CompuServe Messages

If anyone's interested: I've been doing DSP with the Amiga for a while now. I've been using a board available as a kit based around the Motorola 56001 (the "old" chip the Atari and NeXT used). It's more powerful (and more expensive) than the Analog Devices part, but the main reason I started using it a year or so ago was that it has become something of a standard. There are a bazillion bits of code, real-time operating systems, helpful documents, whatever out there that I can use with this hardware; for an Amiga user/developer, this is not something that I'm used to 🙂 Widely-adopted parts are great. Anyway: we've got a system for creating DSP algorithms graphically on the host Amiga, using a unit-generator sort of approach (icons and wires between them). Hit the Run button, and the code is compiled, uploaded to the board and run in about the time it takes to take your finger off the mouse button. I've used it to create a couple of pieces; you can reconfigure the algorithms on the fly, while the damn thing runs (if you don't mind a little glitching), and you can hook icons that control parameters of your DSP process into the patch to control things like filter settings, reverb settings, whatever, as it runs. There's provision for multiple DSP processors, although I'm only using one at the moment. The kit is still available, for about $200 for the processor board (including board, parts, etc) and another $150 for the A/D/A board, but it's definitely a hacker's project. Several people have had trouble bringing theirs up. Email curtin@well.sf.ca.us if you're interested in the hardware, or reply here if the software/music sounds interesting.