CompuServe Thread

synthesys of amiga

8 messages in this thread
#38399From: Joseph MaayanDec 22, 1993 9:55 AM
what kind of synthy method does the amiga uses? is it wave synthy? is it like any kind of pc sound board?
#38401From: Peter WadeDec 22, 1993 7:07 PM
The Amiga uses sampled sounds. It is like a digital sound recorder and it creates different pitches by effectively changing the playback speed. There are programs avaialable for the Amiga which can synthesise sounds and store the results as a sample. There are plenty of sampled sounds in the public domain, and hardware to record your own samples is fairly cheap.
#38405From: Joseph MaayanDec 23, 1993 1:18 AM
so you mean the amiga uses wave synthy like the pc sound board gravis ultrasound?
#38421From: Peter WadeDec 24, 1993 5:11 PM
I don't know anything about PC sound boards. Does anyone else here ?
#38444From: jarrodDec 27, 1993 9:44 AM
The AMIGA uses a WAVEFORM TABLE LOOKUP method. The sound is an actual. Sample of the REAL sound (like in PROFESSIONAL equipment!) All the clone sound cards that are cheap (and i mean price wise) are FM Synthsis. They created the sounds on the fly. (Just about every 16 sound card that samples on the clones does (8 bit sampling) but does 16 bit playback. Thats like digitizing a picture at 12bit and displaying 24, a waste! Plus clones are locked at 11khz 22khz or 44hkz as a general rule. Where as an AMIGA can digitize up to 48khz (This is the DAT sample rate) For the price of a GOOD (not professional or great) clone sound card. You could get a TOCCATA 16 and an AMIGA to put it in! Plus Blue Ribbon SoundWorks has the Ultimate Music Software tools. NOTHING on anyother platform can touch Bars&Pipes Pro, SuperJam! or PatchMeister. Nor the Support they give!
#38434From: Ron LegroDec 26, 1993 4:58 PM
I'm strictly a layperson on this subject, but I'll give it a go: The Amigas come standard with 8-bit digital sound output, expressable as four discrete channels. The range in output is partly a function of software and partly a function of the speed of your particular machine, but it's possible, for instance, to sample near-CD quality audio up to 44khz. The Amiga's native output is not like the FM synthesis type of output typically found on PC sound boards. Typical Amiga sound files offer stereo output but that's not a requirement. Software tricks can boost the four-channel output to eight or more channels. You can add 12-bit or 16-bit audio boards that provide near- or full-CD audio quality and many more simultaneous channels. In my experience, the native Amiga sound output tends to sound better than typical synthesized FM type cards available for PCs. I'm aware of utilities to let both types of computer recognize audio output from the other — e.g., .WAV files to the Amiga, .MOD files to the PC. Beyond that, my technical knowledge is nil. Hopefully, someone else can help out if you need to know more.
#39203From: Joseph MaayanJan 29, 1994 10:36 AM
i know the fm synthy can not be compared to the amiga but how about the wave synty? those are instrument samples achieved at 44.1 khz and at 16-bit quality.
#39239From: Ron LegroFeb 1, 1994 1:07 PM
I dunno about wave synthy. Maybe someone more familiar with audio engineering could chime in. I do know that you can get 16-bit sound cards for the Amiga that will best that 44.1 Khz rate. And one of 'em handles up to 32 channels, as I recall.