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SOUND BLASTER DIGEST Number 17 April 1992 Edition. A newsletter for Sound Blaster Enthusiasts. Edited and Published by Brad Barclay. Assistant Editor: Karen O'Hearn Bulletin Board Support and Distribution: Todd Clayton Musical Director: Kim O'Hearn /\ ____________________________ / \/\ \ / \ ________________________________ \ / \ / \/ \ / \/ TABLE OF CONTENTS ================= Title: Page: ----- ---- From the Editor's Desk....................1 Shareware Review: Blaster Master 5.0......2 Subscriptions.............................3 Sound Blaster and MIDI....................4 Advertisements............................6 Shareware Review: Jill of the Jungle......6 Commercial Review: EcoQuest...............8 SPECIAL REPORT: Preview of the Sound Blaster Pro OPL-3............................9 SB to SB Pro Upgrade Offer!..............11 Contacting Us............................13 Wrapping It Up...........................14 FORMS: ------ Subscription Form........................15 Advertisement Order Form.................16 BBS Registration Form....................17 The Sound Blaster Digest (SBD) Copyright (c) 1992 Brad Barclay. You may freely distribute this file, and all included files, to whomever you wish, as long as it is not for profit, and that all files are kept together. The use of the SBD, in whole or in part, for any other purpose is a criminal offence, and is punishable by law. This is not Public Domain text, nor is it Shareware. The SBD is a free publication, distributed monthly. If you have any questions or comments about our Copyright, or any part of the SBD, please feel free to write to us at the address listed near the end of this text. Page 1 FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Welcome to another issue of the SOUND BLASTER DIGEST, the world's largest and most read online computer music magazine! This month is going to see a lot of changes to the sound card industry as we know it, including how we use our sound cards. On April 6th, Microsoft is to officially announce Windows 3.1, which will include all the MultiMedia functions that were known as "Extensions" in version 3.0. This small fact has more impact on music cards as a whole than you might first realize. No longer will only "elite" Windows users have Multimedia Extensions, but all users will have them. This will allow for a wider variety of support, thus making the process for software publishers to utilize the special sound capabilities of every music system (or no music system for that matter) into one program. Windows has been doing this with its graphics for a very long time: it tells calling programs what video system the machine has, the resolution it is set up for, and assigns the colour schemes, depending on what sort of graphics system one is using. The same idea applies to the sound aspect of Windows. April 6th is a special day for other reasons, too. As many of you may know, this is the day of the Comdex show, hosted in Chicago, USA this year. This is the largest consumer electronics show in the world, and is where everyone has to announce and show off their new hardware and software, and Creative Labs is no exception. This year Creative Labs unveiled two special new products: The Sound Blaster Pro OPL - 3, and the Video Blaster. The new Pro card is something everyone has been expecting for a long time: the use of the new Yamaha YM262 chip, allowing for better synthesis and stereo in the Sound Blaster Pro's FM. This is the chip that is used in the Ad Lib Gold card, and will be used in many other cards from other companies shortly. In this issue, we will preview the new Pro card, and in an upcoming issue, we will have a full review for you (Yes, I already have one on order). The second new card is definitely for MultiMedia buffs: the Video Blaster. A Sound Blaster Pro card with a Super VGA card built into it. We'll try to give you more details on this exciting new card as news reaches us. Also this month: a preview of Blaster Master version 5.0, preview of a hot new arcade game Jill of the Jungle, and much more! So fire up those sound cards, and keep on Blasting! Page 2 ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ╔═══╗ ╦ Bulletin Board System ║ ║ ║ ╩ ║ ======================= ║ ║ ╚═══╗ ╔════╗ ╦ ╦ ╦════╗ ╔════╣ * 1200 to 38,400 Baud ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ * 440+ Megs on Line ║ ║ ╦ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ * Sound Blaster & Adlib ║ ║ ╚═══╝ ╚════╝ ╚════╝ ╩ ╩ ╚════╝ * Games, Utilities, Demos ║ ║ ╦ * Gifs,Graphics,Technical ║ ║ ╔════╗ ║ * Data & Word Processing ║ ║ ║ ║ ╠════╗ ╔════╣ * Windows, Bugs and Fixes ║ ║ ╠════╣ ║ ║ ║ ║ * X-Rated Gifs, Education ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ * Newsletters & Articles ║ ║ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╩ ╚════╝ * Programers, Electronics ║ ║ * Financial, Geoworks ║ ║ ╔═══╗ ╦ ╦ * Echo WildNet & WildWpg ║ ║ ║ ╩ ═╦═ ╔═══╗ ║ ══╠══ ║ ║ ╚═══╗ ║ ║ ║ ╠═══╗ ║ ┌───────────────────┐ ║ ║ ╦ ║ ║ ╚═══╣ ║ ║ ║ │ Winnipeg Manitoba │ ║ ║ ╚═══╝ ═╩═ ║ ╩ ╩ ╩ │ CANADA │ ║ ║ ╚═══╝ └───────────────────┘ ║ ║ Sysop: Sheldon Itscovich Co-Sysop: Brian Itscovich ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ (204)-633-2364 8N1 24 Hrs. U.S. Robotics 38,400 Courier HST Dual Standard ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ -------------------- SHAREWARE REVIEW: BLASTER MASTER 5.0 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Programmed by Gary Maddox. Reviewed by Brad Barclay. The first ever Shareware program reviewed in the Sound Blaster Digest, back in Issue #1, was Blaster Master v2.6. Both the SBD and Blaster Master have evolved since, and version 5.0 is no exception. Blaster Master is a graphical program designed to allow the recording and editing of digitized sound files using numerous different tools. Blaster Master supports numerous different file formats: .SND (raw 8 bit files with no header information), .WAV (Windows format), .VOC (the ever-popular Sound Blaster format), .IFF (Amiga samples), and .NTI (Tetra compositor instrument samples). Page 3 Blaster Master 5.0 may appear at first to be the same as v4.8, but it has one major difference: Blaster Master 5.0 supports Sound Blaster Pro Stereo for recording and playback. This allows one to use sampling rates of up to 44.1Khz, stereo sampling, high and low pass sound filters, and sampling from CD input, Line input, or microphone. Plus Blaster Master 5.0 offers the capability to edit Stereo files: something previously offered only by Creative Lab's Voice Editor for the SB Pro. Blaster Master 5.0 goes beyond simple editing, and allows you to use all the special tools that have made Blaster Master famous, such as slow down and speed up with no pitch change, sample decompression, fades, sample reversing, and numerous other items to manipulate your sound files. Some things I would like to see in upcoming versions of Blaster Master to further support Sound Blaster Stereo: the capability to rip a stereo sample into two mono samples (one sample for each stereo channel: right and left), and then the ability to paste them back together again. This would allow users to manipulate stereo files using programs that do not support stereo .VOC files to load each sample separately, modify them, and then put them back together into a single stereo file. This would also be useful for those who do not have a stereo Pro card in that they could take the stereo file apart, and then use Blaster Master's MIX function to paste the two together into a single mono file. For those of you looking for a high-quality sample editor at a low cost with stereo support, Blaster Master is the program for you. Blaster Master is available on the SBD Support BBS, and on popular BBS systems all around the world. -------------------- SUBSCRIPTIONS: =-=-=-=-=-=-= Having a hard time finding the newest copy of the SBD on your favourite local BBS? Why not consider a SBD subscription? A subscription entitles you to 12 great issues, one a month, packed full of SB and SB Pro news and reviews. Subscribers also get special bonus files not available anywhere else, plus special offers on software and support! Nowhere else can you find this sort of deal for your Sound Blaster needs. Subscriptions make great gifts also! If you'd like to send a gift subscription with a special 'First Issue' message, just send that message along with your subscription form filled out to the receiver of the subscription, and it will be sent along with their first disk! Simply fill out the attached form, and enclose the required amount...it's that easy! Page 4 SOUND BLASTER AND MIDI =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- By Budi Rahardjo It's amazing how little information is available on the MIDI part of the Sound Blaster card. Yet this is one of the reasons why I bought the Sound Blaster Pro, simply because it has MIDI capability. I'd like to share my experience with Sound Blaster MIDI and hope you can share yours too. My experience is based with the Pro version of Sound Blaster; I am not familiar with the non-Pro version. First, what is MIDI? MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a standard that manufacturers of electronic musical instruments have agreed on so that one instrument from one manufacturer can communicate with other instruments from different manufacturers (Michael Boom, "Music Through MIDI", Microsoft Press, 1987). With MIDI your Yamaha synthesizer can "talk" to Roland synthesizers. This definition has become broader, to include MIDI devices and computers. What can you do with the (Sound Blaster) SB MIDI? Well, with MIDI you can "record" songs just like recording on a conventional tape. You can play a song on your keyboard (assuming it has MIDI capability) and record it on your computer. Then you can play it back using Sound Blaster's FM sound, your synthesizer, or a combination. The nicest thing about this is that the quality of the sound doesn't change (Playing a tape 1000 times would degrade the quality of the sound). Also if you are not a good keyboard player (just like myself), you can enter the song note by note with your keyboard (or your PC keyboard) and sound like a pro when you play it back. Another thing about MIDI is that you can take your composition to a friend (or a studio) who has a real synthesizer and play it like a professional band... (Some bands even use MIDI in their performances). Those who are familiar with MIDI on an MS-DOS machine would ask, "Is Sound Blaster MIDI compatible with Roland MPU?" Unfortunately the answer is no. Roland MPU (the standard MIDI interface for MS-DOS) is a "smart" MIDI interface, that is it does all the work (eg: timing etc.) on the interface leaving the computer to do other jobs. This is appropriate if you have a slow machine (like an XT). Nowadays, with 386 and 486 many people would argue that we don't need a smart interface. Page 5 Sound Blaster MIDI is a "dumb" interface, that is it still needs the computation power of your computer (Don't worry, there are many other dumb MIDI interfaces out there). Since it is a dumb interface, software that was written using Roland MPU smart mode will not work with your Sound Blaster. However, some major MIDI software (such as Cakewalk, Band in a Box) does recognize the Sound Blaster. Several shareware programs also recognize the Sound Blaster MIDI port (We'll write a review of these MIDI shareware programs next time). There is talk that a driver could be written to emulate the smartness of the MPU, but such a program has not appeared yet. (I wouldn't mind writing one if I could afford the Sound Blaster Development Kit:-) My SB Pro comes with a sequencer program (a program that allows you to record and playback your composition) called "Sequencer Plus Pro (SP)", form Voyetra. This program is comparable to their "Sequencer Plus Jr." The installation is very easy and I can run it in no time. I am able to load the demo song and play it using FM sounds from the Sound Blaster card. I tried it also with a Roland D-110 sound module connected to the card with the MIDI cable. I can get mixed sounds with drum and bass from D- 110 and piano from the Sound Blaster. Nice. SP can read different file formats: its own format (.SNG), standard MIDI file (.MID) and .ROL files, but can save in .SNG and .MID formats only. Now for some annoying facts. The first thing I noticed is when this program resets the setting of the Sound Blaster the volume is too soft. To solve this problem I ran "SBP-MIX program (a TSR mixer program) before running Sequencer Plus. Using Alt-1 I can set the volume settings to maximum, then do the composition or play the songs. Another annoying thing is that I can hear some noise coming from the FM sound when SP is running. This noise disappears when I load the "demosong" (?). Loading other songs doesn't solve this problem. Weird....* *Editors note: This is most likely an isolated occurrence; this does not happen on my setup. I think it would be fair to say that I am satisfied with the MIDI implementation on the Sound Blaster, although the documentation on this topic is very poor. I couldn't find anything in the documentation on how to access the MIDI port. I'd like to write my own program. I phoned Creative Labs, and they suggested that I should buy the Development Kit ($100.00). I guess I have to wait until I have enough money to spend.... Have fun with your MIDI gears... Page 6 ADVERTISEMENTS: =-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Do you run a BBS? Have you written a piece of software? Do you write custom music? If so, you may be interested in an advertisement in the SBD. Thousands of SOUND BLASTER users read the SBD every month, and many even have it delivered right to their door. So if you give some sort of special support to those people who use the SOUND BLASTER, advertising in the SBD would be the logical choice! Conservative estimates show at least 50 000 people around the world read the Sound Blaster Digest each month, so your advertisement will reach a very large audience quickly, easily, with little cost or effort! Number of lines: Cost: --------------- ---- 0 - 10 $3 / Month 11 - 30 $5 / Month 31 - 40 $10 / Month 41 - 50 $15 / Month Separate File: Call for Pricing! Lines are limited to a maximum of 80 columns. All costs are in Canadian dollars. -------------------- SHAREWARE REVIEW: JILL OF THE JUNGLE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Published by Epic Megagames Reviewed by Brad Barclay Last month we received the Beta-test version of this game, and as far as we have been able to discover, it is still in the testing stages. So you won't be able to find it on your local BBS for a while to come, so you may wish to wait a while before searching for it. Epic Megagames has come out with an arcade game so good, it will "show up" all of Apogee's Shareware games which have became so famous, such as "Duke Nukem", and more recently "Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure". Unlike the Apogee Games, Epic Megagame's first release, "Jill of the Jungle" is able to use full 256 colour VGA mode, and the results are fantastic. Page 7 The Sound Blaster support is minimal: the game will play FM music in the background while you play. But the music is of very good quality, and should not be ignored. The graphics in this game are really something to look at, but because it uses 320*200*256 colour mode, the resolution is lower than the previously mentioned Apogee games. But the overall effect is still very good, and the use of the colours makes the resolution difference hard to detect at times. In this game, you are Jill, a sort of female version of Tarzan. But Jill has some special powers she can use to try and make her way through this game: she can turn into different animals at will so she can swim, fly, or run better then she could as a human. The Beta version we received only contained the first level, but from what we have seen this should turn out to be one excellent game, especially for Shareware. If you like the sort of games that have made the "Super Nintendo" famous throughout the world, you will really enjoy this game on your PC. -------------------- ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ You Are Invited To Call: STAR-LINK NETWORK BBS - (718) 972-6099 │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ Multi-Line Access (9 Access Lines - 15 Coming Soon) │ │ 3/12/24/9600/14.4K Baud Support (V32/V42/MNP5/HST/HAYES) │ │ 3.0 Gigabytes of On-line Storage (3000 Megabytes) │ │ More then 80,000 Files for Your PC, AT, PS/1 & PS/2 to Download │ │ On-Line CD-ROM w/Complete PC-SIG Program Library (1400 Disks Worth) │ │ 129 Active Conferences Areas - Member of ILink International Echo │ │ On-line Edition of USA TODAY Newspaper - CB Simulator - 24 Hour FAX │ │ 60 On-line Doors - Running On FAST LAN - PC Pursuit - Subscriptions │ ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ STAR-LINK NETWORK BBS has been featured in such publications as │ │ Personal Computing, Computer Shopper, PC Computing and PC Magazine. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ████████████████████ Dial (718) 972-6099 █████████████████████ An Official SBD Distribution Site. Page 8 COMMERCIAL REVIEW: ECOQUEST =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Reviewed by Nick Tucker Published by Sierra Online To start off, EcoQuest is unlike any game I have ever seen before. In this game, you play the role of Adam, a little boy. You object is to find Cetus, the ruler of Elvira the city on the ocean bottom. You start out in your house near the coast. There was recently an oil spill, so you have a little bird in the same room covered with oil that you must deal with first, then the dolphin next door. This is how you will find out about Elvira, by the dolphin, Delphinious. While this game is more directed toward younger folks, adults can enjoy it a good bit too, since it deals with the economy, and what is really being done to the ocean floor, and how the life for fish and other underwater living things is. Thus, the game is also educational, as well as enjoyable. The graphics are in either VGA mono or VGA 256 colour. The shots with the VGA colour sure do look real, and you do seem like you are in the room with the characters. The VGA mono is okay. For people that do not have the VGA colour mode anyway, not really too much impressive but will do. The sound support, like most Sierra games covers a lot of areas from the IBM PS/1 audio card to the Sound Blaster. Also there is the Voice parts, of course which can play out the SB through the DAC. The game will auto-detect this upon running the install program. (It will NOT pick up the Game Blaster though, if you have one of these, or its compatibility such as the Sound Blaster 1.0, then you should set the program up for the Game Blaster if that is the side you want to hear, and tell it the port address.) [-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10] SB Support : ******************* (9.5) Playability : ***************** (8.5) Originality : ********************* (10) Graphics : ******************* (9.5) Page 9 ───┐───┐─┐─┐───┐─┐───┐───┐─┐ ───┐───┐─────┐───┐────┐ ──┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └ │ │ └ │ ──┐── ┌─┘ ─┐ └ │ ── │ └ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └ │ └─┐ │ │── │ │ ──┐ │ └┐ ───┘───┘───┘─┘───┘───┘───┘───┘─┘─┘───┘ ─┘ ───┘─┘ ─┘ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ──────▄▀▀▀▄▀▄▄▀██─▄▄▀▀▄▀▄▀▀█▀▄▀▄─██▀██─▀▀▀▀█▀▀▄▀───── ───────██──██─▀██─██───▀──█▀▄─▀──▀▀▄▀────██────────── ───────██──██──██─██─▄▄▀▄─██───────▀▀▄──██─────────── ───────▄▀▄▄▀───██─▄▀▄─▄▄▀─▄▀▄─██─██─██───██────────── ──────▄▄▄▀─────▀▄▀─▀▄▄▀────▀▄▄▀──▀▄▄▀────▀▄▀─BBS───── ░▒▓░▒▓ Providing The Very BEST In Soundblaster Support ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙84o 2485∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙FREE∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙3oo-24ooBaud∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙ANSI/ASCII∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙6o Megabytes∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ SysOp: ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙24 Hours∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ ░▒▓░▒▓ ∙Todd Clayton∙ ▓▒░▓▒░ /[lch -------------------- SPECIAL REPORT: SOUND BLASTER PRO OPL-3 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Preface by Brad Barclay Written by Anonymous author. On April 6th, Creative Labs announced the North American release of the Sound Blaster Pro OPL-3 card. We here at the SBD received this article a month prior to this announcement, which was supposed to be the first official mention of it in North America. out of corporate respect, we have held off the publication of this article until we received official confirmation. Well, it's official, and yes, the SBD has one already on the way so we can put it through our official testing and reviewing. We should be able to publish an article on it in a month or two. Until that time, we hope that this information will whet your appetite for information. Also in the near future, we will hopefully be able to bring you information on another new card from Creative Labs, the VideoBlaster (VGA & Sound Blaster on one board!). This Article was sent to our Support BBS with no name attached to it: if the author could let himself be known, I would gladly give them credit in a coming issue of the SBD. Page 10 Hi to all the fans of Sound Blaster and Sound Blaster Pro! By now you would have probably read about the coming release of the new Adlib Gold and learned about its capabilities. It seems to be superior to the first version of Sound Blaster Pro. Fear not! Creative is back in action and beats the Adlib again, this time with the release of Sound Blaster Pro ver 2.0. This new sound card has been officially released in Singapore, the home of Sound Blaster since the end of February. What is the difference between SB Pro and SB Pro 2.0? That would be the most asked question. The main difference is the sound chip being used in the new version. The SB Pro uses 2 monophonic YM3812 sound chips to generate up to 22 FM voices in mono mode and only 11 FM voices in stereo mode. In order to compete with the new Adlib Gold, the Creative has decided to adapt the SB Pro 2.0 to use the new generation stereophonic Yamaha YM262 sound chip (as that used in the Adlib Gold). The new chip supports full 20 voices in stereo or mono mode. The result is much better stereo sounds compared to the old SB Pro. For those technically inclined, the other new specifications are addition of 4 operation FM synthesis, increasing the number of FM waveforms from 4 to 8 and increasing the sound dynamic range from 72dB to 96dB. However, the maximum stereo sampling rate remains at 22.05khz, half of that in Adlib Gold. Putting the technical specifications aside, what does all the above improvements translate into for the SB Pro users? At the moment, there seems to be none. There is no software to support the full 20 stereo voices of SB Pro 2.0 yet. After testing out the Star Trek 25th Anniversary Edition which is the only game software to support the SB Pro presently, it seems that the sound from SB Pro is more rich than the new SB Pro 2.0. Creative explains that although the SB Pro 2.0 is fully compatible with SB Pro, it only has 20 voices in mono mode. The Star Trek is written for the SB Pro which uses the full 22 voices. When new software written for the SB Pro 2.0 is out, the effects of the full stereo will be obvious then. In Singapore, Creative is selling the new SB Pro 2.0 for US$220. It is offering upgrades for ALL users of the SB Pro to SB Pro 2.0 at the price of about US$30. The upgrade is actually an exchange of the old SB Pro for SB Pro 2.0 since the layout of the chips are different. It is definitely encouraging to learn of such support from Creative for old SB Pro supporters. Lastly, to end the article, there has been rumours from Creative that they are planning for the SB Pro 3.0 which will have a 16 bit DAC (compared to 8 bit DAC of SB Pro 2.0 or 12 bit DAC in Adlib Gold) and a maximum stereo sampling rate of 44.1khz. While this cannot be confirmed, it seems to be a logical development to equal or beat the new Adlib Gold in every aspect of PC sound. Page 11 SOUND BLASTER TO SOUND BLASTER PRO UPGRADE OFFER! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Written by Bill Gallagher Veni...Vedi...Vici -Julius Ceasar, 48 B.C. Yeah, Julius wasn't a poet but he sure could coin a phrase when asked: "I came, I saw, I conquered". Well, actually I, in this case, should be we: We, the Sound Blaster users have taken Brown/Wagh Publishing to task in an ongoing negotiation and have finally received the credence on a Sound Blaster to Sound Blaster Pro UPGRADE OFFER! It was an ongoing dodge on their part at times when supply was short, but finally Dick Brown, whom had "given his word...to come up with a reasonable offer..." has made good on his promise and has allowed us to announce the upgrade offer. Starting on April 1st, 1992, Brown/Wagh Publishing will accept calls at their sales office for orders of the Sound Blaster Pro upgrade. The cost is $199.95 US. Once an order is placed they then ask that these following conditions are met: 1) "We need you to send us this letter in its original form. Then we need a copy of your original invoice." 2) "...send us back your original Sound Blaster board in order to receive your $50 rebate." Well, as you can see they have put a curve or two on it and we'll just have to meet their policy with strict rigor, because they do stipulate "...if you should have any questions regarding any of this letter, please don't hesitate to call us...". So I would advise you to obtain a copy of this letter in its original form and please call Brown/Wagh Publishing at 1-800-451-0900, or 1- 408-378-3838, or fax them at 1-408-378-3577 and ask for a copy of the Sound Blaster to Sound Blaster pro upgrade letter dated April 1st, 1992. Page 12 Now I have Dick Brown's personal word on this that all upgrades will be processed as quickly as possible: so I feel a behemoth company like theirs could easily deal with this upgrade offer in a serious way! So call soon! And call often: I know that Mr. Wagh sits there sometimes until the early morning hours cranking out phone calls and E-Mail messages to loathsome people like myself who have vowed to "chase them like rats across the tundra...": thankfully he has taken this all in stride. I must also commend Mr. Goh from Creative Labs, who has gone to great lengths to make all channels of communication open. he has shown the most enthusiasm in the creation of this plan, and as no other, has placed himself in an accessible position to balance the scales for the Sound Blaster users: we thank him as well as Mr. Brown and Mr. Wagh, whom have endured many phone calls of a rather frenzied nature: we thank you all! Now go and phone in for you UPGRADE OFFER TODAY! -------------------- ■■■ Welcome to the SuperSONIC Sound System ■■■ ┌─────┬───────────────────────────────────────────────────┬─────┐ │░▒▓█░│ ░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓█████ Premiere Sound Base █████▓▓▓▒▒▒░░░ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █▄▄▄▄▄█ █▀ ▀ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄▄▄▄ █▐▐▐▐ █▌▌▌▌███ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄▄ ████████ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █ █ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █ █ ████ ▄▄▄ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █ █ ▄▄█▄▄▄▄ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █ ███ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ Sound and Optics Net for IBM Computers. Wave Zone │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ ░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓█████ 416-225-8942 Tor.ON █████▓▓▓▒▒▒░░░ │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░├───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ SuperSONIC BBS. SysOp: Brian & Brent Bourne. S │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ SoundBlaster Digest Distribution Site. O │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ Technical and Other support for the SB/ADLIB. N │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ Fido Net: 1:250/722 Home of the SONIC NET. I │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ 700+ ROL Songs. Online RPGS. 19200 bps! C │░█▓▒░│ │░▒▓█░│ Growing selection of MOD/STM files. . │░█▓▒░│ ├─────┼───────────────────────────────────────────────────┤─────┤ │░▒▓██│ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │██▓▒░│ │░▒▓██│ █ █ █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ █ █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │██▓▒░│ │░▒▓██│ █▄▄▄█▄▄▄█ █ █ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▀ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Z O N E. │██▓▒░│ └─────┴───────────────────────────────────────────────────┴─────┘ Link your Modem Tracks with us and Hear the Superior Sound Page 13 CONTACTING US: =-=-=-=-=-=-= If you wish to contact us, please feel free to write us at the following address: SOUND BLASTER DIGEST 36 Sutter Ave. Brampton, Ontario CANADA L6Z 1G7 Or phone between 17:30 and 22:00 Eastern Standard Time at: (416) 846-5599 Two BBS systems have special support for SBD Readers. You can contact us at any of the following BBSs (See the enclosed BBS list for telephone numbers): SUPER SONIC BBS. The SBD Support BBS Also, SUPER SONIC BBS has a special password for SBD readers to quickly download the SBD. It is: Name: SB DIGEST Password: SONIC The SBD Support BBS also allows first time callers to download the Sound Blaster Digest, and leave messages to either the Editor, or either of the Assistant Editors. The SBD is also distributed on America Online BBS. Use keyword HARDWARE, and select Hardware Publications. It has every issue of the SBD available to its members, and also supports chat nights on topics of interest to Sound Blaster users, such as MultiMedia, MIDI, .MOD/.NST files, and more. You can also leave a message to the Editor on America Online. Just address your message to SBD BRAD. We also check for mail on a monthly basis on StarLink Network BBS (see our Registered BBS list for their number). You can leave mail to the SBD there by addressing it to Brad Barclay. We hope to hear from you soon! Page 14 WRAPPING IT UP... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This month is going to turn out to be an excellent month for computer music lovers. With new hardware and software support, we may be nearing a time where an MS-DOS based system without a music card will be like an MS-DOS system without a hard drive. Music hardware will be of even more importance to both home users, and in business, where MultiMedia will slowly become more and more popular. Through these changes, the Sound Blaster series of cards will be right on top, and the Sound Blaster Digest will be there to report on each and every important breakthrough. Many thanks go out to all of those who have made this publication possible this month: all of your help is appreciated. And now for a request: our figures from the past few months have shown very little money coming into the Sound Blaster Digest, with a lot being spent just to keep up on our mail and subscriptions. The moral support and all of the help, along with all of the wonderful free equipment we have collected from companies interested in supporting our publication, has been wonderful: we could not ask for better support from our readers. But sadly we are slowly falling victim of cash flow problems, and if current trends continue, we may not be able to continue the SBD into the summer of 1992. All is not totally lost, though, and we would rather scale our operations back before stopping the publication of the SBD. But if you have been considering subscribing to the SBD, or placing an advertisement with us, or if you would just like to make a contribution, please do not delay in doing so: we wish to continue to publish the quality of work that we are famous for, but without more monetary support we cannot afford the games to review, some of the specialty hardware we require, the long-distance phone calls to increase the SBD's distribution and support, and much of the other support we have planned in the coming months. Thanks for reading the Sound Blaster Digest, and we hope to see you here next month! Keep on Blasting! Page 15 SOUND BLASTER DIGEST SUBSCRIPTION FORM ====================================== Please enclose a cheque or money order (sorry, I don't accept any major or minor credit cards) for $30 CDN for Canadian orders, or $30 US for American orders. Overseas enclose $40 Canadian funds, payable on a Canadian bank. Please fill out all the spaces provided (except where marked optional), and mail it to the address below. MAKE CHEQUE/MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO BRAD BARCLAY! NAME:_____________________________ MAILING ADDRESS: Street address:_____________________________ City, Province/State:_______________________ Country, Postal/ZIP Code:___________________ PHONE NUMBER (don't forget the area code!):___________________ DISKETTE TYPE: (check one): _ _ [_] 5.25" [_] 3.5" BBS REGISTRATION: By adding $5 to your cheque or money order and checking this box, we will give you special upgraded access to the SBD Support BBS! _ [_] Please give me your "Gold" Access Level on the SBD Support BBS! Please make my password as follows: Password:__________________________________ COMMENTS: Please fill this out also! How would you rate THE SOUND BLASTER DIGEST (circle one): POOR FAIR GOOD EXCELLENT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Please mail this form, along with any additional comments to: SOUND BLASTER DIGEST c/o Brad Barclay 36 Sutter ave. Brampton, Ontario CANADA. L6Z 1G7 Page 16 SOUND BLASTER DIGEST ADVERTISEMENT ORDER FORM ============================================= Please fill out this form, and mail it, along with a cheque for the required amount as described above, along with an ASCII only, typed copy of your ad, and mail it to the address below. PLEASE MAKE CHEQUE/MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO BRAD BARCLAY! NAME:_____________________________ MAILING ADDRESS: Street address:_____________________________ City, Province/State:_______________________ Country, Postal/ZIP Code:___________________ PHONE NUMBER (don't forget the area code!):___________________ BEST TIMES AVAILABLE:_________________________________________ Please mail this form, along with your cheque and a copy of the ad as described above, along with any other comments to: SOUND BLASTER DIGEST c/o Brad Barclay 36 Sutter ave. Brampton, Ontario CANADA. L6Z 1G7 Page 17 SOUND BLASTER DIGEST BBS REGISTRATION ===================================== This is a free service of THE SOUND BLASTER DIGEST, intended to allow greater access to Sound Blaster files. Please fill out all blanks (except where marked optional), and send to the address below: LIST INFORMATION: Name of BBS:____________________________________________ Sysop's Name:___________________________________________ City, Province/State:___________________________________ Phone Number (remember the area code!):_________________ Min/Max Transmission speed:_____________________________ OTHER INFORMATION: Although not included in the BBS listing, this information is important for our records. How long has the BBS been running:_________________________ Do you have a Music/Sound Card conference, message area, or file area set aside?:______________________________________ Does your BBS support and Sound Blaster files?:____________ Anything else you can think of to say that would show off your BBS, please write it down here: ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Mail this form, along with any extra comments to: SOUND BLASTER DIGEST c/o Brad Barclay 36 Sutter Ave. Brampton, Ontario CANADA. L6Z 1G7