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336 lines
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| Technical News Association |
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| #3 |
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| The Gravis Ultrasound |
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| By: Mr. Wizzard |
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------------------------------------------------------------------
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Well this is the first text file in this newsletter. I was
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thinking about what I could write, and then I got a Gravis Ultrasound
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card. So I decided, what's better to write on that. So here it
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goes.
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Introduction
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~~~~~~~~~~~~
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The Gravis Ultrasound (GUS) is a sound card. For a long time,
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there has been a quest to reproduce music well, on the IBM PC. It
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started with cards like the Adlib. More advanced cards, that could
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also play back true, pre-recorded music, like the Sound Blaster then
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appeared. Other cards, like the Roland MT-32, became popular, and
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were much better than the Sound Blaster and Adlib, but also much more
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expensive. And so it had been until recently, when Gravis released
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its Ultra Sound card. It's sound quality surpasses that of the Sound
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Blaster, and Adlib, (Even Sound Blaster Pro, and Adlib Gold), and is
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nearly equivalent to that of a Roland MT-32. The difference being it
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is much cheaper. It lists at $199 (United States), and one can be
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bought at any old computer store for around $150.
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Features
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~~~~~~~~
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I figured I'd start the analysis of this card, by listing the
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features of the card as they are put on the back of the box, and the
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instructions, and then talking about each of them. This first
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section is just a LIST of features.
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Ultrasound - CD Quality Sound From Your PC.
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-Now you can add unheard of audio realism to your games and
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presentations. UltraSound is the most advanced sound technology
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available, delivering 16 bit, crystal clear sound to your IBM or
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compatible PC. True CD quality, wave table synthesis and stereo
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recording make UltraSound the ultimate sound solution.
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CD Quality Sound
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-UltraSound delivers 16 bit - 44.1 kHz sound with 96 db of
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dynamic range for true CD quality sound at an affordable price.
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32 Voices
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-Supports 32 digital and/or synthesized voices for richer sound
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effects and music quality.
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Windows Multimedia
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-UltraSound supports Windows Multimedia Extensions for added sound
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impact in presentations and business programs.
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UltraSound includes multi-source mixing capabilities and meets or
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exceeds MPC standards.
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Wave Table Synthesis
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-Step beyond the limitations of FM synthesis. Wave table synthesis
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is based on real sounds - it provides more realistic sound
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reproduction and an infinite range of musical instruments.
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Compatibility Plus
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-"Compatibility" is your assurance that UltraSound will work
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with existing games that support AdLib or Sound Blaster.
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"Plus" means UltraSound will provide better quality sound from sound
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files and games designed for other sound boards.
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Recording/Sampling
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-UltraSound features 8 bit digital rates from 2 to 44.1 kHz in either
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mono or stereo. Separate circuits allow for simultaneous recording
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and playback.
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Standard MIDI Interface
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-Industry standard MIDI interface (UART 6850) supports MIDI
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In, Out and Thru with an optional low cost cable adapter.
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Compatible with most MIDI programs.
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Joystick Port
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-Many of today's most popular games require a speed compensating game
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port when used on fast PC's. UltraSound's built-in speed
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compensating game port supports PC's up to a 50 Mhz 486 and beyond.
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Connect a second joystick with an optional "Y" cable.
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Amplified Output
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-Built-in 2 watt amplifier supports desktop dpeakers and headphones.
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Easy Installation
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-Installation software eliminates the confusion of jumpers and
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technical jargon. UltraSound provides full 16 bit bus
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support and can be installed in either an 8 or 16 bit expansion
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slot.
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256k Onboard Memory
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-Upgradeable to 1 megabyte with standard DIP memory chips.
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Optional Add-on Boards
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- 16 bit Stereo Recording*
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- CD ROM Interface*
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* Available Soon
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System Requirements
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-IBM PC or compatible XT, AT, 286, 386, or 486
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-DOS 3.0 or greater
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-286 or greater recommended
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-Hard disk recommended
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*Requirements for bonus software may vary.
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Software Included
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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This should be pretty straight forward. All the software takes
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up about 6 megs when installed. This is all taken from the box
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still.
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Ultrasound Studio 8(TM)
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-A desktop recording studio for playing, recording, mixing and
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customizing digital sound files.
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Windows (R) Driver
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-For use with Microsoft(R) Windows 3.1.
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Audio/Playdigi/Playfile
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-Three programs for playing and recording digital audio.
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Ultrafli
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-A program for sychronizing digitized sound with .fli format
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animations.
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Playmidi
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-A program for playing MIDI files.
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Also Includes
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-Sample Demo Music
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-Sequences & Sounds
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Feature Comparison
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Again this is taken from the back of the box. Information on
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the UltraSound, Sound Blaster, and Sound Blaster Pro has been
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confirmed by myself.
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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| Synthesized Voices | GUS | ADL | SB | ADLG | SBP |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Synthesized Voices | 32 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 22 |
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|------------------------------|-----<2D>|------|------|------|------|
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| FM / Wave Table Synthesis | Wave | FM | FM | FM | FM |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| CD Quality Sound | Yes | No | No | No | No |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Digital Audio Voices | 32 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Stereo Digital Voices | 16 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Stereo Synthesis | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| On-Card Memory | 256k | None | None | None | None |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Game Port (Sp = Speed Adj.) |Yes/Sp| No | Yes | ???? | Yes |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| MIDI Interface | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Stereo Sample Rate (kHz) |2-44.1| None | Mono |1-44.1| 4-22 |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| MPC & Windows 3.1 Compatible | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| Recording Resolution (Bits) | 8/16*| N/A | 8 | 12 | 8 |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| CD Rom Interface | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
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|------------------------------|------|------|------|------|------|
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| On-Board Mixer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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Critical Analysis
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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CD Quality Sound
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-Hey it's a great card, I love it, but CD's aren't in any danger from
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your IBM PC.
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32 Voices
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-Yes it seems to have 32 voices. No real way to check this I don't
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think.
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Windows Multimedia
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-Yes it is Windows Multimedia compatible. Was it easy to setup? No,
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but I'll talk about that more under the installation section.
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Wave Table Synthesis
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-This provides wonderful sound quality compared to FM Synthesis, even
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on some games and applications designed for the Sound Blaster and/or
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Adlib.
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Compatibility Plus
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-It is definately SB and Adlib Compatible, and the sound quality is
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better on applications designed for them, especially drum sounds.
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However, it's not like that with just the hardware, you need a
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special driver provided with the UltraSound (Look under the SBOS
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section for more details)
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Recording/Sampling
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-This works ok, but the included software (USS8) needs some work.
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There is somehow an addition of hiss when using that program in
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stereo mode, but PLAYFILE's record feature works flawlessly. I have
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played Digitally Sampled music and it works spectacularly. This
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includes .VOC, .WAV and Gravis's .SND format.
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Standard MIDI Interface
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-I can't really tell you much about this until they release the cable
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to go with it. I assume it'll work fine. You can also use the MIDI
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adapter for a Sound Blaster with it they say.
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Joystick Port
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-I use this port now. It functions very well on my 486-40. So it
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should work on just about anything. Even improved one game I play.
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Amplified Output
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-While it supposedly has less of an amp then the Sound Blaster or the
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SB Pro, I find it to be much louder than my SB and SBPro.
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256k Onboard Memory
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-Used for playing MIDI files. It's upgradeable to 1 meg using 256x4
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DRAM chips. You need 6 more to go to 1 meg. Some people have
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problems using the UltraSound with MIDI files that are complex with
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only 256k, but I've had no problem. It is also noted that there are
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no MIDI files on Gravis's BBS yet.
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System Requirements
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-Definately need a 286 and a Hard Drive. You must have 5.3 megs
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available to install all of the software.
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Installation
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~~~~~~~~~~~~
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I think this needs its own topic heading like this. While
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Gravis promises easy installation, it is anything but that in
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actuality. Granted all it was comprised of was using many different
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DMA and IRQ settings, it was still a rather annoying process to go
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through. All setup (except for port address) is through software
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fortunately. I settled on Port #220, DMA #1, Ultrasound IRQ #5, Midi
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IRQ #11. The IRQ's and port address are default, the DMA isn't. An
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added problem is that Gravis's setup program constantly hung up on
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me. I have since called Gravis's BBS (xxx)xxx-xxx and downloaded a
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new version that is supposed to not hang. It can also be obtained on
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either The Wall BBS or Skyline BBS (See #'s at the bottom of this
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file).
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Well Windows was also semi-difficult to set it up with too. I
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THOUGHT I had tried my above settings above without good results in
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Windows, but I suppose I was wrong. The drivers themselves are easy
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to install (Like all Windows drivers). Make sure you get rid of any
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Sound Blaster drivers if you are upgrading from one.
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In AUTOEXEC.BAT the following lines are the only ones that were
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added/changed. Gravis's Setup program will do it for you however.
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SET BLASTER=A220 I5 D1 T1
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{Author Comment: A = Address I = IRQ D = DMA and T = Type?}
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SET ULTRASND=220,1,1,11,5
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{Author Comment: Address, DMA, DMA, IRQ of Card, IRQ of MIDI}
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E:\ULTRASND\ULTRINIT
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SET ULTRADIR=E:\ULTRASND
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E:\ULTRASND is the directory I have my Ultra Sound files in. Yours
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would be different accordingly.
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SBOS (Sound Board Operating System)
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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This is a program included with the UltraSound, responsible for
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making it Sound Blaster compatible. I was disappointed that it must
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be done through software, but I'll live due to the quality of the
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board, and planned future support. The version with the UltraSound
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is 1.20. It worked just fine for me on all things I tried it with.
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However, others were having problems with it (As with all software),
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so new versions have been released (and more are promised). I
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have also tried version 1.22 Beta. It works the same for me, but
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others have said it works with some games and such that 1.20 did not
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work with. I now have version 1.2 Beta (as it is called). It
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included new instruments and other various info. The latest version
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of SBOS may be obtained from either the Wall BBS (908)294-8830 or
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Advanced Gravis's BBS (604)431-5927 anytime. The only minor flaw I
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have observed is that the digital sound effects (voices, etc) tend to
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be of a lower volume than the music. Others have also experienced
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this problem and Advanced Gravis knows of it. I suppose they will
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fix it in the future.
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Future Support
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Many companies (I won't bore you with a list) have pledged
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support for the UltraSound. Some (Like Electronic Arts) intend to
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release patches that will make their old games support the UltraSound
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in native mode. Sierra is currently the only major company that I
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know of that has not planned support for the card in the near future.
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Acknowledgments
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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-I would like to thank Advanced Gravis since most of this information
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comes either from the back of their box or from the docs.
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-I would also like to thank those people on Prodigy that are
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contributing to the wealth of information just being explored.
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Mr. Wizzard
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-------------------------------------------------------------
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Technical News Association Distribution Sites
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The Wall BBS (908)294-8830
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Skyline BBS (908)363-3832
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-------------------------------------------------------------
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