Path: news.uh.edu!barrett From: mjbrown@cryo.cryogenic.com (Michel J. Brown) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews Subject: REVIEW: DSS8+ sound sampler, version 2.01 Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.audio Date: 25 May 1994 21:25:19 GMT Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett Lines: 266 Sender: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator) Distribution: world Message-ID: <2s0fnv$t04@masala.cc.uh.edu> Reply-To: mjbrown@cryo.cryogenic.com (Michel J. Brown) NNTP-Posting-Host: karazm.math.uh.edu Keywords: hardware, audio, sampling, commercial Originator: barrett@karazm.math.uh.edu PRODUCT NAME DSS8+ sound sampler, version 2.01. BRIEF DESCRIPTION Digital Sound Sampler 8+ (DSS8+) is an audio digitizer. It consists of a sampling/digitizing hardware interface and a sampling, editing, and sequencing program that allows you to digitize, edit, combine and play back audio samples. AUTHOR/COMPANY INFORMATION Name: Great Valley Products (GVP) Address: 600 Clark Ave. King of Prussia, PA 19406 USA Telephone: (215) 354-9495 FAX: (215) 337-9922 E-mail: None given, although I suspect that they monitor the nets part time as individuals. LIST PRICE I do not know the list price of the product, but I paid $99.95 in US dollars from my local Amiga dealer in Portland, OR, USA. SPECIAL HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS HARDWARE Supports all current Motorola CPU's including the 68040. The card is processor independent for compatibility, but dependent inasmuch as speed is concerned. SOFTWARE None. COPY PROTECTION None. MACHINE USED FOR TESTING Amiga 2500 (rev 4.5). 2 MB Chip RAM, 4 MB Fast RAM. Kickstart version 37.300, Workbench version 38.35 (AmigaDOS 2.x). INSTALLATION Installation is easy and uses the Commodore Installer program. I selected the Expert Mode and found most of the defaults to be standard: the Novice selection wouldn't have been much different. The Installer script, however, doesn't seem to like my GigaMem partition, but the requester can be closed, so that is a moot point. I applaud GVP for having the sense to use the Commodore Installer, and besides, I like their install icon better anyway. The hardware and software installs easily, and I was up and running in about five minutes, taking my time. OVERVIEW The DSS8+ package is a clear polycarbonite casing showing the internals of the circuit board. It has a non-pass-through parallel port connector, two RCA mini phono plugs, and a standard mini DIN microphone connector between them. The included software, DSS8+ Digital Sound Studio V2.01, looks very similar to the previous version which was included in the original DSS8. Included are two double density floppy disks, the first marked Install, has the Program, utilities, and player. The second disk contains several very nice samples of high quality. REVIEW The software's interface, while reminiscent of other programs for music mods and meds, is unique in having single display. It can be changed by selecting the operating mode, like sampler, editor, or tracker. This makes for easy transition from one functional aspect of the program to another. The VCR style controls make the program intuitive to use and give instant feedback. As they claim, the screen is designed to resemble a mixing and editing console like in a sound studio. Features abound in this inexpensive digital sampler -- not a bad little unit -- with real time echo, reverb, oscilloscopes, and spectrum analysis. Just about everything is mouse editable, including sample amplitude levels, waveform functions, and supports cut and paste type work. I'm not sure if it uses the clipboard, but it would be a natural extension of the editor. There are effects (F/X) and processing for echo, mixing, filters, and resampling. Currently only the IFF, Sonix, and Raw file formats are supported; however, it is compatible with most sound tracker and noise tracker modules, so this really isn't a problem unless you use OctaMED (currently not supported). A key feature I like is the ability to create self-playing music modules for demo purposes. This allows others to hear your work without having to use a separate player program! Nice touch, in my opinion. Although I'm not a professional musician, I have found the tracker module up to par for creating some pretty impressive mods. It can create sampled instruments with 1, 3, and 5 octaves, and supports MIDI triggered note inscription. You can also add multiple effects for each note, so its a lot like OctaMED in this regard. The tutorial is excellent, and except for the glib and cryptic explanation of creating a real time sample, it is pretty straightforward. It states only that the "microphone jack is also available for input when the Mixer is selected." This is simply done by clicking on the STEREO gadget, so this is just a small complaint about semantics. When setting the gain for sampling, I recommend using the Autogain to get a feeling for where to start, then dropping back and resampling until you're at the bottom edge of clipping on the oscilloscope. This produces the best sound without added distortion from clipping. Speaking of distortion, my A1960 monitor emits a really bad whine that is picked up by the DSS8+ as a frequency modulated tone that sounds like a 1000 Hz tone riding the sample. I have to turn off my monitor every time I record, as I've not found a satisfactory manner to shield the unit from the apparent RFI. In HiFi mode the screen blanks out, yet the whine persists, so be alert to this as a possibility in your system. While some will feel that the ability to have 31 samples in memory simultaneously is insufficient, that alone takes approximately 3 MB, not including free RAM for editing nor the program itself. So, for all intents and purposes, even though it will work on one megabyte machines, it really shines with at least four, and definitely more, especially chip RAM, where samples are generated before being buffered off to fast RAM. DOCUMENTATION The documentation comes in an 82-page, spiral bound booklet that can lie flat or be propped up on the keyboard for easy reference. The layout is logical and easily followed. First is the overview, followed by the installation procedures, which are very well documented, leaving nothing to guesswork. The tutorial follows, and is basically a quick look at the different modules and their functional layout and control subsystems. After the brief basics are addressed, a very succinct reference section follows, covering in detail all aspects of the DSS8+ and giving lavish examples throughout. First rate explanations of all features, and examples of each one, make for easy reading and reference. After the splendid reference section are appendices covering keyboard shortcuts, hexidecimal notation, and basic sound and music theory. Even then, GVP includes a well-thought-out customer complaint form and configuration form for trouble shooting, should the need ever arise... which I doubt, but it is a nice touch. The index is actually cross-referenced, so it makes relating various functional aspects a lot easier. About the only complaint I have is that GVP claims to support ARexx, but there's no reference to it anywhere in the documentation. There is a drawer titled ARexx, however, which contains scripts to control right channel gain, left channel amplitude, DC offset, ARexx start, and ARexx quit. A little addendum or README file would have been better than no documentation at all. At least they are supporting ARexx and assigning ports. The documentation is very straightforward and covers every aspect of installation, use, and maintenance. All levels of expertise are covered, and beginners to experts alike won't be disappointed or confused by the nomenclature. LIKES I like the ease of use, the intuitive system that is completely Style Guide compliant, and the use of many of the advanced features found on the more recent AmigaDOS upgrades. DISLIKES AND SUGGESTIONS About the only dislike I have is that I have to turn off my monitor in order to sample live properly. There is probably nothing that GVP can do about that, but it may be a problem for other users who use the Commodore A1960 monitor. I'd really like to know why I can save my preferences. The menu says I can, but the paths I have for different files default back to the original ones set by GVP. Perhaps this is a bug, or maybe their use of nonstandard requestors makes this happen. My suggestion: make use of the standard ASL requestors, and allow full use of the AmigaDOS system calls. Another small complaint is that even though my virtual memory shows up in the System Information requestor, according to both DSS8+ and GigaMem, none of it is utilized. With applications like these becoming more commonplace, and upping the RAM requirements, virtual memory should at least be supported on a very elementary level. Even AudioMaster III supports virtual memory allocation, and it is considerably older than DSS8+. Some commodities may not be compatible with the DSS8+. Magic Menus causes nasty, unrecoverable alerts. Power Data completely scrambles the DSS8+ screen to the point of unreadability. Needless to say, I no longer run these commodities, as I value the DSS8+ more, but I would like to see them work together harmoniously. I'd like to see support for other screen modes: at least HIRES LACE would be nice. Then again, this could have been omitted because of RAM considerations, as there are numerous warnings throughout the documentation about memory usage and the large files that sampling can create. Maybe version three will improve this. COMPARISON TO OTHER SIMILAR PRODUCTS The only comparable product I have used is Perfect Sound by Sunrize. All I can say is that you'd have to go to either a twelve or sixteen bit unit before you'll find anything in the eight-bit group that will displace the DSS8+, the current reigning king of sound. I can think of no better value for the money in regards to Amiga sound devices. BUGS None noted, except for perhaps the conflicts mentioned above. VENDOR SUPPORT Full addresses, and phone/fax numbers are supplied, but trying to call a real representative at GVP is difficult at best. I am not associated with GVP in any way other than being a satisfied DSS8+ owner. WARRANTY Full one year warranty on parts and the installation software. Whether the warranty is transferable or not is not mentioned in the documentation. CONCLUSIONS This is an excellent product at a fair price. Considering the performance capabilities exhibited, I would hazard a guess that the faster your machine, the faster the throughput; and the more RAM (both Chip and Fast RAM) you have, the larger or more samples you can work with at a time. All in all, this is a product that every Amiga user shouldn't be without. I know I'll keep mine a long time! COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1994 by Dr. Michel J. Brown. All rights reserved. --- Daniel Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews Send reviews to: amiga-reviews-submissions@math.uh.edu Request information: amiga-reviews-requests@math.uh.edu Moderator mail: amiga-reviews@math.uh.edu Anonymous ftp site: math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews