First post, by madmab
I'm tweaking around with the x-port version of Dosbox and while adding the mt32 sound patch I noticed something. Actually I noticed it when enabling GUS sound in certain games but just didn't make a connection at the time.
What I'm trying to figure out is if the xbox processor speed is a factor or if there is some sorta tweak I can make (to the sound buffer, or whatever) to fix my little issue.
As we know the xbox is a 733 MHz Intel Pentium III processor.
Sound for dosbox is currently set to 22050 same for mt32.
Dynamic Recompiler Core being used.
Here are a few games and scenarios..
Ultima Underworlds 1. One of my favorite games but also a bane to my testing since it likes to act up on me the most. (See my future analog stick as mouse thread).
This game runs silky smooth at 9000 cpu cycles speed.
SB16 music - slight stutter on opening title music but after that fine.
MT32 music - stutters quite a bit on opening music.
So I bumped down the cpu cycles to 6000.. not quite as smooth but decent
SB16 music - perfect
MT32 music - much better, occasional stutter on opening tiitle music
Star Wars - Dark Forces.
I forget the exact cycle speed I got it running at. Somewhere between 10,100-10,200. Not super smooth, but playable.
SB16 music - fine (if it did stutter I don't remember)
GUS music - this is when I noticed the stuttering.
I havent fooled around with lowering the cycles to see if the GUS music improves but I'd be willing to bet that will do the trick.
Elder Scrolls Arena
I'll have to get more information for this and dark forces as well. For now I'll just leave it in the list so I remember to check it.
Other games do just fine with mt32 or sb16 music. For example 1869, Castles 1 & 2, Battle Chess II, Space Quest VGA Remake (one small stutter), Colonel's Bequest, and Dagger of Amna Ra all play mt32 music just great.
Im thinking that when the cycles are set higher it's leaving less time for the sound drivers/code to do their thing. So they end up playing catchup. Hence the stuttering sound? It doesn't sound like any of the notes for the music are being dropped.. More like it will repeat a part for a second or two before it continues (no freezes in the game though).
So lowering the cycles leave the xbox "cpu" more free time to deal with the sound?
Does the dosbox code do some adjusting to how the sound samples are processed depending on how the cycles are set?
Im basically trying to determine if there are some coding changes I can make to help alleviate the issue (something I overlooked) or if I'm simply gonna be stuck with having to find the best balance between cpu cycles, game speed, and picking a sound card that works the best.
Thanks