GIF News Issue 16
September / October 1991
GN9109.TXT
GIF News
Sept/October 1991
Issue #16
(C)1991 Hsiao & Hunter, Inc.
Release date: Sept. 9, 1991
Dear GIF News reader,
Sorry for the week and a half delay of the release of this
issue. Things got really tied up around here.
Files in this archive:
GN9109-1.GIF --- Page 1
GN9109-2.GIF --- Page 2
GN9109-3.GIF --- Page 3
GN9109V4.GIF --- Page 4 (VGA page)
GN9107.TXT --- This file
GN-DISKS.TXT --- How to get .MOD files for Sound Blaster
GIFNEWS.ADS --- How to advertise in GIF News
SNDCARDS.TXT --- Adlib Gold Vs. Sound Blaster Pro detailed
comparison
Thanks for taking the time to download this issue of GIF
News. I really hope you like it. In this issue, you will
find articles on: SoundBlaster Pro Vs. AdLib Gold, Communication
news, rising prices of computer games, winners of the first
GIF News contest, and more.
Again, GIF News can be freely copied and shared just as
long as no modifications what-so-ever are made to this
archive. If you enjoyed reading the past 6 or so issues of
GIF News, please consider a small donation of $5 to cover my
cost of uploading GIF News long distance to BBS's across the
country. Or instead, please upload GIF News to a couple of
your favorite boards. Any bit of distribution helps.
Free advertising continues...read GIFNEWS.ADS for more
details. Also, interested in megs of TrakBlaster .MOD files
without the cost of downloading them long distance? Read the
file GN-DISKS.TXT for an offer you can't refuse.
Special note to Internet readers: If you would like to
be a GIF News subscriber, just send me E-mail and I'll add you
to the mailing list. GIF News will be uuencoded and sent to
you via E-mail. Many uudecoders exist for both unix and ms-dos
platforms. If you can't unzip on your machine, let me know and
I'll send up the file in an LZH archive or a ZOO archive.
Also, if you're anonymously FTP'ing, and come across some
files you think might be GIF News. You can easily tell which
issue is up by looking at the filename. For example, you see:
gn91-09.zip <-- The gn stands for GIF News, the 91 re-
presents the year, and the 09 is the
month (September in this case).
So be sure to look for gn91-11.zip come November.
I am happy to receive any comments or suggestions.
Please send them to any of the addresses below.
Thanks for your support,
Eric Hsiao
Editor-in-chief of GIF News
How to reach me:
US Mailing Address #1
Eric Hsiao
7 Fair Way
Poughkeepsie, New York 12603-5014
************* Please send to this address between 9/1/91 to 5/1/92) ********
US Mailing Address #2 (reach me quicker between dates
Sept. 1, 1991 to May 1, 1992)
Eric Hsiao
406-A BARH Mailroom, RPI
Troy, New York 12180-3590
****************************************************************************
Internet:
sunyat@rpi.edu
hsiaoe@rpi.edu (Note: sunyat@rpi.edu will go away in a few weeks, so
please use hsiaoe@rpi.edu instead. Thanks.)
Bitnet:
usergj8l@rpitsmts.bitnet
Compuserve:
ADDRESS:>INTERNET:hsiaoe@rpi.edu
MCI Mail:
TO: Eric Hsiao (EMS)
EMS: Internet
MBX: hsiaoe@rpi.edu
MBX: [press ENTER key]
Prodigy:
XPJD96B
Bulletin Boards:
PC Pitstop (914) 298-1914 USR HST v.42bis
Channel 1 (617) 354-8873 (See BBS Ad - GN9109-3.GIF)
GIFNEWS.ADS
* FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING *
That's right! Advertise for free in GIF News today! Anything under
1/5 of a page is absolutely free! Advertise your BBS, advertise your
business, advertise anything of interest to the computer world. All you
have to do is mail your ad to me 10 days before the next issue is due
out (i.e. Oct 21st for the Nov/Dec 1991 issue). Also, please consider
a small donation or contribution if you enjoy reading GIF News. You will
help offset the cost of long distance calls to upload GIF News to a BBS
near you, plus you'll get a bigger ad space. I make no profit, and I
create GIF News as a hobby and to provide a service to the BBS community.
-> If you want to advertise a BBS, all I ask is that you add me to your
user roster, giving me a normal user account and password (which you can mail
to me along with your ad). <-
In order to help me keep track of which bulletin boards are still up
and which ones have gone down, I request that sysops who advertise their
BBS in GIF News to let me know before each & every issue comes out that
they want an ad to be in it. In other words, if I don't hear from you
before the next issue comes out, your ad most likely will not go in.
Sorry, but I cannot grant requests that say "please put my BBS ad in the
next 10 issues." - you must notify me each time before an issue comes out
that you want your ad in it. This makes it easier for me to keep track
of ads, as well as give you the chance to update the information in it.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Thank you,
Eric Hsiao
Editor of GIF News
* FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING * FREE ADVERTISING *
Note: GIF News has the right to refuse any advertisement, and complaints
arising from any advertisements should be directed toward the
advertiser, not GIF News. GIF News is a free publication which may
be freely copied and distributed, so long as no modifications what-
so-ever are made.
GN-DISKS.TXT
GN-DISKS.TXT
.MOD files at your service
Can't seem to find any boards in your area with alot of TrakBlaster
.MOD files? Wish you had more, but don't want to spend the lengthy
time to download them from long distance boards? If you're like me,
after listening to the TrakBlaster program play music, you swore you
would never go back to .ROL or .CMF files again. Well, I have a
solution to those people who want more, but can't find more. I have
amassed about 10 megs of .MOD files, and would like to share them
with you.
Introducing the GIF News .MOD file server
Files available on both 5.25" & 3.5" format
If you order 1-2 disks, the following rates apply:
Disk Type Price
5.25" 360K disk = $1.00 ea
3.5" 720K disk = $1.75 ea
5.25" 1.2Meg disk = $2.25 ea
3.5" 1.44Meg disk = $2.75 ea
If you order 3 or more, the following rates apply:
Disk Type Price
5.25" 360K disk = $.75 ea
3.5" 720K disk = $1.50 ea
5.25" 1.2Meg disk = $2.00 ea
3.5" 1.44Meg disk = $2.50 ea
Please print out the following order form to help you out.
Name: ___________________________ Date: ___/___/___
___________________________
___________________________
___________________________
Phone: ( ) -
Disk Type Qty Price Total
___________________ _____ x _______ _______
___________________ _____ x _______ _______
___________________ _____ x _______ _______
___________________ _____ x _______ _______
See above for information on US Shipping _$.75__
Disk Type & Price
Total _______
Shipping to Canada is $1.50, not $.75 (funds in US Dollars please)
Checks & Money Order accepted as payment
Please make check out to Eric Hsiao
Mail this order form to:
Eric Hsiao
406-A BARH Mailroom, RPI
Troy, New York 12180-3590
All sales are final.
To make sure I don't send you .MOD files you already have, it may be
helpful for you mail your list of .MOD files along with the order
form.
SNDCARDS.TXT
SNDCARDS.TXT - Comparison between Adlib Gold & Sound Blaster Pro
-------------- GIF News --- Sept/Oct 1991 --------------
AdLib Sound Blaster
Gold Pro
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FM Synthesizer Chip 1 Stereo YM262 2 Mono YM3812
# FM voices used in Stereo 20 11
# FM voices used in Mono 20 22
Two Operator FM Synthesis Yes Yes
Four Operator FM Synthesis Yes No
# FM Waveforms 8 4
Negligible Wait Between Chip Writes Yes (0.28fs) No (23.0fs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sampling Resolution 12 bits 8 bits
Sampling Dynamic Range 72 dB 48 dB
Accepts 16 bit PCM Data Yes No
Sampling Input & Playback Channels 2 2
Maximum Stereo Sampling Rate 44.1 KHz 22.05 KHz
Digitized Sound Data Format 5.5125 KHz 2 KHz
Hardware Comp/Decompression 3 to 1 4 to 1
Simultaneous use of 2 DMA Channels Yes No
Sampling FIFO Buffer 2 x 128 Bytes unspecified
Programmable Interrupts Yes Jumpers only
Interrupt Conditions(s) 8 Choices On Completion
Variable Anti-aliasing Filter Yes No
Double Oversampling Digital Filters Yes No
Double Undersampling Digital Filters Yes No
----------------------------------------------------------------------
On-board Analog Stereo Mixer Yes Yes
Accepts CD-Audio (RedBook) Input Yes Yes
Volume Control on Each Source 128 levels 8 levels
Stereo Output Power Amplifier 1.2 W in 8j 0.75 W in 8j
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDI Interface (IN, OUT, THRU) Yes Yes
Simultaneous MIDI IN & OUT Yes No
MIDI FIFO Buffer Yes Yes
Joystick Port Yes Yes
SCSI CD-ROM Interface 153 kB/sec 153 kB/sec
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Programmable Output Volume Control Yes Yes
Programmable Output Tone Control Yes No
Programmable Gain for Mic & Aux Input Yes Automatic
Programmable Card Localization Yes No
Programmable DMA Channel Selection Yes Jumpers only
Programmable Interrupt Selection Yes Jumpers only
Programmable On-Board Chip Select Yes No
----------------------------------------------------------------------
ID Code Available Yes No
Directly Accessible Control Registers Yes No
Readable Control Registers Yes No
Registers Stored in Non-Volitile Memory Yes No
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Price With On-Board SCSI Interface $399.95 $299.95
Price Without SCSI Interface $299.95 n/a