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

****************************************************************************


E-mail

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