Re: What's this AppleIIGS card?

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

In article Tom Zuchowski <71214.1670@CompuServe.COM> writes...
>
>The only use I have seen for the Echo II is as speech synthesizer.

	This is the main purpose of the board, it can generate a
a typical synthesized robotic-like voice (unlimited vocabulary)
or a very realistic sounding human female voice using a limited
vocabulary of 700+ fixed words. 

	The Echo+ is also usable as a music and sound-effect board.
Like the Mockingboard, it has a pair of General Instruments sound 
chips (AY-8913). Each chip has 3 voices and 1 white noise generator, 
which can generate basic waveforms envelopes. There's two 1/8" phono-
connectors on the board, one for mono and one stereo output.

>I have seen it used with some nifty front-end software which 
>enabled it to read the screen aloud. It is in wide use among 
>sight-impaired Apple users.  There used to be a very active user 
>on GEnie who was blind, who used one of these.

	It works great with the large amount of speech-supporting
software out there, but it doesn't seem usable as a Mockingboard
replacement. Perhaps it has to do with the fact it uses the GI
AY-8913 chip rather than the AY-8910? (Anyone know the differences
between the two chips?).

	And once on the subject of the Echo card, has anyone out
there ever managed to get 'Echo+' emulation to function on their
AE Phasor sound card? AE claimed it could emulate one by configuring
DIP-switches, but it doesn't seem to work on my board. I guess I'll
have to keep both my Phasor and Echo+ since one cannot emulate the
other (the Phasor has four AY-8910 chips, one speech chip with a
socket for a second).

>TomZ

Mitchell Spector
spector@vax2.concordia.ca