Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!maverick.ksu.ksu.edu!unlinfo.unl.edu!fergvax!231b3678 From: 231b3678@fergvax.unl.edu (Phil Dietz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.audio Subject: Re: Anyone written a NoiseTracker player for Sun SPARC 1? Keywords: SPARCstation, NoiseTracker Message-ID: <231b3678.673126951@fergvax> Date: 1 May 91 19:42:31 GMT References: <1991May1.022337.8905@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu> Sender: news@unlinfo.unl.edu Organization: University of Nebraska - Lincoln Lines: 45 Nntp-Posting-Host: fergvax.unl.edu In <1991May1.022337.8905@maverick.ksu.ksu.edu> nan@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Nan Zou) writes: >Hello to all you Amiga gurus, as my subject says, has anyone written >a Sound/NoiseTracker player for Sun SPARCstation 1? I'm normally a >PC/Unix person, so I'm pretty ignorant about Amiga stuff. There are >already softwares to play NoiseTrackers on the PC throught a Sound >Blaster's DAC, with decent quality too. I'm not too familiar with >the Sun's audio device either, seems like one 8-bit DAC. Anyone >familiar with both platforms want to try this? Or if there is already >a player could someone tell me where to find it? Thanks. >-- > Nan Zou | Bitnet : nan@ksuvm > Kansas State University | Internet: nan@math.ksu.edu > #include | nan@matt.ksu.ksu.edu Well I'd be a real task getting it to work on a SPARC. There are two limiting factors that make Noisetrackers a bad descision on a SPARC: 1) SPARCs don't use linear sampling like the Amiga and MAC. The samples must be converted to a form called uLaw. This process compresses the sample with a process similar to fibonacci. In the process, delta values are made and stored rather than the number itself. This 'delta'ing approximates the values, with division. When a number comes out like 12.5, it is rounded, thus producing errors in the sound. This conversion also takes a bit of time. 2) Currently, SPARC sound systems are limited to 8000 samp/sec. That's it. No variable length like the Amiga or mac...only 8000 sam/sec. So now all samples inside the Noisetracker songs are going to have to be upsampled or more likely downsampled heavily. Some Amiga samples go beyond 30000sam/sec. The conversion to 8000 will seriously degrade the sample. So you have a seriously degrade sample that is then converted to uLaw (which will mess up the degraded sample even more) Other than that, a Noisetracker player could be possible (4 voices ??), but it would sound very good compared to an Amiga or a decent SoundBlaster card. ---- Flame Proof o __ | o Shield of Phil Dietz +-- <__< | -+- Arrogance 231b3678@fergvax.unl.edu /\ | / \ University of Nebraska