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How to code for various Sound Cards

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First post, by _aLfa_

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I'm posting this information here because I believe that someone could use it to improve the sound routines in DOSBox. I could be wrong, but if I am wrong then this information might brighten some lost minds over there about the various methods to code for various sound cards.
I do some reverse engineering, but only in software, not hardware, and sometimes I find that by knowing what the compiler does, I can improve my decompiler 😀

The first one is the Disney Sound Source (SS). This is not exactly a sound card, but I put it here anyway, because there are actually some games that support it. By the way, this may be compatible with Covox Speech Thing or self built devices using the parallel port: http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/dacs.html
http://thorkildsen.no/faqsys/docs/progss.txt

Creative Music System GameBlaster:
http://thorkildsen.no/faqsys/docs/gameblst.txt

OPL2 Based Synths:
http://thorkildsen.no/faqsys/docs/adlib_sb.txt

OPL3 Based Synths:
http://thorkildsen.no/faqsys/docs/opl3.txt

GUS (Gravis UltraSound):
http://thorkildsen.no/faqsys/docs/gus.txt

I don't have direct info on how to code for Roland devices, but you can have a look to this link:
SCC: http://personal.inet.fi/peli/militarist/scc1-e.html

I'll try to keep this post updated as soon as I gather more info 😀

"I only know that I know nothing..."

Reply 2 of 5, by _aLfa_

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No need to thank, I just hope that its helpfull in any way to the emulator scheme 😀
Anyway I believe that the authors already knew these documents or some better ones 😀

"I only know that I know nothing..."

Reply 3 of 5, by HunterZ

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I'm pretty sure that the Disney Sound Source and Covox devices are incompatable (at least somewhat). DOSBox is supposed to have DSS emulation, but when I try to run games in Covox Voice or Sound Master modes I don't hear anything.

I don't have any DSS-capable games installed though, so I can't verify that it's working as it should.

It would be nice if Covox emulation were added to DOSBox, as it is really more widely supported by old games than is the Disney Sound Source. Of course, my experience is limited, as I've never seen (let alone used) either of these crude D/A devices. When I was a kid, I did try to build one of the homemade ones once for use with a primitive DOS text-based mod tracker, but I never could get it (my D/A device) to work. I didn't know anything about electronics at the time - I just had a dad who was an electrical engineer in the telecommunications industry, so he was able to get the D/A chip for me.

Reply 4 of 5, by jal

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HunterZ wrote:

I just had a dad who was an electrical engineer in the telecommunications industry, so he was able to get the D/A chip for me.

The easiest way to make a Speechthing yourself was soldering a bunch of resistors to a printerconnector. See e.g. http://www.tkk.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/dacs.html.

JAL

Reply 5 of 5, by HunterZ

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Fascinating! I wish I knew about that back in the day. I was trying to make something like the one he shows on that page with a DAC chip. I didn't have anything but the chip and a headphone jack from what I recall, so I was probably missing a few parts (capacitors, resistors, power supply maybe).

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