HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: davecole@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Cole)
Subject: Some Info Re: Disney Sound Source 
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 11:08:21 GMT

In article <1af11uINNe38@fido.asd.sgi.com> autry@sgi.com (Larry Autry) writes:
>In article <1992Oct01.121116.10207@kub.nl> NVOGTEN@KUBVX1.KUB.NL (U092 774111 vogten) writes:
>>Disney is a co-vox compatible music interface that will let you get music
>>from you lpt? port. It is supported bij Modplay, screamtracker and some games.
>>(Like Operation wold 3d)
>
>Are you saying that the Covox and Disney are functionally the same?
>If so, you differ from the article outlining the sound boards.  Can
>anyone confirm this one way or the other?
>
>So, what if they are the same?  It would benefit "wanting" Sound
>Source owners if Sound Thing compatible applications could be used by
>them.
>
>
>From the September article on sound boards:

(quotes article)


I try to keep the list of soundcards reasonably accurate, but of course I
don't own all the cards and rely mostly on reports seen here and in the press
for info.  But I do have a Disney Sound Source.  As far as I can tell, I got
it right in the list:  it is not compatible with ANY OTHER parallel port DAC,
including the Covox.

I think the reason is this: the Disney is not powered off the port.  It gets
its power from a 9-volt battery.  In order to conserve power, it was designed
to be turned on and off by a signal on the port.  So you can dump data out the
port all you want, and unless the Sound Source gets turned on by something it
hears, it is silent (not unlike some people).  I don't know just how it is
controlled, maybe someone can mention that on this newsgroup.

There is a Win 3.1 driver available for the Sound Source so you can play .wav
files through it (driver is on ftp.cica.indiana.edu, probably elsewhere, as 
sndsrc.zip -- are there any other drivers?).  This driver lets you choose when
you install it whether to have the power on for the entire windows session, or
only for each sound event (turning it on and off makes a noise that one might
want to avoid even at the expense of battery life).
 "Sputter" and other DOS multiformat sound file players support the Sound
Source.  So you can play about any sound file through it under windows or DOS.

I do not have any games that support Covox, but I would be very
surprised if they would work with the Sound Source.  Some Disney games support
it, some older ones don't.  "Dick Tracy" has tons of voice and sound effects
on the Sound Source; I expect "Arachnophobia" (bought off $5 rack, not tried
yet) to have a moderate amount of sound.  The little kids games "Mickeys ABCs"
etc. make very good use of the card, but hopefully aren't of much direct
interest to readers of this group.  But may be to their dependents.
I'm on my 2nd or 3rd 9-volt in about a year (mileage varies).  

And I have not tried
playing mods through it -- has anyone?

Cheers,

Dave Cole
dcole@ua.d.umn.edu
From: mir@chorus.chorus.fr (Adam Mirowski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Re: Recording steree 44Khz,, 16bit? Disk can't keep up.
Date: 6 Oct 92 17:29:00 GMT
Organization: Chorus systemes, St Quentin en Yvelines, France
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

adhir@cygnus.umd.edu (Alok Dhir) writes:
: 
: I am using Hyperdisk 4.32 under Dos/Win3.1 and it has been working flawlessly
: for about a month now.  It is *MUCH* faster than smardrv.exe under Dos.  I
: can't really tell the difference under Win3.1.  

One month!!! Give me a break. I was using 4.21 and 4.31 for more
than a year. It didn't crash EVERY time at the beginning, but those
crashes became more important last times, especially with Borland
C++ (which certainly has its own faults). All problems disappeared
with Win 3.1 smartdrv. Obviously Hyperdisk doesn't handle conflicts
with 286 (BC++) and 386 (Win) DOS extenders very well.

Could you indicate a tool that will show that Hyperdisk is better
than Smartdrv?  Not CoreTest, pleeeeeease.

: The point here is that just because you had some problems with it doesn't mean
: it's a bad program.

So what is a bad program?

: It has many more features than Smartdrv and is faster...

Yes, hotkeys. Do you want me to disable the cache before
entering such a disk intensive program as Borland recent
compilers (VROOM, lots of include files, huge .SYM files,
etc)?

: AND is trouble free.

Apparently no.

: If you don't trust it, so be it, but "don't believe 
: blindly that" commercial "products must be necessarily better than" share-
: ware "products."

I didn't say that, but it isn't necessarily wrong.

There are lots of programmers on this net which naturally feel
sympathy towards free- and shareware. A bit of objectivity is
sometimes necessary in front of evidence.

-- 
Adam Mirowski,  mir@chorus.fr (FRANCE),  tel. +33 (1) 30-64-82-00 or 74
Chorus systemes, 6, av.Gustave Eiffel, 78182 Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines CEDEX
From: kayser@cmu.unige.ch
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: MAILORDER ADDRESSES FOR SOUNDCARDS ETC.?????
Date: 6 Oct 92 14:56:45 GMT
Organization: University of Geneva, Switzerland

I am on the verge of buying my first soundcard for musicsynthesis (MIDI)
as well as multimedia use.
What mailorder houses are specialized in sound? Are there specially
good mailorder places?
Thanks a lot,
Bengt.
From: sherman@ecadsr.enet.dec.com (My name is...)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Re: Midi and the PAS-16
Date: 5 Oct 92 22:21:56 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation


In article <1992Oct5.124816.11969@cci632.cci.com>, pjb@cci632.cci.com (Phil Busardo) writes...
>Will the midi cable supplied with the SB-Pro work for the PAS-16?
> 
>If so, where can I get such a cable?
> 
MIDImate from MediaVision is an add-on box that hooks up to the joystick port.
Works for a PAS16 and is supposed to work on SB.  You can order it from MV.
I suppose it can be bought in computer stores.

Steve
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: jonathan@nova.decio.nd.edu (Jonathan Bradshaw)
Subject: Re: Looking for Trakblaster Pro (?)
Keywords: MOD files, stereo, Sound Blaster
Organization: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1992 03:48:26 GMT

In article <1992Oct3.080236.25032@ucsu.Colorado.EDU> gonzaled@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (LGV/MC) writes:
>A friend of mine recently purchased a PAS16 which came with something
>called "TrakBlaster Pro" (sp?) ...I'm familiar with TrakBlaster 2.0
>and wondering, is the software bundled with PAS16 the stereo version of
>regular TrakBlaster 2.0?  If so, is it compatible with the Sound Blaster
>Pro?

Yes and no. Yes, its the stereo version but no, it will ONLY work with the
PAS16 as it uses the MVSOUND.SYS device driver for the PAS.
--
 Jonathan Bradshaw | jonathan@nova.decio.nd.edu -or- jbradsh2@darwin.cc.nd.edu
  Packet: n9oxe@n0ary.#nocal.ca.usa.na | Prodigy: XMSN02B | (Os/2)(DOS)(Linux)
  WNDU-AM/FM/TV South Bend, IN | Disclaimer "My opinions are not my employers"
  - "Busy life, not enough time to look in the mirror." - Deborah Ann Gibson -
From: goyal@utdallas.edu (Mohit K. Goyal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Re: Where to buy Ultrasound?
Date: 6 Oct 92 18:19:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: utdallas.1992Oct6.181939.5912
Organization: Univ. of Texas at Dallas

>Spiros
>(with a real sb pro)
>
What's a "fake" sb pro?  :)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: johnf@scd.hp.com (John Flowers)
Subject: DSP on disk recordings
Organization: Hewlett-Packard
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Tue, 6 Oct 1992 19:32:04 GMT

Ok, now that I have a PAS 16, I would like to record something, then
play it back pitch shifted but with the same tempo.  This would require
some sort of digital signal processing.

I am an electrical engineer and programmer, so what I need to hear/read
about is the function that would either be done in software or on some
DSP chip I could port on a board in my PC.

This would follow the thread on simultaneous playback and record, a sort
of realtime harmonizer.  But since I don't have such a beast, I posted
this as a seperate message.

--
*********************************************************************
*   John P. Flowers            _\|/_______________________          *
*   johnf@scd.hp.com            /|\ We can tell how                 *
*   HP Santa Clara Division         far gone you are!               * 
*   Laser R&D                                                       *
*   q: What's the difference between hardware and software ?        *
*   a: You can't kick the software.....                             *
*********************************************************************
From: ehobbs@nmt.edu (Eric Hobbs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: 2nd Request:  Info on Gravis Ultrasound
Date: 3 Oct 92 19:13:49 GMT
Organization: New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology


Hi again.

I here lots of people talking about the GUS, but even though I asked before,
nobody has given me any specs (including price) on it.

As before, any info will be appreciated.

Thanks

Eric Hobbs
ehobbs@jupiter.nmt.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: luyten@fwi.uva.nl (Hans Luyten)
Subject: SoundBlaster questions
Organization: FWI, University of Amsterdam
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 13:52:57 GMT

I need some more info on soundblaster...

1. What do people mean with FM ?
2. Can you play *.mod files from the amiga with soundblaster
3. is the CD-ROM drive with the multimedia package compatible with
   other PC-CD-ROMs ?? (FileFormat,etc. !)
4. Is SoundBlaster capable of sampling sounds (CD/Tape/etc.)
5. The CD-ROM controller is a SCSI ? If Yes,.. can I plug
   a Syquest removable on it without problems ??

That's it...

			Hans
-- 
*************************************************************************
Home: Hans Luyten, 't Hofflandt 36, 4851TC Ulvenhout, The Netherlands !!!  
      University of Amsterdam / University of Tilburg            Holland
*************************************************************************
From: tooraj@daneel.rdt.monash.edu.au (Tooraj Enayati)
Subject: Re: Analog to Digital for LPTx
Organization: Monash University, Melb., Australia.
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1992 09:16:16 GMT

thanos@uni2a.unige.ch writes:

>Hello everybody,
>Does anyone know how to construct an analog to digital convertor
>for the parallel port of my PC...
>I.e. 8-bit...
>I want to be able to sample sounds.
>Please post me any nice cirquits you know that do this.
>(Just the ADC, the amplifier will be external)

>Thanks in advance, 

>Dimitris.

Ummmm. It is not that simple to have ADC connected to a parallel port.
Since the parrallel port is not bidirctional, you'll need to use the
control line and there are only 4 of them, which makes the circuit
a bit complex. You are better of using the serial port. I have seen a 
schematic for this in of of the ftp sites. (Sorry can't remember which.
look under sound directories)

On the other hand if you are talking about a DAC to play sound and music
files through the parallel port then get the Modplay219b from any of the
the major ftp sites (under sound dir) it has some simple schematics for
DACs.

Hope it helps

-- 
==============================================================================
Tooraj Enayati     Melbourne     Australia     tooraj@daneel.rdt.monash.edu.au
Monash University       Robotic and Digital Technology       (Graduate/Alumni)
==============================================================================
From: kpm8447@tesla.njit.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: stmik [5/5]
Date: 28 Sep 92 16:52:37 GMT
Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology

section 5 of uuencode 5.02 of file stmik020.zip    by R.E.M.

M````])P``$U!2T5$+D)!5%!+`0(+``H`!@`&`*6;[A;^<03F20\``*8E```(
M``````````$`(````(:=``!-04E.+D%335!+`0(+``H`!@`&`,M^[A9/0ETG
MZ0X``&HM```(``````````$`(````/6L``!$14U/+D%335!+`0(+``H`!@`&
M`%R'XQ:5,V1MX1```%8R```(``````````$`(`````2\``!415A4+D%335!+
M`0(+``H`!@`&`*=]XQ9`_\O.[0<``)\=```(``````````$`(`````O-``!'
M4D%0+D%335!+`0(+``H````&`!*(XQ9VX4YF:08``+D3```(``````````$`
M(````![5``!)3DE4+D%335!+`0(+``H````&`*9]XQ:FP22JW00``+,,```(
M``````````$`(````*W;``!-25-#+D%335!+`0(+``H``````-"#XQ;XL]V7
M`0````$````,``````````$`(````+#@```M+2TM+2TM+2XM+3102P$""P`*
M````!@`3MO\6NM\BB"PT``!25P``"@```````````"````#;X```345.5$%,
M+D5815!+`0(+``H````&``9YXQ8*%3HS\V8!`!;2!``)````````````(```
M`"\5`0!-14Y404PN1D-02P$""P`*``````#0@^,6^+/=EP$````!````#```
M```````!`"````!)?`(`+2TM+2TM+2TN+2TU4$L!`@L`"@`&``8`;8`%%VRQ
MWU@X&P``9$````D``````````0`@````='P"`%-434E++D1/0U!+`0(+``H`
M```&`"B%(1CWB99:.`$``,$!```*``````````$`(````-.7`@!214%$344N
M3D]74$L%!@`````9`!D`:P4``#.9`@`V`5-C<F5A;2!4<F%C:V5R($EN=&5R
M9F%C92!6(#`N,@T*("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@R<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-
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M("`@("`@(+H@("!;/3T]/B`@355324,@0TA!3DY%3"!"0E,@3T8@0T].3D5#
M5$E#550@(#P]/3U=(""Z#0H@("`@("`@("`@("`@(""Z("`@6ST]/3T]/3T^
M("`H,C`S*38T-BTS,#4X("!00U`]0U1(05(@(#P]/3T]/3T]72`@N@T*("`@
M("`@("`@("`@("`@R,W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-
4S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S<W-S;S-
`
end
sum -r/size 63762/1400 section (from first encoded line to "end")
sum -r/size 64656/172010 entire input file
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: davecole@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Cole)
Subject: Re: Soundcard etc. recommandation wanted
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 19:30:40 GMT

In article <1992Sep27.061957.22192@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> jks2x@holmes.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jason K. Schechner) writes:
>In article <1992Sep27.002516.6032@delos.stgt.sub.org> stefanb@delos.stgt.sub.org (Stefan Bechtold) writes:
>>Hi !


stuff deleleted


>>What soundcard would you recommand for my purpose (not playing games,
>>but making music) ?
>>
>>Thank you for any responds,
>>Stefan
>>-- 
>	If you want the best piece of equipment for what you sound like
>you'll be doing, you want a Roland MT-32.  It is a complete MIDI
>interface and a top-notch sound card to boot.  The sound coming from
>it sounds more like a synthesizer than like a computer, and it is
>fully MIDI compatible.  It costs around $450 last time I checked.
>	But if you want a card that won't generate any music of it's
>own you would probably be better off getting a MIDI card, not a soudn
>card, in which case there are better groups to ask. ;-)
>	Hope this helps!
>
>-Jason
>
>-- 



The MT32 is not a soundcard.  It is an external module.  It requires a
separate midi card in the computer.  It is also no longer in production
(replaced by the Sound Canvas). 

The Roland LAPC, which is more-or-less an MT32 on a card for pc's, is still in
production.  But it does not include the midi port -- thats a pricey option. 
The only reason I can think of for getting the LAPC would be for games, which
it does very nicely.  But Stefan says he wants to make music.  He would be
best off with the scc-1 and either another synth, or a master keyboard.

Alternatively, for about twice the bucks, he can get the Turtle Beach
Multisound, which is an EMU Proteus 1/XR synth on a card, plus cd quality
digitized sound playing and recording.  I have heard both, but not and the
same sitting and so could not compare the scc-1 and the multisound.  The
multisound has a third more sample ROM, and I think it may be better for
orchestral sounds, but the orchestral demos (not the builtin ones, the ones
for the Sound Brush) played on the Sound Canvas sound very nice....  Piano
samples tend to be large, and it is possible the nice EMU piano sample
accounts for much of the additional sample ROM on the multisound.
Either would be a good choice, but for Stefan's purposes, the Roland scc-1
would be a good alternative to just a plain midi port.

Dave
From: jthjr@jthjr.austin.ibm.com (John Hollaway)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Re: PAS Developers kit - Whats the number to call?
Date: 1 Oct 92 16:24:33 GMT
Organization: IBM, Austin

In article <1ad4ghINNnnv@uwm.edu>, tanith@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Michael D Kretzer) writes:
|> From article <mikeb.717866028@pandora>, by mikeb@pandora.dell.com (Michael Brundridge):
|> > 
|> > I printed the message out about how to go about getting the Developers
|> > kit for the PAS for FREE and the phone number and now I can not find
|> > it.
|> 
|> 1-800-472-6147...they said that as of this Wednesday (today) all 
|> previously released Developer's kits are obsolete.  Supposedly they
|> have released a new kit of some sort.  Their developer's kit is MUCH MORE
|> complete than the SB Developer's Kit, and SOURCE IS INCLUDED.  Don't
|> pass this one up, people.

Well, I just called and they said that it costs $25.  Why did you say that it was free???

Also, when I asked if it has the SCSI drivers (for hard drive), he didn't know
and transfered me to someone in sales, that was not there, so I heard an answering machine, and that was it!

-- 

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
John T. Hollaway Jr.
Internet/IBM: jthjr@austin.ibm.com
       Phone: (512)838-7105
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Analog to Digital for LPTx
From: thanos@uni2a.unige.ch
Date: 30 Sep 92 12:47:54 +0200
Organization: University of Geneva, Switzerland

Hello everybody,
Does anyone know how to construct an analog to digital convertor
for the parallel port of my PC...
I.e. 8-bit...
I want to be able to sample sounds.
Please post me any nice cirquits you know that do this.
(Just the ADC, the amplifier will be external)

Thanks in advance, 

Dimitris.
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: schles@whatever.cs.jhu.edu (Philip Schlesinger)
Subject: Re: WinMod PRO available via ftp
Organization: Johns Hopkins Computer Science Department, Baltimore, MD
Distribution: comp
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 16:47:29 GMT

In article <Bv1yzE.6MI@cs.psu.edu> robinson@sml.cs.psu.edu (Andrew Robinson) writes:
>WinMod PRO, a MOD file player for Windows 3.1, is available by ftp from 
>ftp.cica.indiana.edu.  It is located in the uploads directory (filename:
>wmp002b2.zip).  The player supports Protracker effects, drag-and-drop, and
>selection of multiple modules.  A volume slide is also provided for sound
>cards with controllable volume.
>
>The author of WinMod PRO is J E Holderness.
>
>     -- Andy
>robinson@cs.psu.edu

WinMod Pro's interface is nice, but when I went to load my mods (which were
on a different drive), there was no drive indicator.  I was stuck in the same
drive as the program (which sucked to put it simply).  Get winmod10.zip in
the /pub/pc/win3/sounds directory.  Though its in german (which means you can
forget the docs unless you understand german), it's easy to use.  Just load it
and go to the file menu.  You'll see what I mean...Phil

-- 
Philip Schlesinger                         schles@cs.jhu.edu
------------------------------------------------------------
"How'd you get that Cray II to run slower than my old C-64?"
"Oh, that took a bit of doing.  Take a look at /bin/session"
From: dudemon@dakine (me )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Subject: Re: Gravis Ultrasound... Some more info...
Date: 21 Sep 92 19:35:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: autodesk.17654
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Status: RO
X-Status: 

Charles Budensiek (impster@ais.org) wrote:
: In article <BuH4Cx.35t@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca> ptran@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca (Phat H Tran) writes:
: What type of memory chips are needed to upgrade the Gravis Ultrasound
: memory?
: 
: SIMM? SIPP? DRAM?

DRAM    256k x 4  100ns


tim
------------------------

tim edwards   tedwards@autodesk.com
cyber dude
autodesk, inc.


From harrison@sun.lclark.edu  Ukn Sep  9 09:05:40 1992
Article: 1738 of comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: harrison@sun.lclark.edu (Mark Harrison)
Subject: EA/Gravis Ultrasound offer
Organization: Lewis & Clark College, Portland OR
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 16:20:47 GMT
Status: RO
X-Status: 


Since I got so many replies from people about the Electronic Arts / Gravis
offer, I will post here.  I never actually got a flier in the mail for
this deal, but I heard about it and someone (dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com)
sent me the information.  I know that Gravis was supposed to have been
shipping last monday and when I talked to the lady at EA, she thought that
they would be ready to ship today or as soon as they got the card.  She
wasn't sure if they had the card already or not.  If anyone calls today, I
would be interested to find out if they have started shipping the card yet.
Their number is 1-800-245-4525.  That is the only number I know of
(someone wanted a non 800 number.)  Well, here's the mail I was sent.

Write to me if you have any more questions.  And enjoy those ultrasound's.



>From dantonio@magick.tay2.dec.com  Ukn Sep  2 11:13:26 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi,

Sorry it took so long, here's the list of games available through the EA
offer. I think you get $5 off until 9/30/92. Note: prices rounded up a
nickel. :-)

Birds of Prey		$50
Chuck Yeager Air Combat $50
Weaver Baseball II	$30
Heros of the 357th	$50
PGA TOUR Golf for Windows $50
PGA TOUR Course Disk    $25
PowerMonger		$50
Rampart			$40
Global Effect		$50
Magic Candle II		$60
Siege			$60
Might and Magic
 Clouds of Xeen		$70
Might and Magic III
 Isles of Terra		$60
AD&D: Dark Queen of Krynn $50
Prophecy of the Shadow	$60
Theatre of War		$50

When you buy one game, you get the UltraSoon for $99; for each additional
game, you get $10 off that price.

DDA

-- 
=============================================================================
Mark Harrison           |  "We are the Priests, of the Temples of Syrinx
harrison@sun.lclark.edu |   Our great computers fill the hallowed halls."
              -- Me     |                                    -- Rush


From dantonio@magick.enet.dec.com  Ukn Sep 25 15:53:57 1992
Article: 2134 of comp.sys.ibm.pc.soundcard
From: davecole@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Cole)
Subject: Re: Keyboard suggestions?
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 01:26:17 GMT

In article <1992Oct1.200716.20526@athena.mit.edu> dmatic@athena.mit.edu (Davor Matic) writes:
>
>Hi!
>
>I'm looking to buy a dumb keyboard, that is one that has only MIDI
>interfaces on it, but no synthesizer.  Do such toys exist at all? 
>If so, what is the price range?  Who makes/sells then?  Any info 
>is greatly apprechiated.  Thanks!
>
>			dmatic@athena.mit.edu
>
>



Sure, lots of companies make them, including Roland, Yamaha, Peavey, and some
specialty companies.  Price range is around $300 to over $1000.   There are
many variables: most obvious is number of keys (range: 49 to 88), and how
much the keys feel like a real piano, which requires a much more complex
mechanism to simulate.  Other more subtle diffenences include presence of
sliders, eand other ways of controlling midi.  Roland allegedly has a nice new
moderately priced 76-key controller keyboard.  
See Keyboard magazine for reviews, announcements, dealers.

Why not buy a used synth from a deserving musician and use it as a controller?