From: knepley@CS.ColoState.EDU (Ranseus (Jim Knepley))
Subject: Re: Sound boards
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1992 19:25:51 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University

In article <1992Dec28.163330.3085@seas.gwu.edu> brad@seas.gwu.edu (Bradford J. Crane) writes:
>	Alright, here is a question I have for all of you:
>	1. Does the GUS have speech capability?
  Yup.  Had it talk'in to me earlier today.
>	2. Can you play different sounds other than music? - in other words,
>what kind of wave table synthesis does it use?
  If I understand your question, the GUS loads patches (digital samples) into
on-board RAM.  The patch can be anything, voice, sound, guns, whatever, so
yes, it can play sounds other than music.

>	Here is my point: usually, sound cards sound better because they use
>digitized samples or wave systhesis.... therefore, does the GUS sacrifice other
>abilities, like the DAC converters on the SBPro for this sound... if so, then
>why the hell is the card better, no offense, but my SBPro sounds pretty great
>to me, and I think that digitized music does not sound as good, but it does
>sound more realistic.

1.  FM cards (such as the soundblaster) typically sound better because they
use more than just the 4 operators to generate tones.  You're most likely
comparing your card with the AdLib, which is really the bottom of the line
now (don't get me wrong, I had one, they're great, just outdated).

2.  You've got what, 2 DACs?  So that equates to 2 digital channels (left
and right, I assume).  I'm less familiar with GUS hardware, but I've got
16 digital stereo voices.  I don't think GUS uses a DAC as we think of them,
anyone know for sure? 

3.  The GUS is CD quality (16 bit, 44.1khz) -- the SBPro isn't.  That's why
your digital music doesn't sound as good as your .CMF files.  For me, what
I digitize is exactly what I hear back (to a point, I don't have really good
speakers). 

>Please respond to this, I do wish to know whether or
>not the GUS uses digitized music files..... and what is wrong with a wave 
>synthesis chip anyway?  And what does make the GUS better, and don't just say
>the sound, because if it only make instruments sound better, than big deal.

Strong points of the GUS:
  Low cost (got mine for $139)
  CD quality
  Wave-table synth instead of FM syth (which sound fake)
  Compatible with AdLib, Soundblaster, and maybe SBPro (I'm not sure)
  Sampling, mixing, blah, blah, blah (a lot like the SBPro for features)
Weak points of the GUS:
  Emulated FM sounds sometimes sound HORRIBLE, usually ok though.
  5 megs of disk space for the patches and demo stuff.
  General lack of industry support as of now, so it's basically a SB.
    only 1 game supports native mode (Star Control 2)    
  NO HARDWARE VOLUME CONTROL.  The SB emulator manages through user
    definable hotkeys, but in native mode, you're on your own.  Getting
    amplified speakers would solve this.
  Occasional incompatibility.  I've heard of machines that don't like the
    GUS.  Then again, that's the case with a lot of sound cards.


So yea, it sounds better and does everything that the SB can.  The price/
performance ratio is tremendous, and you can wow your friends.

Now you know.  There's nothing wrong with the SBPro, it's a good card, I
almost got one (support is worth it to me).  I took a gamble on the
popularity of the GUS and I hope it pays off.

Jim
-- 
----- knepley@cs.colostate.edu --------------- Boycott Colorado -------------
 Jim "Ranseus" Knepley |  Avoid rectal-cranial inversion. 
 Programmer, magician, |  "Gun's don't kill, it's those bullet things"   
 computer geek.        |  
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