Questions tagged [audio]

For questions about recording, processing, producing or working with audio or audio hardware.

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4 votes
1 answer
202 views

Tandy 1000 TDYSPKR utility

I've seen reference to a TDYSPKR (.EXE or .COM?) tool that sets audio output options on the early Tandy 1000 series of computers (1000, 1000A, 1000SX, 1000TX, maybe others). Apparently it can toggle ...
8 votes
2 answers
658 views

Could the Apple IIGS play any and all Amiga MOD files?

The Apple IIGS has a wavetable synthesis sound chip with dedicated 64 kilobytes of RAM. I assume the sound architecture dictates that samples have to be loaded into that dedicated RAM to be able to be ...
3 votes
1 answer
714 views

How to make an audio CD for a(n emulated) Playstation? [closed]

I can't manage to burn a working audio CD-R for my (both emulated and non-emulated) PlayStation. I'd like to get instructions on how to do it in a GNU/Linux environment (also without using a real CD-R)...
6 votes
1 answer
623 views

AMD Interwave audio fx

I hope it's retro enough. Does anyone have any info on how AMD Interwave did sound effects? I'm mostly interested in reverb, but others would be nice to know about as well. The question is ...
0 votes
2 answers
310 views

Using a Roland LAPC-I without a PC

This is inspired by the video Using an old 8 bit ISA sound card (Roland LAPC-I) without a PC. I would like to find detailed instructions (for those unlearned in electronics), including a parts list, ...
22 votes
3 answers
2k views

How was 8-channel audio achieved on Amiga?

Oktalyzer was a Tracker style program for Amiga, that allowed composing and playing music with 8 channels instead of the "hardware-natural" 4. So far I learned it achieved that by splitting the 4 8-...
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the 26-pin D-sub (DA-26) connector used for on the Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Patch Panel?

My dad has this audio interface from the 90s called the Media Vision Pro AudioSpectrum 16 Patch Panel, but unfortunately doesn't have the manual. From my research, it appears that this panel was used ...
23 votes
6 answers
9k views

Why was video, audio and picture compression the poorest when storage space was the costliest?

"Full-motion video" sequences in PC and console games in the 1990s were bad-looking, in spite of taking huge amounts of storage space. Same thing with random short video clips that I ...
36 votes
3 answers
4k views

How does the CD audio connector work?

I am building a retro computer and found out that old CD drives have audio output connectors. But how does it work? The computer can read all data from the CD using ATAPI/IDE. Why is there an ...
18 votes
7 answers
6k views

What should be the waveform for ZX Spectrum tapes?

I am digitizing about 40 tapes with programs for the ZX Spectrum. I am somewhat puzzled by the waveform after digitization. The signal of most cassettes is meander-shaped. One of the cassettes can ...
7 votes
1 answer
2k views

What MIDI sound font does mGBA use?

There is the mGBA Game Boy Advance emulator. I wonder which MIDI sound font it uses. I think the original Nintendo GBA sound font is copyrighted. So if it uses an open source sound font all music will ...
48 votes
6 answers
7k views

How did musicians acquire samples for tracker music (MOD, S3M, XM and the like)?

Many songs in the so called "tracker" format quite popular in the early 90s (think .MOD, .S3M, .XM, .IT and the like) seemingly used sound samples from real synthesizers. This sometimes ...
15 votes
3 answers
5k views

Role of the Z80 co-processor in GBA games

The Nintendo Game Boy Advance had a Z80-like processor which was typically used for backwards compatibility with GB and GBC games. According to its Wikipedia page, an uncited comment claims that this ...
41 votes
5 answers
30k views

Loading ZX Spectrum tape audio in a post-cassette world

My ZX Spectrum 48k seems very resistant to working with audio input. I no longer have any cassette players, so am relying on audio files from digital players. I have been able to save and verify a ...
18 votes
4 answers
4k views

Is this Votan voice assistant from 1984 a real system?

This clip from BBC Archive allegedly shows a computer that can do voice recognition, speaker recognition and speech synthesis with minimal delay in 1984. I find that hard to believe, they must have ...
10 votes
2 answers
562 views

Could the BBC micro's analogue input be used to sample sound?

Reference: BBC Micro analogue in A custom connector would be required between this D-shape rows of pins port and a standard input socket for phono/rca or 3.5inch or 1/4inch jack. What would be the bit ...
4 votes
4 answers
589 views

What bit depth and sampling frequency could the BBC micro play back sampled sounds?

I have an archive of sample recordings with a sample playback program, the date and author in the BBC BASIC loader for the program is "(C) 1985 by DAVID J. HOSKINS" There are are about 10 ...
39 votes
1 answer
4k views

How did voice dialing work in old Nokia phones?

For example on S40 or the 3310, users were able to set voice tags (also known as voice commands) for contacts. The phone could then recognize the command later and dial the right number. With neural ...
3 votes
1 answer
414 views

Where can I find Windows 98 drivers for VIA sound card VT8237A/VT8251?

I'm looking to try and get a VIA sound card working in Windows 98. I have everything else running no problems, just the sound. I've tried everything I can think of including VIA’s website which lists ...
26 votes
2 answers
5k views

Was "One-Winged Angel" an actual CD track, or generated by the PlayStation's sound chip with a few samples (SFX) added on top?

"One-Winged Angel" is the musical theme for the final boss of Final Fantasy VII for PlayStation, released 1997. I no longer have my copy, sadly. In spite of consisting of no less than three ...
33 votes
19 answers
10k views

Was it possible to listen to music and work on old PCs? When was it possible to for the first time?

I was wondering the other day, would it be possible to listen to a midi on a C64 while writing a program or something. I mean it did have a sound chip that would technically just get some new buffers ...
42 votes
17 answers
9k views

Is there any text to speech program that will run on an 8- or 16-bit CPU?

I'm wondering if any of the ancient 1980's style text to speech algorithms were saved from oblivion and are still available. It might be nice to hear that vintage sound like what appeared in War Games....
2 votes
2 answers
677 views

Does the Sound Blaster Live! Value had hardware support for Adlib/OPL3?

As I m buying a computer without an onboard sound card, I m thinking about using my old Creative Sound card from 21 years ago and buying a pcie riser adapter instead of a modern sound card (I m ...
1 vote
0 answers
44 views

Where can I find EVOC20 package for Emagic Logic 2.5?

I know the vocoder was firstly developed by the company Emagic, which then bought by Apple. Now it is part of Logic Pro X and impossible to find the original version, that can work in Windows. Does ...
4 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is there any tool to convert .DSK to mp3 file?

I was looking into the Apple II disk server (See below for background information) and curious if there is a tool that can actually convert .DSK image to .MP3 file, as the underlying c2t only supports ...
4 votes
1 answer
641 views

PlayStation 2 Slim with analog A/V output having noise interference issues

I'm having an odd issue with the aforementioned system, the A/V receiver is a RCA STAV-4180 unit, and being from 1996, it's still a great unit. So far, while it's tape output for recording does have ...
22 votes
6 answers
6k views

Sound driver for DOS or Windows 3.x that used the PC speaker?

Long ago in a galaxy far far away, back in the early 90's, I worked for a crappy clone company as a phone technician. At the time, 386SX/25's were common for in-house technical support / customer ...
3 votes
1 answer
315 views

How to write directly to the Commodore 64 (or similar) DAC [duplicate]

I read some related information in a SAM question but I want to know exactly how to write amplitudes directly to the DAC, sample by sample, like in a bytebeat formula. I understand it is possible on ...
17 votes
2 answers
3k views

How to decode an audio file which contains an MSX BASIC program? [closed]

I have an audio file in WAV format, which supposedly comes from a cassette sound file. Moreover, it contains a BASIC program, but I don't know how to decode it. I have tried to convert the wav file to ...
3 votes
1 answer
453 views

Audio from Commodore 64 to line 1/4 inch line level

I have a 1702 monitor for my C64. I use a cable that splits the video/audio from the C64 to the Red/Yellow/White thing. Something like this. The white cable is the audio. I believe this is an RCA ...
14 votes
1 answer
1k views

What is the relationship between Amiga audio and the MOD music file format?

What is the the MOD music file format? Exactly how does it relate to the Amiga 1000 audio hardware? Did the MOD format become popular on non-Amiga computers? If so, why?
10 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is this extra lead in my monitor cable?

I have a breadbox Commodore 64 with a Commodore 1702 monitor. My monitor has three RCA-style inputs on the back: Audio (White) Luma (Yellow) Chroma (Red) I purchased a cable which claims to be an ...
27 votes
1 answer
7k views

Why did keygens play music?

When running some keygens (i.e. applications that generate working license keys for possibly pirated software), low-quality background music is played while the user waits. See this sample YouTube ...
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

What pins on the PS2 AV out port are the audio pins?

I'm trying to get some LEDs to be synced with sound. I'm trying to find the pins for the left and right audio on a fat PS2 motherboard. All I can seem to find is a pin with a solid 10v and 2 pins that ...
18 votes
1 answer
469 views

Did any Mockingboard game use the VIA timers or interrupts?

There were only a small number of games that supported any of the Apple II sound cards such as the Mockingboard. From those games that used the Mockingboard, did any of them utilize the on-board VIA'...
9 votes
2 answers
2k views

How do NES/famicon games produce additional sound channels?

The NES/famicon has always used the Ricoh 2A03, a modified MOS 6502 processor to generate the memorable music and sound effects of classic Nintendo games and continues to define the newer 8-bit / ...
14 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is it possible to play Famicom games on the NES and utilize the extra sound channels?

I've seen there are adapters to convert Japanese Famicom games to work on the NES. You may have to remove the lockout chip, I can't remember. Anyway, many Famicom games included extra sound hardware ...
12 votes
6 answers
7k views

Converting SCART to VGA/Jack

I have a few home-microcomputers that use SCART to output both audio & video to TV screens such as the Atari STE 1040 and the Sony MSX Hitbit 501. I don't have room to store old cathode-ray ...
13 votes
0 answers
489 views

Is there a simple BASIC program that demonstrates SID6581 distortion?

Many songs use a SID6581 design "flaw", distortion, as an effect. I tried experimenting with the filter and resonance registers, but was unable to reproduce the sound. What conditions are necessary ...
16 votes
1 answer
726 views

Why was the audio output of the SID6581 so variable between chips?

Each of the SID6581s I have tested sound different, particularly when it comes to filter cutoffs and distortion. What are the causes of these variances?
17 votes
1 answer
2k views

How could Amiga computers play 14 bit sound?

The "Paula" chip used for sound output in all Amiga computers had 4 8bit sound channels (arguably comparable to 9bit stereo). There were programs/libraries which could play 14bit stereo on the Amiga ...