I dunno, is there a changelog? 😉
Actually, the 2, 4, and 8MB soundfonts that come with Live! and Audigy cards are the 2, 4, and 8MB ECW banks, converted to SoundFont format. 😀
Yes, it’s my fault.
wrote:I dunno, is there a changelog? 😉
Not that I know of, but I found this in the readme file:
" New Features in Vienna 2.3
- Now, you can double click a sample and the assigned Wave
editor will be automatically started to edit the sample.
- You can have up to 4 MIDI controller bars to send real-time
controller messages to your MIDI synth. By default, only
1 controller bar is active. You can activate the other
MIDI controller bars via the View command on the menu."
Pretty lame, I'd say, or least, not that important except maybe the second feature.
wrote:Actually, the 2, 4, and 8MB soundfonts that come with Live! and Audigy cards are the 2, 4, and 8MB ECW banks, converted to SoundFont format. 😀
Really?! Who'd of Thought?! Are you referring to the 2GMGSMT, 4GMGSMT, and 8GMGSMT soundfonts? Not sure what the 8 meg one is called, because I've never had a Live! before only an AWE64 Gold, which came with the 2GMGSMT & 4GMGSMT soundfonts. Didn't E-MU make those soundfonts? Or are they yet another conglomerate of Creative like Ensoniq?
Yes, I'm nearly positive that they are the same. E-mu is owned by Creative.
Yes, it’s my fault.
I'd love to substitute my current Roland SCC-1 + MT-32 setup for a Roland CM-500!
My ideal setup would be:
SB16 + Yamaha DB50XG Daughterboard
MPU-401/AT to a CM-500
Gravis GUS (or GUSMax)
Currently, I'm using the SB16 and SCC-1 + MT-32, ; I'm getting a GUSMax shipped to me; and I'm still looking for a CM-500 and DB50XG.... Anybody know where I can find one of those? Or both? 😁
wrote:hmm...some interesting tidbits on ISA sound cards; its been some time since a worthwhile thread has appeared about this subject. Anyways, speaking of ECW banks, does anyone know how to convert them to .SF2,.SBK, or DLS? Namely, I am referring to the eapci2m.ecw, eapci4m.ecw, or eapci8m.ecw waveset files. I tried two programs: Audio Compositor & Awave Studio, but alas, neither are able to recognize the .ecw format.
The specs on the ECW format were never released. It was a tragic thing too cuz many people wanted to make custom banks.
A tool was promised by never actually released.
wrote:I dunno, is there a changelog? 😉
Actually, the 2, 4, and 8MB soundfonts that come with Live! and Audigy cards are the 2, 4, and 8MB ECW banks, converted to SoundFont format. 😀
I STRONGLY doubt that. The ECW banks were made by Ensoniq for AudioPCI. The Soundfonts came with the SB cards back to the SBAWE and SB32 I believe and were made by EMU. Long before either company had anything to do with each other.
The ECW banks also sound terrible compared to the soundfonts. I believe the AudioPCI had horrific MIDI capabilities, and so did the DOS MIDI emulator driver (that the AudioPCI, Live, and Audigy use). I'd imagine Ensoniq tailored those ECW sets to the limited capabilities of the hardware as best they could, and they never got it right (I went from a Soundscape to an AudioPCI....uhhhg)
Actually I think the DOS Ensoniq driver is literally the AudioPCI emulated. The chip was like today's plain CODECs. It didn't have any hardware and relied almost entirely on software to make sound. So, they probably took the Windows drivers and retooled them for DOS. I have the tech docs somewhere...
edit: I found the ES1370 tech docs if you want a complicated read. Can't remember where I found this.....
http://home.new.rr.com/swaaye/es1370.rar
Ok... So maybe it's not my *favorite* sound card. But it is fairly close to my heart and brings back some memories. Here's a pic:
Where's the soundcard, you say? Hehe... Look closer.
Holy Ancient Junk, Batman! Indeed... Back from the dead... Straight from the land of parallel port DAC's... It's the Covox Speech Thing.
(so I cheated... It's not really an ISA card. Oh well, it's even older than any ISA sound card.)
Oh my. Now that's pure retro energy there.
I've never even seen one of those. I remember reading game requirements back then though and seeing that little fellow mentioned.
What exactly does that produce for sound? "Speech" implies digital sample playback........
wrote:Oh my. Now that's pure retro energy there.
I've never even seen one of those. I remember reading game requirements back then though and seeing that little fellow mentioned.
What exactly does that produce for sound? "Speech" implies digital sample playback........
A PC parallel port has eight 1bit data lines. So it can essentially output 8bit audio samples to whatever D/A converter is hooked up. The sampling rate is determined by how fast the CPU can stobe the port. 286's could manage about 16KHz.
The actual quality of the Covox is decently clean, you just need a strong amp as the Covox is passive and produces a weak signal. Other do-it-yourself DAC kits got pretty complex and used cleaner DAC's along with powered amplifiers.
The Adlib card, then Sound Blaster essentially forced Covox out of business.
My first sound card was a Sound Master + by Covox. Pretty decent card, adLib compatible and it even featured a DAC (also Speech Thing(tm) compatible). Too bad, too litle games used it. I remember when I first played "Alone in the dark" with it and I had to pickup my jaw from the floor. 😳
