Re: Mysterious Sound Card

[rubywand@aol.com (RUBYWAND)]

In article <4n0evu$i5f@catapult.gatech.edu>, gt5460c@acmex.gatech.edu
(Martin Tuck) writes:

>.... The sound card is a SuperSonic by
>MDIdeas.  It goes in one of the peripheral slots and has a wire that goes
>over
>to the J25 connector.  It also has a standard headphone/speaker out jack.
>There are a couple of jumpers too.  I've had it in my gs for about two
months
>now, but haven't found a use for it.  I tried plugging my speakers into
it
>but
>it wasn't even recognized (the sound went through the built in speaker
>instead).  Does anybody have any experience with this sound card?  I've
>always
>been pleased with the gs's sound capability.  Does this card offer any
real
>advantage over the built in capability? ....

      If the MDI card is like most other IIgs "stereo cards", it will
output GS sound effects and music such as from IIgs games,  Instant Music,
HyperStudio, the Minstrel NDA, etc.. It will not output 'old II' sounds
like the system BEEP or sound effects and tunes in Ultima IV. It will not
output sounds intended for MockingBoard or Echo, either.

     The internal speaker outputs both 'old II' and GS sounds. The same
sounds are available at the GS Sound Output jack. This Output takes a
stereo plug but the output is mono like the internal speaker. ("Left" and
"Right" are tied to a single line.)

     A IIgs "stereo card"  separates the multiplexed GS sound output from
J25 into two channels. The MDI Output should be two-channel, which means
the plug going to speakers, headphones, or an amplifier must be a stereo
plug.

     The "Left" and "Right" coming from the card will be true stereo if
the original sound source (e.g. music in a GS game) was stereo. Otherwise,
the channels may be used to spread out sound effects, seperate instruments
in a band, etc..   


Rubywand