Ultrasound Daily Digest Mon Jul 12 00:45 Volume 4: Issue 41 Today's Topics: Cubase with GUS GUS with Syndicate Links386 Logarithmic volume response Midi coming out all wrong - Cakewalk MT-32 and games MT-32 Emulator on EPAS RE>SB16 Tristan + SBOS 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: Sun, 11 Jul 1993 14:35:35 +0001 From: "Z. Horvat" Subject: Re: Cubase with GUS Message-ID: <93Jul11.143544dft.1034@nike.rz.uni-konstanz.de> To the guy who asked about running Cubase with a GUS : (Francois ?) I am using this combination, it works. This is how i do it : I load both Patchmanager and Cubase, so i can switch between them to load and unload sounds "on the fly". Use the Cubase setup program to configure it for Windows MME. And, thats important : Everytime you jump out of Cubase (to load a patch for example) use "RESET MIDI DEVICE" from the pull-down menus. Otherwise you won't hear anything. Strange. Btw. Cubase is a fine package, but you'll run into problems using it with gus. Cubase is designed to work in Windows standard mode and does not perform well in 386 Enhaced mode. So you get timing problems, sooner or later. Further it seems to me they never heard about GM. I don't know about the new version, as i have only version 1.01. I have tested demo versions of other sequencers and they seem to work much nicer with the Ultrasound. Hope it helps, -Zeljko ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 93 22:19:00 EDT From: Jon Spewak Subject: GUS with Syndicate Message-ID: <9307120219.AA12799@lambada.oit.unc.edu> > From: paulwang@uclink.berkeley.edu (Paul Wang) > Subject: Syndicate > > Has anyone got digitzed sound to work with Syndicate? I can get music > but no luck on the digitized sound. I tried the gus-synd in epas > and still it doesn't work correctly. Also, when digitzied sound should > be heard, I get slight freeze. Thanks. Yea.. It works on my system. 486/33DX 8MB. I do run QEMM though - version 7.0 or something.. the newest version. It might be 7.1. Not sure. I use one of the latest SBOSs too, then run GUS-SYND to run the game. It does work completely (at least I do hear as much sound as I think is included in the game), and it works fine. I have had problems with minor slowdown when I shoot a gun, and after playing for a long while, it does hang the computer. Other than that. No problems over here.. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1993 11:55:21 -0400 (EDT) From: Pete Kilcullen Subject: Links386 Message-ID: <199307111555.AA17421@access.digex.net> To get Links 386 Pro to work with GUS, you need to load sbos.bat with the -x2 switch. Then click on options and pick Soundblaster. Test. It should work. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1993 09:30:38 -0700 From: Eric N. Liao Subject: Logarithmic volume response Message-ID: <199307111630.AA05355@aerospace.aero.org> I've noticed that SBOS and the GUSAIL drivers correctly "remap" the volume response of the GUS, so music & SFX don't seem unusually "quiet." My question is, if Gravis already has a linear volume curve for ultramid and SBOS, why not PLAYMIDI and the Windows drivers? How about it, Gravis? It gets annoying to use VMAP to convert every file. Just curious, how many voices does the gusail driver initialize? Are they customizeable? (Like if you are using an MT-32 setting & digital audio, can you lower the #active voices from 32 to 14?) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 9 Jul 93 23:20 AEST From: simon@lsupoz.apana.org.au (Simon Rumble) Subject: Midi coming out all wrong - Cakewalk Message-ID: ReprintFrom: apana.syd.list.ultrasound I've written a short song in Cakewalk using a little piece I've grabbed from a Jean-Michel Jarre midi file. I've added a deep bass-line and a heavy bass drum beat. The problem is, the Gravis seems to get overloaded when it has to think of too many things at once. The song basically has 5 tracks which pretty much go all at once. The bass beat is heavily quanitsed and is all exactly on time. When I mute the other tracks and play just the bass beat, things come out fine. When I play all of it together, the bass beat comes out all wrong. What I think it could be is that the midi pipeline is overloaded (midi is serial) with data or the Gravis can't keep up. Anyone else had this problem? -- +-___----------------------------------------------------------------+ ||___ "This House is Live" | | ___| H E R M simon@lsupoz.apana.org.au | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 93 21:33:24 EDT From: Stephen Ferguson Subject: MT-32 and games Message-ID: <9307120136.AA03535@orca.es.com> I've been using SBOS and MicroProse's World Circuit with reasonable success (except for the fact that 800hp GP cars shouldn't sound like flatulent Vespa scooters) emulating a soundblaster. WC also offers Roland MT-32 as a sound option, and I figured I'd give it a try. Is it possible to make the GUS behave like the Roland card? sjf ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1993 11:16:03 +0800 From: Jayeson Lee-Steere Subject: MT-32 Emulator on EPAS Message-ID: <199307120316.LAA26626@tartarus> Well it's still in Beta and doesn't emulate a Sound Blaster yet, but I thought I would release it anyway in hope of some feedback. It's called Mega-Em. Check ARCHIVE.EPAS.UTORONTO.CA in the directory PUB/PC/ULTRASOUND/SUBMIT for MEGEM04B.ZIP. The README.1ST file contains a list of known problems that should fixed before the first proper release. It currently emulates a Roland MPU-401 MIDI interface and incoporates MT-32/General MIDI music player, and hence can be used to emulate Roland MT-32/LAPC1/Sound Canvas devices using your Ultrasound Card. It is primarily designed for games. Several obvious questions come to mind: How does it sound? Is it compatible with everything? How slow is it? How many gigabytes of DOS memory does it take up? Last to First: Low DOS memory required: NONE Nope. The whole thing loads into EMS, beyond the first megabyte of DOS memory. It only needs about 32k of EMS, but everything is allocated in 16k blocks, so the end result is about 64k of EMS used. But since it requires an EMM (such as EMM386.EXE) and 386 protected mode, games such a COMANCHE, ULTIMA 7 etc. can't be used with it. Speed? Well on a 486-33 I couldn't notice any slowdown, even with the turbo off. However I'm not accustomed to playing games with the turbo off. Some 386 SX users may notice some speed problems, however I haven't optimised the Ultrasound playback routines yet - this should halve any speed problems. Compatibility? I consider something being compatible if it runs correctly and produces sound, irrespective of how it sounds. With this in mind everything except the few games listed below work perfectly: 1. STRIKE COMMANDER: Doesn't work. Mega-Em's emulation fails if the sound drivers are operated in protected mode. 2. WINDOWS: Same as 1. But it's not really necessary is it? 3. LASTEST BETHEDSA GAMES: Not really sure why, but these games will most likely crash for most people. They just seem to be unsociable. I remember reading that Wayne Gretsky Hockey crashed when used with the Gravis/Forte AIL drivers as well. 4. LEGEND TEXT ADVENTURES: (The ones with the small graphic in the top right hand corner of the screen). Well I've only tried one, but this will probably hold for most others as well. Apart from having very non-standard routines, the Roland drivers also mess up the PC's interrupt controller, resulting the Ultrasounds playback from being muted. Bummer. Thats all. Everything else works fine (so far). Most importantly, how does it sound? Music: Well it ranges from very good (read: much better than Sound Blaster) to rather ordinary. But the music player is far from complete, and does a poor job of playing MIDI files when compared to PLAYMIDI. Once I find comprehensive info on FORTE's patch format (.PAT), it should sound much better. FX: Many MT-32 programs place custom sounds in the MT-32 memory. Mega-Em does not support this feature and is stuck with the General MIDI patch set. Despite this, most sound effects are still quite usable. Only 2 major problems were found: 1. Engine noises just don't work. Instead of an engine you get the occasional piano note. 2. The Gunshot patch really needs to sound like a gunshot. It sounds a bit out of place when your expecting a big explosion and instead get a wheeeeee noise. How does it compare to the Roland Cards? I don't know. I've never heard one. But my goal wasn't to duplicate the sound of the Roland cards. I just wanted a better form of music support for a wide range of games than SBOS can offer. In any case a few people I know are now considering buying a GUS. Jayeson Lee-Steere leesteer@tartarus.uwa.edu.au ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 25 Jun 93 17:44:41 PDT From: jakub@eskimo.com (Jake Cholewczynski) Subject: RE>SB16 Message-ID: <9306260044.AA26638@eskimo.com> >Date: Thu, 24 Jun 93 17:38:01 GMT >From: kresge@lims.lockheed.com (Jim Kresge) >Subject: Re: SB16 ASP and(!) GUS anyone >Message-ID: <1993Jun24.173801.21191@lims.lockheed.com> > >ReprintFrom: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard > >Why I bought the Soundblaster 16 ASP instead of the Pro >Audio 16 or the Viva Maestro 16VR, OR THE GUS: > ... >Keep in mind that I don't have the fastest machine. I >evaluated the cards on a 386/SX16 with 4 mb of RAM > ... >against both. It comes down to two cards for me--the Gravis >Ultrasound or the SB16 ASP. I chose the SB16 ASP because of >the DSP, the compression, the FM synthesis capability, and >THE NAME. I ALMOST bought the GUS though. The final >deciding factor for me was that the GUS needs options to >make it acceptable. The price for the GUS options was more >than the price for the Soundblaster/Waveblaster combo: You are forgeting that GUS has 3-D Sound, also 32 Digital Voices.. >GUS 150.00 Come on.. You can get the GUS for about $128.00 the most expensive I seen 'em was about $140.. >Additional RAM to make 1 MB 30.00 >16 bit sample add-on board for recording 150.00 >SCSI add-on board 50.00 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. remember that is only if you have a CD-ROM without a Control Card... GUS already has sound imputs from a CD-ROM.. 2. SB16 has only limited support as far as CD-ROMs, unlike the GUS SCSI card which supports most of the CD-ROMs on the market >Cakewalk software (this would be my choice) 75.00 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 1. That is your choice but the 16 bit upgread comes with USS 16, and if you send in your registration card you can have special pricing on lots of diffrent sound software >TOTAL 455.00 >Soundblaster 16 ASP (includes 16 bit, DSP instead of RAM, >SCSI interface 200.00 ^^^^^^^^ Hmm... are you an owner of a computer store? the retail price on the SB16 is $299 the best price I found was $250! >Waveblaster (includes Cakewalk and more wavetable instrument >presets) 250.00 >TOTAL 450.00 >Remember that the Soundblaster combo INCLUDES FM synthesis >as well as wavetable after the above You also have to remember that if you are a regular user like I am and just want the best sounding sound out of appl. ok, recording, ext. Then the GUS will run you $154 that is with the "RAM UPGREAD" and the SB16 will run you $250.. P.S. If you get the a basic GUS you can expect to get 16 bit Digital CD Sound out of it, If you choose the SB-16 without the Waveblaster you will get 16-bit sound but it will not even come close to the GUS.. Beside the point if we crossed the $450 total, why souldn't you get T.B. sound card and get the real $500 sound.. jakub@eskimo.com P.S. - yes, I am a GUS owner- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1993 19:53:53 +1000 (EST) From: Michael Daniel Subject: Tristan + SBOS Message-ID: Hi there, has anyone been able to get Tristan (pinball game) to work in soundblaster mode using SBOS, I have tried SBOS version 1.20 and 2.02 to no avail. It works in Adlib mode, but in SB mode there are heaps of digitized sounds ( I played back one of the files with playfile and I could hear them) and I would rather have these than Adlib sounds. Also, does anyone else notice that windows take ages to load with the GUS installed, I think it has something to do with the patches being loaded of disk. On my computer windows takes about 4 minutes to load if I don't have smartdrv running, and about 2.4 if I do. (I have a very slow hard drive (>70ms access!!) but windows wasn't this slow beforehand) I have a 386-40 with 6 meg RAM, 1 meg GUS, at 220,5,5,11,5. bye, MPD 8-) ------------------------------ End of Ultrasound Daily Digest V4 #41 *************************************