Internet Info 1994 March/Internet Info CD-ROM (Walnut Creek) (March 1994).iso/answers/comp/PCsoundcards/generic-faq

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From: [e-mail] (Joel Plutchak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard,comp.answers,news.answers
Subject: Generic IBM PC Soundcard FAQ periodic posting
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Date: 14 Oct 1993 21:01:48 GMT
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Summary: Non-product-specific information about IBM PC soundcards
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard:22910 comp.answers:2307 news.answers:13546

Archive-name: PCsoundcards/generic-faq
Last-modified: 10-September-1993


                    Frequently Asked Questions of the
                   comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard Newsgroup


Last update: September 10, 1993        Previous posting: August 12, 1993

This is an attempt to answer a few non-product-specific questions that
get asked a lot in the comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard newsgroup.  Here are
the topics currently addressed:

   0) How can I contribute to this FAQ?
   1) What sound card should I buy?
   2) How do I get in touch with company XXX?
   3) Where can I get software and/or documentation?
   4) What programs can play XXX music files on YYY soundcard, or
      convert them into ZZZ type files?
   5) I don't run DOS.  Am I out of luck when it comes to sound boards?

A current copy of this and many other FAQs can be obtained at the
anonymous FTP site rtfm.mit.edu, from the compressed file generic-faq.Z
in the /pub/usenet/news.answers/PCsoundcards directory.  If you can't
use FTP, send email to [e-mail] with

   send usenet/news.answers/PCsoundcards/generic-faq

as the only text in the message body (NOT in the 'Subject:' field).

Corrections to, additions to, and comments regarding this FAQ should be
emailed to Joel Plutchak ([e-mail]).
------------------------------------------------------------------------

0) How can I contribute to this FAQ?

   It's easy!  Just send me Email at the above address, and I'll add
   your useful information to this FAQ, and put your name in lights
   for everybody to admire (significant contributions only).

   ***Recent contributors: Mike Batchelor, Francois Dion, Dev Mazumdar***

   Most urgently needed items:
      - Soundcard option/description grid
      - Explanations of various synthesis techniques (e.g. FM, wave table)
      - *Concise* descriptions of specific soundcards

1) What sound card should I buy?

   As with any consumer purchase, what you buy depends upon what you
   want to use it for and how much money you're willing to spend.  As
   of this writing, more and more new companies are jumping into the
   field, new (improved! faster! better!) versions of the old cards
   are coming out seemingly every month, and things are more confusing
   than ever.  Keep in mind that different people want different
   things from a sound card, and every company will have both
   fervent cheerleaders and rabid detractors.

   Questions to ask yourself:

      Do I want the highest quality sound possible?  Do I want
      stereo?  Do I want MIDI capability?  Do I want it to be
      supported by a wide range of software?  Am I interested
      in multimedia?  Does the company provide good documentation,
      support, upgrades, etc?  Is software available that does
      want I want it to to?

   One person assesses things this way:  If you just want to enhance
   your gameplaying experience, and don't want to spend much money,
   pick up a low-end Soundblaster or Adlib card.  If you have
   high-end interests, and have the cash, buy from Turtle Beach.
   For a good compromise, with MIDI, stereo, etc., get a Soundblaster
   Pro or 16 ASP, a Gravis Ultrasound, or a Pro Audio Spectrum 16.
   If you're strictly interested in MIDI, go with something with Roland
   MPU-401 compatibility.  The best thing to do, however, is to hear
   the boards yourself, and test out any relevant software ahead of
   time, if at all possible.  Also, check into expandability and
   upgradability, if you foresee a future need.

   Back issues of popular PC magazines can be extremely informative.
   For example, the April 27, 1992 issue of "PC Magazine" has a
   comprehensive review of many sound cards, and the August 1993
   issue of "Windows" reviews various multimedia options.

   The diehard do-it-yourselfer can also build his/her own device
   which attaches to the computer's parallel port.  A fair number of
   freeware/shareware programs support such devices, though commercial
   support should not be expected.  You can get schematics in the
   Modplay Pro package, among other places.

   A word about MIDI: MPU-401 functionality (in brief, a superset of
   simple MIDI serial (aka UART) functionality) has been the de facto
   standard in the music world for doing MIDI with computers.  So far,
   most game-oriented soundcard MIDI options are *NOT* MPU-401-compatible,
   especially in so-called "smart" mode.  A couple reported exceptions
   are the Soundblaster 16 ASP and the Logitech Soundman 16, but they
   reportedly don't use "smart" mode.  And of course, if you want a board
   primarily for MIDI, make sure it can run the software you want to use.

   A word about SCSI: some sound boards have ports which allow you to
   connect a CD-ROM drive.  These are NOT necessarily SCSI ports, i.e.
   you may not be about to daisy-chain other SCSI devices and you may
   be limited to a particular make or model of CD drive.  If you value
   expandability, this may be significant to you.  To the best of my
   knowledge, the only board which currently has a true SCSI port is
   the PAS-16.


2) How do I get in touch with company XXX?

   Here are various names and addresses of soundcard manufacturers
   and major software vendors.  All telephone numbers are in the US
   unless specified:

      Adlib Multimedia Inc. - sound hardware
         220 Grande Allee East, Suite 850, Quebec, QC, Canada G1R 2J1
         Phone: [phone]
                [phone]

      Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Limited - sound hardware
         111-7400 MacPherson Ave.
         Burnaby, B.C.
         CANADA V5J 5B6
         Main:    [phone]
         Support: [phone] (Email: [e-mail])
         FAX:     [phone]

      Cardinal Technologies - sound hardware
         1827 Freedom Road
         Lancaster, PA 17601
         Main:    [phone]

      Covox Inc. - sound hardware
         675 Conger Street, Eugene, OR 97402
         Main:    [phone]
         FAX:     [phone]
         BBS:     [phone]
         Email:   [e-mail]

      Creative Labs/Brown Wagh (Soundblaster) - sound hardware,
            programming toolkit
         2050 Duane Avenue, Santa Clara, CA 95054
         Main:    [phone]
         Sales:   [phone]
         Support: [phone]
         FAX:     [phone] (742-6633?)
         BBS:     [phone]

      Media Vision, Inc (Pro Audio Spectrum) - sound hardware
         47221 Fremont Blvd, Fremont, CA 94539
         Main:    [phone] or [phone]
         Sales:   [phone]
         Support: [phone] or [phone]
         FAX:     [phone] or [phone]
         BBS:     [phone] & 770-1661 (2400,8,N,1)
                  [phone] (9600,8,N,1)

      Microsoft Corporation - sound hardware, software
          Main:   [phone]
          FAX:    [phone]

      Roland Corp. - MIDI hardware, software
        7200 Dominion Circle
        Los Angeles, CA 90040-3647
        [phone]

      Turtle Beach Systems - sound hardware
         P.O. Box 5074, York, PA 17405
                  - or -
         Cyber Center, Unit 33, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, York, PA 17404
         Main:   [phone]
         FAX:    [phone]
         CompuServe: [e-mail] (Turtle Beach*Roy Smith)

      Voyetra - MIDI hardware, software, programming toolkits
         333 Fith Avenue, Pelham, NY USA
         [phone] (US only)
         [phone] (From anywhere)
         [phone] (FAX)

   Companies not listed: ATI, Logitech, TecMar...


3) Where can I get software and/or documentation?

   Various commercial and hobbyist bulletin board systems have forums
   dedicated to soundcards, music files, etc.  Except for a few specific
   commercial BBS systems (e.g. Compuserve, GEnie, AOL), almost all the
   various FTP sites, mailing lists, and whatnot are run by selfless,
   caring private individuals as a service to the community at large,
   and are in no way officially represent or endorse any specific
   commercial company.  On the Internet, these are a few of the anonymous
   FTP sites and mailing lists which cater to the discerning PC sound
   enthusiast:


      FTP site                    Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      archive.epas.utoronto.ca    Sound files, Gravis site
         (128.100.160.36)
      ftp.brad.ac.uk              MOD files
         (143.53.2.5)
      ftp.cco.caltech.edu         Soundblaster programming in /pub/heathh
         (131.215.139.2)
      ftp.ulowell.edu             CMF and ROL files
         (128.63.32.1)
      ftp.uwp.edu                 Sound (and graphics) demos, PAS files
         (131.210.1.4)
      garbo.uwasa.fi              Sound files
         (128.214.87.1)
      louie.udel.edu              MIDI patches, samples, software
         (128.175.1.3)
      nic.funet.fi                Soundblaster Freedom Project files.
         (128.214.6.100)
|     ftp.mcs.kent.edu            Soundblaster & Adlib stuff
         (131.123.2.222)
      sol.cs.ruu.nl               MIDI documentation, software, songs
         (131.211.80.17)
|     wsmr-simtel20.army.mil      NO LONGER IN SERVICE!
|        (192.88.110.20)
      wuarchive.wustl.edu         Lots of stuff
         (128.252.135.4)


      Newsgroup                   Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard      This newsgroup.  PC soundcard topics
      alt.sb.programmer              Soundblaster programming topics
      comp.multimedia                Multimedia topics
      comp.music                     Computer music theory and research
      alt.binaries.sounds.misc       Digitized sounds and software
      alt.binaries.sounds.d          Discussion and follow-up group
      alt.binaries.multimedia        Supposedly multimedia sounds and software
      comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard.GUS  THIS NEWSGROUP DOESN'T OFFICIALLY EXIST!
                                     USENET administrators worldwide ask that
                                     it not be used if your site mistakenly
                                     lists it as valid.

      Note: All the above newsgroups except the first two are generic
            groups, so PC-specific topics probably aren't appropriate.


      Other FAQs (some available in news.answers and at rtfm.mit.edu)
      --------------------------------------------------------------
      gravis-ultrasound/faq       Gravis Ultrasound information
      audio_fmts/part1
      audio_fmts/part2            Audio file format descriptions


      Mailing lists               Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      MSDOS Sound Card Forum      For PC sound card discussions and info.
                                  Commands should be sent to the
                                  [e-mail] address,
                                  while the list address itself is
                                  [e-mail].

      Multisound Users            For Turtle Beach Multisound users. To
                                  subscribe, send a message to
                                  [e-mail] with a
                                  SUBSCRIBE MULTISOUND <your-full-name>
                                  form of command in the message body.

      PAS Lovers                  For Pro Audio Spectrum discussion and
                                  info.  To subscribe, send a message to
                                  [e-mail]
                                  with the word ADD as the subject.

      Soundblaster Programming    For discussion of Soundblaster
                                  programming issues.  For info,
                                  contact [e-mail]

      Ultrasound Digest           For Gravis Ultrasound programmers
                                  and users. Send requests to
                                  [e-mail], or get
                                  info from [e-mail]
                                  Please note that this is *not* an official
                                  Gravis list; it is run by "just" another
                                  Ultrasound user.


      Miscellaneous               Description
      --------------------------  ----------------------------------
      Sound Site Newsletter       An electronic newsletter devoted to the
                                  computer sound hobbyist.  Available on
                                  many BBS' and anonymous FTP archives,
                                  and posted to several newsgroups.


4) What programs can play XXX music files on YYY soundcard, or
   convert them into ZZZ type files?

      CD-Box - plays most sound files, needs supporting drivers (shareware)
      DIGIStudio - VGA MOD editor for COVOX & Soundblaster (freeware?)
      DIGITRAK - VGA MOD player for the GUS (freeware?)
      DMP - plays MOD files on most sound boards (shareware)
      GUSMOD 2.11 - MOD player, text mode for the GUS (freeware)
      Modplay Pro - plays MOD files on Soundblaster & compatibles
         and parallel port DACs (shareware)
      Muzika - Windows MIDI editor (freeware)
      P669 - 669 player for the GUS (freeware)
      PLAY410 - VGA raw sound file player (freeware?)
      ScopeTrax - plays VOC, raw, and Amiga files on Soundblaster,
         parallel port DACs, or the PC speaker (freeware)
      SOX/Soundtool - converts between various sound file formats
         (freeware, portable source distributed)
      ULTRA Tracker - 16-bit Tracker composer for the GUS (shareware)
      Visual Player - plays MOD files on Soundblaster (shareware)
      Windows 3.1 - plays WAV and MID files on most sound boards ($$$)
      WOWII - plays MOD files on Soundblaster and compatibles (freeware?)

   Note: Past issues of The Sound Site Newsletter contain much more
         exhaustive lists of music players.


5) I don't run DOS.  Am I out of luck when it comes to sound boards?

   As of this writing, commercial support is sketchy, though rumors of
   vendor-supported OS/2 drivers for the PAS, Soundblaster, and GUS have
   been heard.  Also, the Soundblaster and PAS reportedly work under
   OS/2's MMPM/2 (multimedia extensions), though the bugs are still
   being shaken out of it, so your individual results may vary.  The
   latest (probably wrong) rumor is that native GUS drivers for OS/2
   (UltraMID?) are now available from Gravis.  Reportedly, though, the
   GUS Windows drivers work under WINOS2 2.1.

   Various people in the community have written device drivers for the
   Soundblaster which run under Unix (BSD and System V) and OS/2.
   Contact Lance Norskog ([e-mail]) for information about an
   AT&T Unix V.3 and V.4 driver, or Steve Haehnichen ([e-mail])
   for information about a BSD Unix driver.  A preliminary version of an
   OS/2 driver was spotted at the astro.as.arizona.edu (128.196.176.1)
   FTP site.  An RS/6000 AIX 3.2 device driver (plus X/Motif applications)
   is available for the Sound Blaster Pro.  It's available using anonymous
   FTP to ftp.uwp.edu (/pub/rs6000/soundblaster directory).  The author is
   Dev Mazumdar ([e-mail]).

   Linux contains drivers for several sound boards, including the
   PAS (including PAS16), SB (SB16 a little flaky), Adlib, and some
   SB-compatibles.

   A group of people are working on a Unix driver for the GUS.

   Also, check the various archives, FTP sites, and hardware-specific
   FAQs for updates and late-breaking news.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Joel Plutchak, Research Programmer/Analyst
"I'm mentally OVERDRAWN!"