Digisound on PSG (YM2149)

[mrcoke]

Hi Folks!

Shame on me - ok. I really have no idea how to play an 8bit digisound sample on the PSG. All i found on the net is to combine all 3 PSG channels to reach a better sound than 4bit digisound on 1 channel. (Because the Volume Register of any channel is 4bit)

Well, i just want to understand the basics to be able to play digisound. I know already, that a digisound is definded by its resolution in bits and the replay rate in KHz. That's clear so far. But i don't know how to interprete the values of a digisound value - means: on a 8bit sample there are values like 0 (zero) that means silence - but there are positive and negative values up to 128 - ok, a greater value is a greater sound, but what is the difference between negative and positive values ?!??

If anybody knows - how to setup the PSG - and like to share this information -- please, help me.
signed off,
mr.coke

[Mug UK]

Loads of code on this thread including sample playback - http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15021

More info on this page - http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=15666

[mrcoke]

Loads of code on this thread including sample playback - http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=15021

More info on this page - http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=68&t=15666

Hi Muguk...
Thanks a lot for your reply...
The "Playing MODs and multi samples" thread i found already. This thread don't answer my questions, cause i don't want to mix multiple samples.
The "playsam.zip" source in the "Ronalds A. Sources will appear here! Alot!!" thread is still interesting for me, but this is just a code snippet -- please don't understand me ... i don't want to rip a code snippet - i simply want to understand how that stuff works.

however, thank you for the hints...
i'm just seraching...

mr.coke

[Mug UK]

No probs .. just did a quick search on 'samples' and linked to the ones I thought might be useful. There's plenty of old school coders on here who might be able to help you though

[oberje]

Well, i just want to understand the basics to be able to play digisound. I know already, that a digisound is definded by its resolution in bits and the replay rate in KHz. That's clear so far. But i don't know how to interprete the values of a digisound value - means: on a 8bit sample there are values like 0 (zero) that means silence - but there are positive and negative values up to 128 - ok, a greater value is a greater sound, but what is the difference between negative and positive values ?!??

There's no real difference in signed/unsigned, it's just a convention, ultimately to be played on the PSG the value is always translated to a positive ( or 0 ) volume ( obtained by setting various combinations of the 4 bit volumes for the 3 channels ).

Aside: 0 can be silence, but note, any value will be silent if it is continuous and unchanging. It's the change in volume & the frequencies that makes the sound.

Cheers,
oberje

[mrcoke]

There's no real difference in signed/unsigned, it's just a convention, ultimately to be played on the PSG the value is always translated to a positive ( or 0 ) volume ( obtained by setting various combinations of the 4 bit volumes for the 3 channels ).

Aside: 0 can be silence, but note, any value will be silent if it is continuous and unchanging. It's the change in volume & the frequencies that makes the sound.

Cheers,
oberje

Ahh - ok ?! A few a good hints - thanks very much!

I still have a problem with the volume controlling. There are 3 channels with 4 bit volume, but i guess - a volume level 123 (ABC) is as loud as 321 (ABC) - so there are only 46 different volumes combining the 3 channels? Or is the trick to mix the volume with tone and/or noise - maybe a higher tone sounds louder than a lower tone? =)

mr.coke

[oberje]

Ahh - ok ?! A few a good hints - thanks very much!
mr.coke

You might want to check out this link: http://map.grauw.nl/articles/psg_sample.php

Cheers,
oberje

[unseenmenace]

Attached is a sample (unsigned I believe) to YM register lookup table and example code someone sent me, sorry I forget who

[bod/STAX]

Sorry, I can never remember which is which when it comes to signed samples and unsigned samples.

But if you have a sample that contains the values -127 to +128 then you just add 128 ($80) to all the bytes
of the sample thus giving you values from 0 to 255. These values then can be an offset into a sound table
that contains all sound that can be played through the soundchip.

Click this link and scroll down to where I've uploaded the source code to the Lost Boys Megabang demo.
You'll see that it replays samples at various speeds using the above method (the sample already has 128 ($80)
added to it).

http://atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... ng#p127044

[Nyh]

Sorry, I can never remember which is which when it comes to signed samples and unsigned samples.

But if you have a sample that contains the values -127 to +128 then you just add 128 ($80) to all the bytes
of the sample thus giving you values from 0 to 255. These values then can be an offset into a sound table
that contains all sound that can be played through the soundchip.

Click this link and scroll down to where I've uploaded the source code to the Lost Boys Megabang demo.
You'll see that it replays samples at various speeds using the above method (the sample already has 128 ($80)
added to it).

You can make signed form unsigned by flipping the MSB but you can also switch lower half and upper half from the sample look-up table converting the table from signed samples to unsigned samples and back.

Hans Wessels