Ultrasound Daily Digest     Sat May 15 00:07     Volume 3: Issue  45  

Today's Topics:
						  [GUS] SBOS 2.0B7?
						 CD Player to Line in
				  DIGEST ADMIN: Read this one, too!
				DMP 2.45 - a bad bug in this version!
			DMP 2.45 - FULL panning, monochrome support..
						   GUS w/sequencer
					   leaving line in enabled.
					 List of working motherboards
							MIDI Drum Kit
			  Monster Bash and SBOS 2.07B - FIXED HANG!!
				  Multitrack recording with the GUS
						   Prudent Posting
							 Some answers

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, 14 May 1993 21:46:58 GMT
From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran)
Subject: Re: [GUS] SBOS 2.0B7?
Message-ID: <C71DuA.8y2@watserv2.uwaterloo.ca>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

In article <mfinkel.737243601@argon> mfinkel@argon.gas.uug.arizona.edu (michael a finkel ) writes:
>Where is this new version that John Smith mentioned in the digest?  If
>anyone has it, please put it onto the epas archive.  John said that he
>needed quick feedback on it so they could find problems and fix them (and
>hopefully have a perfect version soon) so that they can ship disks with
>good SBOS versions.  
>

SBOS 2.0B7 is already up on Epas as gus0024.zip.

>I am anxious to try it out after being quite disappointed with 2.04,
>2.0B6.  Lets hope that the DAC emulation is fixed, and that the
>instruments are more in tune with each other.
>

The DAC emulation have not changed from 2.04.  For most people it seems
to work fine, but for me, and apparently for you, it does not.  The only
recourse for me has been to use SBOS 1.20, which works damn near 
perfectly.  If you haven't already tried it, give that version a go.
How do you know you won't like it if you haven't tried it?

Phat.

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 01:29:29 -0700 (MST)
From: Charred Corpse <mfinkel@gas.uug.arizona.edu>
Subject: CD Player to Line in
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9305140129.C19849-a100000@argon>

I have a similar setup (CD plugged from its line out to the GUS line in)
and created a batch file that is called 'init.bat'

init.bat:

	ultrinit -o -m -l

I have added a call for it in my autoexec.bat. and type it any time I
unload SBOS, or another program that seems to turn it off (like WP51 for
some reason or another that I cannot figure out).  It is simple, and
does not take any memory like SBOS. 

******************************************************************************
*  --> Mfinkel@gas.uug.arizona.edu * A good day is a flamethrower, a pile of *
*   Tucson, Arizona U.S.A.     *  corpses, and a full tank of gasoline!  *
******************************************************************************

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 93 15:25:00 CDT
From: ddebry@itchy (Dave DeBry)
Subject: DIGEST ADMIN: Read this one, too!
Message-ID: <9305142125.AA01555@itchy>

	First off, I'd like to thank all the people who volunteered
their site for supporting the Digest and its sublists.  None of you
had to do it, but several of you did, and I appreciate it a lot.

	Now, here's what's going to happen.  On second thought, I'll
just drop all the political and technical details and cut to the chase
about how it will affect you.

	In the next week or so, the Digest will get bumped up one
domain, and all the other lists will get bumped up two.  In other
words, the addresses will all be <[listname]@es.com>.  No more
<dsd.es.com>, no more <%itchy@dsd.es.com>.  So it's actually an
improvement!  (This will happen to ALL addresses that are list
related: ultrasound, ultrasound-request, ultrasound-owner, gus-os2,
etc., etc.)

	I'll let you know when this happens.  Just be ready for it,
there won't be a lot of warning.

	Also, if you see any place where the old Digest (and sublist)
addresses are posted (in news, in your .sigs, in a list of mailing
lists, wherever), could you please let people know about the change?
Once it happens, all mail going to the old addresses will be routed to
/dev/null... I won't even get to see them.

	Thanks!

-- 
Dave  ddebry@ debry@   \ "I want to take you on a Caribbean cruise, where
DeBry dsd.    peruvian. | we can hold hands and watch that old Jamaican 
	  es.     cs.utah.  | moon.  Why that old Jamaican will be mooning us,
	  com     edu      /  I have no idea."

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

Date: 14 May 1993 23:50:13 +0300
From: c142092@lehtori.cc.tut.fi (Chrons Otto)
Subject: DMP 2.45 - a bad bug in this version!
Message-ID: <1t10m5$k9j@cc.tut.fi>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

Yeah,

This version has bad bug, which occurs with all commands that change trhe
frequency of the sample (like vibrato). It was very easy to fix, though,
so I'll release 2.46 tomorrow... (I shouldn't always release DMP in the
middle of the night, because this is what follows ;)


-- 
Otto Chrons (c142092@cc.tut.fi)
Woman, a great program, with no documentation

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

Date: 14 May 1993 23:33:30 +0300
From: c142092@lehtori.cc.tut.fi (Chrons Otto)
Subject: DMP 2.45 - FULL panning, monochrome support..
Message-ID: <1t0vmq$jtb@cc.tut.fi>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

Hi,

Version 2.45    Full panning                            May 14th, 1993
				Monochrome support
 
		+ DMP can now be used with monochrome screens
		+ On stereo card, you can now pan any channel to any position.
		  You might have to add new channels, if you get cracks. And
		  remember that using panning takes about 80% more processor
		  power!

and is available at:

ftp.uwp.edu /pub/msdos/modplayers (or /pub/incoming/modplayers)

-- 
Otto Chrons (c142092@cc.tut.fi)
Woman, a great program, with no documentation

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 17:32:52 GMT
From: thureen@cobber.cord.edu (Dan Thureen)
Subject: GUS w/sequencer
Message-ID: <1993May14.173252.16386@cobber.cord.edu>

ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard

I recently purchased a GUS and have been using it with MasterTraX Pro4 and
Finale.  I love the sound, but it is annoying when you select a non-resident
patch and get either silence or some other default.  Are there other programs
available that are smart enough to automatically load a non-resident patch
when it is selected?

Ideally, this should be incorporated at the driver level so when the MIDI
program change command is received the driver will automatically load the patch
if it is not resident.  If GUS ram is full, decisions need to be made about
which resident patch(s) to dump - Least Recently Used algorithm sounds
reasonable.  This would be difficult to do in real time.  The load time delay
would be annoying in the midst of a MIDI stream if the music were to stop
while the patch is loaded,  but this could often be solved by a quick prescan
of the MIDI stream to pre-load the patches like most MIDI players do.

Has anyone out there done this or thought about it?  I realize there are
difficulties and tradeoffs, but it seems like a worthwhile idea.

Appreciate any comments of advice.

Dan Thureen
thureen@cobber.cord.edu

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 03:18:56 +0700 (MST)
From: Adam Cowen <cowen@ee.ualberta.ca>
Subject: leaving line in enabled.
Message-ID: <Pine.3.03.9305140356.A3722-b100000@bode.ee.ualberta.ca>

To the person (too lazy to check...its 3am) who was saying they used 
sbos -l to ,make line in enabled I have a much easier solution. Ultrinit
will do the same for you. Lotsa info in the readme. I'll post it here anyways.

ultrinit options:
 1)  -o  leave output enabled after it resets the card.
 2)  -m  leave mic in enabled. 
 3)  -l  leave line level input enabled.

ie. is your autoexec.bat have it go
...
ultrinit -o -l
...
..........tada. (sorry 4 the sarcasm...Im tired)

happy GUSsing (I will)

A side comment to all interested:
1)IMHO the GUS isn't that troublesome to install. If you have ever
installed _any_ piece of hardware in a pc, almost everything has to be
"tweaked" to work nicely. I know 'cause I have had lotsa practice at it.

2)About recieving disks from gravis. Yeah sure I got my gus in december,
and I haven't seen ya or nay about new disks, but I would rather wait a while
for quality stuff that isn't riddled with bugs, than to get it tomorrow and
have endless headaches. Right now it works reasonably well with most
everything I have used it with. So I'm happy. And I still brag to my friends.

3)If you get noise in your recordings then still try moving your gus
around. A while ago I had to move mine because I got a new case, and now there
are cards on both sides of my gus, and I get virtually noiseless
recordings. Also note that when recording silence a +-1 bit offset will be
very distinguishable(sp?) due to your ear and brain processing the sound.
ADC could be better but... lets see the daughtercard shall we.

enough rambling... I'll shut up now.

Adam Cowen 
cowen@ee.ualberta.ca
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Life without caffeine is stimulating enough.  -- Sanka ad
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 16:39:24 EDT
From: Marc Rouleau <mer6g@fuggles.acc.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: List of working motherboards
Message-ID: <9305142259.AA22717@orca.es.com>

I know I'm posting this thing too often lately.  I'm sorry.  This is the
last one for a while.  Today's posting has two purposes.  First, the
corrected information in yesterday's post regarding the AIR UMC-chipset
motherboards was WRONG.  It's correct below.  Honest.  My two sources
agree, and one of them called AIR itself to get confirmation.

The second reason is that there was a lot of interest in the $180 UTRON
SIS-chipset motherboard I asked about yesterday.  To get a catalog from
the seller of this board, just email James Chuang (jamesc@netcom.com).

John Silva (jsilva@netcom.com) writes:

-> I have the motherboard you describe, the ASUS 486VLB.  Works nice for me, no
-> problems with an UltraStor 14F or Gravis Ultrasound, no problems with music,
-> etc (other than the normal SBOS BS).  Works fine.  I have it running at 33.
-> Not quite as BIOS configurable as I like, but I'm not complaining, either.
-> Nice board.

Note that James' ad did not mention "ASUS 486VLB".  If you're going to
buy one on John's recommendation, you might want to double-check with
James that the board is indeed an ASUS 486VLB.

I'd like to balance John's comment with one from Morgan Stair
(morgan_stair@dl5000.bc.edu):

-> I had an SIS VLB motherboard and the 16 bit DMA worked fine, but I got
-> strange (loud) clicks in the middle of digitized speach in alot of games
-> with SBOS, so I found a way to trade it for an OPTI motherboard.

When I asked him if the new motherboard solved his problem, he said:

-> The clicks went away.  New opti motherboards don't have 16 bit DMA
-> problems.  Sorry, I have no idea who the manufacturer is :-( I bought it
-> from a friend in a computer store... just talked to him, he says it's
-> probably an "Aten" motherboard.  They're in San Jose.  It is ISA.

So go figure.  If someone knows a source of AIR 486UL VLB motherboards
w/o CPU's, please post.  It's the only inexpensive currently available
motherboard which I personally am really confident will work.  I'm sure
there are many functional ones out there, but it's hard to identify
them clearly from the descriptions I've been collecting.  I'm going to
get my new AIR 486UL from my original vendor via "upgrade insurance". :-)

The list below contains some additions beyond the AIR/UMC correction.

	-- Marc Rouleau

Some motherboards do not support DMA well and as a result do not work
well with the Gravis Ultrasound sound card.  What follows is a list of
answers to the following three questions:

1.  Describe your motherboard.
2.  Can you use 16-bit DMA?
3.  Any other problems?

Hopefully this list will help us all to purchase PC's and motherboards
which support DMA.

I am willing to continue serving as a clearinghouse for this information,
so please let me know about your motherboard.

1.  AIR. 486UL VESA localbus motherboard (w/ 486DX2-66), UMC
	82C480 AT chipset with 3 VESA localbus slots
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems at all.

1.  AIR 486UV with 486DX-33, AMIBIOS, UMC 82C480 AT chipset with
	UMB82C482AF/UMB82C206L/UMB82C481A, 1 proprietary localbus slot
2.  No, 16-bit DMA does not work.
3.  Clicking noises w/ 1M GUS RAM, low MIDI in Windows w/ high WAV volume.

1.  486DX-50 VLB, UMC
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

1.  486 (DX/SX selectable w/ jumper) SIS 82C401/402 chipset
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems.

1.  Soyo SY-020P2 486DX/SX 25/33/50 (w/ DX2-66) "Chipset (only 1 chip
	visible :) 85C460 (manufacturer SiS) Configuration very similar to
	Mr. Rouleau's sample board except that this board has 2 sockets
	(each for the DX and the SX), but none of them a ZIF.  I don't know
	if the P24T's will work."
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  "For all I know the problem(s) is caused by my HD
	controller (Promise DC-4030VL VLbus IDE caching controller)
	Problems:
		if I turn on the 32-bit data transfer on the controller I won't
			be able to use SBOS (it loads but produces no sound)
		gusmod buzzes (very annoying)"

1.  ASUS 486VLB (made by UTRON w/ SIS chipset???????)
2.  ?
3.  "Works nice for me, no problems with an UltraStor 14F or Gravis
	Ultrasound, no problems with music, etc (other than the normal SBOS BS).
	Works fine.  I have it running at 33.  Not quite as BIOS configurable
	as I like, but I'm not complaining, either."

1.  486DX-50 VLB, Bioteq
2.  Don't know if 16-bit DMA works.
3.  Didn't work

1.  Mylex MVE486 EISA/VLB, 486DX2-66
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems.

1.  HP Vectra 486U (used in 486/25U, 33U, 50U, and 66U computers)
2.  Yes.
3.  None that I know of.

1.  486DX-33 ISA-486SIQ, AMIBIOS, 256K cache, chipset is a single SIQ chip.
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems.

1.  486DX-33, OPTi
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  "I have trouble with early versions of SBOS, but that's most likely
	due to running DR DOS 6.0, not the motherboard."

1.  486DX-33, OPTi ?/?/82C206Q, 1/93
2.  No, 16-bit DMA does not work.
3.  Windows crashes after doing too much sound-oriented stuff.  DOS stuff
	works fine: sbos, playmidi, gusmod, p669gu0, etc.

1.  486DX-33, OPTi 82C392/82C493/F82C206
2.  No, 16-bit DMA does not work.
3.  "Windows driver seems to drop instruments now and then. About 1
	instrument in 5-10 seconds in faster MIDI songs, like PopCorn."

1.  DTK 486DX-33, Symphony, 8/92
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

1.  486-20/25/33, ETEQ Micro Cougar II chipset, board by Mitac,
	5/92 AMIBIOS, no cache
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems -- uses DMA w/ SCSI controller, SBPro, and GUS

1.  486DX-33 Orchid VLB 256K cache, 1/93, AMIBIOS
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems.

1.  486DLC (Cyrix), OPTi 391 motherboard, 12/92 (HI-TECH)
2.  No, 16-bit DMA does not work.
3.  No reported problems

1.  386-40, Bioteq
2.  Don't know if 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

1.  386-40 PC-Chips chipset w/ 82C206 DMA controller
2.  No, 16-bit DMA does not work.
3.  No problems.

1.  386-40 OPTi & SIS chipset w/ SIS 85C206 DMA controller
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No problems.

"I have a PAS16 but recently solved a DMA problem that might affect   
the GUS as well.  Here are answers to your questions.
1.  "Morse" 386-40, PC Chips chipset incl. 82C206
2.  No.
3.  No."

1.  386-25/33/40, OPTi 82C391/82C392/82C206
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

1.  Micronics 386, 2/91 (Gateway 2000)
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

1.  "Soyo 386DX-33 (Soyo is the Far Eastern Manufacturer) with an ITT
	387 and AMI BIOS. It has a mix of OPTI and CHIPs chipset, including
	what I think may be the dreaded OPTI DMA-killer chip (It's in another
	part of the country, so I can't tell you the chip numbers)."
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  "I have had problems with SuperStor and DOS Games. Games start OK
	and then hang after a period of time, but the music continues."

1.  386-25, DCA chipset?, Packard Bell Legend 300SX
2.  Don't know if 16-bit DMA works.
3.  "Problems - problems with Windows 3.1 MIDI support. MID file
	tempos are bad, they drop notes, truncate notes, play wrong
	notes. Any time I use certain patches (flute, panflute,
	ocarina) Windows will crash and return EMM386 exception
	error #06. All MIDI applications (Media Player, Patch
	Manager, Winjammer) get this error."

1.  DTK PEM-2500 (25Mhz 386DX)  DTK BIOS
2.  No problem w/ 16 bit DMA
	(I also have 5.7 Mhz Adaptec 1542B SCSI controller in the same system)
3.  No problems at all

1.  286-20, C&T NEAT 82C212B/82C206/?
2.  Yes, 16-bit DMA works.
3.  No reported problems

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

Date: Sat, 15 May 1993 00:29:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: Phil Johnson <pjohnso2@ub.d.umn.edu>
Subject: MIDI Drum Kit
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9305150037.A25862-a100000@ub.d.umn.edu>

  Is there a drum machine prog out there (pref. Windows, but not necessary)
that allows you to save the drum sequence as a Gen'l MIDI file?  I have
the prg "The*Drums" and I REALLY like it, but I can't shell out $50 for
the program to have the save function enabled.  
  So, is there a machine out somewhere?  PD/Share/Copyrighted/whatever..
I'd like to take the cheapest route, seeing as how I'm a college student
in a time of possible tuition increase.  :')

Please respond in the digest.. OR, if you have one PD/Share/etc. could it
be possible to uuencode it and email it to me?

Thanks for any responses!

*Phil

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 1993 09:30:14 -0400
From: jimb@etgn01.webo.dg.com (Jim Buja)
Subject: Monster Bash and SBOS 2.07B - FIXED HANG!!
Message-ID: <9305141330.AA28517@etgn01.webo.dg.com>

Way to go Gravis!  
I never had any luck getting the Soundblaster digitized sounds to work
reliably with Monster Bash -- would ALWAYS hang/crash the game with
SBOS 2.04 whenever you had thunder crash and some other sound at the
same time (like when you die).   

With SBOS 2.07B it has worked fine for a few hours now -- looks like
a complete fix to me.  No switches necessary either.

Monkey Island I also works OK .. but it had no problems before.

Jim 
I 

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 93 11:39:17 MDT
From: Stuart Yoshida <yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Multitrack recording with the GUS
Message-ID: <9305141739.AA03327@elektra.fc.hp.com>

  Maybe this is a little much to ask of the 16-bit daughter card
  for the GUS, but what the heck...

  Ideally I'd like to use the GUS as an inexpensive home studio.  I'm
  *not* expecting to make CD-quality recordings (regardless of what
  Gravis says, if you *really* want CD-quality stuff I think you need to
  buy a $6,000 8-track DAT recorder), but I *am* expecting a better
  quality recording than, say, a 4-track cassette ministudio.

  My plan is to use the GUS to sequence a song as a MIDI file, then
  record it to hard-disk with the 16-bit daughter card, and finally add
  tracks as needed from analogue sources (i.e., guitar, vocals, harmony,
  etc., input via the Mic in).

  Before some asks, "Why don't you just use a MIDI file and forget about
  digitizing the analogue sound to disk?"  My answer to that question is
  that I'd like to do multitrack recording with instruments that are
  from analogue sources.  I'm *not* a master keyboard player; I'm a
  guitar player.  And I think that the tone of my guitar is better than
  what I can get from the GUS.  I also think any soloing I perform would
  be best captured via an analogue source.  Also, vocal harmonies are
  next to impossible unless I multitrack (or buy a $600 Digitech
  Vocalizer).  I think the GUS, for me, would be ideal for laying down
  the basic rhythm tracks:  percussion, bass, and rhythm chords.  But
  beyond that I'd like to add the other stuff via multitrack digital
  recording.

  In order to have this goal realized the 16-bit daughter card must be
  able to:

  1.  Record in 16-bit stereo at 44.1KHz

  2.  Simultaneously playback a previously recorded 16-bit stereo file.

  NOTE:  The recording channel must be such that there is no mixing of
  the previously recorded file's sound onto the newly recorded tracks.

  As a mental exercise, that would mean:

  Transfer rate = 44,100Hz*2 bytes (16-bits) + 44,100Hz*2 bytes (16-bits)
		= 352,000 bytes/sec

  Which means that the disk in this computer system must have a minimum
  *average* read/write transfer rate of 352Kb/s.  For a properly
  defragmented Local Bus disk this certainly seems feasible.

  As an alternate way of recording, the 16-bit card must be able to:

  1.  Play back a MIDI file

  2.  Simultaneously record in 16-bit stereo at 44.1KHz

  NOTE:  Again, the recording channel must be such that there is no
  mixing of the MIDI playback sound onto the newly recorded tracks.

  My questions are:
  
  1.  Do either of these recording methods sound feasible?

  2.  Is the GUS 16-bit card capable of performing either of these
	  recording techniques?

  Any insight would be appreciated!

  (P.S.  A copy of this message was sent to John Smith of Gravis.)

--

  Stuart Yoshida

Internet: yoshida@elektra.fc.hp.com
   Voice: (303) 229-2324

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 93 8:22:02 CDT
From: ibmpa!hartmann.austin.ibm.com!lance@ibminet.awdpa.ibm.com (Lance Hartmann)
Subject: Prudent Posting
Message-ID: <9305141322.AA12007@hartmann.austin.ibm.com>

In the last digest:

=> Date: 13 May 1993   19:02:46 PST
=> From: chrisw <chrisw@leland.Stanford.EDU>
=> Subject: Some more Mids ...
=> Message-ID: <9305140208.AA20032@leland.Stanford.EDU>
=> 
[STUFF DELETED]

=> Anyway, it's kind of background music for any slow paced war movie
=> eg. when the hero of the story finds that his best friend has been
=> reduced to a red pulpy mess by the nasty enemy. (Now don't get any
=> wrong ideas - they're JUST FRIENDS. This is the army, after all)
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

hey, Hey, HEY!!!  I take strong exception to a post like this!  This
digest is for the discussion of GUS and related topics.  Please keep
your UNrelated, bigoted opinions to yourself.


Lance Hartmann (lance%hartmann.austin.ibm.com@ibmpa.awdpa.ibm.com)
			   Yes, that IS a '%' (percent sign) in my network address.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
All statements, comments, opinions, etc. herein reflect those of the author
and shall NOT be misconstrued as those of IBM or anyone else for that matter.

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

Date: 14 May 1993   22:53:35 PST
From: chrisw <chrisw@leland.Stanford.EDU>
Subject: Some answers
Message-ID: <9305150559.AA08993@leland.Stanford.EDU>

------------
>>From: STU_JABIRCHE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU
>>
>>I got rid of SBOS because I have a SBPro, but I had to reinstall the
>>whole schmeal just to turn on my line in. Any takers? sbos -l seems sort of
>>an overkill, doesn't it?
>>
>> -=Marc=-

It sure does. Why not just type ultrinit -l -o (line input on, output on).
(and -m for mic on).

>>From: sbm@pt.com (Steve McGowan)
>>
>>For 0zone66.zip I received 23 split (64K), uuencoded e-mail messages that
>>I stripped out the header, concatonated together, uudecoded, and
>>finally unzipped. It worked and I don't need to bug anybody to send me
>>stuff.

Are you sure all this is necessary? I think the standard IBM PC uudecode
will strip off headers (sometimes) and will go through sequential 
file names until it thinks its got a complete file. 

>>From: Peter G.N. Scheyen <scheyen@csd.uwo.ca>
>>
>>First off, I'm not really a midi expert (yet :-) so I hope I get my
>>terminology right.  What midi controllers are supported by the GUS?
>>I know that chorus and reverb (is that the same as tremolo?) are not.
>>I can seem to get pitch wheel, mod wheel, volume, velocity, and a few
>>others to work, but I cannot seem to get the rest to work (for example,
>>key/channel aftertouch).  

Firstly, reverb is NOT the same as tremelo. Reverb is lots of little
echoes like when you scream inside a church (try it sometime). Tremelo
is low frequency modulation of amplitude (volume getting louder and softer).
As far as I know, theres no such thing as a 'reverb midi controller'.
There may be a GS (Roland) standard, but I don't think there's a GM standard.

Anyway, the Gus controllers are: pitch bend, mod wheel (controller 1),
volume (controller 7), pan (controller 10) and expression (which I can't
remember because it does the same as volume so there's not much point).
Note velocity affects volume. Aftertouch doesn't do anything (What were
you hoping for?). Oh. The sustain pedal (64?) is fine as well.

>>From: MASON@CC.SNOW.EDU
>>
>>I'm not sure if I have a problem with my GUS or with PLAYMIDI.  Anyway, my 
>>problem is when I use PLAYMIDI to play a midi file I sometimes get a graphic
>>representation that a note should be playing but I don't hear any sound. This
>>is always the case when I play the midi file LATINDNC.MID which came with the
>>Gravis  distribution disks.  

This may be a silly question, but you do have 1M on your gus?

>>From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
>>
>>Thanks for your comments.  Vmap was just a quick hack, so I'm sure it
>>can be better.  I'll see about working on it a bit more, but I do
>>hope that Gravis/Forte will make the driver do the linearization for
>>us all, obviating the need for Vmap.

So do I!

>> (Sorry, accidentally deleted the header on this one)
>>
>>I've tried to sample without conecting anything to the GUS: No line in
>>no line out, and no microphone. Now THIS at least should prevent any
>>noise being produced at all.
>>But all I get is... Noise.
>>And, you know what I see when I search my samplefiles, recorded with
>>silence? I see ONE bit being shifted at level zero, all the time:

Bad news. That's just the way these GUSes are. At any rate, I got mine swapped
for a second one thinking that the problem would go away, but alas, it
was still there. (But it had moved from the left channel to the right so
at least it wasn't in my mono recordings).

The problem seems to be that the cards aren't properly calibrated so that
0V firmly lands at 7FH. What's worse is that they seem to frequently land
on the edge of two levels so that they move back and forth when you're
recording silence (or shorted inputs, or whatever). On the bright side:
you're going to get the same 1-bit noise once there's any signal anyway.
(it's like rounding error on a calculator). Also, if you make the input as
loud as you can get without distortion, the noise level will seem a lot
lower. Still, the final solution is the 16-bit daughtercard.

Chris.

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

Date: Fri, 14 May 93 18:23:59 +0100
From: zccaj19@ucl.ac.uk (Mr Stefan Magdalinski)
Message-ID: <9305141723.AA22156@link-1.ts.bcc.ac.uk>

hello, 3 things;
1 I was having trouble with my 16-bit DMA  under windows on on AMD 386DX
with AMI BIOS but I fixed it by fiddling with the 'Advanced Chipset
setup' on the BIOS setup
prog. If anyone else is having trouble, try setting the following options;
AT Bus clock=SCLK/8
DMA clock select=SCLK
I hope this helps someone out there
2 could one of you electronic wizards post a bitmap picture of the
circuit for the midibox
somewhere cos  I can't understand these text versions at all (I think
they're getting scrambled
along the way) Cheers.
3 (I'm Sorry) Has anyone got X-Wing by LucasArts to work with SBOS
 without slowing the game down loads?
bye Stefan Magdalinski (sunny ol' England)

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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V3 #45
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