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From: jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: How to beat a NeXT
Message-ID: <1991Feb23.014310.4975@cc.helsinki.fi>
Date: 23 Feb 91 01:43:10 GMT
References: <7692@sugar.hackercorp.com> <481@cronos.metaphor.com>  <1991Feb19.142411.17216@infonode.ingr.com>
Organization: University of Helsinki
Lines: 56

In article <1991Feb19.142411.17216@infonode.ingr.com>, hychejw@infonode.ingr.com (Jeff W. Hyche) writes:
> jalkio@cc.helsinki.fi writes:
> 
>>Add to this that NeXT has the DSP and 16-bit CD-quality stereo-audio,
> 
>>Oh, you can't have EVERYTHING for $3000. You just have to decide _what_
>>you need most. (Amiga, for example doesn't really have sound on $3000
>>range - only because of the insufficent quality for anything more than
>>games.)

Uurgh. I think I will try to clear the water a bit...


> 	
> 	Okay I have tried to stay out off all flame wars reguarding my
> computer is better than yours.  Over the years I have found that all
> compters have there place in the world.  But I have to point something
> out here.  The Amiga does have 8 bit sound, that is true, and so does
> the MacII.  So the NeXT has 16 bit audio, thats nice.  But what good is
> it?  The people that I know who do real work in sound editing and
> producing all use Mac II, Amiga and Atari STs, and you know why they do.
> Simple, they edit the sound on the computer and send it trought a MIDI

Editing _synthesizer_ sounds is quite different from editing samples.
You _can_ send samples through MIDI but it is so slooow. 

> port to a dedacated instrument.  No one in their right mind is gonna use
> a computers built in sound chips, at least not a Pro.  Now does MIDI

Well, SoundTools for MAC has the same Motorola 560001 chip than NeXT
does. So do many other boards. There are boards containing 8 DSPs and
more for NeXT (and surely for other computers, too).

> ports exist for the NeXT, is sound manuplating software there?

You can use the MAC midi interfaces on NeXT, too. NeXT isn't the
ulitmate _MIDI_ platform, but the people at music research seldom use
MIDI anyway. MIDI is just a slowish interface for commercial keyboards
etc. (It would be nice to see a good MIDI sequencer on NeXT, though.)

> 	Most of the people I know use MacII and Amigas and non that I
> know use the NeXT, hell most of them didn't know what it was or had even
> heard of Stevie Jobs.  Reason simple because it doesn't have MIDI or the
> software to support it.

NeXT doesn't have many _MIDI_ programs, but MIDI is a kind of a dinosaur
(or will be) anyway. NeXT is more suitable for more advanced music
usage, like Csound etc. _Any_ computer can handle MIDI. I have had an
Atari MEGA4 for 5 years and I have used with several MIDI synthesizers,
etc. Now I want to leave that behind and move to something different and
more flexible.

> -- 
>                                   // Jeff Hyche           
>     There can be only one!    \\ //  Usenet: hychejw@infonode.ingr.com
>                                \X/   Freenet: ap255@po.CWRU.Edu