From: jerry@connection.prospect.com (Jerry Shekhel)
Subject: Re: Amiga 4000 & HYPE! -Reply to Jerry Shekkel
Organization: Molecular Simulations, Inc.
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 18:26:32 GMT
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NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.ctr.columbia.edu

10667547@eng2.eng.monash.edu.au (JIMMY FANG) writes:
>
>Frequency Modulated sythesized sound on the PC would be more analogous to 
>telephone quality.  Digital sound is more akin to CD quality and FM is to 
>AM transitor radios.
>

I think you're either confused, or your hearing is seriously different from
mine.  On my sound card (PAS-16), FM music is *crystal clear*, clearer than
any telephone transmission or radio I've ever heard.  Of course, it doesn't
sound like it's being played by real musical instruments, but that's
understandable given that it's synthesized and not digitized.

Digitized music *does* sound like it's being played by real musical
instruments, but its quality (clarity and richness) depends heavily
upon several things, such as frequency and sample resolution.  CD's play 
16-bit 44.1KHz stereo music.  MODs utilize only 8-bit samples, and the
frequency is what, 22.1KHz?  This is *not* CD quality, even if we ignore the
fact that MODs are compressed, sampling only one note per instrument.

>
>>That's complete nonsense.  All you've just done is proven you've never heard
>>a SoundBlaster playing MODs or FM music.  And that's a *lowly* SoundBlaster.
>>Games are just now starting to have explicit support for the ProAudioSpectrum
>>cards.
>
>It's not really nonsense.  It's still Frequency Modulated!
>

The SoundBlaster, as well as the newer sound cards, have digital channels
as well as FM channels.  Yes, they can play your exalted MODs just fine.

>
>Having EXPLICIT support and actually using the features are two separate 
>things.
>

They are?  When I said "explicit", I meant just what you say.

>
>How many sound channels does the average games use?  For example, 
>if the sound-tracks were written for an eight voice card, then if the game 
>had a compatible driver for your super-duper 64 voice card, I doubt if you 
>would suddenly hear 64 voices, would you?
>

Look, all I know is that I just saw the demo for an upcoming game from
Microprose.  This game has the usual SoundBlaster support, as well as
special (explicit?) support for the PAS+/PAS-16.  I played the demo in
both modes, and it sounded considerably better in the PAS mode than the
SB mode.

>
>I've listened to Amiga mods played on the IBM.  Pitty that IBM people lack
>the creativity to write their own mods.
>

Pity that Amiga people can't hear the difference between MODs and real
digitized music.

>
>One of my friends had HIS mod 
>playing at an IBM show.  Boy was he annoyed having his music promoting an
>(I) (B)ought a (M)istake clown!
>

Yeah?  Well, I was playing a game on the Amiga, but then I tried something
that the programmers hadn't anticipated, and 
	(A)las, the (M)achine (I)nstantly (G)uru'd (A)gain! :-)
--
+-------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------+
| Jerry J. Shekhel  | Molecular Simulations | Time just fades the pages      |
| Drummers do it... | Inc.  Waltham, MA USA | in my book of memories.        |
|    ... In rhythm! |     (617) 890-2888    |              -- Guns N' Roses  |
+-------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------+
|           ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry             |
|                            jerry@polygen.com                               |
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.amiga.misc