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Re: AlphaSyntauri
Simon D. Williams wrote:
On Wed, 2 Aug 2006, RichardK wrote:
I just, finally, got my hands on an AlphaSyntauri (eBay, wish me luck -
I don't know yet whether it works or when it will get here. It was $89).
It appears complete; keyboard, small PCB for the controller, couple of
PCBs which I guess are the music cards (linked with a ribbon; it's
really hard to see on the pictures), manual, looks like a lightpen.
Congratulations... that's a lot less than mine cost (of course we weren't
bidding against each other this time ;-)
If it was the same one, I was offered that outside of eBay before it was
listed; I was gutted to see it go up. However, I have no idea if mine
will work and I've paid $175 for express shipping so I find out sooner.
My gut feeling is that the pictures showed the cards in a box, it's been
unused for 15 years, and they looked carefully packed. So, they will
probably work.
The keyboard I'm getting is the 61 key model.
Anyway; I don't know if it has discs. Hard to find?
I have them all (as far as I know) archived on my site:
http://8bitsoundandfury.ld8.org/hardware.html#alphasyntauri
With the exception of one disc which is copy protected (I think it for
creating Hammond B3 wavetables).
Damn, a B3 would be a nice keyboard to emulate. I need to know more
about the wavetables, I think.
There's also the Mountain software (the two conjoined cards are the
Mountain synthesizer), which is what the light-pen is for... mine doesn't
work all that well, so I've never used that feature.
I hope the light pen works with a Monitor ///!
The only other hardware you might want (AFAIK) are a pair footswitches
with 1/4" jacks (which appear to be pretty generic) and a set of Apple II
game paddles, but those are probably only necessary if you plan to do any
live performances.
I have a //e I'm going to use for the system (unenhanced) - I might seek
out a ][plus or Europlus for authenticity in images, but they fetch
decent money this side of the pond now. I don't have any paddles, I do
have footswitches.
I'm working on an article based on it - what I'm most curious about is
the DX-1 sampling card - what would one of these be worth? Mark Glinsky
is selling one and a couple of AlphaSyntauris, prices are... well, I
expect they're nearer the upper end of the market. But I'd like to see a
DX-1.
Applefritter was selling them for $20 for the longest time... I wish I'd
have bought a few spares... There's nothing particularly special about the
DX-1, it's just an 8-bit DAC. Samples are limited to what will fit in RAM
(doesn't support AUXMEM), sampling rate can go _really low_ which is nice,
but it's still plenty gritty at the highest rates. Oddly enough it works
better using just the Apple's built-in keyboard; the Syntauri KB causes it
to sound "thinner" and doesn't allow for reverse sample playback.
Damn, I'd have loved to get my hands on one, as they were used to
produce the samples for my drum machine. If anyone has one they'll part
with - even for a little while - I'd like to learn how the software
behaved with it and try to work out the methods used for sampling.
Incredibly, I need to get a bloody disk drive; I just realised I have a
duodisk, but no controller or cable, and no Disk ][s!
Richard
--
RichardK - http://www.dmc12.demon.co.uk/ - retro, music, cars.
2006 Mazda RX8, 1992 Sera Phase III -= Do Not Tempt With New Cars =-
"If the thought of something makes me giggle for more than 15 seconds I
am to assume I am not allowed to do it". * 64 is 128 for email *