VOGONS


First post, by matze79

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Hi,

i made something really easy, a Covox Speech Thing on ISA Bus Card.
Using AD7524 Digital to Analog Converters and a simple Output Buffer with LM358.
It sounds really nice.

To get it recognized one simply has to modify BIOS Table and enter the Port Adress of each Channel.
This is done with debug.

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A2 to A9 is connected to 8Bit Comperators, so you can set your IO Adress freely.
I tested already a Lot of Software but had no time yet to to make Recordings!
It does not need a IRQ like a real LPT Port.

Note i know it makes not that much sense as you also can play your MOD Files with a Stereo Soundblaster.
But its fun to try things out.

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Stereo Playback works fine with Visual Player and some others, and it sounds nice.

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Maybe i have time to do the recordings tomorrow!
I also will Open Source this Project.
So everyone can build one.

EDIT:
https://youtu.be/FnlOKTi11Zk
Mod Editor from 1992 playing some Files in Stereo.

Last edited by matze79 on 2020-10-02, 13:01. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 1 of 35, by Jo22

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Really cool! By the way, if it had 4 of them, it could play back original 4ch Pro Tracker files "natively". :)
ModPlay Pro has such a four channel feature, I believe.
Or was it an option in the config file only?
I vaguely remember there was an ASM section in that file, where someone could add own code.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

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Reply 2 of 35, by matze79

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Crazy 😀

I will look into it, but i`m not be able to add support for it.
But just using two of this Cards it would be possible 😀

My P60 is be able to Mix with 46khz each Channel, but vplay does not allow more Khz.
The 486DX4 100 seems to struggle bit with this.

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its really a easy Circuit.

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 4 of 35, by Grzyb

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-09-29, 17:33:

ModPlay Pro has such a four channel feature, I believe.

Exactly:

     -xq
Similar to -xs, allowing four D/A converters - this gives the Best
possible quality! But it may not work too well on slower computers.
Use -xq(address1)(address2)(address3)(address4) [ Example
-xq3003BC2F93DC would play to D/As at 0300, 03BC, 02F9 and 03DC.]
As with -xs, all the addresses must be different!

Come to think of it, it would be nice to have a card with four DACs:
- outputs of DAC 1 and 4 mixed into left channel
- outputs of DAC 2 and 3 mixed into right channel
Yes, mixing should be performed in the analog domain, just like in Amiga, so to recreate the .MOD playing experience from the original platform.

Kiełbasa smakuje najlepiej, gdy przysmażysz ją laserem!

Reply 5 of 35, by matze79

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I`m eager to try it!
then it would make sense to optimize the address decoding circuit ! 😀

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 6 of 35, by root42

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matze79 wrote on 2020-09-29, 20:13:

I`m eager to try it!
then it would make sense to optimize the address decoding circuit ! 😀

That would also give us quadrophonic sound. 😀

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Reply 7 of 35, by Benedikt

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root42 wrote on 2020-09-29, 21:13:
matze79 wrote on 2020-09-29, 20:13:

I`m eager to try it!
then it would make sense to optimize the address decoding circuit ! 😀

That would also give us quadrophonic sound. 😀

But how do I squeeze four speakers into my two ears?

Reply 8 of 35, by root42

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Benedikt wrote on 2020-09-30, 09:58:
root42 wrote on 2020-09-29, 21:13:

That would also give us quadrophonic sound. 😀

But how do I squeeze four speakers into my two ears?

Indeed there were quadrophonic headphones: http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadhead.htm

However as we know quadrophonic sound didn't prevail and was instead later superseded by the Dolby 5.1 and similar systems for home cinema systems...

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Reply 9 of 35, by Jo22

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root42 wrote on 2020-09-30, 11:03:
Benedikt wrote on 2020-09-30, 09:58:
root42 wrote on 2020-09-29, 21:13:

That would also give us quadrophonic sound. 😀

But how do I squeeze four speakers into my two ears?

Indeed there were quadrophonic headphones: http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadhead.htm

However as we know quadrophonic sound didn't prevail and was instead later superseded by the Dolby 5.1 and similar systems for home cinema systems...

I know this is slightly off-topic, but dummy head recordings worked fine with stereo headphones.
The idea was to record music and sounds with a dummy head that resembled the human hearing more or less faithfully.
Cheap versions used two studio microphones with a wall inbetween for separation..

Anyway, the result is very realistic and much more natural than Dobly and Quadrophony.. but only with headphones.
Perhaps that's why it vanished. Remember the "loudness wars" a few years ago. No place for high SNR and dynamic, sadly.

Here are two sample recordings by Sennheiser, a once quality heaphones maker:
English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIKKc8zcOA
German: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QK3CaYsacw

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 10 of 35, by cyclone3d

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Jo22 wrote on 2020-09-30, 11:39:
I know this is slightly off-topic, but dummy head recordings worked fine with stereo headphones. The idea was to record music a […]
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root42 wrote on 2020-09-30, 11:03:
Benedikt wrote on 2020-09-30, 09:58:

But how do I squeeze four speakers into my two ears?

Indeed there were quadrophonic headphones: http://www.surrounddiscography.com/quaddisc/quadhead.htm

However as we know quadrophonic sound didn't prevail and was instead later superseded by the Dolby 5.1 and similar systems for home cinema systems...

I know this is slightly off-topic, but dummy head recordings worked fine with stereo headphones.
The idea was to record music and sounds with a dummy head that resembled the human hearing more or less faithfully.
Cheap versions used two studio microphones with a wall inbetween for separation..

Anyway, the result is very realistic and much more natural than Dobly and Quadrophony.. but only with headphones.
Perhaps that's why it vanished. Remember the "loudness wars" a few years ago. No place for high SNR and dynamic, sadly.

Here are two sample recordings by Sennheiser, a once quality heaphones maker:
English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbIKKc8zcOA
German: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QK3CaYsacw

I'd say Sennheiser makes excellent quality headphones. My current set is the HD630VB.

I thought the Momentus 1.0 over ear set was really nice until I got this pair.

Yamaha modified setupds and drivers
Yamaha XG repository
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Reply 11 of 35, by SodaSuccubus

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Didn't COVOX make an official product simmiler to this at one point?

I swore one of their Sound Master products had Covox-on-card capabilities.

Reply 12 of 35, by matze79

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Yes they had, also Rainbow Arts Soundman has R2R Ladder, and a Aztech Card has also has Disney Soundsource and Covox Support.
I think Covox Voice Master Device also has R2R ?

There is a Covox Card Clone by Fagear with AY Soundchip which should also do Covox Speech Thing Sound.

With this Card you can also play Alone in the Dark and some other Games with Digital Audio.
If you set IO Port right.

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 13 of 35, by Nitroraptor53

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Could this be adapted to MCA?

Reply 14 of 35, by matze79

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for sure, but i have no idea about mca.
But its simply memory mapped so yes it should not be so hard.

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 15 of 35, by Nitroraptor53

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Neat! I might be getting an IBM PS/2 model 90 soon so that would be nice.

Reply 16 of 35, by matze79

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https://youtu.be/FnlOKTi11Zk

First recordings using Mod File Editor from 1992.
I`m not sure how much Khz it does.

Running on P3 650Mhz

I will do another with Visual Player 2.0, which does 46Khz~

Last edited by matze79 on 2020-10-03, 20:43. Edited 1 time in total.

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 17 of 35, by matze79

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Visual Player 2.0 - Ecstacy.mod - Stereo 44Khz
https://youtu.be/qWZV97xx3eA

Visual Player 2.0 - CEBIT90.mod - Stereo 44Khz
https://youtu.be/hvpyohpkQ3E

Crystal Dreams 2 - Dual Mono / 62Khz
https://youtu.be/9P1nS3z2giU

Running on Pentium 60Mhz

https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board

Reply 18 of 35, by Jo22

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Sounds great!

Now make another one with an on-board tube amp!

http://www.elexs.de/ef954.htm

These battery tubes also exist in a tiny form with wires coming out of the glass valve.

😉

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 19 of 35, by matze79

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Testing a new Mount:

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https://www.retrokits.de - blog, retro projects, hdd clicker, diy soundcards etc
https://www.retroianer.de - german retro computer board