SOUND BLASTER DIGEST May 1991
SOUND BLASTER DIGEST
Number 6
May 1991 Edition.
A newsletter for Sound Blaster Enthusiasts.
Edited and Published by Brad Barclay.
Made possible by the contributions of Sound Blaster users.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
=================
Title: Page:
===== ====
From the desk of the Editor..........1
Letters..............................2
Digital Sampling on the SB...........3
Software of the Month:
TrakBlaster ver 2.0........5
JMPlayer ver 1.1...........7
SBD in the BBS World.................6
Included File........................8
Wrapping it Up.......................8
SBD Advertisement Order form.........9
SBD BBS Registration form...........10
SBD Subscription form...............11
TMC Registration form...............12
The SOUND BLASTER DIGEST (SBD) is a free monthly publication.
Editor: Brad Barclay
Copyright (c) 1991 WAFFER! Productions.
Page 1
FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Welcome to the SOUND BLASTER DIGEST, issue #6! This is a big issue for me:
it means that the magazine has lasted for an entire half a year! And to start
off this memorable 0.5 year issue, I'd like to tell you a bit about how the SBD
came to be, and some of the strange things that have happened to me since I've
began writing it.
I began writing the SBD because there seemed to be no standard place where
Sound Blaster owners could get good and reliable information. Also, in many
areas in the world, there were perhaps only a handful of Sound Blaster users, and
so they had a hard time getting in touch with other users. Also at the time
someone else had made a vain attempt at writing a newsletter about the Sound
Blaster, but all that it did was to put down nearly everything about the Sound
Blaster, without giving much solid evidence to support such conclusions. I felt
that something had to be done...
And so the SBD was born last December. I had been a SOUND BLASTER user
since last February (when I bought mine for $359 CDN: for contrast a friend of
mine saw one at a computer show for $150 the other day) and had made some good
contacts, amongst them Gary Maddox, author of BLASTER MASTER, and I had amassed a
pretty good amount of software. I felt I was ready to begin my own magazine.
This magazine hasn't been my only computer publishing venture: in August
1989 I wrote a series of text files that contained a very detailed comparison
between the four most popular file compression utilities. This file made it's
way around the area, and I had planned to continue this publication once every 2
months, but never got around to making a #2. Also, a fantasy/comedy titled THE
QUEST OF SIM will be released by myself sometime in the near future (it's been
completed for ages, I just haven't released it yet. But it's received excellent
reviews from those who have read it).
Some odd things have happened since I began writing/editing/publishing the
SBD. Two of the strangest happened in the past week. The first was a call from
Texas from a reader who wished to send me a 1.44 Mb, 3.5" disk drive! I haven't
received the drive yet: I'll let you know about it next issue.
The second was that a good friend of mine's uncle had found a copy of the
SBD, and had decided that it was the greatest thing since the invention of the
80386. Then he was doubly excited to find that his nephew (who has helped me
produce a few of the articles this issue by testing some software that was beyond
the capabilities of my system) was one of my best friends...small world, isn't
it?
Hope you enjoy this month's issue!
Page 2
LETTERS...
=-=-=-=-=-=
Many thanks to those who wrote in this month:
Colin Crisanti of Arlington Heights, IL, USA
Ron Jones of Bellevue, WA, USA
Erik Leirdal of Reinsvoll, Norway
David J. Ludwig of Fullerton, CA, USA
Sean Neese of Marietta, GA, USA
Dan Sarber of Pheonix, AZ, USA
Star-Link Network BBS of New York, NY, USA
Stefan Thulin of Lagan, Sweden
UF BBS & SBC of The Hague, Netherlands.
There has been one small problem in this month's mail. Both of this month's
new subscribers made the enclosed cheque payable to THE SOUND BLASTER DIGEST.
Please make cheques payable to BRAD BARCLAY, else I won't be able to cash them in
(my account is under my own name). It's my fault I didn't make that very clear
last issue it seems: note that the subscription/advertisement forms have been
changed due to this.
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
³ You Are Invited To Call: STAR-LINK NETWORK BBS - (718) 972-6099 ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ Multi-Line Access (9 Access Lines - 15 Coming Soon) ³
³ 3/12/24/9600/14.4K Baud Support (V32/V42/MNP5/HST/HAYES) ³
³ 3.0 Gigabytes of On-line Storage (3000 Megabytes) ³
³ More then 80,000 Files for Your PC, AT, PS/1 & PS/2 to Download ³
³ On-Line CD-ROM w/Complete PC-SIG Program Library (1400 Disks Worth) ³
³ 129 Active Conferences Areas - Member of ILink International Echo ³
³ On-line Edition of USA TODAY Newspaper - CB Simulator - 24 Hour FAX ³
³ 60 On-line Doors - Running On FAST LAN - PC Pursuit - Subscriptions ³
ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
³ STAR-LINK NETWORK BBS has been featured in such publications as ³
³ Personal Computing, Computer Shopper, PC Computing and PC Magazine. ³
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ Dial (718) 972-6099 ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ
Page 3
DIGITAL SAMPLING ON THE SOUND BLASTER
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Written by Steven J. Lee
This article will focus on the digital sampling input of the Sound
Blaster card. This is from my experience with the SB card and
hopefully will save you from long hours of grief of wondering "why
doesn't this work or sound good"? As most of you will note, the manual
states that a microphone should be -75dB or better and 600 ohm
impedance. As an Electrical Engineer, I am able to understand these specs
and apply them accordingly.
Well, suffice to say, the specs in the manual does not agree with
what the tech support group at Creative Labs say. They say that
you need a dynamic mic with -40 to -60 dB (this is greater
sensitivity) and 600 ohms impedance. They also recommend a Radio
Shack cheapo mic that they say works. DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT.
The Radio Shack cheapo mic (around 20 to 25 dollars) has a
sensitivity of -79dB and 600 ohms. There is a conflict of
knowledge at Creative Labs as far as I'm concerned. I'm not
knocking them, it's just that they do not know their facts to the
questions I have asked.
Well, what now you say. A VERY expensive mic, around 60 dollars
may give you a -65 to -69dB and yield some plausible results if you
want to go that route. The more substantial way is to digitize in
a two step method. Record your sound, music, demo, etc... onto a
cassette tape machine, or use a CD player if you want digitize
music. Then, with a cable, connect the tape recorder or CD to the
Sound Blaster DAC input, set the volume almost to zero and then
start the playback on the tape/CD machine and record on the PC via
Voxkit or compatible software. When you are done recording, just
stop recording then stop the tape/CD machine. Check the digital
sampling, if the sound is too low, then repeat the above steps and
raise the volume on the tape/CD machine slightly and start again.
Raise the volume slightly so you don't overdrive the input to the
SB card. If you overdrive a little, don't worry too much, all
you'll get is some clipping or distorted playback. Please do not
do this too much so always start low and work your way up.
Why do it this way? You'll have no background noise when recording
(especially for CD music), you can do it more than once with the
same source and it is very cheap to do compared to buying a very
expensive microphone. I have taken some of my video tapes and
found some nice clips, patched my stereo into my computer via a
cable and then record away. You will get some very nice and clean
results.
Page 4
I am offering the cable that goes between a tape recorder/portable
CD player to SB digital input for $5.00 plus $2.00 s/h. To make
the cable yourself will cost you more in parts from Radio Shack or
other place unless you have them lying around your home. Just send
a check to: Steven Lee, 28 Dustin Homestead, Rochester, NH 03867
and a note with your name, address, phone and what you want to
connect to the SB input so I can match the connecters.
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___\/___ Live and on the Now in surround stereo!
|| air from Toronto!
/||\ Node 5 is now up!
|| The Musical Chair
==== at Experience the difference of:
====== 438-1686
==== 1000's of Adlib and SB music files
|| _______ 1200-14,400 50 gaming doors online
|| | | baud & v.32 3 mail networks
|| | | _____ 1 crazy and caring sysop
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||\ | |___| | Around the clock.....
Sky || \ | | | | Around the world.....
Dome || \| | | | Around the bend.....
|||| | | | |
|||||| | | | | The M sical Chai ...438-1686
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|||||||||| | | | What's missing? U R!
Now running with 5 HST lines!!!
Page 5
SHAREWARE REVIEW: TrakBlaster ver 2.0
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Written by Brad Barclay
TrakBlaster is one of the many Sound Blaster related programs that are now
making their way around the world from Europe. Up until now most of the really
popular Sound Blaster programs came from North America: but this is no longer
true.
TrakBlaster 2.0 is an excellent song playing utility to allow Sound Blaster
owners to play Amiga .MOD music files. These music files use a different sound
generation method then .ROL/.CMF (FM generation) and .CMS (AM generation) files.
.MOD files use PCM generation, like many of the better keyboards out on the
market today. Each instrument is digitized once, and the computer then must re-
calculate each successive note to play at a different frequency. The result is
an excellent piece of music, which although much larger then a corresponding
.ROL/.CMF/.CMS, is still much smaller then a purely digitized file.
Not only do you get excellent sound, but you are also given the option upon
installation to have the program display VGA waveform graphs of the entire song,
and each separate voice. Due to the limitations of my system (namely
VGA/MDA/Hercules only) I was not able to see these graphs myself, but from my
sources, they are very nice indeed.
The program does have it's limitations, though. The lowest CPU that it's
compatible with is the NEC V20 (an improved version of the 8088), and I've found
that the minimum speed your computer should be running at is 8Mhz for normal
resolution playback, and even then the speed sometimes slows down when multiple
instruments play together for large amounts of time. 10Mhz is probably much
better for playback.
The reasons for this is that the program is very CPU intensive. It must re-
calculate 4 voices for new frequencies at once in real time, and must at the same
time combine these four voices into one for playback into the DAC of the Sound
Blaster. Due to this, even on faster 16Mhz+ systems, TrakBlaster may not work
very well in a multitasking environment.
But even with this little CPU drawback, TrakBlaster is still a must for any
Sound Blaster user who enjoys listening to many different types of music.
SBD RATING: Overall: 8
Page 6
SBD IN THE BBS WORLD.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Here's this month's updated list of those BBS's in the world that support the
Sound Blaster card's software. If you're looking for good SB software, try
giving the nearest one a call. All BBS's have been registered through myself,
and thus should be considered trustworthy.
SYSTEM NAME PHONE NUMBER CITY/PROVINCE/STATE SYSOP'S NAME
=========== ============ =================== ============
Arkon BBS (416)593-7460 Toronto, Ontario. Jacky Lee
Beltway Bandits (703)764-9297 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
Computer Connection (08)384-7316 Christies Bch, Austr. Vicki Crawford
Data Dimension (404)921-1186 Atlanta Georgia Ricky Lacy
Dead End BBS (703)821-7544 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
Electronic Age (703)620-0851 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
Friends & Family (214)960-3189 Dallas, Texas Jim Neargarder
Gollum's Corner (404)992-1309 Marietta, GA Sean Neese
House of Ichthys (305)360-2991 Deerfield Beach, FL Leonzo E. Miller
Jim's Dream (202)581-1422 -- Unknown -- Jim Walls
Lynzie's Motherboard (808)989-3875 California -- Unknown --
Musical Chair (416)438-3009 Toronto, Ontario Jeff Woods
Nat. PC and MIDI... (708)593-8703 Chicago, IL Duane Antor
Open Access BBS +47 61 97304 Reinsvoll, Norway Erik Leirdal
Point of Know Return (602)867-0488 Phoenix Arizona Dan Sarber
<< Prism BBS (914)344-0350 Middletown, NY Janis Kracht
Punkin Duster BBS (714)522-3980 Buena Park, CA Dave Ludwig
Running Board (301)229-5342 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
Satellite TV BBS (713)623-4899 Bellaire, TX Jim Dolan
Snarf's Music Studio (708)290-9993 Arlington Hgts., IL Colin Crisanti
Stages Remote Access (416)468-2046 Niagra, Ontario Mathew Gordon
Star-Link Network BBS (718)972-6099 Brooklyn, NY Michael Keylin
The Doghouse BBS (713)422-3146 Baytown, TX Ray Cramer
The Double AAce (214)606-0703 Grand Praire, Texas Mike Hutchkins
The HUB (703)685-0019 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
The Picture Express (512)666-4842 San Antonio, TX David Steward
Trolls & Tribulations (703)263-0827 -- Unknown -- -- Unknown --
VGER Control (714)371-4789 Corona, CA Bob Altenburger
Page 7
SHAREWARE REVIEW: JMplayer ver 1.1
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Written by Brad Barclay, data gathered by Rod Toll.
JMplayer is yet another one of the many pieces of software that have been
trickling through from Europe for the Sound Blaster card. This specific piece of
software was mailed to the SBD this past month: many thanks to the authors for
doing so.
JMplayer is yet another program to play those synth/digi files (like .MOD's)
that are available for the Amiga system. It will play .MOD files, but has some
nice features that are not available on TrakBlaster.
The first thing that you will notice about the program is that it is set up
to look like a CD player: complete with amplitude bar graph, song selection,
fast forward and rewind. The graphics are nice, but you do need at least EGA to
be able to run it: those of us with CGA and Hercules are left out in the cold,
and aren't able to make use of it at all.
Another nice feature of this program is the ability to specify many songs in
a file, and then be able to select which ones to play, just like with a CD
player. This is similar to the necessary JUKEBOX.DAT file needed to run Ad Lib's
Jukebox program. It's very handy for playing multiple .MOD files without having
to reload the program with each new song like TrakBlaster has to.
Just as you would now come to expect with this sort of player, though, it is
very CPU intensive. As the SBD testing was done on a 386 SX this time around, I
am unable to determine wether or not it is coded such to play well on an 8Mhz
machine or not: if anybody finds out, drop me a line and let me know.
All in all, JMplayer is a very nice program to have in your Sound Blaster
library, along with TrakBlaster. It's limitations on graphics is the greatest
thing that sets this program apart from TrakBlaster.
OVERALL RATING: 7
Page 8
INCLUDED FILE:
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
This month's Included File is a request from one of our readers (and a
personal friend), Mark Rostek: White Room by Cream. Included is a lyrics sheet
for those of you who would like to sing along.
The Sing-Along program that I had promised last issue still doesn't work:
hopefully this will be corrected by next issue.
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WRAPPING IT UP...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Well that's it for this month. Remember, if you'd like to write something
for the SBD, either upload it to THE MUSICAL CHAIR (please address the file to
Brad Barclay, and leave a message in the main board letting me know it's there),
mail it in printed form, or mail it on a disk: anybody who mails it on a disk
will get their disk returned with the edition of the SBD that their article
appears in!
Also, about mail to myself: please address all cheques to BRAD BARCLAY, and
*not* the Sound Blaster Digest. Also, if mailing disks, it would be preferred if
you mail them in 360k, 5.25" diskette format, if possible. I can have other
formats converted for my use, but this takes a few days, and could delay a reply.
Not too much more to say: just some thanks. So, thanks to Steven Lee for
writing the article on Recording with the SB, Larry Cooper who sent a printed
article (which I was unfortunately unable to use), Rod Toll and Don Choi for
testing software for me, and for converting disks, and finally, as always, many
thanks to my loved one, Karen: you are my greatest success in life.
Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you again this time next month!
Please send all correspondence to:
SOUND BLASTER DIGEST
c/o Brad Barclay
36 Sutter ave.
Brampton, Ontario CANADA
L6Z 1G7
Page 9
SOUND BLASTER DIGEST ADVERTISEMENT ORDER FORM
=============================================
Please fill out this form, and mail it, along with a cheque for $5 (in US funds
for American orders, and in Canadian funds for
Canadian orders), 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 10
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
Page 11
SOUND BLASTER DIGEST SUBSCRIPTION FORM
======================================
Please enclose a cheque or money order (sorry, I don't accept
any major or minor credit cards) for $25 CDN for Canadian orders, or $25 US for
American orders. Overseas enclose $30 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"
OPTIONAL: Please fill this out if possible.
Age:____________ Sound Blaster version:_______________
Occupation:________________
Most frequently called BBS (name only):__________________
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 12
========================================================================
Mail-in Registration form for The Musical Chair/Telix/Qmail Registration
========================================================================
Phone number: 416-438-1686 - 5 lines in sequence with USR Dual Standards
========================================================================
Name: _______________________________ Voice Phone: _______________
Mailing Address: ______________________________________________________
Line 2: ______________________________________________________
City: ______________ Province/State: _______ Postal: _______
Age: ______ (Include photo of driver's licence for adult access)
[ ] I'd like to look at The Musical Chair first -- please create an
account with the above information and a password of ______________
[ ] Enclosed is my check or money order payable to Jeff Woods for:
# of Amt.
CDN copies incl.
The Musical Chair Membership: $25 ____ _____
Telix Registration (non-member): $44 ____ _____
QMail Deluxe (Non-member): $25 ____ _____
Telix Registration (member): $35 ____ _____
Qmail Deluxe (member): $20 ____ _____
QMMSys (member): $20 ____ _____
QMMSys (non-member): $30 ____ _____
Total amt. _____
Please mail to: Jeff Woods
Box 130
West Hill, ON M1E 4R4
The Musical Chair thanks you for your support!
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