SOUND BLASTER DIGEST

                              SOUND BLASTER DIGEST
                                       
                                    Number 1
                             December 1990 Edition.
                                       
                   A newsletter for Sound Blaster Enthusiasts.
                                       
                                       
                              Editor:  Brad Barclay
                                       
                        Assistant Editor:  Adam Thompson.























                                Table of Contents:
                                =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                     Article Name:                      Page:
                     ------------                       ----

                     From The Editor ..................  1
                     Reviews:  Commercial .............  2
                               Shareware  .............  3
                     Hints/Tips .......................  4
                     Help!  What's Going On! ..........  5
                     Extensions, Extensions ...........  6
                     Sound Blaster: Yesterday and Today  7
                     Advertisement ....................  8
                     Wrapping it up ...................  9
                     Included File ....................  10
                     Next Issue .......................  10



  FROM THE EDITOR:
  ===============

  Welcome to SOUND BLASTER DIGEST, a newsletter for those Sound Blaster
owners out there who wish to keep up-to-date in the world of Sound Blaster,
with critical reviews, information, hints and tips for better use of your
hardware.

  Now, I must admit to you, this idea isn't fresh.  There is another out
there who attempts to write what they called a 'newsletter' about the Sound
Blaster, but firstly this person won't leave their real name, they claim to
be an 'expert', and whomever they are, they have given both wrong
information, and some bad biased reviews of software out there.

  Being such that I disagree with the author on most of what they say, and
their very un-professional method of producing the newsletter, I have
decided to do something about it.  The result is the SOUND BLASTER DIGEST.

  This newsletter is in no ways all written by myself.  In fact, much of the
information gathered and shown in here was received from many users of the
Sound Blaster, living in North America.  This newsletter is for the users,
and by the users.

  Most of the articles in this first edition were written by myself, and I
attempt to give credit where credit is due to others who have provided some
insight or information into new hardware/software, or news of interest.
Hopefully in the future, when things get rolling, others will feel that they
too wish to contribute to this.

  And so, with further interruption, here's the news and reviews!

                                                  Page 1.
  REVIEWS:
  =======

  In this section, I am hoping to review new software out in both the
commercial and Shareware realms.  Being that this newsletter is fairly new,
some of the software has been out for a while, but I'm going to do my best
to keep you informed in the future.

  Commercial Software:
  -------------------

    Commercial software for the Sound Blaster isn't very easy to find,
besides the software that comes with the card.  Right now, practically all
of the commercial software that supports Sound Blaster are games.  So, in
this first edition, I am going to start the commercial review with Prince of
Persia, whose excellent graphics and Sound Blaster support make it one of
the best games I have ever played.

  In this game, you start off 12 levels away from your beloved Princess, who
has been imprisoned by the Grand Vizier Jaffar, who has placed an ultimatum
on her:  marry him within the hour, or she dies.

  Her only hope is you:  an outsider, who Jaffer has placed down in the
dungeons, weaponless, where there are nasty traps, and guards awaiting to
kill you.  You must climb the 12 levels, kill off Jaffar, and rescue the
princess WITHIN 1 HOUR!

  The game is excellently implemented, with beautiful graphics in all modes,
but especially so in VGA.  But it isn't the graphics that are of interest
here:  the sound support offered is no less then incredible.

  With both the 11 voice FM AND the digitized channel for the special sound
effects, you cannot help but be at awe that such a thing can be done on an
IBM or compatible machine.  The music is both beautiful and goes along with
your setting excellently.  The digitized sounds of swords clashing together,
spikes erupting from the floor, and even your footsteps make this game very
exciting indeed.  A demo version of the first two levels is available on
many good BBS systems; if you haven't play this game, I recommend that you
get it.

  PRINCE OF PERSIA
  Written by Jordan Mechner,
  Programmed by Lance Groody.
  Published by Broderbund Software.
  RATING: ****

  Note:  5 stars is the best, 0 is the worst.

                                                  Page 2.
  Shareware:
  ---------

  One of my complaints of The Sound Blaster News, the newsletter of which I
disagree with is their review of what I believe to be an excellent piece of
software, Blaster Master.  So, to set the record straight, here is another
opinion of this shareware piece:

  Blaster Master is a shareware program designed to allow you to get more
out of your digitized files.  With it you can record, playback, reverse,
edit, view sound graphs, along with many other useful features.  This piece
of software is in no way meant to be a total replacement for Creative Lab's
Voice Kit, but instead, a supplement to it.

  The author has taken a lot of time and care into writing this program, and
has added a lot of excellent features, such as mouse support, special
high-sampling recording for 386 and higher machines, excellent graphical
graphs of sound being input, or existing files, and numerous editing
features.

  But this piece of shareware is by no means for beginners.  Many of the
features are hard to figure out, such as the Digital Delay.  Very little
instructions are given on this part of the program, and good values to get
certain effects are unknown to all but the author, it would seem.

  Another set-back to this software is the crippling of the programs, which
the author has done to make people register.  All parts of the program that
are going to rewrite an existing voice file will only work with the first 10
seconds worth, making full-scale manipulation next to impossible without
registration.

  But the registration is well worth the money, which is only a mere $29.95
(U.S. funds).  But without registration, this program is nothing more then a
demo.

  BLASTER MASTER VER 2.6
  Written by Gary Maddox
  Available at a BBS near you.
  Registration:  $29.95
  RATING: Unregistered: **
            Registered: ****1/2

                                                  Page 3.
  HINTS/TIPS:
  ==========

  Hopefully, as more reviews and other articles come in, this section will
be a little later on in the newsletter.  But for this edition, being nothing
to put between the reviews and the hints, here it shall be.

  Ever try recording something from either a microphone, or perhaps from a
dubbing cable and tape player (or something else), and when you play it back
you get this background hiss?  This is probably due to Radio Frequency
noise emitted from your computer motherboard.  The wire from the microphone
or dubbing cable acts as a giant antenna for this, and picks it up.  The
Sound Blaster makes it into a 'hearable' sound, that can ruin what should be
a great .VOC file.  There are some solutions to this problem.

  The first one is by software.  Programs such as BLASTER MASTER (see above)
by Gary Maddox have filters and such to get rid of some of the noise in a
voice file after being recorded.

  But there is an easier way, where you don't have to record and then filter
the file.  It can be simply and cheaply done all at once.  All that you need
is an RF CHOKE, which you can buy at your local electronics store.  The RF
CHOKE is a small plastic-coated ring of metal.  What do I do with this, you
ask?  Simply wrap your microphone cord or dubbing cable around the ring
about 10-15 times before doing your recording.  The choke will help keep the
RF noise out of your wire, thus reducing noise.

  Simple, right?

                                                  Page 4.  
  HELP!  WHAT'S GOING WRONG!
  ==========================

  Special feature of SOUND BLASTER DIGEST.

  What do you do if, for some reason something goes wrong with your Sound
Blaster?  Obviously, calling up Creative Labs, or taking it back are
options, but there are other things you can do.  Here are some answers for
some common questions:

  Q:  What do I do if, after installing the card, nothing happens?

  A:  If nothing happens, chances are you will need to change the card's
      base IRQ.  See the Sound Blaster Manual for more information.

  Q:  My friend told me that he/she can play stereo sound on the Sound
      Blaster.  I bought one, but the manual says nothing about stereo!

  A:  The problem lies not with your Sound Blaster, but Creative Labs
      design strategy.  In an attempt to keep the price of the Sound Blaster
      down, Creative Labs has removed the 12 C/MS (Creative Music System)
      stereo voices.  You can order the chips for about $30 (U.S. funds)
      from Creative Labs to play the stereo, otherwise, your out of luck.

  Q:  I'm having problems playing .ROL files.  When I try to play them with
      a player that I have, it either does nothing or gives me the message
      'Sound Driver Not Installed'.  What's wrong?

  A:  To play .ROL files, you need to load either SOUND.COM or SB-SOUND.COM.
      These drivers are necessary to play .ROL files.

  Q:  I'm having the same problem as above when I attempt to play .CMF files
      with PLAYCMF, but Tsung Hu's MUCH MUSIC plays them fine.  What's wrong?

  A:  To use PLAYCMF, you need to load the driver SBFMDRV.COM.  MUCH MUSIC
      doesn't require the driver to be loaded, though.

                                                  Page 5.
  EXTENSIONS, EXTENSIONS...
  =========================

  Do all of those music file extensions on your local BBS confuse you?  Here's
a listing of the most popular music file types, with a short description and
what program you'll need to play them.  For some filetypes there are many
different players, so for shortness the standard player is named, along with
the best Shareware player, if one exists.

  .ROL -->  This is the Adlib standard filetype.  You will need to load the
            Adlib sound driver (see last article for more on this) to play
            them.  The standard player for this is the Adlib JUKEBOX,
            and there are many shareware/commercial players that also handle
            this filetype, such as PLAYROL.  A special Instrument Bank file
            is needed to play this filetype.

  .CMF -->  This is the Sound Blaster FM music filetype.  The music is the
            same as the Adlib .ROL filetype, but no Instrument Bank file is
            necessary.  Due to this factor, though, the .CMF file is generally
            larger then the .ROL type.  PLAYCMF is the standard player for
            the .CMF filetype, but MUCH MUSIC, available at your favorite
            BBS, is also excellent for playing this filetype.

  .VOC -->  This is the Voice filetype.  In here contains all the data to play
            a specific digitized sound or sounds.  Many different ones, ranging
            from a part of John Lennon's Imagine, to Mr. Spock are available.
            But due to their nature, all .VOC files are going to be fairly
            large when compared to .CMF's and .ROL's.  Creative Labs VOICE KIT
            which comes with all Sound Blasters is excellent for playing and
            recording .VOC files.  Gary Maddox's BLASTER MASTER, available
            through Shareware is also excellent for this type of file.
       
  .MOD -->  This filetype is for TrakBlaster.  It takes 4 voice Amiga files,
            and plays them through the Sound Blaster.  But due to their
            nature, these files cannot be played very well on any machine
            slower then 10 Mhz.  The only known player for the Sound Blaster
            is TRAK.EXE, a public domain program.

  .SND -->  This is a filetype used by many MIDI players/recorders.  There
            are numerous players for this filetype.  It has also been used for
            certain internal speaker files.

  .ORG -->  These files are for The Intelligent Organ, which comes with the
            Sound Blaster.  Take note that there are two different versions:
            a stereo version for the old Sound Blaster's, and a mono version
            for the new ones.  See the next article for more details on the
            differences between the two Sound Blasters.
            Both the Stereo and mono versions can play the same .ORG files.

  .CMS -->  This filetype is for playing Creative Music Stereo.  They are
            rare, and the player is hard to find.  Can't be played on a
            new Sound Blaster without the C/MS chips.
                                                  Page 6.
  SOUND BLASTER:  YESTERDAY AND TODAY.
  ===================================

  You may have heard about the differences between the 'new' Sound Blasters and
the 'old' Sound Blasters on your local BBS echo.  But what's the difference?
And how do I know which one I have?  Here are some answers to those questions.

  In an attempt to keep the price of the Sound Blaster down to make it more
competitive with the Adlib, Creative Labs decided to remove the Stereo C/MS
(Creative Music Systems) chips.  But this has had it's problems.
  Firstly, all new Sound Blasters can't play the C/MS stereo music available
in many games, and available in .CMS music files.  Secondly, now the Sound
Blaster has only 12 voices (only one more then the Adlib card).  These problems
are fairly self-evident, as you can see.
  Other problems arise from the fact that some of the old Sound Blaster
software is incompatible with the new software.  This isn't true for the other
way around, though.  The main violator of this is The Intelligent Organ,
although Creative Labs made up for this by making both .ORG filetypes the same.
  And lastly, Creative Labs objectives weren't met.  The Sound Blaster, new and
old, now both run for the exact same price, even though the old has more in it
then the new one.
  You can write to Creative labs and get the necessary chips to plug into the
Sound Blaster to play the stereo voices, but you must order the chips from
them, and they run for about $30 (US funds).

  How do you know which one you have?  There are multiple ways of discovering.
  Firstly, on the back of the box, the old one tells of 'Game Blaster C/MS
Compatibility', and the new one mentions nothing about this.  Secondly, in the
installation test program TEST-SBC, the music test on the old one is obviously
stereo...you can't help but notice (unless you're totally deaf).
  The Intelligent Organ is in stereo on the old one.  Also, when you're
installing the old one, you can't see any open chip-sockets, but they are
there on the new Sound Blaster.

  With these checks you can normally determine which Sound Blasters are new,
and which are old.  But if you really wish to make sure, check the serial
numbers.  After taking a poll of Sound Blaster owners I know, I have estimated
that up to serial number 050000 is the old version, and all higher then that
are the new version which needs the chips separately.

  There is a rumour going around at this time regarding these chips, and that
they are simply cheap music chips which you can buy at some stores that handle
various types of chips, for less then the Creative Labs chips.  This hasn't
been determined true by the author, so if anybody knows for sure, be sure to
let me know, and I'll get it into the next edition of THE SOUND BLASTER DIGEST.

                                                  Page 7.

                                 C A L L . . . .


                  TTTTTTTTTTT   MM      MM              CCCCCCCCC
                  TTTTTTTTTTT   MMMM  MMMM             CCC     CCC
                      TTT       MM MMMM MM            CCC       
                      TTT       MM  MM  MM            CCC
                      TTT       MM      MM             CCC     CCC 
                      TTT H E   MM      MM U S I C A L  CCCCCCCCC  H A I R

                            Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

      We handle all types of music files!  Thousands of .ROL and .VOC files
  available!  Also one of the largest .MOD libraries available!  .CMF and .CMS
    files also available!  Get the newest version of such fine programs like
        BLASTER MASTER, rated 4 and a half stars by SOUND BLASTER DIGEST!

                                 THE MUSICAL CHAIR.
                                 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

                               Sysop:  Jeff Woods. 
                             Numbers: (416) 438-3009
                                      (416) 438-1686

                   Call today!  Home of SOUND BLASTER DIGEST!

                                                  Page 8
  WRAPPING IT UP...
  =================

  Well, that's about it for this edition of THE SOUND BLASTER DIGEST.  I do
admit, I would like to put more in it in the future, but as this is the first
issue, it's hard to put everything in that you would like.

  This first edition was entirely written by myself, Brad Barclay.  I now way
do I consider myself an expert on the subject of the Sound Blaster, but I do
know more then the average person.  For this reason, I would appreciate any
and all helpful suggestions, any tricks anybody has found for the HINTS/TIPS
section, and anybody who wishes to write a full article, you're welcome to do
so!  I'll let you know how to get a hold of me for this down below.

  Also, any Shareware/Public domain authors who wish me to review their
software may send me a version of their program, and I'll be sure to rate it
for the next available issue.  This is a great way to advertise your product,
which would hopefully compel others to try it out!
  For the best possible rating, if your software is crippled in any way, you
may wish to send me a registered or non-crippled version of your software for
review.  This is by no means mandatory, but it does allow me to review the
software much easier.  Otherwise I must rate on what I see.
 
  Advertisers are also welcome!  If you have written a program, or run a BBS
with a strong Sound Blaster theme, let me know the Name of the system, the
phone number(s), the names of the Sysops, name of the program, name of the
author, what you would like the advertisement to say, etc.  As of right now,
only one advertisement is going to be published per edition, so if you want to
make sure your gets in, a small amount of money, sent to the name and address
below would make sure it makes it in.  This isn't necessary either, but if I
get more then one, first come, first serve.

 That's about it.  For correspondence to SOUND BLASTER DIGEST, leave E-Mail
to BRAD BARCLAY on the main conference of THE MUSICAL CHAIR, or through the
RelayNet Adlib Conference.  For other correspondence, call or write the address
below:

               SOUND BLASTER DIGEST
               c/o Brad Barclay
               36 Sutter Ave.
               Brampton, Ontario
               CANADA
               L6Z 1G7 (don't forget the postal code!)

               Telephone:  Voice (416) 846-5599.

  Later!

                                                  Page 9.

  INCLUDED FILE:
  =============

  Each issue, I hope to include some sort of music file.  It may be a simple
.ROL, or a large .VOC file.  It will always be original, and only available
from SOUND BLASTER DIGEST!

  This issue, a small and simple .CMF file called DrawBacks, inputted by Brad
Barclay.  A simple and pretty little piece, it was included because it was the
best original piece I had (I wouldn't feel right sending something you could
download off your local BBS)!



  NEXT ISSUE...
  =============

  More news and reviews for the new year!  New hints and tips!  More articles,
by more authors!  All around general more!  Watch for it on your favorite BBS!

                                                  Page 10.