Ultrasound Daily Digest     Tue, 7 Sep 93   :46 MDT      Volume 6: Issue   6  

Today's Topics:
								   
							  GUS vs TB
			   Help, how do I use program PatchCaching?
						  Line-in, FAR file
				 Reply to question on Gravis Support
						   Turn on line-in
						   Wolfenstein 3-D

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: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 15:08:02 -0500 (CDT)
From: Antonio Guia <guia@CC.UManitoba.CA>
Subject: 
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061501.A18848-9100000@ccu.umanitoba.ca>

there was a comment about enabling the line-in under os0.5, if nothing
else works try using the windows compattibility to run the ultrasound
mixer, and enable the line-in only as well as volume, etc, then just swap
out of that leaving it in memory

i haven't tried that so let me know if it works

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

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 93 15:36 MSK
From: "DR. S.RUSAKOV"                             <L914%SUEARN2.BITNET@vm.gmd.de>
Subject: GUS vs TB
Message-ID: <9309061346.AA25307@orca.es.com>

   Hi!
   I am  a  GUS  owner  "in what use to be Russia" <g>. I'm a killer
musician (sorry yourz minds ain't blown yet  with  my  .mids  coz  i
havent built  my  connector  box yet...!) - so, bein' bored with all
that analog  studios  I aimed first to buy smth. no less than Turtle
Beach Multisound just to make my tough stuff  at  home  neat'n'easy.
But after  collectin' some info (it took even a phone call to Roland
since they have no email) I am what I am  now  (see  the  begining).
Why? Even not considerin' bucks I saved I can state this.

   First. When you go thru  preset  timbres  of  some  ordinary-next
keyboard  you're  always  showered  with  whole  lotta borin' stupid
dreary cheap'n'worn-out sounds; I used to think Proteus was the best
brain I knew since I handled it some time ago  (anyway,  from  about
400  (387)  smart patches some 40 (common ratio) should be not quite
boring...)

Some        >Considering  the  Proteus  pricing,  I thought it was a
TBM owner   >good deal,  but  I  realize that the price is steep for
who didnot  >someone that only wants sounds for games, etc. Even so,
alas reply  >I  expected  to   see   more   activity  regarding  the
me when I   >Multisound  on  comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard; but it seems
asked for   >GUS is the rage in this group. If you are  a  musician,
some details>the Multisound is a great deal (IMHO).

   Looks so. But a few months later (I hope) I'll have  a  bit  more
than 40  good patches... Now, Turtle Beach releases Tahiti card that
is Multisound MINUS Proteus XR/1 and it costs only $100  less!  (So,
why then  not  "Proteus-only"  for  $100?..) Strange. Looks like the
remaining part of TBM is far better and popular...

TBS> Tahiti provides two  tracks  of  16  bit  CD-quality  hard  disk
TBS> recording, the legendary Hurricane Architecture,  and  the  same
TBS> audiophile specifications  that  made  the  MultiSound  the most
TBS> talked about  sound  card  in  the  industry  today.  <...>  The
TBS> Hurricane architecture is designed specifically  for  multimedia
TBS> applications. It uses a Motorola 56001 Digital Signal  Processor
TBS> Chip, capable  of 20 Million Instructions per Second (MIPS), and
TBS> a proprietary buffering system to help  offload  the  incredible
TBS> amount of work required for playing and recording digital sound.
TBS> Competitors use  an  outdated  process  call  DMA (Direct Memory
TBS> Access) which  was created by IBM and dropped in 1984. Hurricane
TBS> is up to 8 times faster than DMA.
Roy> "DMA is just not fit to handle  Windows  Multimedia,"  said  Roy
Roy> Smith (President  of  Turtle  Beach  Systems). "Even the fastest
Roy> computers will eventually choke, and that 'choking' means clicks
Roy> and pops in your audio, as well as pauses  and  breaks  in  your
Roy> video and animations."

   i.e. we  pay  for  Hurricane  Architecture, that's especially for
multimedia with  its video and animations - I can't imagine any case
of just SOUND data transfer for which DMA would fail (correct me  if
I'm  wrong).  What  about  videos, so (feel free to blame me) IBM PC
CANNOT WORK WITH VIDEO AT ALL, and all that demos just prove it; you
need computers of other clones to do this. Thus Hurricane A-re seems
to be shooting down crows with a canon while you need a lasergun  to
take off an UFO... <excuse me>
   Now 'bout  all that DSPs. I listen to my gus ONLY via slight hall
- it  sounds too dry w/o it. Gus LACKS a DSP. But a good DSP (to me)
is when I can, them, set distortion on chan.1,  chorus  on  2,  long
echo  on 5 plus at the same time hall on channals 1-16 (including 1,
2 & 5) w/ different amount for each one. Not too  much  -  an  usual
case  for  a  song  recording. Minimum (just for a farm) you need NO
LESS  THAN  TWO  differenf  effects  immediately  (you  can't  treat
percussion sounds and solos same mode!); so what about that Roland's
or  TBM's  DSP?  They  all  can do ONLY ONE effect at the same time!
Whether hall, chorus or echo... 'Tis better than my  external  rever
to GUS, but not far better.

TBS> If you'd  like  to compare MultiSound's amazing quality to other
TBS> sound cards on the market, we offer a free  "Audio  Taste  Test"
TBS> compact  disc  that  compares  Sound  Blaster,  MediaVision, and
TBS> MultiSound  head-to-head  to  illustrate  the  huge   difference
TBS> between game sound cards and our professional one.
   (A fittin' comparison! Ain't it the time to update it with GUS?)

   Ah, here comes Maui... Now it's to be a kinda hotchpotch (below),
but I have too mahy info to cite it completely:

Roy> Maui is a 2/3 length card with an 8 bit bus interface
   Great to work with an XT!           ^^^^^^^^^
   Imagine: $100 (an old XT) + $200 (Maui) ang you're dangerous!
   Alas, Maui works only with Windows...
Roy> The synth  is  the ICS 2115, which we codeveloped with ICS. It's
Roy> not compatible  with anything, including the Emu Proteus. Unlike
Roy> the Gravis,  the  MIDI interpreter is onboard (a Motorola 68000)
Roy> so there's no CPU brain drain from using the synth.
				  Cool. Particulary for XT again.
Roy> The 2115 isn't available to the public yet, so all the good data
Roy> book stuff hasn't been prepared yet. I  would  say  it's  pretty
Roy> similar to an Ensoniq EPS in architecture. One ENV per voice,  6
Roy> stage, I think. There is no on-chip filtering (a problem we plan
Roy> to fix  with  the  next  one).  The  technical  manual  will  be
Roy> available at extra cost after shipping. anybody will be able  to
Roy> order it.    ^^^^^ ^^^^
				  Wonderful!
TBS> Maui's General  MIDI  compatible  24  voice  16  bit samples are
TBS> stored in 2 megabytes of ROM onboard the card.  In  addition  to
TBS> the 128 General MIDI instruments provided by  Maui,  Maui  ships
TBS> with 256K  of  sample RAM which is upgradeable to 8 megabytes of
TBS> storage RAM.
Roy> The samples in the 2 meg MAUI set  are  MuLaw  compressed,  with
Roy> some minor fidelity loss. <...>  Maui  does  not  accept  8  bit
Roy> samples, but  the software provided with it can import 8 bit and
Roy> make it 16 bit. <...> All samples uploaded by the user are  kept
Roy> in linear 16 bit format. This allows a user with 4 or 8 megs  to
Roy> augment the ROM GM set by adding "golden" instruments, such as a
Roy> 3  megabyte  grand piano, or whatever.
   What a  kick!  8  megs!  3 megs piano patch! It's time to sell my
gus... Well, read on:
Roy> Maui takes standard SIMMs and has 2 sockets,  allowing  2m,  4m,
Roy> and  8m  RAM  options.  I  don't  know  the  required speed, but
Roy> standard PC simms can be used, so probably 70ns is fine.
   That means 8 megs will cost $300! (when I bo't 6 chips to upgrate
my gus for less than $19) ...Pretty neat. Now next: REAL piano can't
be simulated even with a 120 megs patch! (but, well, I'm not against
a half-meg good piano.pat for Gravis since there's so many  pianists
under this  sun!)  Even  with  1 meg Gravis can go far usin' dynamic
patch loadin' (where is software??!) while Maui can work  only  with
pre-loaded patches & samples because of its 8-bit bus... Now last:
Roy> <...> WaveMaui  is only a sound editor. We don't plan to include
Roy> a MIDI  sequencer.  Windows  includes a MIDI file player, called
Roy> Media Player.  We  do plan to offer a patch editor later, but it
Roy> will not be available at first ship. There will be no  technical
Roy> information at first ship either. We will release a  developer's
Roy> manual a month or two later.
   Later, later,  later...  A wildcard (*.?). A fren'o'mine wants to
buy Maui cause he likes only rare and exotic things to have.  If  he
does I'll taste it, but now... THIS IS THE END OF PART  "WHY  I  DID
BUY MY GUS. Sorry I may seem too iron - nevertheless I  respect  TB;
Maui  is  into  the card #2. Roland's RAP-10 may be a good one but I
beware of SoundCanvas.>>>>

   ...Readin' answers is more interesting than readin' questions  (I
think) but I do have one:
   - HOW SHOULD  I  MANAGE TO FIT SYNCHRONOUS MIDI + AUDIO PLAYBACK?
(i.e. .mid+.snd or .wav) I know GUS can do it! I don' ask even 'bout
synchro recording (it may  be  done  with  external  [analog]  audio
monitoring)... Answers may be:
   a) "Share a good programmer lendin' him the SDK <or what?..>"
   b) "Wait for brave new software <name> comin' soon..."
   c) "This program already exists..."
   d) "The daughterboard <GUS-MAX> shall do it easily..."
   e) ?

   Any suggestions, please...

   Lexy F
   Voice: +7(095)4324641    E-mail: L914@SUEARN2.BITNET Subj."For Avtor"
   Post: Leninski pr. 102-37, Moscow, 117415, Russia.

   P.S.  Great thanx to F.Dion for patches!!!

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

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 93 17:16:26 BST
From: Jason Dore <jase@praxis.co.uk>
Subject: Help, how do I use program PatchCaching?
Message-ID: <8389.9309061616@wiener>

Hi,

I'm a happy GUS owner.

I've just met someone who has written a pretty damn good
notation-based sequencer.  It's not being distributed yet, and is
intended mainly for the Roland sound cards and modules. But wait!

It does not do PatchCaching, but the author is willing to put in the
extra function calls so that it will support the GUS.

So, exactly how (and when) do I use the two patch caching functions?

Thanks in advance,

Jase.

--
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
jase@praxis.co.uk             My opinions - not those of my employer

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

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 15:21:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Phat H Tran <ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca>
Subject: Line-in, FAR file
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061556.A9039-b100000@sciborg>

> Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1993 23:09:43 -0600 (MDT)
> From: Jody L. Baze <jbaze@carina.unm.edu>
> Subject: Line-in
> Message-ID: <9309060509.AA23302@carina.unm.edu>
> 
> I recently purchased a CD-ROM drive. I would like to play a CD from
> OS/2, but I cannot reliably enable the GUS's line-in.  If I use
> sbos -L to  do it, OS/2 eventually gets upset.  I can not use
> MEGAEM to do it  since it will not run in a DOS session under OS/2.

You should be able to use ultrinit.exe to enable the line in.  In a DOS
window, type ultrinit -l -o.  -l turns the line-in on, and -o turns the
output on.  (If the switches do not work, you may need to get a more
recent version of ultrinit.)

> Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 11:29:41 +1000 (EST)
> From: s904858@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (Stuart Gough)
> Subject: What is a FAR file
> Message-ID: <9309060129.4717@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU>
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Recently someone uploaded a file called comunion.zip - it is a music file of 
> some sort with the extension .FAR!  I tried to play it using damtrak ( or 
> whatever it is called) but nothing happened except that the program said it 
> was a 15 sample mod!
>

My hunch is that a .far is the file format used by Farandole, a new 16
channel tracker for the GUS.  A beta of Farandole is on Epas, but it just
locks up my machine.

Phat.

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

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 19:35:54 +0501 (EDT)
From: Gunnar Swanson <gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Reply to question on Gravis Support
Message-ID: <Pine.3.05.9309061954.A12188-9100000@gibbs.oit.unc.edu>

Dear Phat,

	As I wrote a few days ago Impressions has come out with a a set of
drivers for Rules of Engagement 2.  Be aware however that they are only
for AIL support and does not support GUS in native mode.  Needless to say that
I was very disappointed.  The game is not that great anyway save your
money and wait for Microprose's Moon Over Orion or the crossover of Pax
Imperia.

			GUSincerely
		
			Gunnar Swanson

gunnar@gibbs.oit.unc.edu

end.
 

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

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 12:44:22 -0600 (MDT)
From: houlton@CS.ColoState.EDU (david houlton)
Subject: Turn on line-in
Message-ID: <9309061844.AA07616@vivaldi>

> I recently purchased a CD-ROM drive. I would like to play a CD from
> OS/2, but I cannot reliably enable the GUS's line-in.  If I use
> sbos -L to  do it, OS/2 eventually gets upset.  I can not use
> MEGAEM to do it  since it will not run in a DOS session under OS/2.
> 
> Is there some utility out there that enable the GUS's line-in and
> nothing else?  Do I need to get the GUS SDK and figuare  out how
> to do it myself?  If I do need to do it myself, are there any  tips
> you can give me.
> 
> Thanks,
>   John

I don't have OS/2, but this is what I use to turn on line-in under DOS.
I have it as a DOSKEY macro, but it would work equally well as a batch
file.
  
   AUDIO               <-- Load audio TSR
   PLAYDIGI -n1        <-- Turn on line-in
   AUDIO -F            <-- Unload TSR, doesn't change line-in status

Good luck,
	Dave

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

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 10:23:57 -0600 (MDT)
From: bfreeman@NMSU.Edu
Subject: Wolfenstein 3-D
Message-ID: <9309061623.AA19217@NMSU.Edu>

I have been having lots of trouble getting Wolfenstein 3-D to work
with my Gravis. I saw that the FAQ mentions it and that there should
be no problems with it working. I have SBOS 2.08 and have even tried
it with SBOS 2.10B. But on either one, a large amount of sounds being
produced at the same time (the gattling gun, machine gun, or pistol
and immediately opening a door, shooting someone, etc.) will cause my
computer to lock up.

Has anyone else had this problem? I have a 486 DX2/66, Gravis w/256K,
joystick, and my drive is doublespaced. I am afraid it may be the
doublespace messing another program up, but I have no proof.

If anyone has a suggestion (I have already tried various combinations
of O's and X's), please let me know.

Thanks

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

End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V6 #6
************************************
