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ScopeTrax Version 1.00 This Software and Documentation is Copyright (c) 1992 by Chris S. Craig Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................... 1 2 Minimum Requirements ............................................ 1 3 Configuring ScopeTrax: Using SCTXCONF.EXE ....................... 1 4 Starting ScopeTrax .............................................. 3 5 Input/Output Devices ............................................ 3 5.1 PC SPEAKER A ............................................... 4 5.2 PC SPEAKER B ............................................... 4 5.3 Sound Blaster Direct ....................................... 4 5.4 LPT1 or LPT2 ............................................... 4 5.5 Sound Blaster DMA .......................................... 4 6 Hardware Rate or Base Rate ...................................... 4 6.1 Configuring Base Rates ! ................................... 5 6.2 Base Rate and Expanded Memory Managers ..................... 6 7 Using the Editor ................................................ 6 7.1 In General ................................................. 6 7.2 Increment .................................................. 7 7.3 File ....................................................... 8 7.3.1 Select File ........................................... 8 7.3.2 Open Path/File ........................................ 8 7.3.3 Sample Rate (playback) ................................ 8 7.3.4 Exit .................................................. 8 7.3.5 Save As VOC ........................................... 8 7.3.6 Save As Raw ........................................... 8 7.4 Sound ...................................................... 9 7.5 Scope ...................................................... 9 7.5.1 Full Mode ............................................. 9 7.5.2 Half Mode ............................................. 9 7.5.3 Quarter Mode .......................................... 9 7.5.4 Toggle On/Off ......................................... 9 7.5.5 1:1 X Scale ........................................... 9 7.5.6 2:1 X Scale ........................................... 10 7.5.7 3:1 X Scale ........................................... 10 7.6 Block ...................................................... 10 7.6.1 Volume ................................................ 10 7.6.2 Reverse ............................................... 10 7.6.3 Amigafy ............................................... 10 7.6.4 Write ................................................. 11 7.6.5 Max Volume ............................................ 11 7.6.6 Echo Effect ........................................... 11 7.6.7 Sample Rate (data) .................................... 11 7.6.8 Fade Out .............................................. 12 7.6.9 Delete ................................................ 12 7.6.10 Blank ................................................ 12 7.6.11 Insert ............................................... 13 7.6.12 Record ............................................... 13 7.6.13 Mix File ............................................. 13 7.6.14 Ins File ............................................. 13 7.7 Zoom ....................................................... 13 February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page ii 7.8 Unzoom ..................................................... 13 7.9 Options .................................................... 13 7.9.1 Scope Size ............................................ 13 7.9.2 Graph Size ............................................ 14 7.9.3 Background ............................................ 14 7.9.4 Play Bar .............................................. 14 7.10 About ..................................................... 14 7.11 Start Index ............................................... 14 7.12 Sample Rate (playback) .................................... 14 7.13 End Index ................................................. 15 7.14 Repeat .................................................... 15 7.15 Other Editor Settings and Special Keys .................... 15 8 Other Included Software ......................................... 16 8.1 EMMPLAY.EXE ................................................ 16 8.2 FINDCARD.EXE ............................................... 17 8.3 SPACK and SUNPACK .......................................... 17 8.4 ULAW2SND.EXE ............................................... 18 9 Bugs and Recommendations ........................................ 18 10 Trouble Shooting ............................................... 19 11 Copyright and Warranty ......................................... 20 12 ScopeTrax History and Future ................................... 20 12.1 Origin .................................................... 20 12.2 Revisions ................................................. 20 12.3 Future .................................................... 21 February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page iii 1 Introduction ScopeTrax is another one of those programs that plays 8 bit sound files on an IBM PC/XT/AT, and compatible 86s, 286s, 386s, 486s .... Some features that set this program apart from the others include the following: * Plays sounds/samples directly through the PC's speaker without using extra hardware. * Supports Sound Blaster, JDAC and other parallel port DACs. * Plays Sound Blaster VOC files, Amiga IFF files, and RAW files (.snd). * Displays a realtime oscilloscope when PLAYING or RECORDING samples (286 or better recommended). * Samples can be played in background on fast computers. * Provides about 14 editing function, including MIX and ECHO. * Samples can be played back at virtually 1000 to 65000Hz. * Independent hardware rate and sample rate. * Low sample rates can be played through PC speaker with little or no noise (although slow 86s are still noisy, I think). * Graphically displays the sound and allows for HIGH DETAIL zoom. * Supports both mouse and keyboard (requires Microsoft mouse driver). * Corrects 'time loss' problems associated with sound players. * No features are disabled. * No recurring 'registration' messages. Notes: Please read Copyright and Warranty section. Any donations will be greatly appreciated. See History/Future sec- tion. :-) represents a happy face (on its side) 8^) 2 Minimum Requirements To play a sample, only a PC with a speaker is needed. To use the editor/scope: 1) 16 colour EGA (128K) or VGA. 2) Colour monitor (recommended). 3) A reasonable fast computer. 4) More than 90K of free memory (depends on size of sample). 3 Configuring ScopeTrax: Using SCTXCONF.EXE The program SCTXCONF.EXE configures some of the default parameters used in ScopeTrax. You should run this utility if your Sound Blaster I/O port is not at the factory setting. Upon executing this utility you will be asked to enter the following: Base Rate: Sets the default base rate. Refer to section 6. Requires a number. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 1 Background Mode: Determines whether samples will be played in background by default. A fast computer is recommended. Enter "On" or "Off". Play Bar: Determines if a play position indicator will be displayed during back- ground playback. With the play bar on, the detail of the scope is reduced slightly. Enter "On" or "Off". Scope: Determine if the scope will be on or off by default. Slow systems should set this to off. Enter "On" or "Off". Memory to Allocate: Sets the maximum amount of memory (in kilobytes) that ScopeTrax should use. By default, it allocates all free memory. If for some reason you don't want it to allocate all memory, you can use this to limit memory usage. Note: all allocated memory is freed after exiting from ScopeTrax. If you want it to allocate all free memory again, enter the largest number (i.e. 1024). Requires a number. Graph Colour: Specifies the colour of the sound graph in the editor. Requires a number. Sound Blaster Port: Specifies what port your Sound Blaster uses. Entering 5, for example, sets your port to 250H. Requires a number. Output Device: Sets the default output device. See section 5. Requires a number. Maximum Record Rate: This allows you to record at a rate higher than 12500Hz if you own a Sound Blaster Pro. I recommend that you use SBlaster DMA if you record at a higher rate. This software has not been tested on a Sound Blaster Pro, so it may not work. Requires a number. If you just press enter, without typing in a value, the default value is used. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 2 The range of valid values is given in brackets '[' and ']'. Default values are shown in parenthesis '(' and ')'. You are asked whether or not you want to save the configuration at the end. SCTXCONF expects that the SCOPTRAX.EXE file is in the current directory. Changes are written directly into SCOPTRAX.EXE. 4 Starting ScopeTrax The command line syntax for ScopeTrax is: scoptrax <filename> <options> <filename> is the name of the sample to be played/loaded. <options> are as follows (you can use '-' instead of '/'): /r<sample rate> Sets the playback sample rate <sample rate> = 1000 to 65535 /b<rate> Sets the hardware or base rate (explained later, important!) <rate> = 5000 to 24000 /d<device> Sets output device <device> = 0 PC Speaker A 1 PC Speaker B 2 Sound Blaster Direct. 3 LPT1 4 LPT2 5 Sound Blaster DMA /p Plays the sample and exits. This option should be given on systems without EGA/VGA. You must spec- ify a filename. /? Shows a help screen. Example: scoptrax hello.snd /b11000 -r11000 /d2 /p Plays the sound file 'hello.snd' at a sample rate of 11000Hz through the Sound Blaster, then returns to DOS. The <filename> and <options> parameters do not have to be present, the command scoptrax will invoke the editor using default values. The editor screen is divided into 3 sections. Menu options are located in the top block (cyan). The sound graph is located in the left block (green). The oscilloscope is in the right block (white). The editor is explained in section 7 5 Input/Output Devices ScopeTrax supports several output devices. For now, the only input device is the Sound Blaster. All sampling is performed directly by polling February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 3 the card UNLESS the Sound Blaster DMA option is on. On slow computers, using the DMA option or toggling off the scope is the only way to sample at the full 12500Hz. The DMA option also disables the scope during recording. Using DMA mode for recording is recommended. Direct polling is useful when you want to set volumes for recording. You could set a low recording rate of between 5000 - 8000Hz, then watch the scope to determine if your sample is loud enough. One thing I've noticed about the Sound Blaster is that if you don't initialize the DSP after turning on your computer, you can achieve record- ing rates as high as 16000Hz (ScopeTrax does initialize the DSP, so 12500Hz is max). If there are other sound devices you would like supported by ScopeTrax, send me detailed programming instructions (assembly or C source code would be good :-) note: testing will be a problem). Does anyone have a general schematic for a parallel port input sampler ? I don't suppose Adlib Gold could send me some free info ? 5.1 PC SPEAKER A This option produces sound through the internal PC speaker. It elimin- ates noise/distortion on fast machines. (Sound is usually quiet) 5.2 PC SPEAKER B This option also produces sound through the internal PC speaker. It is slightly faster and may deliver better sound on slow computers. (Sound is usually quiet) 5.3 Sound Blaster Direct This option uses the Sound Blaster card for sound output. 5.4 LPT1 or LPT2 If you have a 'home made' device or a JDAC on the parallel port, this option sends the output to the port. 5.5 Sound Blaster DMA This option gives the best quality sound possible through the Sound Blaster card. It does NOT use the scope, nor does it use the Base Rate. It sends(receives) data to(from) the card using DMA transfers. This option does not run in background. Sample rates lower than 4000 and greater than 22000(12500) are not possible. 6 Hardware Rate or Base Rate The base rate is a unique feature of ScopeTrax. Many sample player pro- grams playback sounds by setting the hardware interrupt rate equal to the sample rate. This can cause a couple of problems: February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 4 1) If the sample rate is less than 16000Hz, playback through a PC speaker produces an annoying high pitched tone (i.e. if the sample rate is 11000Hz, a tone of about 11000Hz is also produced.) 2) If the sample rate is high (greater than 20000Hz depending on the computer), the hardware may not be fast enough to play at this rate. This causes the computer to crash. In ScopeTrax, the base rate is the actual hardware interrupt rate and is independent of the sample rate. This means that ScopeTrax can play at virtual sample rates of up to 65535Hz. 6.1 Configuring Base Rates ! ScopeTrax does NOT automatically set the base rate for your computer. The base rate can be set in the following four ways: 1) Use the /b option on the command line. 2) Use the SCTXCONF configuration utility. If in the editor: 3) Press the '[' or ']' keys. The base rate is located at the right side of the screen under the word 'Base'. For fine tuning, press the '+' or '-' keys to change the Increment. 4) Click the mouse on the [ and ] under the word 'Base'. Fine tune by clicking on + or - to change the Increment. IF YOUR SAMPLE RATE IS SET CORRECTLY AND THE SAMPLE PLAYS SLOWER THAN IT SHOULD, YOU MUST DECREASE THE BASE RATE. The base rate can be con- sidered the work load of the CPU. The higher the number, the greater the work. If the base rate coincides with the amount of work the CPU is capable of doing, keyboard control will be lost. Decrease the base rate. The table below shows some average values when using PC speaker A as the output device (EMM = Expanded Memory Manager): CPU Base Rate Scope Quality 8086(4.77Mhz) 10000 Off Poor 8086(8Mhz) 17000 Off Good 8086(8Mhz) 8000 On Poor 80286(12Mhz) 17000 On/Off Good 80386(20Mhz) 22000 On/Off Good 80386(20MHz) EMM 16000 On Fair to Good Slow computers should toggle off the scope. The following lists suggestions for good quality playbacks. PC SPEAKER (A/B): In order to produce the best sound on the PC speaker, the sample rate should be between 16000Hz - 24000Hz. Values lower than 16000Hz will produce the tone mentioned above. For slow computers, keep the base rate as low as possible. You may (will) have to toggle off the scope in order to keep the base rate above 16000Hz. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 5 Sound Blaster Direct or LPT1/LPT2: For best results set the base rate = sample rate or some integer multiple. If you want to play a sample at 22000Hz, but your highest working base rate is only 17000Hz, you should set the base rate to 11000Hz. (i.e. 110000 x 2 = 22000) If you want to play a sample at 5500Hz, you could set the base rate to 5500Hz, 11000Hz, 16500Hz. NOTE: The Sound Blaster usually requires a much lower base rate than the other output devices since more work has to be done to send data to the card. (Usually subtract 3000 - 6000Hz) Sound Blaster DMA Does not use the concept of base rate. This means that sample rates are restricted to the speed of the card (4000 - 22000). 6.2 Base Rate and Expanded Memory Managers Memory managers can drastically affect the base rate for Scoptrax. Expanded memory managers run 386/486 computers in slower mode (the POP ES instruction is 3 times slower). In some cases, working base rates drop 2000 to 8000Hz(if scope is active). It is possible that a memory managed 386 will be unable to have the base rate above 16000Hz and the scope on at the same time. Memory managers can also affect DMA transfers to the Sound Blaster. 7 Using the Editor The editor screen is divided into 3 sections. Menu options are located in the top block (cyan). The sound graph is located in the left block (green). The oscilloscope is in the right block (white). 7.1 In General The ScopeTrax editor is block orientated. All functions act only on the portion of the sample located between the two dashed vertical lines. This is explained in the Block section. The editor menu looks like this: File Sound Scope Block Zoom Unzoom Options About Start Index Sample Rate End Index Repeat Almost all features of ScopeTrax have at least 3 ways of being changed or selected (I don't know if it was harder to program or harder to document). When using the mouse, use the left button. There are several ways to select a menu item: February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 6 1) Press the highlighted character. 2) Use <Tab> and <Shift Tab> to move the rectangle from item to item and press <Enter> when on the desired item. (The up/down arrow keys also work, but they are confusing) 3) Click the mouse over the menu item. The items File, Sound, Scope, Block, Options, and About present sub- menus when selected. Sub-menus are handled in the same way. To get out of a sub-menu, do one of the following: 1) Press the <Home> key. 2) Press the <Esc> key. (Stops playing sample too) 3) Click the right mouse button. 4) Select one of the sub-menu items. The <Esc> key gets you out of everything (except ScopeTrax itself, use File then Exit to go back to DOS). Features in sub-menus which are currently active have a dot (or block) in front of them. Three ways to play a sample: 1) Press the space bar. 2) Click the mouse over the word <SPACE>. 3) Click the mouse anywhere along the top of the screen. Only the block between the two dashed vertical lines is played. Ways to stop playing a sample: 1) Press the <Esc> key. 2) Press the <Space> key, if in background mode and repeat is off. 3) Press any key other than <Space>, if not in background mode. 4) Click on mouse, if in DMA mode. 5) Scratch your big left toe, if it is Saturday and you are facing Jupiter and your cat happens to apply 1.3 Newtons of force on the <Esc> key. Samples can't play while selecting a file or entering text. Play auto- matically stops when the sample is about to be modified. 7.2 Increment The value below the word 'Increment' determines how much the Start Index, Sample Rate, End Index, and Base will change. You can change the increment by: 1) Pressing '+' or '-'. 2) Clicking the mouse over + or -. If, for example, the increment is set to 00100, values will change by plus or minus 100. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 7 7.3 File This feature presents the following sub-menu: Select File Save As VOC Open Path/File Save As Raw Sample Rate Exit Only one file may be edited at a time. (Can't expect too much from a 1.0 version :-) ). 7.3.1 Select File Lists all the files in the current directory. Directory names have a dot in front of them. Once you have picked a file, ScopeTrax scans the file to determine what type it is (VOC/IFF/RAW). The file is loaded and the sample rate is set to the value found in the file. If no sample rate was found, a sub-menu containing common sample rates is automatically displayed. 7.3.2 Open Path/File If the text that you enter is a file, the file is loaded as in 7.3.1. The current drive and directory is unchanged. If the text is a drive, a directory, or both, the current drive and/or directory is changed and a list of all files is presented as in 7.3.1. 7.3.3 Sample Rate (playback) Displays a sub-menu containing common sample rates. This affects only the playback sample rate value shown under the words 'Sample Rate'. The playback sample rate can be set with a command line option. 7.3.4 Exit Exits ScopeTrax. 7.3.5 Save As VOC Prompts you for a file name. Saves the entire sample in VOC format. You should specify the ".VOC" extension. NOTE: Markers, packed silence, and other VOC block types are not saved. Only the voice data block is saved. 7.3.6 Save As Raw Prompts you for a file name. Saves the entire sample in raw, 8 bit unsigned format with no header information. If you want to save the file in SIGNED format, Amigafy the sample before saving. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 8 7.4 Sound Presents the sub-menu: PC Speaker A DAC at LPT1 PC Speaker B DAC at LPT2 SBlaster Direct SBlaster DMA This allows you to set the output device. The devices are explained in section 5. Note that SBlaster DMA behaves differently. If the device you select is not present, the device will default to PC Speaker A and a beep will sound. Recording of a sample is done through the Sound Blaster in Direct mode unless SBlaster DMA is selected. 7.5 Scope Presents the sub-menu: Full Mode 1:1 X Scale Half Mode 2:1 X Scale Quarter Mode 3:1 X Scale Toggle On/Off 7.5.1 Full Mode Sets the scope to its maximum vertical size. It shows the true magnitude of the samples. 7.5.2 Half Mode This is the default scope size. The vertical axis is scaled down 2 times. 7.5.3 Quarter Mode This is the smallest vertical size of the scope, scaled down 4 times. 7.5.4 Toggle On/Off Turns the scope on or off. 'On' status is indicated by a leading dot. (Also indicated by the presence of a rather large rectangle on the right side of the screen :->) 7.5.5 1:1 X Scale This give maximum detail on the scope. Any samples sent to the device will be displayed on the scope. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 9 7.5.6 2:1 X Scale Every second sample sent to the device will be sent to the scope. This option could be used when a computer is not fast enough to send all samples to the scope. It shows more of the wave form in the scope window. Also useful when playing at low sample rates. 7.5.7 3:1 X Scale As above, except every third sample is scoped. 7.6 Block This menu item contains all of the functions which PHYSICALLY MODIFY the sample in memory. The block is defined as the piece of the sample located between the dashed vertical lines. Only this block is altered. Refer to sections 7.11 and 7.13 for an explanation of how to move the lines. The following sub-menu is displayed: Volume Max Volume Delete Mix File Reverse Echo Effect Blank Ins File Amigafy Sample Rate Insert Write Fade Out Record 7.6.1 Volume Allows you to change the volume of the block. You can enter numbers between 1 and 999 (to get 0 , just use Blank). If you enter 200, the amplitude of the sample doubles. If you enter 50, the amplitude is halved. 7.6.2 Reverse Reverses the block. This is good if you want to play records back- wards and listen for subliminal messages :-) Try recording the words: "Walk nope nope jerk scarish books" and then reversing it. It should say "ScopeTrax Version 1.0." And "Byte Magazine" roughly translates to "Knees again ski up." 7.6.3 Amigafy Converts data in the block from signed to unsigned or vice versa. Samples for Amiga computers are usually in signed format. ScopeTrax requires unsigned data. This is useful for extracting instrument samples from MOD file. To do this: 1) Load the MOD file using File. 2) Amigafy. 3) Play the sample. You should hear garbage first, then instru- ments. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 10 7.6.4 Write Prompts you for a file name, then saves the block to the disk in Raw format under that name. There is no VOC or IFF information in the output file. You will have to run VOC-HDR to make it Sound Blaster VPLAY compatible. By using Write in conjunction with Delete and Ins File, the editing function of cut, copy, and paste can be imitated. WARNING: No header information is saved. To prevent hair loss, your output file should not overwrite the original file if they were VOC or IFF files. A prompt is displayed if the file name you specified already exists. 7.6.5 Max Volume Scans the block and determines the maximum volume that can be set without loss of quality. The block data is updated to this volume, if necessary. 7.6.6 Echo Effect Echos the sample within the block. The first parameter is the delay of the echo. Values between 200 and 2000 create a 'stadium' echo, while values above 5000 give a 'mountain' echo. The second parameter is the volume of the echo. Values of between 50 and 80 are generally good. By using Echo Effect several times, a 'tunnel' echo can be made. Try starting with a delay of 10000 then 5000, 2500, .... The part of the echo which extends outside the block will be mixed with the outside data. If you don't want the echo to mix with surrounding data, Insert a space at the end of the block the size of the delay before using Echo. 7.6.7 Sample Rate (data) Physically changes the sample rate of the data within the block. There are three Sample Rate items in ScopeTrax. The Sample Rate which is just above the graph and the Sample Rate in the File sub- menu only change the playback rate. They are exactly the same thing and they do not change the data. The Sample Rate in the Block sub-menu DOES change the data based on the current playback Sample Rate. Note: Make sure you have the playback sample rate set cor- rectly BEFORE using this feature. Example 1: Mixing 2 samples with different sample rates: You want to mix 2 samples, X and Y. X was created using a sample rate of 11000Hz. Y was created using a sample of 22000Hz. In order to mix them properly, both samples must have equal sample rates. Solution 1.1: Quality Mix: 1) Load sample X. 2) Set the playback sample rate to 11000Hz (Refer to section 7.3.3 or 7.12). 3) Go into the Block sub-menu and select Sample Rate. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 11 4) Enter a new sample rate of 22000Hz. X is now twice its original size. 5) Mix sample Y. Both samples will now have a sample rate of 22000Hz. Solution 1.2: Small Mix: 1) Load sample Y. 2) Set the playback sample rate to 22000Hz. 3) Go into the Block sub-menu and select Sample Rate. 4) Enter a new sample rate of 11000Hz. Y is now half its original size. 5) Mix sample X. Both samples will now have a sample rate of 11000Hz. The resulting size is half that of Solution 1. The quality is also less (although not by half). Example 2: Conserving Precious Disk Space You have large sample of size 320000 bytes that has a sample rate of 40000Hz. You want to reduce it to 200000 bytes. Solution 2. 1) Load sample. 2) Set the playback sample rate to 40000Hz. 3) Go into the Block sub-menu and select Sample Rate. 4) Calculate new sample rate: new rate = <sample rate> * ( <new size> / <old size> ) = 40000Hz * ( 200000 / 320000 ) = 25000Hz 5) Enter the new sample rate 25000Hz. 6) Refer to section 7.6.4. The sample is now 200000 bytes. Note that its sample rate changes to 25000Hz. If you want to save even more space, use SPACK and SUNPACK. They use pseudo-adaptive delta compression/decompression. 7.6.8 Fade Out Gradually decreases the volume of the block. The parameter you enter determines how much the volume decreases. If you enter 50, the volume at the end of the block will be half (50%) of what it was originally. Note: If you want to fade IN, Reverse the block first, use Fade Out, and Reverse the block again. 7.6.9 Delete Deletes all the data in the block. 7.6.10 Blank Erases the data in the block. All the data is set to 0 volume. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 12 7.6.11 Insert Inserts a blank space in the data. The parameter is the number of bytes you want to insert. The blank space in inserted at the Start Index. 7.6.12 Record Records a sample from the Sound Blaster. If the Sound Blaster is not present, ScopeTrax will beep. It's recommended that you set the device to SBlaster DMA when trying to record a quality sample or if your computer is slow. The Scope is not active with SBlaster DMA. 7.6.13 Mix File Superimposes a sound file on the current sample starting at the Start Index. You have to type in the filename (maybe the next release will present a list of files like Select File does). 7.6.14 Ins File Inserts a file into the current sample starting at the Start Index. You are prompted to enter the filename. 7.7 Zoom Zooms in on the current block (the area between the vertical dashed lines). You can zoom closer by moving the dashed lines closer together, and using Zoom again. If you keep on zooming, you will eventually be able to distinguish individual samples in the shape of a series steps. Maximum zoom occurs when a single sample (one byte) occupies the entire length of the graph window. 7.8 Unzoom Zooms out so that the full sound file is visible. 7.9 Options Presents the sub-menu: Scope Size Graph Size Background Play Bar 7.9.1 Scope Size Toggles the size of the scope window. Makes it half/double it cur- rent horizontal size. Also increases/decreases the horizontal graph window size. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 13 7.9.2 Graph Size Toggles the size of the graph window. Makes if half/double its current vertical size. 7.9.3 Background Toggles background playing of samples. A leading dot indicates the background mode is active (Device SBlaster DMA always runs in fore- ground mode). While in background mode, you can change the sample rate and adjust the scope. 7.9.4 Play Bar Toggles on/off the vertical play bar indicator which moves across the graph when a sample is playing in background. Turning off the play bar indicator will improve the scope output. A leading dot means that the play bar in on. Note: The play bar indicator is displayed only when background mode is active. 7.10 About Prints a copyright message. 7.11 Start Index Determines the start of the block and the point where playback will start. The Start Index is shown on the graph as a dashed vertical line. The current byte offset is shown under the words "Start Index". The Start Index is changed in many ways: 1) Move the rectangle to the words "Start Index" and use the left arrow key to decrease or the right arrow key to increase the value. 2) Press the '*' or '/' key. This Scopes part of the sample. 3) Press <Backspace>. This moves Start Index to 0 and Unzooms. 4) Click the mouse over the left and right arrows located under the words "Start Index". 5) If the rectangle is on the words "Start Index", you can click the mouse on the graph. Using '*' and '/' are very useful when trying to isolate flaws (pops) in a sample. Remember that Increment determines how much the Start Index will change. The Start Index can't be greater than the End Index. 7.12 Sample Rate (playback) Determines playback sample rate. It allows you to fine tune the sample rate. This value is changed in various ways: 1) Move the rectangle to the words "Sample Rate" and use the left arrow key to decrease or the right arrow key to increase the value. 2) Use one of the function keys from F1 to F4 F1 = 5500 F2 = 7333 F3 = 11000 F4 = 22000 February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 14 3) Click the mouse over the left and right arrows located under the words "Sample Rate". 4) Refer to section 7.3.3 Sample Rate ranges from 1000 to 65535. SBlaster DMA uses only 4000 to 22000. 7.13 End Index Determines the end of a block and the point where playback ends. The End Index is shown on the graph as a dashed vertical line. The current byte offset is shown under the words "End Index". The End Index is changed in the following ways: 1) Move the rectangle to the words "End Index" and use the left arrow key to decrease or the right arrow key to increase the value. 2) Press <Backspace>. This moves End Index to then end and Unzooms. 3) Click the mouse over the left and right arrows located under the words "End Index". 4) If the rectangle is on the words "End Index", you can click the mouse on the graph. Remember that Increment determines how much the End Index will change. The End Index can't be less than the Start Index. 7.14 Repeat When repeat is on, the sample is played over and over. Repeat is toggled by one of the following: 1) Positioning the rectangle on the word "Repeat" and pressing <Enter>. 2) Pressing "R" when there are no sub-menus. 3) Clicking the mouse over the word "Repeat". Repeat is turned off by the <Esc> key or by re-selection. Repeat does not work for device SBlaster DMA. 7.15 Other Editor Settings and Special Keys Setting the Base is explained in section 6.1. Increment setting is in section 7.2. Special Keys: <Backspace> Set Start Index to 0, End Index to end of sample and Unzooms. F1, F2, F3, F4 Sets playback sample rate to 5500, 7333, 11000, 22000 respectively. '*' Increases Start Index and scopes the surrounding sample. '/' Decreases Start Index and scopes the surrounding sample. <Tab> Moves from one menu item to another. <Shift Tab> <Up arrow> <Down Arrow> February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 15 <Space> Starts (stops) playback of a sample. <Esc> Stops playback of a sample. Turns off Repeat. Exits a sub-menu. <Enter> Selects a menu item. <Home> Exits a sub-menu. '[' and ']' Changes Base Rate. '+' and '-' Changes Increment. 8 Other Included Software 8.1 EMMPLAY.EXE Included with ScopeTrax is EMMPLAY.EXE. This sample player loads and plays samples in expanded memory. The sample can be as large as the amount of free expanded memory on your system. EMMPLAY.EXE does not automatically detect VOC or IFF files. The /A option will convert IFF files. The command: emmplay /? produces the following output: Expanded Memory Sample Player Version 1.0 Copyright (c) 1992 Chris S. Craig Usage: EMMPLAY <filename> [<options>] Options: /R<samplerate> Sets sample rate, <samplerate> = 1000 to 65535 /B<baserate> Sets base rate, <baserate> = 5000 to 24000 /P<port> Sets Sound Blaster 2x0H I/O port, <port> = 1 to 6 /? Shows this help message /A Amigafy, change data to unsigned /D<device> Sets device, <device> = 0 to 4 0 = PC Speaker mode A 1 = PC Speaker mode B 2 = Sound Blaster, direct 3 = LPT1, printer port 1 4 = LPT2, printer port 2 Refer to documentation for more help. Note that EMMPLAY.EXE does not support the Sound Blaster DMA mode. In order for this program to work properly, you need a 386, 486, or a fast expanded memory card. Software which simulates expanded memory by copy- ing data to and from disk or other memory will NOT work. Software such February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 16 as QEMM, 386MAX, or EMM386 will work. Fast page swapping (or memory remapping) is important when playing through the PC speaker where 'pops' occur during swaps. If your Sound Blaster I/O port is not the factory setting, you must specify the port with the /P option. 8.2 FINDCARD.EXE FINDCARD.EXE attempts to find the Sound Blaster Card. It scans all the I/O ports from 210H to 260H. The program displays the I/O address of the card and other information about the card. If your card is not at the factory address of 220H, you must configure ScopeTrax to use the correct address. Please refer to section 3. Note: Do not use FINDCARD if you have other devices/cards with I/O ports set between 210H and 260H. 8.3 SPACK and SUNPACK SPACK and SUNPACK are utilities for compressing/decompressing sound files. They use a pseudo adaptive delta compression scheme. The com- mand line syntax is: spack <input file> <packed file> <bits for compression> and sunpack <packed file> [<output file>] SPACK takes the input file, compresses it, and creates the packed file. The <bits for compression> parameter determines the number of bits to use when compressing. This value can be any integer from 1 to 7. Using 1 gives 8:1 compression, but with the poorest quality. Using 7 gives 8:7 compression with almost perfect quality. You should experiment with various values before deleting any of your original files. Remember to unpack files before you play them. The input file MUST be in raw, 8 bit, unsigned format. Any header information will be lost in the compression. WARNING! DO NOT USE SPACK TO COMPRESS ORDINARY FILES. SPACK USES A *LOSSY* COMPRESSION ALGORITHM AND MUST ONLY BE USED ON RAW SOUND FILES. Examples: spack hello.snd d:\sound\ 4 Compresses the sound file "hello.snd" using an 8:4 compression (50%) and creates the packed file "d:\sound\hello.sip". Note that the ".sip" extension is automatically added to the packed filename unless an exten- sion is given. Directory names must end with a '\'. spack good-bye.s3 .\ 6 Gives 8:6 compression on "good-bye.s3", creates the packed file "good- bye.sip" in the current directory. spack c:\sounds\wow.raw d:packwow.pad 3 February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 17 Gives 8:3 compression on "c:\sounds\wow.raw", creates "d:packwow.pad". SUNPACK takes the packed file, decompresses it, and creates the output file. If no output filename is given, SUNPACK uses the file's original name (i.e. it uses the name on the file before it was packed). Example: sunpack d:\sound\hello Decompresses the packed file "d:\sound\hello.sip" and creates the file "hello.snd". 8.4 ULAW2SND.EXE ULAW2SND.EXE converts files from uLAW encoded format to unsigned 8-bit format for ScopeTrax. Works on '.au' files (Sun and NeXt systems). Syntax: ulaw2snd <input file> <output file> 9 Bugs and Recommendations Bugs (Scopetrax): If you press and hold the <Space> key and then press <Pause>, the system may crash (you will have to reset). This appears to be a BIOS problem. Please tell me about any other bugs. Be sure you have read all of the documentation first. One problem that bugged me was the following DOS message for systems with only one diskette drive installed: Insert diskette for drive B: and strike any key when ready It occurs whenever you try to access drive B: when there is no B: drive installed. After you 'strike any key', drive B: 'replaces' drive A:. If you then want to go back to drive A: you get a similar message. There appears to be no standard (or documented) way to avoid this message. I can't understand why there isn't a DOS function that provides basic information about disk drives. After all, DOS stands for DISK! Oper- ating System (although 'disk' is used in a different context). A useful function would take a letter ('A' to 'Z') and return general information about that drive (such as: networked, logical, physical, floppy, redirected floppy !, invalid, created by SUBST, etc.). There are some DOS function which give you information about drives, but they always seem to physically check the drive first. This only succeeds in producing the notorious "Abort, Retry, Fail" error on diskette drives. A LOT of software suffers from this problem (even major applications). Just try running various program on a single diskette system and see what happens when you save or load a file on drive B: (or drive A: if B: is February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 18 currently active) within the program. (Many Microsoft applications don't have this problem. I wonder why ? :-) ) If it helps anyone, the byte at address 0000:0504 has some signifi- cance (no thanks to DOS documentation). NOTE: If you use the DRIVER.SYS device, the message may still sloppily overwrite the screen. Even the editor for MS-DOS 5.0 (i.e. EDIT) has this difficulty. Another complication with DOS is device file names. By entering the file name "CON" you can crash most programs, including Windows 3.0. Recommendations: 1) Don't invoke ScopeTrax under Windows or other 'multitasking' soft- ware. 2) Remove TSRs that use modems in background (downloads in background). 3) Don't have PRINT running in background while using ScopeTrax. 4) Run on a 286 or better. 5) Use a device other than the PC speaker, if possible. 6) Don't play with bugs. 7) Please inform me of new features you would like added to ScopeTrax. 10 Trouble Shooting Problem Cause -------------------------- ---------------------------------------- Sound Quality is Poor System is slow. Base Rate is set too high or too low. Sample is not in UNSIGNED 8 bit format. System does not have a 'real' speaker. Using wrong PC speaker device A or B. System Locks or Crashes Base Rate is too high. System is slow. TSRs are running in background. Refer to section 9 Scope Does Nothing Device SBlaster DMA is active. System is slow and background mode is on. Block is small. Doesn't Play in Background Device is SBlaster DMA. System is slow. Can't Hear Anything Speaker not connected. Using PC speaker (usually quiet). Block is small. Banana in ear. February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 19 11 Copyright and Warranty The software and documentation include the following: SCOPTRAX.EXE README.DOC ULAW2SND.EXE SCOPTRAX.DOC SPACK.EXE SCTXCONF.EXE SUNPACK.EXE EMMPLAY.EXE FINDCARD.EXE The software and documentation are copyrighted by the author. You may use, copy, and distribute the software and documentation. All copies MUST contain all the software and all the documentation. You are prohibited from: charging or requesting donations for copies; distributing the software and/or documentation in commercial products; modifying the software and/or documentation. No for-profit organization is permitted to charge any fee for distribution. The software is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. The author shall not be liable for damages of any kind. Use of this free software indicates you agree to this. The software and documentation are copyright (c) 1992 by: Chris S. Craig P.O. box 9051 St. John's, NF CANADA A1A 2X3 My internet e-mail address is chris3@irma.cs.mun.ca All trademarks/registered names acknowledged. 12 ScopeTrax History and Future 12.1 Origin ScopeTrax was born July 1991 as a test program for the realtime oscillo- scope and my new 'virtual sample rate' sound engine. The test program slowly evolved from a sample player to a sample editor. 12.2 Revisions Initial Revision, Version 1.0 Contains 14 editing functions. Devices supported: PC Speaker, Sound Blaster, DACs on LPT1 or LPT2. Sample formats supported: VOC, IFF, Raw, 8 Bit Unsigned. Contributors for Version 1.0 ------------------------------------------ D.C. Newfoundland, Canada February 1992 ScopeTrax Version 1.0 Page 20 12.3 Future I have about 10 to 20 new features I'd like to add to ScopeTrax. Included in these features are: (? = maybe) * An improved menuing system. * More Digital Signal Processing and editing functions. ? A realtime bar spectrum analyser. ? An 'instant' spectrum analyser graph. * Better support for saving different formats. ? Built-in expanded memory support. ? A BASIC type PLAY emulator that plays instruments instead of beeps. I am currently attending university, so most of the work has been done on my spare time. This package has taken hundreds of hours to develop (the documentation alone took over a week). It is composed of about 4600 lines of C code and 2500 lines of assembler code. I was tempted to make it shareware (should I ?). If you would like to support ScopeTrax, here are some ways you can help me to develop future versions: a) Send donations to the address in section 11 (check or money order, Canadian currency). For a generous offer of $25, you will become a listed contributor for the next version. b) Send some free information about the following: Encoding/decoding of other formats of samples. New I/O device programming data. Good methods for compressing sound files. New ideas for features. A fool proof and accepted way to determine which disk drives exist ! See Bugs section. Compared to the cost of similar commercial packages (50$ to 100$ or more), this package is a real bargain. You even have a voice as to the direction the software should head. Without your support, ScopeTrax will perish and a potentially powerful piece of software will be lost to the world of PCs. "I look forward to the day when people can help each other, instead of just helping themselves." Thanks for using ScopeTrax ! 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