From: gting@fraser.sfu.ca (Gabriel Sii Kuok Ting)
Subject: Re: GUS - What is it?
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 02:46:28 GMT

kdm1@cec1.wustl.edu (Kevin Dean Matzdorf) writes:

>I had never heard of the GUS until I got a SBPro and started reading this
>newsgroup.  I am interested in finding out more about it, and perhaps others
>are too.  Please do not respond to these questions unless you have had
>experience with both cards and can answer more than a few of them.

Oh well... I had an SB 1.5 with a GUS, but I sold off the SB way back when I
thought I couldn't get the SB to coexist with the GUS.. :( Seeing that the 
SB Pro and SB has a lot in common, here's a few answers, which I hope won't
sound too biased.. :)

>1) What is the full name of the card and who makes it?

Gravis Ultra Sound, made by Advanced Gravis of Burnaby, Canada (which happens
to be where I live.. oooohhh BIAS!!!! ;)). They're the same makers of the
popular Gravis Gamepads and Joysticks, and have the full backing of
Logitech.

>2) Is it FULLY SBPro compatible?  (i.e. will EVERYTHING that supports the SBPro
>also work with the GUS)

No. Not yet anyway. For now, the GUS(I'm still wondering who coined up this
attractive name... :)) emulates the SoundBlaster (since this is where most of
the software support is at now) via a software TSR called SBOS (Sound Board
Operating System). There are rumours that AG might have a SB Pro emulator
by next year, but I very much doubt it since the SB Pro market is so small.
Maybe some third party writers will create the tsr... 

As for compatibility, since the emulation is in software, there are bound to be
bugs and while with SBOS, most, if not all programs which support the SB will
recognise that an SB or compatible is present, there is no guarantee that
they would sound the same, or even sound at all. (Jet Fighter 2 is an
example). Some, like the LucasArts' iMUSE sound system sounds definitely
better on the GUS with the SB emulation, while some may suck rocks. But
generally, the SBOS works quite well except with programs that fool around
with the internals of the SB sound system (you notice some slowdown with
games like Wing Commander 2 and Stunts, not to mention quite a few of the
EuroDemos. Unreal used to really HATE SBOS, but the recent release of the
beta version works quite well with Unreal).

>3) Does it have the same i/o (or better) than the SBPro?  (i.e. line in, mic,
>CD, line out)

The GUS has two input lines and two output lines. All 4 use the stereo mini
phono jacks (just like walkman headphones)and consist of one mic line in,
one audio line in(for CD recording or what nots), one audio line out and one
amplified line out (2W) to drive mini speakers. Standard stuff, but I 
would have preferred standard RCA jacks...

>4) Does it have the same number of sound channels?  (i.e. line, mic, CD, FM,
>VOC)

line, mic, FM, VOC channels??? Ok, I get what you mean. The GUS has support
for up to 32 mono voices or 16 stereo voices. All these channels use what is
known as wave-table synthesis to produce sound as opposed to the FM sounds
on the SB Pro/SB/PAS16/SB16/Thunderboard/etc. If you're wondering how good
these sound, just remember that the Roland SCC-1 and Turtle Beach MultiSound
use the same technology. You can also think of it as 32 digitised channels
as opposed to the SB Pro's twin DACs. 
 
Sound is played via sampled patches loaded onto the onboard RAM (256k standard,
exp to 1Mb) and this can really free up the CPU when it comes to sampling
digitised sound. On the SBPro, the CPU has to do all the sampling but, as
someone mentioned on the net, the GUS is something like the Amiga where
the sampling is done on the card itself.

>5) How much is it and where can one buy it?

Can't be too sure about the states, but here in Canada, a lot of stores do
carry it. (the biggest selling soundcard in Canada at the moment, according
to a magazine.. can't rememeber the name). If you follow the net, you 
might have come across a few places like Disk Count, Telemart, Babbages
and Electronics Boutique, with prices ranging from $124 to $169...

>6) What do you all get for that price?  What upgrades are available?

For the price, you get the card with all the chips on it.. :) 
pretty basic stuff, I might say. 256k RAM on board, 6 3.5" disks containing
the patches and drivers for Windows and SBOS, a plethoria of sample MIDI
files which are guaranteed to make you puke the next time you listen to
FM music (oh okay, so I was exaggerating... can't help getting carried away,
can't I? ;)), voc, wave, snd and mid file players, and a real crappy
GUI sound recorder and playback program. 

Upgrades include newer software drivers (which can be found via ftp from
archive.epas.utoronto.ca), general MIDI patches which would be sent to you
once it's done if you register, RAM expansion - all you need is 6 4X256k
DRAMs (anything under 100ns will do), and possibly MT-32 emulation on the
way. 
With the basic board, it can playback samples at up to 44.1kHz at 16 bits,
but only record in 8 bits. A 16 bit sampling daughtercard will be available
next year (initial rumours have it priced at around $50) for those who have
the need to do 16 bit sampling, and there is also the SCSI daughterboard
for connections to a CD-ROM drive. Mind you, if you already have a CD-ROM
drive connected to another SCSI card, all the better for you since you can
just connect the audio output to the GUS and it will still work fine.

>7) Is it just a card, or does it also have an external component?
Just a plain state-of-the-art RED card...

>8) Does it have complete multimedia Windows drivers and software?
Yup. But it's still under development since the drivers shipped with the
card are only 8 bit and mono to boot. Media player still sounds great
on it though..


>Price is a major concern for me.  I got the SBPro because they had them at
>Egghead for $130.  But if the GUS truly does everything the SBPro does for less
>than $200, I'd probably return my SBPro.

An honest advice. If you want pure SB compatibility, stick to the SB Pro.
The old SB might be an even better investment though, since the Pro is
basically two SB's stuck together, unless you want the stereo sound, of course.
Technically, the GUS is far superior to the SB Pro in terms of sound 
quality, but games which support its native mode are but a few at the moment.
The main reason why some people are still staying away from the GUS is
the SBOS emulator, which really is nothing more than a short term measure
before real programs that support the native mode comes out in abundance.
It is refreshing to note that the major software companies are interested in
supporting the card, as can be seen from the posts from Sierra, LucasArts,
Electronic Arts and Accolade. 

>Another thing is that I want to be able to mix my stereo sound with the sound
>card sound like I can do now with my SBPro.   
easily done on the GUS, as long as some kind people write the proper 
programs for it. The recorder and mixer bundled with the card is pretty
buggy, but still, the sound quality is eons ahead of my old SB...


>Thanks for complete and preferably unbiased answers.  ("SBPro is crap and GUS
>is the best thing since Windows" doesn't help much.) 
Can't blame us. :) Anyone who's heard both in their native modes can
easily make the same conclusions themselves. But since *Windows*??? Hmmm.....

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