Re: Newer MOD player ?

[irsman@subzero.winternet.com (Ian Schmidt)]

In article <44dfos$o60@erinews.ericsson.se>,
Martin Landhage <etxmsl@tn.ericsson.se> wrote:
>Is there a newer MOD player than MOD ZAP that is capable to play .S3M files 
>for the Apple IIGS ?

.S3M files cannot be played on the Apple IIgs due to hardware limitations;
an S3M file can hve up to 32 tracks, and to swap a track with good quality
on the GS requires 3 of the Ensoniq's oscillators.  Given that 30 of the 32
are usable for playing sounds due to the volume defect in the last 2, that
gives you 10 tracks.  And then, with 10 tracks swapping on hand-tuned
bare-metal optmized code, play rates above 14-16,000 Hz on more than one
track will literaly require more CPU cycles than the GS can deliver (the
Zip doesn't help that much here, because most of those cycles are at 1 mhz
shoving data down $C03D anyway).

Thus, without some sort of sound board based on a newer chip, the GS cannot
properly reproduce S3M files.  This is not a flame on the GS, which I still
enjoy and am using at this moment to type this message, but it's simply 
beyond the poor old thing's capabilities.

--
Ian Schmidt - irsman@winternet.com - friendly neighborhood console programmer
    "Where would I be without IBM?" - P. Robb, Information Society