AYPLAY V0.2 by James McKay (C) 1998 =================================== Date : 14/08/1998 V0.2 Features: ============== * Capable of playing 48K tunes. * ACB/ABC stereo for SB Pro *ONLY*! * INI file. * Now recognises multiple blocks per song - more tunes work. * Bugfix which should have been in place in V0.1 finally implemented! This software allows you to play AY-3-8912 Spectrum tunes through the SB, output can be up to 44Khz, you can also output the sound to a VOC file. Stereo is only guaranteed to go up to 22Khz. It's a bit like SIDPlay (or PlaySID) in operation. This program is for DOS, uses non-portable assembly code (for some parts) and is proud of it! This is basically a snippet of the current version of x128, which features the same sound routines. Also features: * No scrolly. * No background processing, multitasking or anything like that. * No nothing! Requirements ============ A SB 2.0 or above, although an SB 2.0 may not be able to go above 22Khz. A 486 can handle up to 44Khz, maybe a 386? If the PC is too slow, then fuzz and crackle will creep into the tune, try using a lower sampling rate. NOTE : A 48K (beeper) tune will take up a LOT more CPU time. MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE DOS4GW.EXE IN THE PATH OR IN THE DIRECTORY. Also make sure that you have set up your BLASTER environment variable correctly. Limitations =========== * AYplay requires a minimum of a 386 (just to work, this is not a comment on speed). * AYplay still cannot use IRQs 8-15 for generating sound. * Also the SB startup code is not 100% reliable and some soundcards will just get stuck. Sometimes running the initialising software that you got with your soundcard will help. I would fix the above two problems if I knew how to! What files can it play? ======================= The tunes that this can play are those that are used on the Amiga's DeliAY, part of the DELI-Tracker. On the Amiga they would be called something like: AY.NeverEndingStory or... EMUL.NeverEndingStory but for this you'll just have to rename it to: NEVEREND.AY Only files with a .AY extension will be accepted, also only files of the type ZXAYEMUL will work. Note, "ZXAYEMUL" are the first 8 bytes of the file. Controls ======== F1 - Help. F5 - Load. F10- Quit (Instant). F11- Sound Options. Cursor Left - Play the previous tune. Cursor Right - Play the next tune. Secret Option - Shift-F5 - Load any file as an AY, regardless of extension. F1 - Help. * You can select all the options from here, but it serves the additional purpose of allowing you to start the VOC file output exactly from the start of a tune. So F1, load tune, select tune, sound options, open VOC, type name, Esc, Esc. You'll see what I mean! Selecting a tune is done by going to "Tune :" and pressing left or right. F5 - Load. * Just select the file. F10- Quit. * An immediate quit without prompting for confirmation. F11- Sound Options. * Open/Close VOC file. * Open/Close PSG file. When opening a file the extension is automatically added, so you don't need to type it. You may be prompted if you want to overwrite an existing file, can you figure out what to do? If you quit the emulator then all files will be closed even if you had forgotten to do it yourself. The VOC file is saved at the same sampling rate as is being played, it is also mono, unpacked and 8-bit. Technically, it consists of one big block. If you are playing the tune in stereo then it will be saved in stereo, unpacked and 8-bit - possibly incompatible with a lot of things. WARNING! If you are in stereo mode with Mono selected then the output will still be in stereo, but with the same thing coming out of both speakers. The result would be a double sized VOC file! If you are making a mono VOC then make sure that you have disabled stereo (some options will be unselectable in the F11 menu). A PSG file is an old file format which just takes the register outputs of the AY chip and notes interrupt positions, the PSG file format went through many changes in it's tiny lifespan, and this is a really old one - there is no info in the header. The only purpose it serves is to be used with PSG2YM (available separately) which allows you to play the tunes on the STSound program. There are no known PSG players. PSG format cannot handle 48K tunes or any samples. * 48K Volume : LOW or REAL. You may want quieter 48K sound to avoid starkly contrasting volumes between a 128K and a 48K tune, but if the tune uses both the AY chip and the internal speaker then you will probably need the accuracy of REAL for it to play correctly. The following options will only be available if you have activated the stereo mode from the command line or INI file (and have appropriate BLASTER environment variable). * Stereo : Mono, ABC or ABC. Allows you to choose the stereo mode. Mono - As we all know it, or "Monaural" as some people know it. (Normal for most models of Spectrum). ABC has A - left, B - both, C - right. (Like the Pentagon and Scorpion). ACB has A - left, C - both, B - right. (Like the Amstrad CPC and modified Spectrums). * Speakers : Normal or Swapped. If "Swapped" then left output will play from right speaker and vice versa. Command Line ============ If you enter no parameters then the loading menu pops up automatically. /? - Lists available options. /hz - Select sampling rate, anything from 4000 to 45454 is accepted. The default sampling rate is 22050. /sbpro - Activate stereo mode, but you must also have T4 or greater in your BLASTER environment variable. /sbclone - If you are trying to go above 22050hz and you do not have a 100% SB or compatible, then it may not recognise the Auto-Init High Speed DMA command (0x90), if you find that your PC completely locks up when you try to go above 22050hz then use the /sbclone option as well. /swapspk - Swaps the output of left and right speakers in stereo mode. /audio - Select the audio output mode. /48vol - Set the 48K (internal speaker) volume. You can also do: AYPLAY tune.ay And it will load and play without going to any menus. INI File ======== The same options as the command line are available and are commented in the INI file, so you should have no problems changing it... AY File Format ============== Download AYmake if you want to try and make some AY files yourself, although bear in mind that you must already be capable of hacking out tunes, AYmake only helps you to turn them into AY files. Credits ======= James McKay (me). Duncan McKay (Original web page designer (but not any more)). AYplay and AYmake now live on the World Of Spectrum site! http://www.void.demon.nl/spectrum.html Patrik Rax - Author of the ZXAYEMUL format. SB playing library generously donated from Tomaz Kac's PlayTZX utility. The square wave generator, random number generator and method of counting are from Ville Halik's AY emulation for fMSX Unix, although I have modified the rest fairly substantially. Ulrich Doewich for his Ensoniq soundcard testing. The guys on the TAPER mailing list for their comments and info.