Re: Question about FAQ on IIgs Stereo Cards

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article Pete <x@y.org> writes...

> At:  http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/snd.mus.html
>
>I found the following:
>
>Econ Tech.    SoundMeister      Generally above average quality.
>                                Nothing much
>                                to say.  Pro version with
>                                direct-to-harddisk
>                                recording cancelled.
>
>Is the SoundMeister Pro version still sold?

    It was never available in the first place, it is a vapourware
product that never made it to production. Econ Technologies, back
when they supported the Apple IIgs, announced the "SoundMeister Jr"
and the "SoundMesiter Pro". The 'Jr' was to be an entry-level and
basic stereo/digitizer card, while the 'Pro' was to be a high-end
professional board with features never before offered by other GS
sound cards (e.g. > 100 kHz sampling :).

    After much hype, the basic version was released and turned out
to be fairly average to mediocre, while the 'Pro' version kept
being delayed release. Eventually it was announced the 'Pro' was
to be cancelled. Another company looked into finishing up the
design and releasing it, but that never happened and so it died.
I believe Tony Diaz still has a wire-wrap prototype that Econ gave
him when they sold the product to Alltech. Oh yes, the card was
bought up by Alltech Electronics and is still sold today under
the name "SoundMeister" (it is the same basic 'Jr' version that
Econ was sellings). It is the only stereo/digitizer card still
sold today, but like the FAQ says, just an average card.

>What does "Pro version with direct-to-harddisk recording cancelled.
>" mean?

    Just that you would be able to spool sound recording to a hardrive
(or other device) as you digitized, letting you create samples almost
unlimited in size. Normally you can only digitize directly to memory,
and if you only have 1 MB of free memory when you start recording, that
is the maximum size your sample can be.

    I have a 5 MB system, and the largest sample I can remember creating
is about 3.5 MB in size. It doesn't really bother me these days, I just
record sound on my PC that spools to disk (16-bit, 44 kHz) and then I
compress it into MPEG-3 audio. Neat if you want to stick your CD music
discs on your computer without losing quality. :-)

>Can you do direct-to-harddisk recording with this card?

    Nope, since it (again) does not exist. Unfortunately there are no
other sound cards for the GS that do spooling to hardrive as you do
your digitization recording. Your limited by free RAM available.

    Once on the subject, the best two digitizer boards available for
the Apple IIgs are the FutureSound and Audio Animator (possibly the
MDIdeas Digitizer Pro as well, but it's very rare. Then again, so is
the FutureSound come to think of it).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca