery by Michael Sutter
	o Gustrack 1.03
	o Farandole Composer 0.8b
	o ZZPlay 1.00
	o Mycroft's MIDI Surfer 1.01
	o The Gus Gallery Midi Sampler Volume I
o Sound Bits
  o Multiplayer
  o The Wave Utilities 2.2 (update)
  o Midimod
o Anonymous FTP sound Sites
o Bulletin Board Listing

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1993 00:13:37 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: CD-ROM pauses
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309250036.A27498-9100000@sciborg>

> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 01:54:59 -0500 (CDT)
> From: Antonio Guia <guia@CC.UManitoba.CA>
> Subject: pausing when using a mitsumi and 16-bit dma
> Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309230156.A19161-9100000@ccu.umanitoba.ca>
> 
> just for the sake of saying you tried...
> 
> try decreasing the d= option of emm386 down to 1 and then try the 16-bit
> dma with the cdrom sound again to see if there's still pauses
>

I tried, and there are still pauses.  Thanks for the suggestion, though.

Phat.  

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 09:03:50 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anybody seen the ripcord? <JKS4675@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>
Subject: Computer Shopper
Message-ID: <01H3BKDPV76Q9BW3S8@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>

	The article in computer shopper did not say the GUS was the worst 
at MIDI- in fact the only thing it scored poorly was signal to noise
ratio. The Turtle beach (no surprise there) had the lowest signal to
noise as well as the best MIDI. I only glanced over the article. 
If somebody actually read the article, please post a review.

	Any word on whether or not NHLPA hockey from EOA will support 
our beloved GUS? The SNintendo version has choppy animation and
is wearing thin.

Jeff

****************************************************************************
* VietNam vets are not Fonda Jane. Skydive- It's good for your heart.      *
* Racecar spelled backwards is racecar. If it's a BMW, she's worth it.     *
* Ayerton Senna should have been kidnapped. My other car is an FW-15C.     *
* If you ask a woman if she likes Steely Dan and says "You mean the band?" *
* marry her at once. I'd be Grateful if they WERE Dead. Avoid see-through  *
* beer. Mail damaged in transit. Oh, Gaia, how they treat you like dirt.   *
****************************************************************************

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 02:55:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Christopher Jon Wilkins <chrisw@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Demo for Cakewalk 2.0
Message-ID: <199309240955.CAA00893@elaine31.Stanford.EDU>

Hi everyone. Just thought you might like to know that there's a demo
of the new release of Cakewalk for Windows (v2.0) on the ftp site:
ftp.uwp.edu in pub/incoming/programs.

Just been having a quick look at it. A couple of comments:
. the faders/sliders window has been improved a lot. Doing mixing
tricks using a mouse should be a lot easier now.
. patch cacheing is implemented but I'm not sure that I'm mad keen on
how. What seems to happen is that when you load in a new file patch
cacheing takes place (no more loading into Patch Manager first).
However, it doesn't seem to patch cache again if you change the
patch attached to a midi channel. You have to specifically request
an update of the patches on the card. This sounds a bit inconvenient.
. There's a new set of options for how accurate you want timing to be
(with suggested levels for different machines). Haven't checked if it improves
things on the GUS yet. Actaully, I have some doubts that it will do anything
for funny GUS timing.
. There's a weird `remote control' via your midi keyboard setup. The basic
idea is that you can set keys on the midi keyboard to do commands normally
chosen using mouse/ computer keyboard. Haven't tried it yet, but it 
sounds pretty strange to me.

The demo doesn't print so I can't comment on the new printing facilties.

Anyway, check it out for yourself. BTW, even if you don't want the upgrade
the demo is probably useful simply to provide a means of getting the
patches cached from a Cakewalk file (rather than a midi file).

Chris.

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 01:39:00 BST
From: b.williams44@genie.geis.com
Subject: Privateer and SBOS,MEGA-EM
Message-ID: <9309250047.AA06955@relay2.geis.com>

Well,
	I just got Privateer Yesterday and AGAIN! Origin has not taken the
time to support or Beta test their game Sufficantly with SBOS or MEGA-EM
 
	This is a reprt from a 25mhz 386 user.I tried running Privateer and
SBOS ,it works BUT... The music is Crackally and The Digital sounds
lock up the screen for 5-10 sec's each time one is played.This is terriable
.I didn't pay 59.95 to get a great game that Again dosen't support my
GUS did I??? Playing with the sound off makes the game work, but..
Who wants to listen to nothing???
 
	Now for Mega-em ,Privateer refuses to load up using it and General
MIDI on the music install selection.No sound effects Choosen again.
 
	Boy for a game thats taken this long to BETA test, You'd think
they at least tried it with the Ultrasound card.Would'nt you, when
they claimed they would be supporting it as a General MIDI Board in the
future??? That must be next year!!! If Ultima 8 dosen't support the
Ultrasound in Native or General Midi format, This is one customer that
Won't be giving them any more money in the future.They can all ROT!!!
 
						   ***StarHawk***
GUS Owners Unite!! Send a message to Origin about this and demand Native
Support!!! I mean all GUS owners out there, that buy Origin products.
Overload their E-Mail.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 09:10:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: Anybody seen the ripcord? <JKS4675@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>
Subject: Race sponsoring is a GREAT idea
Message-ID: <01H3BKQN6J149BW3S8@ritvax.isc.rit.edu>

Compliments on sponsoring at the Vancouver Indy GP!!

Any chance that you could sponsor Benneton-Ford in Formula One??

****************************************************************************
* VietNam vets are not Fonda Jane. Skydive- It's good for your heart.      *
* Racecar spelled backwards is racecar. If it's a BMW, she's worth it.     *
* Ayerton Senna should have been kidnapped. My other car is an FW-15C.     *
* If you ask a woman if she likes Steely Dan and says "You mean the band?" *
* marry her at once. I'd be Grateful if they WERE Dead. Avoid see-through  *
* beer. Mail damaged in transit. Oh, Gaia, how they treat you like dirt.   *
****************************************************************************

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1993 00:59:33 +0300 (EET DST)
From: tnikkane@clinet.fi (Toni Nikkanen)
Subject: Ultraclicks
Message-ID: <9309242159.AA13358@clinet.fi>

	Every now and then somebody mentions something 
	called UltraClicks. What is it, a funny clicking
	coming from the GUS card?

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1993 11:01:48 +1000 (EST)
From: int757n@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au (Mr. Thaddaeus)
Subject: UltraMID 1.03
Message-ID: <9309250101.AA10060@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au>

	For those of you who don't know yet, the sierra drivers
(epas, ../submit/sieradrv.exe) contains UltraMid v1.03.

-- --------------------------------------------------------------------
		 LOST : A short and witty signature. If found, please return to
				int757n@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au, Thaddaeus Kong.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 93 02:03:16 EDT
From: n4zfd!frodo@rylos.n2idf.ampr.org (Jim Blakely)
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #22
Message-ID: <6NaDac1w165w@n4zfd.UUCP>

Well, if anyone's interested, I just played my first session of Kings
Quest 6 using the Sierra GUS drivers I downloaded tonight from the
Sierra BBS.

Wow.

Isn't it great how folks can convince a game manufacturer to support
a piece of hardware?

Oh, and I meant to mention the other day -- the real battle Gravis
has with the GUS isn't the end users -- it's the computer stores.
Creative Labs is #1 because they have very agressive sales programs
aimed at the owner & salespeople in the computer stores (contests,
free product, etc.). You can make the best product in the world, but
if you don't get the marketing done right, and aimed at the right
people -- the line salesperson, you don't get sold.

So -- if you want to see the GUS succeed, convince your friends, and
start bugging your local computer dealers. DON'T buy mail order --
the game is to get the computer stores to put a demo GUS on the floor
for people to get impressed by. And right now, they can get a demo
GUS for a ridiculously low price from Ingram Micro.

--Jim Blakely

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1993 08:40:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #23
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309240816.A29971-c100000@sciborg>

> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1993 13:30:45 +0300 (EET DST)
> From: pate@clinet.fi (Pasi Haatanen)
> Subject: Recording from CD(Rom) using CD-input
> Message-ID: <9309231030.AA17397@clinet.fi>
> 
> However, when trying to record from the cdrom (ie. starting playback and after
> that, recording sample same time with gus) the problems came up. Final sample
> has MORE NOISE (static/click/pop/what-so-ever) THAN original SOUND. Ehh ??
> The outcome is AWFUL!! None in this world can get any idea, what the sound
> is supposed to be <grin>.
>

There will always be more noise in the 8-bit recording than in the 16-bit 
original.  Part of that is due to the reduced bit resolution, and the rest
is due to the ADC jitter and data dropout.  There's not much you can do
about the noise.

> Date: Thu, 23 Sep 93 22:22:38 -0500
> From: peeper@yar.cs.wisc.edu (Nemesis)
> Subject: Submitting (or adding) files to epas or wuarchive.
> Message-ID: <9309240322.AA02296@yar.cs.wisc.edu>
> 
> Hi, I have a shell for modplayers, 669 players, etc.  that I would like
> to add to the GUS ftp sites.  (Actually I was wondering if that was 
> possible :) )   And I would like suggestions on other places I could put
> it. 
> 

Epas has a submit directory (/pub/pc/ultrasound/submit) to which you can
upload files.

> Date: 23-SEP-1993 19:12:19.30
> From: Richard Wyckoff <RWYCKOFF@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU>
> Subject: Ultramid -c (sheesh)
> Message-ID: <01H3AS8Z4CFKATKKG5@EAGLE.WESLEYAN.EDU>
> 
>   Does *no one* read the readme file?  Two messages in a row about not being
> able to hear music without loading ultramid -c.  Here's the deal: when you
> load ultramid *without* -c, you are using it in General MIDI mode.  This
> means the Ultrasound will cache patches.  Which means the game must send patch
> cache commands.  Which means the game must support General MIDI.  If you
> copy the Ultrasound AIL drivers over the game's General MIDI AIL drivers, you
> can run ultramid *without* -c.  If you copy the Ultrasound AIL drivers over
> ANY OTHER drivers (SB, MT32, etc), then you must use ultramid -c, which will
> pre-load the Ultrasound's memory with patches.

That's not correct.  The games using the AIL drivers do not have to explicitly
cache the patches themselves, and General MIDI does not necessarily include
patch caching.  The patch caching is done by Ultramid, which has a function
to scan a MIDI or XMIDI sequence in memory for patches to cache.  Sometimes
Ultramid will get the chance to do such scanning, will other times it will
not.  So, using General MIDI doesn't necessarily mean you will never need 
the -c switch, and copying the GUS drivers over MT-32 or SB drivers does not 
mean you will always need it either.  I have been able to play games in which 
the AIL drivers were copied over MT-32 and SB drivers (sometimes MT-32 for 
music, SB for digital sounds, and sometimes SB for both music and digital 
sounds) without using the -c switch for Ultramid.

Generally, do not use the -c switch if you want greater patch diversity and
are not bothered by the patch caching pauses.  Use the -c switch if a game
fails to generate music or sound effects without it, or if the patch
caching pauses are not wanted.

Phat.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 93 09:21:23 EDT
From: "Burns Fisher, VMS Engineering  24-Sep-1993 0922" <fisher@skylab.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #23
Message-ID: <9309241321.AA16877@us2rmc.bb.dec.com>

>I don't know which article your friend looked at, but Computer Shopper
>recently rated the GUS as the WORST at MIDI, if you can believe that.
>
>They obviously have their heads in the same place the person who uploaded
>the Mega-Em crack had his.
>
>-- 
>Mike Batchelor      |

I just read (well scanned...I was at someone else's house) the Oct Computer 
Shopper article last night.  Actually, they rated GUS as best in S/N, 2nd best 
(with Turtle beach first) in MIDI.  Where it lost out was, as a couple others 
have said, in stuff having to do with .WAV files.  However, what Z-D was 
measuring when they measured this sample stuff is a ROUND TRIP through the card, 
i.e. they recorded stuff, and then played it back.

Even with an "audience" test, where they just played stuff for people and had 
them evaluate subjectively, they recorded some music with each sound card and 
played it back.

As we all know, the GUS is NOT DESIGNED to record as well as it plays back w/o 
the daughtercard.  Now what Z-D says has some merit IF THAT WERE THEY WAY CARDS 
ARE USUALLY USED.  But it's not!  There are some specialists that are doing 
fancy stuff who need to do hi-res sampling.  But I'd be willing to bet that 80% 
of sound card users have never used the A/D capabilities of the sound card, and 
of the remaining 20%, 90% of THEM only use it for voice-quality stuff.  So while 
I don't like to be the type who says that a reviewer is a bone-head because s/he 
does not like the particular merchandise that I have, I think in this case they 
are not testing the right thing.  They should have had one or 2 tests based on 
A/D, but surely they should have tested D/A from pre-recorded samples!

However, it is nonetheless gratifying that they found the signal-to-noise ratio 
to be so good!

Burns

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 0:06:08 CDT
From: Lee Saito <argyle@camelot.bradley.edu>
Subject: Wow, my first post to the digest!
Message-ID: <199309250506.AA20476@camelot.bradley.edu>

Well, that's not really what my post is about. ;)

Good news folks....Origin has just released an add-on disk for Strike
Commander called "Tactical Ops 1".  It adds General MIDI support to the
game as well...

...and the new, updated Strike Commander works with Mega-Em!  I'm still
waiting for my registration #, but those of you who registered are in for
a treat...;)

-- 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
They say that dreams are the brain's way of "debriefing," an instant
replay of the previous day's events.  Funny, but I don't remember 
being chased down the street, wearing nothing but an inner tube and
suspenders, by a gang of rabid kitchen appliances screaming, "Glaucoma!
Glaucoma!"...
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #24
*************************************
