marks@pwa-b.UUCP (Evan R. Marks) (09/11/89)
Does anyone have any information on the AdLib board. I have heard that this
board makes the PC sound very close to the Amiga's sound.
I have seen ads that show it being used with games, but can you create your own
music?
Thanx in advance for your help
--
Evan R. Marks Pratt & Whitney Aircraft
Sr. Systems Support Analyst 400 Main St. M/S 161-05
Sun Workstation Support East Hartford, CT 06108
{philabs,utah-gr}!pwa-b!marks (203) 565-5444langev@cbnewse.ATT.COM (steve.j.langevin) (09/14/89)
In article <340@pwa-b.UUCP>, marks@pwa-b.UUCP (Evan R. Marks) writes: > Does anyone have any information on the AdLib board. I have heard that > this board makes the PC sound very close to the Amiga's sound. > I have seen ads that show it being used with games, but can you create > your own music? > > Thanx in advance for your help > > -- > Evan R. Marks Pratt & Whitney Aircraft I've had an AdLib board for a couple months now and it does sound great even though I'm only using a couple of 2" speakers. If I ever pipe it through a stereo (or boom box) I'm sure it'll sound even better. Yes, you can compose your own music (the board has 11 voices), if you have Ad Libs COMPOSER software. The AdLib board can be purchased by itself (comes with a Jukebox program) or the board can be purchased with the COMPOSER software. I bought mine in Illinois for about $199 ($179 since AdLib is giving a $20 rebate. I'm not sure when the rebate offer ends). Check out the PC game magazines for AdLib advertisments. (I think PC GAMES has a writeup on sound boards in their current issue.) a If you can't find any ads, AdLibs phone number is: 1-800-463-2686 There is also more software available. I believe there is an instrument creator program and others. I've had no problems with mine and am completely satisfied with the hardware/software and the company (even though it took 'em 3 months to get me my $20 rebate). Steve Langevin P.S. I don't know about the Amigas sound capabilities, but I'm willing to bet the Ad Lib board sounds better! Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with AdLib (other than being a satisfied customer).
msschaa@cs.vu.nl (Schaap MS) (09/19/89)
In article <340@pwa-b.UUCP> marks@pwa-b.UUCP (Evan R. Marks) writes: >Does anyone have any information on the AdLib board. I have heard that this >board makes the PC sound very close to the Amiga's sound. >I have seen ads that show it being used with games, but can you create your own >music? The only thing I know is that you can use it with the newest Sierra adventures (Larry II, Kings Quest IV, Police Quest II, Star Quest III).
drv@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (dennis.r.vogel) (09/21/89)
In article <340@pwa-b.UUCP>, marks@pwa-b.UUCP (Evan R. Marks) writes: > Does anyone have any information on the AdLib board. I have heard that this > board makes the PC sound very close to the Amiga's sound. > I have seen ads that show it being used with games, but can you create your own > music? > > Evan R. Marks Pratt & Whitney Aircraft I have an AdLib board in my XT clone. I don't know about the Amiga but I think the AdLib sounds pretty good for what it is. From a discussion with someone on the Net a while back, I learned that it's synthesis techniques are somewhat limited (I'd say the professional synthesizers and music software have nothing to be worried about) but it's still fun for an amateur to play around with. I don't know how to make it work with games but you can, indeed, compose your own music. And you can create your own sounds, too. It comes with several songs and instruments already and a jukebox program to access the songs. You can add your own songs to the jukebox. Mine also has a music game included and some manuals with basic music composition and theory. I've since received another composition book. My biggesst complaints are the method for entering musical compositions is awkward. You don't enter notes as letter--rather you use the mouse to draw a bar adjacent to a representation of a piano keyboard. (I think you can use the keyboard--maybe I should try that to see if its less tedious). The length of the bar is the length of the note. Also, no way to tie notes together; each successive note is stressed (not staccatto but definitely not a smooth transition from the previous note). There's no way to enter triplets in the composition program either. Pluses are the reasonably good sound and the ability to modify the preset instrument sounds to create your own. Hope this helps. Enjoy. Dennis R. Vogel AT&T Bell Laboratories Lincroft, NJ
ppa@hpldola.HP.COM (Paul P. Austgen) (09/22/89)
You can also use it with the new Lucas Indiana Jones adventure game.
peed@cell.mot.COM (Andrew Peed) (09/27/89)
I'm very happy with my AdLib Board, but I've noticed the following things which are mildly annoying: 1) When two oboe or flute voices play the same note in the same register (i.e., A'), instead of getting the indicated note, you get the octave. (i.e., A''). I've only noticed this on the "pure" voices, you don't get the behavior on a "noisy" one like crumorne or sitar. I haven't yet tried shading the pitch of one of the voices to alleviate the problem, but I'm reasonably sure it would work. 2) On a single flute or oboe (or other "pure") voice, I sometimes get a ghost tone that moves in a parallel diminished fifth or so. It's only in the octaves above middle C that I've noticed it, though. Anyone else have oddball things like this with their AdLib? Andy -- ===================================================================== Andrew B. Peed ...!uunet!motcid!peed "... what's the point of having a reputation if it's a good one??"
drmmudie@lotus.waterloo.edu (David R. Mudie) (11/30/89)
Does Anyone know about programming the adlib sound board. I have played with it a little bit on a friend's computer long enough to determine that I don't like the software that was supplied with it. I didn't have a chance to study the manuals in detail and didn't see any technical information in the brief glance that I took. Thanks for any help David.
yu-d@yacht.cis.ohio-state.edu (David T Yu) (12/01/89)
In article <18819@watdragon.waterloo.edu> drmmudie@lotus.waterloo.edu (David R. Mudie) writes: >Does Anyone know about programming the adlib sound board. I have played with >it a little bit on a friend's computer long enough to determine that I don't >like the software that was supplied with it. I didn't have a chance to study >the manuals in detail and didn't see any technical information in the brief >glance that I took. > > >Thanks for any help > >David. AdLib also has a MSC Programmers Manual for $39.95 (retail). It comes with a disk with sound effects examples and stuff. They have examples in both C and Basic. They give information on using FM synthesis, additive synthesis, and mention composite sine wave synthesis which they quote as "As no experiments have yet been done in this direction, this feature remains a theoretical possibility." It would be nice to get digitized voices out of the AdLib card. Anyway they go into how to manipulate the AdLib card with attack rate, decay rate, sustain level, release rate, envelope scaling, etc... If you have any questions feel free to e-mail. Hope I've helped. David Yu -=- ============================================================================= | The Ohio State University | " Life ain't | David Yu | | Columbus, Ohio 43210 | nuthin | yu-d@cis.ohio-state.edu | | U.S.A. | but what it is" | | +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DISCLAIMER: My opinion is MINE!!! Don't you forget it! -=-
bobc@attctc.Dallas.TX.US (Bob Calbridge) (12/01/89)
In article <18819@watdragon.waterloo.edu>, drmmudie@lotus.waterloo.edu (David R. Mudie) writes: > Does Anyone know about programming the adlib sound board. I have played with > it a little bit on a friend's computer long enough to determine that I don't > like the software that was supplied with it. I didn't have a chance to study > the manuals in detail and didn't see any technical information in the brief > glance that I took. If the manuals that you refer to are simply the ones that come with the board then you won't find any technical information. There is a Programmer's Manual available for the card. It primarily contains information for passing information to the sound device driver. Though I haven't looked too deeply I belive there is a builtin timer and the manual contains information concerning the registers. There is a 1-800 number for Adlib (stored somewhere on my machine at the office.) If you call them they will try have you work through a local vendor. My experience has been that local vendors don't stock the Programmer's Manual. I had to call Adlib back and tell them this. Then they were willing to do business. The manual lists for $39.something. Be warned, this is Canadian dollars so the price is upped by a factor of 1.1472xx. I was able to charge mine to MasterCard and found the upcharge added to a receipt that Adlib send me. The manual is relatively small but comes with a disk with header files and sample C source programs. If push comes to shove and you need their phone number, just raise your DTR line and flag me. I'll see what I can do. bobc@attctc -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- = I know it's petty.......... = - But I have to justify my salary! - =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=