#PAS 16, Rev D
9 messages in this thread
I've been putting off ordering a sound card until I felt I understood enough
about IRQ conflicts to make sure I could make the sound card co-exist with all
the other clutter on my computer. A recent PC Magazine review also mentioned
IRQ problems in installing the board.
I just called Media Vision to make sure I had the story straight, before I put
in my order for the PAS 16 (now that I had read reviews in both PC Magazine,
4/27/93 and in a recent Windows Sources that both gave this board top ratings).
I learned a tidbit that might interest others here.
The question I was asking was, if I discovered that I had an IRQ conflict and
wanted to change to a new IRQ assignment, could I make this change from
software or did I have to open up my computer and move a jumper on the sound
card? The answer was it depends on whether I have Revision C or Revision D of
the PAS 16 sound card. The Rev. D has just started shipping about six weeks
ago, and is a "fully jumperless card."
Apparently there are two portions of the PAS 16 – the Pro Audio portion and the
Soundblaster emulation. They use different IRQ levels and different DMA
channels. In Rev. C, everything in the Pro Audio portion is software
selectable, but in the Soundblaster emulation you need to deal with jumpers. In
Rev. D., in both the Soundblaster and the emulation portions you can shift IRQ
levels from software.
The Features Summary on p. 222 of the PC Magazine article seems to say that the
PAS 16 only supports IRQ levels 2,3,5, and 7 (while it says the Sound Blaster
16 supports 2,5,7, and 10). If I understood the tech support person at Media
Vision correctly, this listing in PC Magazine is correct – the PAS supports a
bunch of other IRQ levels also, including 10.
One of the articles I read – perhaps Windows Sources – said that it took a
while for Media Vision to answer tech support questions. In my brief test,
they answered the phone quickly, on my first try, and the person I got was
extremely knowledgeable.
The tech support number is 1-800-638-2807.
Harriet
Oops – I made several errors in my previous message.
1) In Rev. D., in both the Soundblaster emulation and the Pro Audio portions,
you can shift IRQ levels from software.
2) It should have said – I think the listing of IRQ levels in PC Magazine is
_incorrect_ – the PAS supports a bunch of other IRQ levels also, including 10.
Sellers have a hard time knowing which version they have in stock. In case it
helps, Media Vision says that Revision D of the PAS 16 is part # 670-0044-01.
Harriet
What are all the IRQ's that this sound board uses? I have a system loaded and
this might be my next sound card if it supports high IRQ's.
Joe Greer
I think you'd be safer asking in the MULTIVEN forum or calling Media Vision
tech support to verify which IRQ levels are supported by the PAS 16, since my
impressions from one quick phone call may not be accurate.
The impression I had from talking to a Media Vision tech support person was
that the PAS 16 supports a number of higher IRQ levels including IRQ 10. I
took that to mean that the PC Magazine features listing was incomplete on this
point.
But the answer may be tricky. There seem to be two separate portions of the
PAS 16 board – the "Soundblaster emulation" portion and the "Pro Audio"
portion. They each have different default IRQ levels and DMA channels, though
each set of IRQ levels and DMA channels can be changed (by software in Rev D).
I'm not sure if the answer to your question is the same for both portions or
not.
The other issue that has me nervous (and that makes me want to have a
jumperless board so I can correct the situation if I get stuck): I believe that
your board has to match your software. Some older software only will work with
certain IRQ levels. I haven't mastered this yet, but I imagine that if I get
older kids' educational programs which were written for XT machines, they won't
be able to deal with a sound card on IRQ 10, for example.
I imagine that the reason the PAS 16 comes with different defaults for the
different portions is that it wants older and newer software to be able to find
it.
There are also issues about whether the sound card can share an IRQ with
something else. The tech support guy told me that they can usually share IRQ 5
or & with an HP IIIP printer – except that Gateway machines don't allow IRQ
sharing. . . .
Hi, Harriet:
Long time, no talk to. (I DID eventually get that CD-ROM drive we talked about
many moons ago – not a DAK/BSR but a new NEC 74-1!)
I heartily recommend the PAS16 sound card but the jumpered card can be a bit
tricky to set up. Luckily, there is terrific support for MediaVision products
over in the MULTIVEN Forum. The sysop, Courtney Harrington, is a PAS16 guru and
MV company reps are there daily.
Rgds Rob
Nice to hear from you, too. I finally got a Mitsumi this winter – but still
haven't really gotten involved with using it much. I have been spending my
time learning about QEMM and memory management and IRQ conflicts instead (I've
learned a lot. . . .).
For anyone else following this thread who is also looking for the jumperless
Rev. D of the PAS 16, my cousin is willing to take mail orders – her
distributor does in fact have the new revision. Her price is $175 plus
shipping. Her store is Yudin's in Wyckoff, New Jersey – 201-891-3111. She is
Susan Yudin.
That price is lower that anything on Ziff Buyer's Direct when I checked last
week – and the large vendors, like Dell and Hard Drives Internationals couldn't
or wouldn't tell me which version they were selling.
Regards, Harriet
Is Susan on CompuServe? There are some of us (me) who have VERY high
long distance rates and the ability to use CIS saves us BIG $$$. That sounds
like a very good price.
Mike.
No, sorry, Susan isn't on Compuserve. She used to be one of the major computer
and appliance vendors on Prodigy, but she terminated that (there were too many
problems with credit card fraud.)
It sounds as if your phone bills, from Guam, could be astronomical. Can you
connect to CIS at a reasonable rate?
Harriet
The question now becomes what is a resonable rate? Just a month or so
ago CompuServe lowered our communication charges from $48.50 to $20.00 per
hour. When I pick up the CIS MAgazine and see that Londoners get $2.00 per
hour I get a little p****d off as CIS is an American company and we in Guam are
Americans under the American flag. They need to take care of their own as well
as non-Americans.
My phone rates are from $.70 to $1.00 per minute depending on time of
day. The big problem with using long distance to connect to CIS is that the
first minute is always $1.75. Think about that each time you log on.
Sorry to hear about your sister's bad luck. Maybe the problem is that
she was trying to use the wrong online service. I wonder how bad the credit
card fruad is for the CIS venders? Does she still take credit cards over the
phone? If so can you ask her if she will ship to Guam via First Class
Registered Mail? If you think my phone rates are bad you should see what UPS
and Fed Ex charge! 🙁
Mike.