SoundTracker for ZX81 ?

[Andy Rea]

Ummm

2 things,

1) the sound chip is operating at a clock frequency of around 1.625Mhz where as Spectrum is around 1.773Mhz i think.
2) the tone table is the same as the spectrum player code (in facr almost all of the code is the same !) so pitch wise it will play lower.

I Wonder if this is anything to do with my so called bug fix...

@ yerz perhaps you could try this for me, play this STC file in as many players as you have and see if there is any difference between them, it should only make a few beeps at regular intervals.

test.zip

it is simply 1 pattern with a single sample, the sample only makes tone on the very last step, in the spectrum soundtracker this works, but when you compile it with STcompile (include the player) it then fails to produce any sound !, it does not play step 32 of the sample. i fixed the player code so that it does play the 32 step, i wonder if this could be the cause of the audible difference ?

in my tests, AY_EMUL does not play it correctly, VortexII does, my player does.

Andy

[Moggy]

I get same as You Andy, in AY-EMUL no matter how You set it up.
Saved it as WAV that was silent too, Strange.


Moggy.

[yerzmyey]

Andy Rea:

> Ummm
> 2 things,
1) the sound chip is operating at a clock frequency of around 1.625Mhz where as Spectrum is around 1.773Mhz i think.
2) the tone table is the same as the spectrum player code (in facr almost all of the code is the same !) so pitch wise it will play lower.
I Wonder if this is anything to do with my so called bug fix...
----------------------------
Oh, the pitch is perfectly fine to me. If it's like 2 semitones up or down (well, 3 even) I don't pay attantion.
So I DO NOT report any "bug" here - it RULEZ.
I'm a user of Spectrum 48K with AY-interface and many of the interfaces play *12* semitones *UP* or so (MOST annoying), You can imagine then, that 3 up or down is like nothing to me.



> @ yerz perhaps you could try this for me, play this STC file in as many players as you have and see if there is any difference between them, it should only make a few beeps at regular intervals.

test.zip

it is simply 1 pattern with a single sample, the sample only makes tone on the very last step, in the spectrum soundtracker this works, but when you compile it with STcompile (include the player) it then fails to produce any sound !, it does not play step 32 of the sample. i fixed the player code so that it does play the 32 step, i wonder if this could be the cause of the audible difference ?
in my tests, AY_EMUL does not play it correctly, VortexII does, my player does.
Andy
-----------------
I have the same players.
AY-EMUL by Sergey Bulba keeps silent.
Vortex-Tracker plays it correctly.


Supposedly You saved only this one pattern. Not a song. Of course it's kinda wild guess, but when You make a file that is supposed to play on players (outside of any tracker), You have to remember to set "Position 1" into "PATTERN number You have used" AND the "LENGHT" must be 1 (or more).
If You don't do it, then Vortex will play it, because it decompiles STC while loading, so You have a regular source of the song.
But AY-EMUL awaits for the song's "construction" (proper patterns in proper "positions" PLUS the proper "lenght" factor).

So that's my theory. It's mine, and everything related with it.
Brontosaurus. Yes.

[Andy Rea]

Seems as there is some confusion about this... ZXtune, doesn't play it eithe ! newest release was only yesterday !

Yes it is a proper song file, it plays, just no sound ! becuase the players are failing to play the last step of the sample.

Andy.

P.s http://www.debraclayton.webspace.virgin ... erz5th.mp3 you can download 5Th Channel played on ZX81 + ZXpand + ZXay, this is a YM chip. sampled at 48Khz on my laptop, sounds a bit harsh to me, it's sounds a little softer when played on my stereo.

[yerzmyey]

Andy Rea:

> Seems as there is some confusion about this... ZXtune, doesn't play it eithe ! newest release was only yesterday !
Yes it is a proper song file, it plays, just no sound ! becuase the players are failing to play the last step of the sample.
--------------------
Strange.
In this case I would have to see the original SoundTracker song (TAP). I would take a look and maybe say more.


> P.s http://www.debraclayton.webspace.virgin ... erz5th.mp3 you can download 5Th Channel played on ZX81 + ZXpand + ZXay, this is a YM chip. sampled at 48Khz on my laptop,
----------------------
Thx a lot man, now I can say the player and interface are perfectly fine. It was one of the most bizarre works taken out from AY by me, and it goes 100% good. Congratulations to all the Crew for really astonishing work on the hard and soft stuff.


> sounds a bit harsh to me, it's sounds a little softer when played on my stereo.
--------------
Nah, it's because the song is for AY and it goes from YM. It's very typical.

By the way - is it true that there CANNOT be used AY with "10" on the end (size of YM) instead of Yamaha?
I mean on the ZXpand.


> Andy.
---------
Y

[Andy Rea]

Erm i'm not 100% sure, SirMorris is your man, but....

I think you would need to build an adapter board that has a clock divider on it, i beleieve the YM has the divider built in... So i guess that's why it's not a simple plug in and go.

Andy.

[sirmorris]

Spot on, Andy.

We could only source YM chips in reasonable numbers. It seemed reasonable that I should use the built-in divider, saving myself some work

This is the first time I've ever heard that there is a difference in tone...

C

[yerzmyey]

This is the first time I've ever heard that there is a difference in tone...
C

Oh they are slightly different.
Buzzers are much louder (hardware envelopes). And they're more "dense".
Bass-drums are louder, snares are shorter - actually all instruments (except the buzz) are shorter in meaning - they fade-out faster (their actual "lenght" is of course the same but not for ear).
SOME buzzers can sound actually very different (it's rare) when the dist is more audiable than the main tone, which change a note (for the listenner) actually.
In two words - YM has 'more contour'. And all those things come from different volume-steps.

[Moggy]

This is the first time I've ever heard that there is a difference in tone...
C

Oh they are slightly different.
Buzzers are much louder (hardware envelopes). And they're more "dense".
Bass-drums are louder, snares are shorter - actually all instruments (except the buzz) are shorter in meaning - they fade-out faster (their actual "lenght" is of course the same but not for ear).
SOME buzzers can sound actually very different (it's rare) when the dist is more audiable than the main tone, which change a note (for the listenner) actually.
In two words - YM has 'more contour'. And all those things come from different volume-steps.

I agree I wired My ZON-X ,which has the old AY chip, up to the same amp as the Xpands AY unit and have to admit a difference in tone ,as far as some samples being nearly inaudible compared to the newer chip.

Moggy.

[sirmorris]

... so the YM is better? I was pondering what would be required to fit an AY to the ZXpand-AY board. Not much, really. A tiny 8-bit microcontroller and an AY chip with its leg out of the socket...

C