Re: MockingBoard info correction

[Michael Mahon <mahon@cup.hp.com>]

RUBYWAND wrote:
> 
>      In the "MockingBoard Mini-Manual" I list MB models as follows:
>[Someone wrote]: 
> >>>
>     MockingBoard comes in four 'flavors':
> 
> A. Sound I--    produces music tones and a variety of sound effects (1
> channel output)
> B. Speech I--  produces speech and limited sound effects (1 channel
> output)
> C. Sound II--   2 x Sound I on a single board (2 channels output)
> D. Sound/
>      Speech I-- Sound I + Speech I on a single board (2 channels output)
> <<<
> 
>      The names "Sound I", etc. and descriptions are correct. The letter
> designations (A-D) are not. Some time after the date of my manuals (1982),
> Sweet Micro Systems began to refer to models via letter. In a recent
> email, Edhel Iaur supplies the following information:
> 
> >>
> I have an advertisement from Sweet Micro Systems, Inc. in an _A+_
> magazine (December 1985).  On page 142, the ad says:

O.K.--the above is incorrect.  The following excerpts from the ads
correctly describe the capabilities, and I'll annotate them with the
hardware "reality" that they are based on...

> "MOCKINGBOARD A is a stereo music and sound synthesizer with six
> voices.  Suggested retail price $99.00.  This model can be upgraded for
> speech synthesis with the purchase of a MOCKINGBOARD B speech upgrade.
> Suggested retail price $89.00."

The A has (2) 6522 VIAs, each driving one of the (2) sound gen chips.
Each sound gen chip supports three voices and is connected to one of
the two stereo channels.

The B is a single chip upgrade: a speech synthesizer chip that plugs
into one of the *two* on-board speech synthesizer sockets.  One speech
synth chip is connected to the right channel, the other to the left.

> "MOCKINGBOARD C is all of the above in one package.  Suggested retail
> price $179.00.  Mockingboard A, B and C are compatible with the Apple
> II, II+ and IIe."

The C is simply an A that has been upgraded by plugging in a B chip.
There was an "undocumented" upgrade, obtainable by plugging in another
speech chip, which allowed the board to "sing harmony" with itself!
 
> "MOCKINGBOARD D is a stereo music, sound and speech synthesizer for the
> Apple IIc.  Suggested retail price $195.00."

The D is quite different, since it connects to a *IIc* through a serial
port.  It is, of course, external.  Its drivers are *very* different
from
the slot I/O of the others, which are actually *boards* that plug into
the standard Apple II expansion slots.
 
> The Mockingboard D is external, as I remember it.  And it must be, since
> the ad lists 2 titles that support Mockingboard D, and many that support
> the others.
> 
> [stuff deleted]
> 
> Rubywand

-michael

===============================================================
This is my personal opinion, and does not in any way represent
the position of my employer, etc...