Ultrasound Daily Digest     Wed, 7 Apr 1993      Volume 3 : Issue   7 

Today's Topics:
				   [GUS] SBOS 2.04 & Games settings
						 ACES of the Pacific
							 Chuck Yeager
				 DIGEST ADMIN: Great googly moogly...
						 Dolby -- another try
						  Gravis peripherals
					  GUS and Windows (problem?)
						   MIDI controllers
				  Problem with SBOS 2.04 and X-Wing
					  Recording Session and GUS
					   To Gus or not to Gus...
						Ultima 7 fixes on EPAS
					Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #6

	Information about the UltraSound Daily Digest (such as
mail addresses, request servers, ftp sites, etc., etc.) can be found
at the end of the Digest.

	*** HEY!!! *** 

	Before you ask a question, *** READ THE FAQ ***.  It's
available on the request server and the ftp sites, or check the
newsgroup archives.


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

Date: 6 Apr 1993 20:20:46 -0400
From: pmk@access.digex.com (Pete Kilcullen)
Subject: [GUS] SBOS 2.04 & Games settings
Message-ID: <1pt6ou$23o@access.digex.net>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

I've tried the new SBOS 2.04 with some games. Here's what I found:

	COMMANCHE : I got a message reading: "The NMI procedure cannot be
changed on this P.C." So ,contrary to the instructions, I *disabled* 
memory parity checking in the CMOS, and the game/sounds work fine

	LINKS386: Again, contrary to the instructions, I loaded SBOS 2.04
using the "-x2" option in order to get sound. No "-x2" means no sound!

IMHO, each SBOS revision is a da__ frustrating puzzle. Why doesn't Gravis
give us a hardware solution instead of various releases that keep changing
how games work!

Pete

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

Date: 06 Apr 93 14:47:04 EDT
From: Lester Kovac <70431.2447@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: ACES of the Pacific
Message-ID: <930406184704_70431.2447_DHM42-3@CompuServe.COM>

Aces of the Pacific and new SBOS don't work well.
The SBOS from GUS22 (ver 2.X).
When throttling down below 8 on the keypad the engine noice gives a
pitched wine, that is deafn'ing. Go back to a Ver. 1.4x there is no problem
there.

Also, did you know that the RAF (modem support for ACES) has been cancelled
I was in shock, I is the ultimate Flight Sim, not just lock on and fire
type of game this you need skill.

Digital Recording......
use 220,7,7,11,5 in your autoexec. 
SOME game need the ultrainit.sys 

DOS6 OK exept that the memmaker doesn't modify the ULTRASND lines.

Has anyone tried Digital recording with DOS6 DblSpc.

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

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 93 03:05:44 MDT
From: rappelj@cuugnet.cuug.ab.ca (John Rappel 275-7230)
Subject: Chuck Yeager
Message-ID: <9304060905.AA26788@sun>

Someone was complaining that Gravis' list of games that would support the 
Ultrasound was overoptimistic, which is certainly true, but they were also
asking if Chuck Yeager's Air Combat was also vapourware, which it is not.
I just got my copy yesterday from Gravis. The music, what little of it 
there is, is good, but the sound effects are no better than what you can
get from a Soundblaster, but are still quite good, as I always thought
effects and such sounded good on my old SB, it was just the music that lacked
quality. If anyone doesn't know, you can order the special Ultrasound version
direct from Gravis, for $26 here in Canada. 

Oddly enough, I had forgotten I had even ordered the game, and thus I was
jumping up and down in ecstasy, thinking that I had gotten the long-delayed
new installation disks. I really want to play around with the sequencer 
programs that weren't uploaded to epas, but for now I'm happy enough that
I at least have the new patches and SBOS.

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

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 93 16:47:04 MDT
From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry)
Subject: DIGEST ADMIN: Great googly moogly...
Message-ID: <9304062247.AA16816@itchy>

	Well, surprise, surprise.

	The nightly uploading of the digest to archive.epas seems to
actually be working now.  The digest goes to the standard place:

.../ultrasound/digest/vol-xx/yy

	xx is the volume number (always two characters), yy is the
issue number (also always two characters).  So this digest will be,
er,... oh, you figure it out.  You're all reasonably smart people.

	The digest archiving happens after all the digests are mailed
out at night, which with current readership is at about 2:30am
MST/MDT.  There is only a minimal mail header on the archived digest;
no mail hop information.

	I have also added another feature, where the digest will also
uploaded to a file called:

.../ultrasound/digest/todays-issue

	As you might imagine, this will get overwritten everyday with
that day's digest.  This is for those of you that requested it, so
that you can write a cron job (or whatever it is on your system) to
get the digest each day via FTP instead of having it mailed to you.
Some people prefer this, especially those who are copying it off to
other sites/people.  It makes it easier than having to parse all your
mail and figure out which letter is the daily digest.

	Enjoy!

-- 
Dave  ddebry@ debry@   \
DeBry dsd.    peruvian. | "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick
	  es.     cs.utah.  |  ass, and I'm all out of bubblegum."
	  com     edu      /

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

Date: 06 Apr 93 21:55 GMT
From: ELSEWARE@AppleLink.Apple.COM (ElseWare Corp, B Bauermeister,PAS)
Subject: Dolby -- another try
Message-ID: <734134764.2704696@AppleLink.Apple.COM>

Attn: ultrasound digest
SentBy: Don
 
					  Dolby -- another try
Matthew Spewak <mspewak@walnut.prs.k12.nj.us> writes:
 
>>Here's something else to think about... In addition to all the
>>talk about 3d sound and QSound, I was wondering why there was no
>>discussion of Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound. ...Does anyone know
>>more about the subject?
 
Here's a quick rundown of how Dolby Stereo (also known as Dolby
Pro-Logic Surround) works:
 
Dolby takes 4 separate sound channels (left front, center front,
right front, surround or "rear") and mixes them into two channels
using a special encoding (which I will explain below). There are
five speakers in the typical home setup because the surround channel
has two speakers to spread out the sound (in a movie theater, there
are often ten or more surround channel speakers).
 
On the playback end, the two channels are then processed to get back
the original four channels, more or less. The system isn't totally
perfect, and there's always some crosstalk between channels. Dolby
decoders have special steering circuitry that minimizes the crosstalk
effects.
 
The only requirement for Dolby Surround is a stereo source. There is
no reason why the GUS shouldn't be able to generate a
Dolby-decodable signal.
 
How it is encoded:
 
The right and left front channels are recorded normally on the Right
and Left channels of the stereo signal. The front channel is
recorded at equal volume on Right and Left simultaneously. The
Surround or "Rear" channel is recorded at equal volume on both Left
and Right, but with the signal inverted on the Left channel.
 
In summary:
 
Dolby Channel           Stereo Channel(s)
-------------           -----------------
L Front                 L
R Front                 R
Center                  L+R
Surround                L+(inverted)R
 
When I say inverted, I mean that the waveform is upside-down, which
means that all the troughs on the right channel are peaks on the
left channel. Clear as mud? An interesting side-effect is that if
you mix the left and right channels of the stereo together to form a
mono mix, you lose the surround channel completely, as the inverted
waveforms cancel each other.
 
How the GUS could produce Dolby Surround:
 
In principle, (keep in mind I'm not that familiar with GUS
internals), one could assign each patch to any one of the four
channels. A patch for the center channel, left, or right is easy:
use center pan, full left, or full right. Any pan settings in
between will generally split the sound among the three front
speakers in some fashion.
 
A patch for the surround channel would need to play a sound out the
left channel, and the inverse of that sound out the right. With the
proper patch editor, (and assuming the GUS is capable of this), it
would be a cinch. Alternately, you could play two patches
simultaneously out the right and left that were inverted.
 
Of course, you also need to posess a Dolby Pro-Logic decoder
and run the GUS signal through it, but I think that goes without
saying. :)
 
Hope this helps!
 
--Don Munsil
elseware@applelink.apple.com
 

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

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1993 13:43:06 -0700
From: Eric N. Liao <liaoe@aero.org>
Subject: Gravis peripherals
Message-ID: <199304062043.AA04644@aerospace.aero.org>

Specifically, the 16-bit recording daughterboard, and CDROM interface(s)...
Have these shipped yet?  I'm more interested in the CDROM interface(s) at this
moment.

Also, has anyone bought a GUS RECENTLY?  I want to know if the new boards are
the lower-chip count models.  Any word as to when we should receive the latest
(2.0x) GUS software?  I know it's already on EPAS, but I want to get my hands
on the MIDI software that's bundled with the mail upgrade.

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

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 1993 17:44:12 GMT
From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran)
Subject: Re: GUS and Windows (problem?)
Message-ID: <C52p9p.GLM@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

In article <1plrsmINNec3@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU> tony@ariel.ucs.unimelb.EDU.AU (Tony Molina) writes:
>
>I have just bought a Gravis Ultrasound card (and love it). Everything on it
>works beyond my expectations when I first bought it.
>
>One small problem which I'm not sure is a fault of the card or its drivers is
>when listening to MIDI files under Windows 3.1
>
>Using the Windows 3.1 MIDI player I load the midi file, press play, begins to
>play but sounds a little ordinary (volume is low and doesn't sound stereo), I
>then press the pause icon then unpause it, begins to play again but this time
>with higher volume (correct) and superb stereo sound.
>
>It's no big deal I guess, as long as I remember to pause/unpause all midi
>files before settling down to listening to them it's fine, just a small
>nuisance.

You can use VMAP to make Roland .mids (which most .mids are) play louder on
the GUS.  Most .mid files assume that the volume response of the output
device is linear (I believe) but the response of the GUS is logarithmic.
VMAP does a log transform on the volumes in a MIDI file so that they
sound linear on the GUS.  This effectively increases the volumes of the
instruments, with the quieter volumes increasing more than the louder
volumes.

At least one person feels that VMAP over-compensates.  The next version
will let the user adjust the overall volume of the transformed 
file.

VMAP can be found on epas.  I don't know the directory, but it's beneath
/pub/pc/ultrasound.

Phat.

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

Date: 6 Apr 93 22:20:10 GMT
From: pawhite@okcins.okanagan.bc.ca (Phil White)
Subject: MIDI controllers
Message-ID: <0096AA17.6D9A5900.26995@okcins.okanagan.bc.ca>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

OK.  Here are the MIDI controller definitions (not sure how current this is
;-)).

14-bit MSBs

1   Modulation                     These go from 0 to 31.  The LSBs are in 32-
2   Breath                         63.  The ones not listed are undefined.  I
4   Foot                           don't know which of these the Ultrasound
5   Portamento Time                supports; I haven't tried them yet, but this
6   Data Entry                     should help you.  Note that the values for
7   Main Volume                    each "byte" are from 0 - 127 (7 bits), so
8   Balance                        we have a 14-bit value when combined with
10  Pan                            the LSB.  As an example, to set the Breath
11  Expression                     Controller to 131, we would set controller
16  General Purpose #1             #2 to 1, and controller #34 to 3.
17  General Purpose #2
18  General Purpose #3
19  General Purpose #4

7-bit

64  Hold, damper pedal
65  Portamento
66  Sostenuto
67  Soft Pedal
69  Hold 2
80  General Purpose #5
81  General Purpose #6
82  General Purpose #7
83  General Purpose #8
92  Tremelo Depth
93  Chorus Depth
94  Detune (Celeste)
95  Phaser Depth

OK.  That's all I know.  Don't ask, I can't answer!

-Phil White
pawhite@okcins.okanagan.bc.ca

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

Date: 6 Apr 93 04:27:14 GMT
From: seah@ee.rochester.edu (David Seah)
Subject: Re: Problem with SBOS 2.04 and X-Wing
Message-ID: <1993Apr6.042714.11371@ee.rochester.edu>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

In article <1993Apr5.201203.25685@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> ry01@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (ROBERT YUNG) writes:
>Does this "slow-down" affect happen on kick-ass machines such as a 486-66??

Yes.  X-Wing also jerks during digital sound playing when music is enabled
on a local bus Gateway 4DX2-66.  SBOS 2.04 is being used, BTW.

Incidentally, I thought 2.04 was supposed to have a feature in which
digitized sounds wouldn't be cut off, like shooting during a TIE Whoosh I
guess.  It appears to be accomplishing this by not playing a digitized sound
if one is currently playing.  I guess this technically is a "feature"...
a big sarcastic hand for the programming wizards behind this one! :)

(For example, during the opening animation, not all digitized snippets of
speech are played.  Some are skipped...pretty annoying.

And Monkey Island II definitely has a slew of out of tune instruments.
At least 2.04 doesn't prevent the game from running like 2.02 did.


-- 
Dave Seah (seah@ee.rochester.edu, AFCDaveS@aol.com)

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

Date: Tue, 6 Apr 93 20:51:02 CDT
From: David Ying-Wai Liu <umliu014@ccu.UManitoba.CA>
Subject: Recording Session and GUS
Message-ID: <9304070151.AA22120@ccu.UManitoba.CA>

Can I use Midisoft 's Recording Session with my GUS, the program runs but 
I didn't got any sound...
Is it true that all windows applications (eg. Midisoft 's products and others 
utilities for sound utilities) will work with GUS if the GUS driver is installed?

Thanks!

David Liu

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

Date: Wed, 7 Apr 93 12:02:22 +0200
From: rock@POOL.Informatik.RWTH-Aachen.DE
Subject: To Gus or not to Gus...
Message-ID: <9304071002.AA27257@rama>

Hi Folks!

Ok, ok I have followed the digest since V1-07 and still haven't got
my Gus yet...
What will I do with my (future) soundcard? Mostly play games. And
soundfiles (I'd love to hear those mid's..;-) ). But when you read
the lts, you get the impression that SBOS is a piece of junk.
(Of course only those who have pron...)
So, who has compared SBOS with Soundblaster and is happy 
software-emulation?
Thanx...Olli

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

Date: Tue, 06 Apr 93 13:18:05 EDT
From: tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu
Subject: Ultima 7 fixes on EPAS
Message-ID: <9304061718.AA18014@c00313-11pa.eos.ncsu.edu>

Just to clear things up...

The fixes on EPAS are not from Origin.  I took them from BC4000 because they
apparently are some sort of semi-standard driver that Origin and other
companies use for soundcards.  I found that BC4000 worked with SBOS 2.04,
but Serpent's Isle  dumped me out to a 40 column screen.  Thes .adv's fixed
the problem.  That's all the u7gus.zip file is for.  I just didn't want
anyone to think that Origin knew we existed.  (I'm sorry too.)

As for fixing the stuttering speech problem, I never had it,
so I really don't know.

--
tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu       \   These views respresent no one.   /   Now you 
creek-tm@aza.csc.ncsu.edu   \   Even I won't claim them.       /   are here
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
#include "std_funny_stuff.h"  /* This is where I include some witty tripe */

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

Date: 6 Apr 93 19:18:22 U
From: "zz Paul Murgatroyd" <zz_paul_murgatroyd@macmail.bu.oz.au>
Subject: Re: Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #6
Message-ID: <9304060936.AA23236@kirk.bu.oz.au>

>Date: Mon, 5 Apr 93 08:33:06 EST
>From: Matthew Spewak <mspewak@walnut.prs.k12.nj.us>
>Subject: GUS FUTURE RELEASE LIST - BS??
>Message-ID: <930405.083306.8512@walnut.prs.k12.nj.us>
>
>
>And of the Chuck Yeager for GUS?  This is listed as shipping.  HAS ANYONE SEEN

>THIS????  I'd  like to know where this is shipping!  (more BS???)
>
>-MS

Matthew,
		The Chuck Yeager for GUS *DOES* exist. I have it, and it sounds great!
To get an upgrade, send your original disks to Electronic Arts. The upgrade is
free, and it is well worth it. The GUS version of Chuck Yeager will not produce
sound on anything other than the GUS. This will only cause problems if you sell
your GUS in the future. The solution: Keep a backup of the old version.
  Chuck Yeager with the GUS highlights the strength of the GUS, and I hope
other games companies will take notice. The SoundBlaster is a piece of crap
compared to the GUS, but what we need is plenty of evidence to prove it.

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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #7
************************************
