336 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
336 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
|
|
|
|
|
|
################ ##### ### #
|
|
## ## ## # ## # ###
|
|
# ## # # ## # #####
|
|
## # ## # # ###
|
|
## # ## # # ###
|
|
## # ## # ###########
|
|
## # ## # # ###
|
|
#### # ### # ###
|
|
###### ### ## ### #####
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
| |
|
|
| Technical News Association |
|
|
| |
|
|
| #3 |
|
|
| |
|
|
| The Gravis Ultrasound |
|
|
| By: Mr. Wizzard |
|
|
| |
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well this is the first text file in this newsletter. I was
|
|
thinking about what I could write, and then I got a Gravis Ultrasound
|
|
card. So I decided, what's better to write on that. So here it
|
|
goes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
The Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) is a sound card. For a long time,
|
|
there has been a quest to reproduce music well, on the IBM PC. It
|
|
started with cards like the Adlib. More advanced cards, that could
|
|
also play back true, pre-recorded music, like the Sound Blaster then
|
|
appeared. Other cards, like the Roland MT-32, became popular, and
|
|
were much better than the Sound Blaster and Adlib, but also much more
|
|
expensive. And so it had been until recently, when Gravis released
|
|
its Ultra Sound card. It's sound quality surpasses that of the Sound
|
|
Blaster, and Adlib, (Even Sound Blaster Pro, and Adlib Gold), and is
|
|
nearly equivalent to that of a Roland MT-32. The difference being it
|
|
is much cheaper. It lists at $199 (United States), and one can be
|
|
bought at any old computer store for around $150.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Features
|
|
~~~~~~~~
|
|
I figured I'd start the analysis of this card, by listing the
|
|
features of the card as they are put on the back of the box, and the
|
|
instructions, and then talking about each of them. This first
|
|
section is just a LIST of features.
|
|
|
|
Ultrasound - CD Quality Sound From Your PC.
|
|
-Now you can add unheard of audio realism to your games and
|
|
presentations. UltraSound is the most advanced sound technology
|
|
available, delivering 16 bit, crystal clear sound to your IBM or
|
|
compatible PC. True CD quality, wave table synthesis and stereo
|
|
recording make UltraSound the ultimate sound solution.
|
|
|
|
CD Quality Sound
|
|
-UltraSound delivers 16 bit - 44.1 kHz sound with 96 db of
|
|
dynamic range for true CD quality sound at an affordable price.
|
|
|
|
32 Voices
|
|
-Supports 32 digital and/or synthesized voices for richer sound
|
|
effects and music quality.
|
|
|
|
Windows Multimedia
|
|
-UltraSound supports Windows Multimedia Extensions for added sound
|
|
impact in presentations and business programs.
|
|
UltraSound includes multi-source mixing capabilities and meets or
|
|
exceeds MPC standards.
|
|
Wave Table Synthesis
|
|
-Step beyond the limitations of FM synthesis. Wave table synthesis
|
|
is based on real sounds - it provides more realistic sound
|
|
reproduction and an infinite range of musical instruments.
|
|
|
|
Compatibility Plus
|
|
-"Compatibility" is your assurance that UltraSound will work
|
|
with existing games that support AdLib or Sound Blaster.
|
|
"Plus" means UltraSound will provide better quality sound from sound
|
|
files and games designed for other sound boards.
|
|
|
|
Recording/Sampling
|
|
-UltraSound features 8 bit digital rates from 2 to 44.1 kHz in either
|
|
mono or stereo. Separate circuits allow for simultaneous recording
|
|
and playback.
|
|
|
|
Standard MIDI Interface
|
|
-Industry standard MIDI interface (UART 6850) supports MIDI
|
|
In, Out and Thru with an optional low cost cable adapter.
|
|
Compatible with most MIDI programs.
|
|
|
|
Joystick Port
|
|
-Many of today's most popular games require a speed compensating game
|
|
port when used on fast PC's. UltraSound's built-in speed
|
|
compensating game port supports PC's up to a 50 Mhz 486 and beyond.
|
|
Connect a second joystick with an optional "Y" cable.
|
|
|
|
Amplified Output
|
|
-Built-in 2 watt amplifier supports desktop dpeakers and headphones.
|
|
|
|
Easy Installation
|
|
-Installation software eliminates the confusion of jumpers and
|
|
technical jargon. UltraSound provides full 16 bit bus
|
|
support and can be installed in either an 8 or 16 bit expansion
|
|
slot.
|
|
|
|
256k Onboard Memory
|
|
-Upgradeable to 1 megabyte with standard DIP memory chips.
|
|
|
|
Optional Add-on Boards
|
|
- 16 bit Stereo Recording*
|
|
- CD ROM Interface*
|
|
* Available Soon
|
|
|
|
System Requirements
|
|
-IBM PC or compatible XT, AT, 286, 386, or 486
|
|
-DOS 3.0 or greater
|
|
-286 or greater recommended
|
|
-Hard disk recommended
|
|
*Requirements for bonus software may vary.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Software Included
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
This should be pretty straight forward. All the software takes
|
|
up about 6 megs when installed. This is all taken from the box
|
|
still.
|
|
|
|
Ultrasound Studio 8(TM)
|
|
-A desktop recording studio for playing, recording, mixing and
|
|
customizing digital sound files.
|
|
|
|
Windows (R) Driver
|
|
-For use with Microsoft(R) Windows 3.1.
|
|
|
|
Audio/Playdigi/Playfile
|
|
-Three programs for playing and recording digital audio.
|
|
|
|
Ultrafli
|
|
-A program for sychronizing digitized sound with .fli format
|
|
animations.
|
|
|
|
Playmidi
|
|
-A program for playing MIDI files.
|
|
|
|
Also Includes
|
|
-Sample Demo Music
|
|
-Sequences & Sounds
|
|
|
|
|
|
Feature Comparison
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Again this is taken from the back of the box. Information on
|
|
the UltraSound, Sound Blaster, and Sound Blaster Pro has been
|
|
confirmed by myself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
| Synthesized Voices | GUS | ADL | SB | ADLG | SBP |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Synthesized Voices | 32 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 22 |
|
|
|------------------------------|-----Ä|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| FM / Wave Table Synthesis | Wave | FM | FM | FM | FM |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| CD Quality Sound | Yes | No | No | No | No |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Digital Audio Voices | 32 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Stereo Digital Voices | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Stereo Synthesis | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| On-Card Memory | 256k | None | None | None | None |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Game Port (Sp = Speed Adj.) |Yes/Sp| No | Yes | ???? | Yes |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| MIDI Interface | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Stereo Sample Rate (kHz) |2-44.1| None | Mono |1-44.1| 4-22 |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| MPC & Windows 3.1 Compatible | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| Recording Resolution (Bits) | 8/16*| N/A | 8 | 12 | 8 |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| CD Rom Interface | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
|
|
|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
|
|
| On-Board Mixer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
Critical Analysis
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
|
|
CD Quality Sound
|
|
-Hey it's a great card, I love it, but CD's aren't in any danger from
|
|
your IBM PC.
|
|
|
|
|
|
32 Voices
|
|
-Yes it seems to have 32 voices. No real way to check this I don't
|
|
think.
|
|
|
|
Windows Multimedia
|
|
-Yes it is Windows Multimedia compatible. Was it easy to setup? No,
|
|
but I'll talk about that more under the installation section.
|
|
|
|
Wave Table Synthesis
|
|
-This provides wonderful sound quality compared to FM Synthesis, even
|
|
on some games and applications designed for the Sound Blaster and/or
|
|
Adlib.
|
|
|
|
Compatibility Plus
|
|
-It is definately SB and Adlib Compatible, and the sound quality is
|
|
better on applications designed for them, especially drum sounds.
|
|
However, it's not like that with just the hardware, you need a
|
|
special driver provided with the UltraSound (Look under the SBOS
|
|
section for more details)
|
|
|
|
Recording/Sampling
|
|
-This works ok, but the included software (USS8) needs some work.
|
|
There is somehow an addition of hiss when using that program in
|
|
stereo mode, but PLAYFILE's record feature works flawlessly. I have
|
|
played Digitally Sampled music and it works spectacularly. This
|
|
includes .VOC, .WAV and Gravis's .SND format.
|
|
|
|
Standard MIDI Interface
|
|
-I can't really tell you much about this until they release the cable
|
|
to go with it. I assume it'll work fine. You can also use the MIDI
|
|
adapter for a Sound Blaster with it they say.
|
|
|
|
Joystick Port
|
|
-I use this port now. It functions very well on my 486-40. So it
|
|
should work on just about anything. Even improved one game I play.
|
|
|
|
Amplified Output
|
|
-While it supposedly has less of an amp then the Sound Blaster or the
|
|
SB Pro, I find it to be much louder than my SB and SBPro.
|
|
|
|
256k Onboard Memory
|
|
-Used for playing MIDI files. It's upgradeable to 1 meg using 256x4
|
|
DRAM chips. You need 6 more to go to 1 meg. Some people have
|
|
problems using the UltraSound with MIDI files that are complex with
|
|
only 256k, but I've had no problem. It is also noted that there are
|
|
no MIDI files on Gravis's BBS yet.
|
|
|
|
System Requirements
|
|
-Definately need a 286 and a Hard Drive. You must have 5.3 megs
|
|
available to install all of the software.
|
|
|
|
Installation
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
I think this needs its own topic heading like this. While
|
|
Gravis promises easy installation, it is anything but that in
|
|
actuality. Granted all it was comprised of was using many different
|
|
DMA and IRQ settings, it was still a rather annoying process to go
|
|
through. All setup (except for port address) is through software
|
|
fortunately. I settled on Port #220, DMA #1, Ultrasound IRQ #5, Midi
|
|
IRQ #11. The IRQ's and port address are default, the DMA isn't. An
|
|
added problem is that Gravis's setup program constantly hung up on
|
|
me. I have since called Gravis's BBS (xxx)xxx-xxx and downloaded a
|
|
new version that is supposed to not hang. It can also be obtained on
|
|
either The Wall BBS or Skyline BBS (See #'s at the bottom of this
|
|
file).
|
|
|
|
Well Windows was also semi-difficult to set it up with too. I
|
|
THOUGHT I had tried my above settings above without good results in
|
|
Windows, but I suppose I was wrong. The drivers themselves are easy
|
|
to install (Like all Windows drivers). Make sure you get rid of any
|
|
Sound Blaster drivers if you are upgrading from one.
|
|
|
|
In AUTOEXEC.BAT the following lines are the only ones that were
|
|
added/changed. Gravis's Setup program will do it for you however.
|
|
|
|
SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T1
|
|
{Author Comment: A = Address I = IRQ D = DMA and T = Type?}
|
|
SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,5
|
|
{Author Comment: Address, DMA, DMA, IRQ of Card, IRQ of MIDI}
|
|
E:\ULTRASND\ULTRINIT
|
|
SET ULTRADIR=E:\ULTRASND
|
|
|
|
E:\ULTRASND is the directory I have my Ultra Sound files in. Yours
|
|
would be different accordingly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SBOS (Sound Board Operating System)
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
This is a program included with the UltraSound, responsible for
|
|
making it Sound Blaster compatible. I was disappointed that it must
|
|
be done through software, but I'll live due to the quality of the
|
|
board, and planned future support. The version with the UltraSound
|
|
is 1.20. It worked just fine for me on all things I tried it with.
|
|
However, others were having problems with it (As with all software),
|
|
so new versions have been released (and more are promised). I
|
|
have also tried version 1.22 Beta. It works the same for me, but
|
|
others have said it works with some games and such that 1.20 did not
|
|
work with. I now have version 1.2 Beta (as it is called). It
|
|
included new instruments and other various info. The latest version
|
|
of SBOS may be obtained from either the Wall BBS (908)294-8830 or
|
|
Advanced Gravis's BBS (604)431-5927 anytime. The only minor flaw I
|
|
have observed is that the digital sound effects (voices, etc) tend to
|
|
be of a lower volume than the music. Others have also experienced
|
|
this problem and Advanced Gravis knows of it. I suppose they will
|
|
fix it in the future.
|
|
|
|
Future Support
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
Many companies (I won't bore you with a list) have pledged
|
|
support for the UltraSound. Some (Like Electronic Arts) intend to
|
|
release patches that will make their old games support the UltraSound
|
|
in native mode. Sierra is currently the only major company that I
|
|
know of that has not planned support for the card in the near future.
|
|
|
|
Acknowledgments
|
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|
-I would like to thank Advanced Gravis since most of this information
|
|
comes either from the back of their box or from the docs.
|
|
-I would also like to thank those people on Prodigy that are
|
|
contributing to the wealth of information just being explored.
|
|
|
|
Mr. Wizzard
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Technical News Association Distribution Sites
|
|
|
|
The Wall BBS (908)294-8830
|
|
Skyline BBS (908)363-3832
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|