From: ptran@sciborg.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran)
Subject: Re: Please advise on GUS purchase
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 00:47:40 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.045406.13514@ncsu.edu> tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu (Tobin M. Creek) writes:
>
>I have an SB 2.0 right now which I find more than adequate for games.  I do
>a tiny amount of sampling (just enough to play a .voc in the background
>in OS/2) :).  I have StarControl II, which supports the Gravis UltraSound.
>
>Now I follow this group regularly, and I have a few questions.  Wanting to
>be the first on my block to have one, I have decided to buy an UltraSound.
>StrControl II gives me the closest thing that I need to a reason.
>I don't want to sell the SB, as perfect SB emulation is a must.
>
>Questions:
>1)  I know about the arguments between the PAS 16 crowd and the UltraSounders.
>Let's throw the SB16 in here as well.  I know the PAS and SB use FM, where the
>US uses wavetable synthesis.  Why should I buy one card over the other as
>far as technology is concerned?
>

FM synthesis as employed by the SB/SBPro/PAS-16/SB16 is hopelessly limited
to generating synthetic sounding instruments and sound effects.  Wavetable
synthesis can reproduce sounds with astonishing realism, since it 
uses samples of the original sounds.  On my Ultrasound, pianos sound like
pianos, guitars sound like guitars, and drums sound a hell of a lot like
drums.  

The drawbacks of FM synthesis is clearly evidenced by the fact that the
most popular form of music, even on FM-based cards, has been MODs.  MODs
are similar to wavetable synthesis, but they are only 8-bit and 4 channels
compared to the Ultrasound's 16-bit, 32 channel hardware.  MODs sound much
better than FM, and the Ultrasound sounds much better than MODs.

Furthermore, MOD playback through the DACs of FM cards is very cpu intensive
as the software has to resample instrument sounds to alter their pitch
and mix four channels into one.  One the GUS, all this tedium of wavetable
synthesis is handled by hardware.

>2)  How many companies will be supporting the UltraSound?  I know about EA,
>but have they delivered?  Will they?  Who else?
>
>Who will game makers support now that all of these 16-bit boards are
>out there: the US, the SB16, or the PAS?  Examples welcome.
>
>2)  I know some have gotten the US and a SoundBlaster to co-exist.  I don't
>want softare emulation that sounds funny, nor do I want to load any drivers
>unless I absolutely have to, so I am going to keep the SB 2.0.  Can someone
>advise me on the problems they encountered in doing so?
>

While I've been able to get my SB and GUS to coexist, others haven't been
as successful.  The trick is to make sure that nothing on one card
overlaps with the other.  I use different base addresses, different DMA
channels, and different IRQ's for both cards.

One problem I'm experiencing is that certain programs that ask for an 
Adlib card do not recognize the SB as Adlib-compatible.  You may think
that very few programs require the Adlib specifically, but many games
only use the SoundBlaster as an Adlib card.  Falcon 3.0, for example,
plays FM music only through the SoundBlaster's Adlib registers.
I've had some success in getting these types of programs to work
properly by running SBOS and uninstalling it immediately.

>3)  About how many companies have pledged to write for the UltraSound?
>I know about EA, etc.  Do you think they will really deliver?   Have they?
>
>4)  How does the thing SOUND???  Does StarCon II make you want to give up
>chocolate?  Any other games to comment on?
>

The GUS sounds great!  Orders of magnitudes better than what I've heard
from FM-based boards and MOD files.  The difference is very noticeable.

>5)  Ok, so it looks good for the US at this point.  Where can I buy one and
>wait no longer than 2 weeks?  Best price through mail-order wanted here.
>
>Please E-mail replies, as I have a program due this week.
>
>Send replies to:               | My opinions do not represent
>     tmcreek@eos.ncsu.edu      | anyone who does not feel the
>     creek-tm@aza.csc.ncsu.edu | same way as I do.

Phat.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard