GUS Daily Digest            Sun, 5 Dec 93   007          Volume 9: Issue   5  

Today's Topics:
							  3D sound.
				  Creative Labs Voice Assist & GUS?
					 European Registration Cards
						 GUS and Windows MIDI
				   GUS Daily Digest V9 #4 (2 msgs)
					  Minidiscs and missing info
					   More on X-Wing and QEMM
						  on OS/2 Drivers...
				   Orchid card beats GUS in Review

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.

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Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 19:56:10 -0400
From: mauricio@unlp.unlp.edu.ar
Subject: 3D sound.

My name is Mauricio Lumbreras. I am working in hypertexts for blind people.
2 weeks ago I was in EEUU (attending in Seattle at Hypertext 93) and there 
I bought a GUS. When I arrived to Argentina I get disappointed because I 
don't found the 3D sound.
Where o when I can get drivers, software, HRTF tables,etc. to get 3D
sound?
I will be very grateful if somebody could give me the answer.

Mauricio F. Lumbreras
LIFIA - Fac. Cs. Exactas - Universidad Nacional de La Plata
email: mauricio@unlp.edu.ar
ARGENTINA

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 19:16:55 +0100
From: chief@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Creative Labs Voice Assist & GUS?

Anyone know if Creative Labs "Voice Assist" will work with the GUS ?
Sounds interesting enough, and I've looked for such a program for
some time now.

Erik
chief@lysator.liu.se

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 19:15:42 +0100
From: chief@lysator.liu.se
Subject: European Registration Cards

Mark Bullen <Mark.Bullen@src.bae.co.uk> wrote:

>Subject: European Registration
>
>European Customers:
>
>        Logitech SA, CH-1122 Romanel/Morges, Switzerland
>
>Being a `European Customer' I guess that I should send my card to Logitech
>in Switzerland, but I'm not sure that I'll get put on Gravis' distribution
>list for update disks :-(

Yes, I sent my card to that address (Logitech in Switzerland), and I got
my 2.06 disks fine, though I understand your worries. I hesitated myself
before sending it there. :) Though this was about a year ago, and things
could've changed? Better check with Gravis first. E-mail John Smith and
ask the nice fella'. (john.smith@gravis.com)

Erik
chief@lysator.liu.se

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 12:55:59 CST
From: Erick_Bergquist@edtng.Kenosha.WI.US (Erick Bergquist)
Subject: GUS and Windows MIDI

Hello,

  Recently I have installed the new GUS Drivers for Windows
(GUS0035.ZIP/ARJ),
and I can not get the MIDI to work, WAVE works fine. I have double-checked
my .INI files, and have checked my GUS Settings. And can't seem to figure
out why MIDI isn't working. 

It may be in midi-map setup though, there are choices there with the new
drivers that weren't there before. IE: (Ultrasound, Ultra1024, Ultra256,
Ultra512, 1024Drums, and a few others). And I have a hunch that the
midimap.cfg isn't correct and thats what the problem is. 

Anyone know how to fix this? I have a 1024k GUS btw.

I also have removed the drivers, and re-installed them, but only WAVE.

-- Via DLG Pro v0.995

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=//-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\\-=-=-=
 ITCnet: 85:872/203 -!- KENOnet: 10:11/0 //  The Project Team '93  \\ T 9 
 Erick_Bergquist@EDTNG.Kenosha.WI.US    // CIS Major - Happy GUSing \\ P 3
 [------Insert Wise Saying Here------] // Programmer/Artist\Musician \\ T
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=//-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\\-=

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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 16:04:42 -0600 (CST)
From: Antonio Guia <guia@CC.UManitoba.CA>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V9 #4

to the user with the recording problems (kmellis@santafe.edu?)

your mail bounced back to me.   the problem you are having with recording
in windows, you described that it works fine on a fresh windows
installation but not in your present windows installation.

print out the contents of your system.ini file, and check the file dates
of all those files included in it (in your system directory), then check
the dates of the same files in your fresh installation, rename the ones in
your fresh installation and copy them to your present system directory,
then try renaming the drivers to the old ones one at a time until you find
out which one it is that prevents your recording.   

many programs when they install themselves assume that their drivers will
be more recent than the windows drivers, however by overwriting the
windows drivers they end up disabling other programs, an example comes to
mind where i installed a recent program which replaced bwcc.dll with a
more recent copy, then later i installed another, older program, which
assumed its bwcc.dll was the most recent, and so replaced it, suddenly my
recent program would not work anymore, and the installation does not make
backups or ask before replacing files.   quite a messy state of affairs.

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 17:27:45 -0500
From: Greg Chung <gchung@pegasus.rutgers.edu>
Subject: Re: GUS Daily Digest V9 #4

Regarding the Minidisc idea (ATRAC).  Matt Voss suggests someone write an
algorithm that the GUS could use.  While I'm sure it could be done, if it
was easy, everyone would have it already.  8:1 compression of audio is
great, and I don't see how you can do it just by 'recording the sounds
we can actually hear'.  There's probably a much more complex (patented)
system... (any volunteers for corporate spy?)  Conceivably the same methods
could be applied to ANY soundcard, not just the GUS.

Also -- regarding the 16bit sampling that Jacque mentioned.  Okay, maybe you
WILL use it, but not everyone will.  It's better that the standard doesn't
come with 16bit recording to keep the base price down.  

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 12:33 EDT
From: EVIL GM <CHEDBERG@hamp.hampshire.edu>
Subject: Minidiscs and missing info

	To the person with minidisc mania:
	The reason that minidiscs, as you said, are so good at compressing data
is because they use a lossy compression algorithm. The minidisc doesn't
actually store all the info fed to it. Like JPEG compression, it gets rid of
some stuff to be able to squeeze the "important" stuff in. As you said, the
algorithm only strips the parts it doesn't expect you to be able to hear, but
first of all, it isn't always the most discriminating program, and second of
all, some musical effects aren't heard, they are felt. 
	Bass effects (the thudding of the floor, the ominous feeling you get in
movie theatres) results from some audible and some subsonic effects. I want to
see what these things do to something with a lot of bass. See, a real
audiophile is going to _want_ those little extra bits that get dropped out,
just as when I stare at a JPEG, I can sometimes tell that something's missing.
While data compression is definitely going to make future headlines, _lossy_
compression is not the way to go. 
	Many other soundboards incorporate onboard compression hardware. The SB
16 ASP has a processor devoted to it, and I think the PAS-16 does also, but
don't quote me. I just want to make the point that you can have your cake and
eat it too. Why accept lossy compression when you don't need to? 
	I realize this is a digression, so I'll bring it back to the current
topic floating around on the list, which seems to be:
What I Want On My Gus Max
(A holiday shopping list for Garvis to look at)

1) A digital sound processor to aid in data compression.
2) Simms to increase the amount of memory availableinto the Megabyte range
	(And beyond? Drool, drool!)
3) Fiber-optic leads for digital-direct recording.
4) Mega-em in every box!

	This is, of course, a droolware package, not a real expectation,
but it never hurts to mention such things. All I _really_ want is a speedy
release! Good luck, Gravis! We appreciate your hard work!
						-Chris Hedberg

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

Date: Sat, 04 Dec 93 17:31:04 -0500
From: "Momentary language, sexual situations" <dantonio@tay2.dec.com>
Subject: Re: More on X-Wing and QEMM

>  Hmmm.  Have you upgraded your version of QEMM to 7.02?  You need to get
>  the 7.00 to 7.01 AND the 7.01 to 7.02 patches.  I got mine from the
>  QEMM bulletin board.  That's the only other thing I can think of...

And while you're there, get the 702to703.zip (or the 701to703.zip)...7.03
is the latest and (thanks to mikbat@qdeck.com) Stealth is working fine on
my machine...

DDA

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

Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1993 10:35:40 -0800
From: Shawn Talbert <ironside@carey.CS.UNLV.EDU>
Subject: on OS/2 Drivers...

First of all, I am an OS/2 user who owns a GUS... But I say rather than
push Gravis for os/2 drivers, get them to change their windows drivers
so that they will work under Win-OS/2..

Think about it... Even if drivers DID exist for os/2, you could only use 
them with os/2 programs... so the neat software that comes bundled with the
ultrasound would still be unusable. And at the moment, os/2 is really 
lacking in sound support (not including MMPM).

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 19:16:12 +0100
From: chief@lysator.liu.se
Subject: Orchid card beats GUS in Review

Raeann Kneefe <RAEANN@VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU> wrote:

>Subject: Dvorak & GUS thoughts

[snip snip]

>Oh, by the way, Orchid is supposedly coming out with a GameWave
>version of it's wavetable card... That will sell for the same
>if not lower price than the GUS. I think the GUS will have some
>stiff competion if it can't come out with an "Advanced" version
>soon. 

The Orchid SoundWave 32SE got 88% in the November issue of PC Format,
beating GUS (with 87%). The list price is œ189.00 (umm, about $230.00)
so it's somewhat more expensive than the GUS, but, as Raeann wrote,
their GameWave card is the same card as the SoundWave only without
Windows Sound System, and the list price for that one is œ132.00
(that's about $150.00) where the GUS is sold for œ149.00. So, what
does the Orchid SoundWave/GameWave card have?

 o SoundBlaster, Disney Sound Source, General MIDI, MPU-401, MT-32 and
   Microsoft Sound System compability through hardware.
 o Wavetable synthesis (no kidding.. :))
 o 512k on-board ROM chips with samples.
 o ADPCM compression chip for storing 16-bit samples to disk
 o 16-bit recording/playback
 o Built in 4 watt per channel amplifier

 and it comes with a pair of speakers and a bunch of software.

 They also say that they will _maybe_ release a daughtercard for 3D sound
 capabilities in the near future.

 Some quotes from the review ->

 "The Gravis UltraSound has one major flaw; its Sound Blaster compability,
  which it achieves using the SBOS software emulation, is decidedly dodgy."

   Gravis!  Please tell them about Mega-Em. But then again, who _really_
   -------  still want them Sound Blaster 'sounds' when we can have full-
			blown 16 bit wavetable synthesis?

 "The only thing that the Orchid Soundwave 32SE lacks is the revolutionary
  3D sound developed by Gravis, which is soon to feature in a number of
  major game releases - Jurassic Park from Ocean for example."

 "The UltraSound software only enables you to record in 8-bit, so the
  recording quality with the Soundwave is significantly better. That's
  sure to be great news for anyone who's serious about creating their
  own music."

 "The sound quality is exceptional, easily rivalling the Gravis UltraSound,
  and surpassing every other 16-bit soundcard..."

 and finally...

 "If the Soundwave 32SE had the 3D sound function, it would easily outclass
  the UltraSound."

 So it seems as if we're living off of the 3D sound. Only. Hell, who wants
 512k of ROM samples? Oh well, if you turn to page 105 though, PC Format
 have a competition where the prices are œ1,000 worth of Gravis UltraSound
 cards (way to go Gravis!), though there are a couple of "facts" that aren't
 quite right like, that it (the card) normally costs œ233.83 (!!) and
 that "this is the best soundcard we've ever reviewed". Probably is though. :)

Erik
chief@lysator.liu.se

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

Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 11:37 GMT
From: "Mark.Carline" <EEU001@fawdon.northumbria.ac.uk>

register "Mark.Carline"

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End of GUS Daily Digest V9 #5
******************************
