tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post1833824293749510633..comments2024-03-27T05:39:24.505-04:00Comments on Nerdly Pleasures: Pushing the Limits : PC Sound Chip Digitized SoundGreat Hierophanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-64160970387132184492020-12-20T17:20:55.077-05:002020-12-20T17:20:55.077-05:00Pretty much.Pretty much.Great Hierophanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-47453055456387877842020-12-03T21:48:43.800-05:002020-12-03T21:48:43.800-05:00Is this how Windmill Software's "Digger&q...Is this how Windmill Software's "Digger" did its multichannel sound?jacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11804318220798022725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-42441738226031326502017-12-11T11:20:13.918-05:002017-12-11T11:20:13.918-05:00It shouldn't be speed-sensitive, as long as yo...It shouldn't be speed-sensitive, as long as your CPU is fast enough.<br />I didn't create a new sample though, so the sample is only 8 kHz, and runs at twice the speed at 16 kHz (you can replace the sample.raw file with any 16-bit signed raw file).<br />A 286 at 8 MHz may be too slow to keep up with the 16 kHz timer, so it may actually play it closer to the 8 kHz the sample was originally made for. But that probably re-introduces the aliasing as well. I've only tested it on a 20 MHz 286, and that sounded quite good.<br /><br />The SN76496, AY-2-8910 and YM-3812 can all be persuaded to play a '0 Hz' waveform. Basically you get the output 'stuck' at a certain level. Then you can manipulate that level by adjusting only the volume. Technically that is a 'proper' DAC, limited only by the resolution that the volume control gives you, and the speed at which you can change that volume (your sampling rate).<br /><br />The SAA1099 cannot play a '0 Hz' waveform, or at least, I haven't found a way to do it yet.<br />So you are merely trying to approach a '0 Hz' waveform in some way, but it's not entirely level, so you will get some noise/aliasing.<br />Scalihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705021493452294842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-68107252667210522502017-12-11T10:50:52.332-05:002017-12-11T10:50:52.332-05:00Your playback program appears to be speed sensitiv...Your playback program appears to be speed sensitive. It seems that an AT/286 @ 8MHz speed is ideal for the proper speed, can you confirm that?<br /><br />Is there any reason why the SAA-1099s are noisier at the DAC functionality than the earlier TI SN 76496 or AY-3-8910 or even a YM-3812?Great Hierophanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-58881221998900072262017-12-10T18:01:51.196-05:002017-12-10T18:01:51.196-05:00I have studied what Battletech 2 does...
It was in...I have studied what Battletech 2 does...<br />It was indeed a slightly different approach than mine.<br />Simpler and faster, but more noisy.<br /><br />What I did is this:<br />Play the lowest possible note (around 28 Hz), and reset the frequency generator at every sample. Use amplitude to control the actual 'DAC' output value.<br /><br />What Battletech 2 does is this:<br />Play the highest possible note (around 7.8 kHz), and just leave it running. Only use amplitude to play the samples.<br /><br />That explains why you hear the 7.8 kHz whine in Battletech 2. In fact, I'm somewhat surprised it even works that well.<br /><br />Anyway, I figured I'd experiment a bit with the code, based on what I saw in Battletech 2. I found that if I combine the two approaches (use highest frequency, and reset freq generator at every sample), then it actually sounds pretty clean, as long as your sampling rate is high enough (apparently twice the 7.8 kHz or beyond will do the trick).<br />If I just used a ~16 kHz sample rate with either of the two techniques, the noise was still there.<br />But combined, you get this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fg6tibvrjp1unni/cmsdigi.zip?dl=0<br /><br />Pretty nifty :)Scalihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705021493452294842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-17825510943036664632017-12-10T12:58:05.504-05:002017-12-10T12:58:05.504-05:00Oh right, I just got to your blog post via some go...Oh right, I just got to your blog post via some googling for CMS/Game Blaster info and digital sound. I didn't see part 2.<br />Yea, indeed, that Battletech high-pitched aliasing is pretty much what I was experiencing myself.<br />At least I can now study the Battletech code to see what they are doing.<br />Scalihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705021493452294842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-53965597478012937192017-12-10T11:05:08.258-05:002017-12-10T11:05:08.258-05:00Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge is the...Battletech: The Crescent Hawk's Revenge is the only game I know of that tries to do digitized sound on the Game Blaster, a sample of it can be heard here :<br /><br />http://nerdlypleasures.blogspot.com/2014/09/non-pc-speaker-digitized-sound-part-ii.html<br /><br />That sample suffers from nasty aliasing too. Maybe the filtering on the Game Blaster isn't up to the task of removing the high-pitched noise. I understand it became heavier by the time of the Sound Blaster 2.0. Great Hierophanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04409413307024477304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-49953296709624778482017-12-10T07:47:08.928-05:002017-12-10T07:47:08.928-05:00You say there was a way to play samples on the Gam...You say there was a way to play samples on the Game Blaster/SAA1099 chips. This is true, and I've seen examples of that on the SAM Coupe.<br />But do you know of any PC software that does this?<br />I've created a simple Proof-of-Concept myself, which you can find here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fg6tibvrjp1unni/cmsdigi.zip?dl=0 (base address hardcoded to 220h).<br />It works, but it suffers from some nasty aliasing, so I wonder if it can be done better. I'd like to study other examples to see how I can improve on this.Scalihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13705021493452294842noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-30714506653651342682016-04-13T17:45:33.329-04:002016-04-13T17:45:33.329-04:00The first time I was blown away by a PC speaker wa...The first time I was blown away by a PC speaker was when playing Pinball Fantasies for the first time, and also started my love affair with tracker music generally. I'd never heard actual music on the PC speaker before this. Brassic Gamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08989758364013282115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-77889513979177845892014-08-01T03:35:47.656-04:002014-08-01T03:35:47.656-04:00just noticed that I can't find any mention of ...just noticed that I can't find any mention of this unique capability of Zeliard on he internet. So here goes:<br />Configure the game to use PC Speaker for music.<br />While running the game, the F1 key toggles between the following modes:<br />- Music On; Single Channel<br />- Music Off;<br />- Music On; Multiple Channels<br />- Music Off;Omer Morhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524751715995551821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-32612969691435435162014-08-01T03:34:48.753-04:002014-08-01T03:34:48.753-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Omer Morhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524751715995551821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-91090561566189643442014-08-01T03:08:43.265-04:002014-08-01T03:08:43.265-04:00The game Zeliard used some PC Speaker magic to pla...The game Zeliard used some PC Speaker magic to play polyphonic music with 3 simultaneous voices.Omer Morhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524751715995551821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-90733593570826472882014-07-16T00:34:41.310-04:002014-07-16T00:34:41.310-04:00i luv when u discuss tandy 1000
the pc of my earl...i luv when u discuss tandy 1000<br /><br />the pc of my early childhood.<br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04264511361308475084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6993165553021868648.post-55849288507996884482014-07-13T20:18:21.310-04:002014-07-13T20:18:21.310-04:00Interesting article thanks. The PC speaker has a b...Interesting article thanks. The PC speaker has a bad name and perhaps rightfully so, but I quite like it for some games. The opening music for 'Street Rod' is a good example and I can still play it in my mind to this day. id's use of the PC speaker was also quite memorable (in wolf3d, etc).<br /><br />I've also come across some games that use RealSound (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RealSound) recently and it's an interesting effect too. That + a PAS16 (which intercepts and plays PC speaker sounds from the ISA bus) is not a bad way to experience what PC speaker has to offer.badmojonoreply@blogger.com