Re: Wow, My GS made that noise?????

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

In article pubpc1@library.ucla.edu (Scott G.) writes...

>Here's the way I get around the 64K barrier.  Just use NoiseTracker.
>The idea is very simple.  Connect SoundSmith to a second MIDI source
>(eg. another GS, a Mac, or a PC) and "input" the MIDI data into
>SoundSmith.  Save the SoundSmith file.  Use NoiseTracker to inport
>the SoundSmith song into RAM based tracks.  Go to your favorite
>sound digitizer program and record the instruments as they should
>sound, one at a time, using as much RAM as you need.  Go back to
>NoiseTracker and load and assign each of the new instruments.

    I've tried to input MIDI through Soundsmith yet found it would
often crash or just not be able to deal with the incoming data. It
is an interesting idea, but as you know, Soundsmith is basically a
crippled MOD player. Converting MIDI->MOD yeilds pretty terrible
results (listen to any MODs that were converted from MIDI, or do
it yourself using a PC converter program). 

    I would still be interested in hearing the results of your
MIDI to NoiseTracker GS conversions though. Could you perhaps 
upload a sample or two to the Ground FTP site?

>After hearing some PC sound cards play, I've concluded that the
>64K limit in synthLab accounts for more of the difference in
>quality than the 8-bit wavetable.  NoiseTracker converted music
>sounds _much_ more close to realistic playback than synthLab.

    The 64K limit is only one problem, you also have the limit
of seven voices (through MIDIsynth) and 8-bit sound resolution.
I don't know which PC sound cards you listened to, but the ones
I've heard completely blow away anything the IIgs is capable of
outputting. I would be happy to make you an audio cassette with
recordings of MIDI files played through my sound card, I think
you'd agree after hearing it.

>On the other hand, I've ran synthLab on XGS on a PC with a
>wavetable card and found that synthLab on the fake GS has a
>noticeably improved quality.  In fact, the demo Mozart Sonata
>and Capri sequences sound exactly (to my ears) as MIDI music
>sound native to the PC sound card.  Will someone explain _this_
>paradox to me?

    I've noticed this too when using XGS or MTP (a stand-alone
Soundsmith player for the PC), music sounds much more crisp,
sharp and clean compared with a real Apple IIgs. This is can
probably be attributed to the low pass cut off filter inside
the GS, which basically limits you to 26 kHz. That filter is
not emulated, so your hearing things at higher frequencies
than on the actual GS. Incidentally, the low pass filter is
a limitation of the GS, not the Ensoniq 5503.

>Finally, anyone claiming that present emulators like XGS can
>replace a real GS are lying through their teeth.  The PC version
>slowed a 200MHz Pentium to an effective speed of an unaccelerated
>GS.  I don't care if you run a CPU speed program and see 20MHz,
>that's a fake speed.  It is kind of fun, though, to have synthLab
>as a background music player on a PC.  :)

    Yep, XGS is more a novelty than anything else. It is very 
poorly optimized and has glitches with DirectX. I would love to 
see BTTR or GuS ported to the PC (not so I can replace my real 
IIgs, but to have a decent IIgs running inside my PC).

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca