Re: Q: Applied Engineering Sound Card

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector) wrote:
>In article ToasterKing <toastjuice@aol.com> writes...
>>Third, I'm pretty sure the card only plays 16-bit audio
>>and not the crappy audio from 8-bit programs, which is played through
>>the internal speaker.
>
>    There is _no_ such thing as 16-bit sound resolution on an Apple
>IIgs.  The Ensoniq is limited to 8-bit resolution, and thus, that is
>only what software supports (it should be possible to convert 16-bit
>waveforms into 8-bit, but I'm not aware of any software on the IIgs
>to do that).

I think he isn't saying that the Ensoniq is doing 16-bit resolution.
He is saying the Ensoniq connector for the sound card outputs "audio"
from "16-bit" programs while the "audio" from "8-bit programs" won't
be played through the sound card, but only through the internal
speaker.


>    The internal speaker outputs both audio from the Ensoniq chip (it
>sounds pretty crummy, but what wouldn't from that tiny little 8 Ohm
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>non-amplified speaker) and speaker toggling techniques used by 8-bit
>Apple II software in emulation mode. A stereo card such as the AE
>SonicBlaster doesn't enhance the sound capabilities of the IIgs, it
>merely taps the left/right channels from the Ensoniq and produces a
>true stereo signal (Apple never connected stereo to the back port,
>even though the chip supports it; same with it's built-in ADC).

Um, I take it you mean that the *tiny built in speaker* sounds
crummy.  The Ensoniq 5503's output itself is quite nice (about the
quality of a good high bias cassette tape, IMO), but you just need
to connect a pair of decent high fidelity speakers to the headphone
jack or sound card to hear it at full quality.

If you plugged a hi-fi FM tuner into that little speaker, you'd get
crummy music.  This does not mean that the tuner is crummy.  :)

-Scott G.