taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) (03/06/91)
Someone recently handed me a buffered post from comp.sys.mac.hardware. It
was posted by Mike Ciholas (mikec@allspice.lcs.mit.edu). He has started up a
small business selling "shareware hardware": inexpensive hardware kits which
are available for much less than their commercial counterparts. He was
describing his new product: an external digitizer for the Macintosh.
Although it feeds into the Mac's serial port, I think it can be easily
modified to fit the GS's Molex connector so existing applications can take
advantage of it.
From his post, it seems it would work well with the GS with minimum fuss.
Here is his list of features (extracted from the message):
Features
--------
The CSD has the following features (unique features are '*'):
- digitizes sounds at 22254 samples per second at 8 bit resolution.
- uses one serial port
- requires no external power supply or batteries
- works with all Macintoshes
- is compatible with commercial digitizers and software
- has manual volume control
* has selectable automatic leveling control with adjustable set point
* uses a 5 pole, 4 zero elliptic anti-aliasing filter for superb quality
* uses a sample-and-hold circuit for better high frequency fidelity
* has a two-color LED indicator which some programs support
* two CSDs can be synchronized for perfect stereo sampling
I would like to see how "quiet" this digitizer is compared to the Sonic
Blaster or HyperStudio digitizer. There have been complaints about the amount
of background hiss and distortion with commercial GS digitizers, so I thought
perhaps this might be a solution. I haven't been able to get mail out to him
at allspice, but my latest attempt seems to hav gone through. Again, his
Internet address is mikec@allspice.lcs.mit.edu if you want more info.
Brian T. Tao *B-) | t569taob@bluffs.scar.utoronto.ca | "Though this be
U of Metro Toronto | - or - | madness, yet there
Scarberia, ON | taob@pnet91.cts.com | is method in 't."taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) (03/06/91)
One other paragraph I'd like to include from Mike Ciholas' message:
Final Thoughts
--------------
CEDAR Technologies is a very low budget, "grass roots" kind of
operation. I don't do this to make money, I have a regular job for
that. I do this for fun. The satisfaction from hearing good things
from past customers is reward enough. I also am doing this to see
how to run a small business. Think of it as a lemonade stand for Mac
peripherals! And lastly, I am doing it because the CSD beats the
pants off any commercial product out there for much less money. I
believe the CSD is so cheap and simple that everyone should have the
capability to put sounds into their machine as well as play them
back. Eventually, with the advent of voice mail and such, it may
become more important.
CSD stands for the "CEDAR Sound Digitizer", BTW... if you have problems
mailing him at allspice, try mikec@lcs.mit.edu instead. Any comments about
the viability of this digitizer for the GS?
Brian T. Tao *B-) | t569taob@bluffs.scar.utoronto.ca | "Though this be
U of Metro Toronto | - or - | madness, yet there
Scarberia, ON | taob@pnet91.cts.com | is method in 't."unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) (03/06/91)
In article <556@generic.UUCP> taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) writes: > Someone recently handed me a buffered post from comp.sys.mac.hardware. It >He was describing his new product: an external digitizer for the Macintosh. >Although it feeds into the Mac's serial port, I think it can be easily >modified to fit the GS's Molex connector so existing applications can take >advantage of it. What molex connector are you talking about? To my understanding, the GS and Mac serial ports are virtually identical, hardwarewise. Thus, it would be much easier to just still have it connect to the serial port, and then no hardware changes will be needed. The software will obviously have to be re-written, but that would be the case whether or not it used the serial port. -- <unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu Apple IIGS Forever! CHEAP CD INFO-mail me BETTER .sig?>
daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David H. Huang) (03/06/91)
In article <13110@darkstar.ucsc.edu> unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) writes: > >In article <556@generic.UUCP> taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) writes: >>Although it feeds into the Mac's serial port, I think it can be easily >>modified to fit the GS's Molex connector so existing applications can take >>advantage of it. > > What molex connector are you talking about? I think he means the sound connector (the 7 pin thingy). > To my understanding, the GS and Mac serial ports are virtually >identical, hardwarewise. Thus, it would be much easier to just still >have it connect to the serial port, and then no hardware changes will >be needed. Yeah, the serial ports are identical... Same Zilog 8530 (8350??), same mini-din 8, same RS-422 signals... I think using the serial port would be the way to go, since using the Ensoniq would really defeat the purpose... Anyways, how would you go about doing this? The Cedar digitizer outputs serial info, and it would be weird, although probably not impossible to use the Ensoniq to digitize that serial data!??! The sound connector has 3 pins that determine the output channel, 1 ground, 1 analog input, 1 pin analog output and 1 that says when the channel number on the 3 pins is valid, I think. There's no serial input, so it would be strange to hook the digitzer up to the Ensoniq... Anyways, the Ensoniq is subject to all the noise inside, while a external shielded box would be immune to this. > The software will obviously have to be re-written, but that would >be the case whether or not it used the serial port. Yeah... does anyone know how to get the SCC to go faster than 19.2Kbps? I know you have to write to the registers somehow... >-- ><unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu Apple IIGS Forever! CHEAP CD INFO-mail me BETTER .sig?> -- David Huang | Internet: daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | "Slight accidents with funny rays UUCP: ...!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!daveh | can have serious consequences" America Online: DrWho29 |
gt0t+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gregory Ross Thompson) (03/07/91)
Well, I've looked into building a decent digitizer a bit (not as much as I'd like to), and I've got a few comments. First, to answer Mr. Unknown, the molex connector is on the motherboard right in front of the memory expansion slot. It's hooked right up to the DOC. Second, since this digitizer is for a Mac, I'm guessing he's got his own A/D in it. If so, then you wouldn't be able to, or even want to hook it up to the DOC's molex connector. If it's got an A/D in it, then why bother using the Ensoniq at all? If it's external (it is), then it won't suffer from being inside of a metal box with a HELL of a lot of RF interference all around it. That right there will improve any digitizing you're gonna do. Hooking it up to the serial port would probably be the best thing to do. As far as software goes, talk to Ian Schmidt. He's the guy who wrote/is writing Audio Zap. Tell him how to talk to it, and he'll add support for it in Audio Zap. I haven't talked to him at all, but I have mailed in my shareware fee, and am eagerly awaiting the latest version of AZ (It's amazing...). I don't have the time now, but over the summer I may look into the dude's digitizer. It all depends on how easy/hard it'll be to write software for it... -Greg T. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ^ Any resemblance between the above | ARPANet : gt0t+@andrew.cmu.edu ^ ^ views and those of my employer, my | ^ ^ terminal, or the view out my window | ^ ^ are purely coincidental. | Bitnet : R746GT0T@VB ^
taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) (03/18/91)
From unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (The Unknown User) > What molex connector are you talking about? Ummm, the 7-pin thingy down in the lower-right corner of the motherboard, where the ribbon cable from a Sonic Blaster/HyperStudio digitizer plugs in. Isn't that called a Molex? > To my understanding, the GS and Mac serial ports are virtually > identical, hardwarewise. Thus, it would be much easier to just still > have it connect to the serial port, and then no hardware changes will > be needed. > > The software will obviously have to be re-written, but that would > be the case whether or not it used the serial port. Right, I've talked to Dave Huang since then, and we agreed that using the CDS as it is and writing new software would be a better approach. At first, I didn't think the GS serial port would be able to keep up with the data stream (22K/sec mono, 44K/sec stereo). Brian T. Tao *B-) | t569taob@bluffs.scar.utoronto.ca | "Though this be U of Metro Toronto | - or - | madness, yet there Scarberia, ON | taob@pnet91.cts.com | is method in 't."
taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) (03/18/91)
From daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David H. Huang): > I think using the serial port would be the way to go, since using the > Ensoniq would really defeat the purpose... Anyways, how would you go > about doing this? The Cedar digitizer outputs serial info, and it > would be weird, although probably not impossible to use the Ensoniq > to digitize that serial data!??! I think all the A/D sampling and processing takes place inside the CDS. Then it shoots the data stream into the serial port. At least that's my understanding of it. The Ensoniq wouldn't have to digitize anything. In fact, the CPU can capture the data and send it to the Ensoniq for playback, giving us a feedback system which I sorely miss. Hope you enjoyed your spring break! ;) Brian T. Tao *B-) | t569taob@bluffs.scar.utoronto.ca | "Though this be U of Metro Toronto | - or - | madness, yet there Scarberia, ON | taob@pnet91.cts.com | is method in 't."
daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (David H. Huang) (03/19/91)
In article <570@generic.UUCP> taob@pnet91.cts.com (Brian Tao) writes: > I think all the A/D sampling and processing takes place inside the CDS. >Then it shoots the data stream into the serial port. At least that's my >understanding of it. The Ensoniq wouldn't have to digitize anything. In >fact, the CPU can capture the data and send it to the Ensoniq for playback, >giving us a feedback system which I sorely miss. Well, the 7-pin sound connector only has one input, and that's the analog input. If you want to hook the CDS to the sound connector, the Ensoniq _has_ to digitize the input (which isn't something to do with serial data). It shouldn't be too hard to get a feedback system... As I've said in email, I've done it before. The only problem was that the sound lagged behind the input by about half a second (very annoying). When I get some more time, I'll see if I can reduce/eliminate that lag. > Hope you enjoyed your spring break! ;) I did! >Brian T. Tao *B-) | t569taob@bluffs.scar.utoronto.ca | "Though this be >U of Metro Toronto | - or - | madness, yet there >Scarberia, ON | taob@pnet91.cts.com | is method in 't." -- David Huang | "Calzoni Pizza: Internet: daveh@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | Delivery in six UUCP: ..!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!daveh | hours, or else your America Online: DrWho29 | pizza is cold."