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SPLAYIT v1.00 02-24-92
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S P L A Y I T
-------------------------------------
version 1.00
Digital Sound Point and Shoot Player
------------------------------------
for the Public Domain
by
Zebra Research
Code by
John L. Sokol
******************************************************************************
* *
* More sound files are availible *
* *
* on Turbo Sys BBS (415)365-7491 2400 N/8/1 *
* *
******************************************************************************
A Little History...
-------------------
June 8, 1991 Zebra Research becomes a real company by offering
it's first product "Audio Byte", a digital sound playback dongle
for the IBM PC Parallel Port. The release was warmly welcomed
by local buyers interested in digital sound on the PC. The package
included "SPLAY", playback software and more than 2 megs of sound.
Our Promise to you....
---------------
Zebra Research promises to keep version of "SPLAYIT" in the
PUBLIC DOMAIN with every commercial release it produces. The
idea is to make available to those that wish to explore digital
audio, an interactive tool, which might not normally be available.
Who can use this Software..
---------------------------
This Software is available for use to any person or organization
without restrictions, so long as it is not disassembled, reversed
engineered or otherwise tampered with.
Restrictions...
---------------
This software may not be sold by any person or organization,
except as a copying fee provided to companies whose primary
business is copying of PUBLIC DOMAIN SOFWARE or SHAREWARE.
You must supply this and any other documents included, to any one
requesting a copy. You can not include this software with any
computer hardware, except this the prior written permission
of ZEBRA RESEARCH.
User Support...
---------------
User Support is limited to questions via electronic mail
and direct calls to Zebra Research. Call us to get your digital
sound questions answered.
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SPLAYIT v1.00 02-24-92
by ZERBRA RESEARCH
Code by John L. Sokol
Documentation by Jesse Monroy Jr.
How to it works?
----------------
SPLAYIT is is a point and shoot front end for our
SPLAY and SPLAYER. It is a full screen utility with mouse
and keyboard support. It is designed so that individual sound
clips can be played back with minimal effort. Each sound file's
playback (sampled) rate can be determined either by a filename
extension convention or by a table of the stored playback (sample)
rates ((more below)).
This program was written as an example on how to use our
product AUDIO BYTE and SPLAY. Far below I will discuss the
procedure on how to program using AUDIO BYTE and SPLAY. This
program is written entirely in Borland's Turbo Pascal and is
both powerful and compact.
The features include:
.Wide range of playback and sample rates 5-44 kHz.
.Supports all IBM PC types (8086,80x86).
.Supports all standard IBM PC monitors.
.Supports both mouse and keyboard commands.
.Accepts most all PCM(1) sound formats
(Sound Blaster-VOC,Macintosh,Amiga,SGI,etc.).
.Uses the PC's own internal speaker(2).
(1) PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is a very common method for
storing analog signals (like sound) to digital format.
(2) Some Laptops use Piezo buzzered, they don't work like
a speaker, so they sound scratchy (actually, horibble).
What you'll NEED
----------------
You will need an IBM PC computer (or compatible) with an internal
speaker.
We recommend at least an AT-PC (286) machine with a clock speed
of about 10MHz or better. You may also want one of our
AUDIO BYTES to playback sound thru the printer port(LPT1).
A monitor of some sort, MDA, CGA, EGA, or VGA, would be nice.
We also recommend a Hard Disk and, of course, the more memory
the better.
SPLAY does a superior job of playing back sound on the old
(4MHz) IBM PCs than SPLAYER can. I strongly recommend an
Audio Byte over the internal speaker.
NOTE: SPLAY and SPLAYER do work on the old (4MHz) IBM PCs, but
on the higher sample rates it may not sound correct.
What you should know...
-----------------------
You should know how to use the arrow keys and a mouse.
If you are not familar with using the arrow keys or a mouse
I can not really help you, that would take much more time
and space than is available.
Doing Something with SPLAYIT
----------------------------
Just below is a view of the optimum usage for SPLAYIT.
Explaining the usage of it can be more lengthy than would
really be helpful, my best suggestion is to play (no pun
intended) with SPLAYIT and then you will best be familiar
with it.
You may use SPLAYIT with or without a mouse. For the
purpose of this discussion the screen is broken into left
and right half. I will also summarize the keyboard buttons
at the end for clarity.
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1st � ZEBRA RESEARCH LOGO �
2nd � Filename | speed | Size �
3rd � .. Directory Speed database found �
4th � COX Directory �
5th � JOHN Directory Output to use �
6th � SPLAYER Directory Autodetect �
7th � DARTH .M11 11000 Hz 214 K �
8th � RAIDERS .M11 11000 Hz 61 K �
9th � ----------------------------- Click here to end �
� ----------------------------- �
� ----------------------------- �
� �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
The LEFT HALF
-------------
The second line from the top is just a label.
The third line with the two dots is an active
object, just click on it twice with your mouse pointer
and you will change to that directory.
The fourth through sixth line are directory up in the
directory tree and can be accessed also by clicking on
them twice also with the mouse pointer.
The Seventh and Eight line are sound files and are
a bit more complex in nature, so I will skip them for
just a second.
The Ninth line is a seires of dashes and is there just
to take up space. They do nothing.
The SEVENTH and EIGHT lines again...
------------------------------------
is what you want to know about, so lets take it slow
and use just the seventh line for an example.
The first part of the line, the filename, is active
and clicking on it twice with the mouse pointer will
activate either SPLAY or SPLAYER to play that sound file
at the speed indicated to the left of the filename.
The second part of the line, the playback speed, is
active also but acts differently depending on which key
you press.
Press the left mouse button and the playback speed
will increase thru all the possible combinations
available to SPLAY and SPLAYER.
Press the right mouse button and the playback speed
decrease.
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1st � ZEBRA RESEARCH LOGO � 1st
2nd � Filename | speed | Size � 2nd
3rd � .. Directory Speed database found � 3rd
4th � COX Directory � 4th
5th � JOHN Directory Output to use � 5th
6th � SPLAYER Directory Autodetect � 6th
7th � DARTH .M11 11000 Hz 214 K � 7th
8th � RAIDERS .M11 11000 Hz 61 K � 8th
9th � ----------------------------- Click here to end � 9th
� ----------------------------- �
� ----------------------------- �
� �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
The RIGHT HALF
--------------
The Third line from the top is a message to you
from the program saying that it found the Speed
datatbase for the sound files in that directory
(more about the database later).
The Fifth line is a label for the sixth line.
The Sixth line is the type of device specified
for playback. Your choice are limited by the sound
playback program you have. If you only have SPLAYER
then only the internal speaker will be used. If you
have SPLAY then SPLAYIT will use the printer ports
for sound output also.
The Auto-port-detect is an exclusive feature of
AUDIO BYTE and SPLAY. To use it just plug it in
to your printer port and ......SPLAYIT.
AUTODETECT is the default port when you have SPLAY.
Line nine is one of the exit button when you have
a mouse, if you don't have a mouse use the key.
旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
� ZEBRA RESEARCH LOGO � 1st
� Filename | speed | Size � 2nd
� .. Directory Speed database found � 3rd
� COX Directory � 4th
� JOHN Directory Output to use � 5th
� SPLAYER Directory Autodetect � 6th
� DARTH .M11 11000 Hz 214 K � 7th
� RAIDERS .M11 11000 Hz 61 K � 8th
� ----------------------------- Click here to end � 9th
� ----------------------------- �
� ----------------------------- �
� �
읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴�
Using the keyboard with SPLAYIT
-------------------------------
If you have a numeric keypad on your keyboard and SPLAY
you should be able to do everthing available to SPLAYIT.
Pressing the UP-ARROW will move the
selection bar to the next directory.
Pressing the DOWN-ARROW will move the
selection bar to the selection just
below the current one.
or Hit the RETURN (or ENTER) key while
an item is selected will play the
sound file.
Use the LEFT-ARROW key on the numeric
keypad to increase the playback
speed on a selected file.
Use the RIGHT-ARROW key on the numeric
keypad to decrease the speed.
PAGE-UP is useful when there is more
than one page of sound file to play.
PAGE-DOWN will move the selection
bar down to the bottom of the page
or to the last filename on the page
which ever is closest.
or END or ESCape will exit the program.
"P" toggle the playback port to use
(includes the printer port used with
AUDIO BYTE, not include in PD release)
SPLAY vs SPLAYER
----------------
The best way to see differences side by side.
SPLAY SPLAYER
------------ ------------
user interface exactly the same for both
ease of use exactly the same for both
program size about the same for both
sound format can play exactly the same for both
sound resolution(1) 8-bits 6-bits
theoretical Db(2) 48 Db 36 Db
sound quality SUPERIOR OK
playback equipment AUDIO BYTE PC internal speaker
minimum PC setup(3) 4Mhz IBM PC 6MHz IBM AT (type)
equipment OK(4) ALL IBM PCs MOST ALL PCs
fast machine OK(5) SURE MOST ALL
intended use Commercial Package Public Domain
cost $39.95 FREE-PD
junk mail?(6) NEVER IMPOSSIBLE
(1) SPLAYER uses 6-bits to determine it's algorigthm, but
the actual number bits use on ANY internal speaker
playback program is TWO. (This is a bit technical.)
(2) ANY internal speaker program has a theoretical
SIGNAL-to-NOISE ratio of 36DB, at it's very best.
(3) The comparison was done using an 11Khz sample sound file.
SPLAY will run on an old (4MHz) PC, but we reccommend
a higher perfoming machine.
(4) SPLAYER does not run well on PC-JRs, 4MHz PCs, and
LAPTOPs with piezo speakers.
(5) Even Sound Blaster Pro has problems with fast 386's
and 486's, AUDIO BYTE and SPLAY don't have any
problems at all with fast machines.
(6) Some companyes will sell your name to junk mailers
to make some extra cash, unless you want junk mail
WE PROMISE NEVER TO SELL YOUR NAME.
PROGRAMING for SPLAY
--------------------
SPLAY and SPLAYER work exactly the same, so will refer to
both by the name of SPLAY in this discussion.
There are two basic ways to use SPLAY. One, is to use it
in a batch file, this is the easiest. The second way to program
SPLAY is to call as an external program from another program.
Batch programing
----------------
Here is a quick and dirty example:
@echo off ; turn off the screen prompt
CLS ; Clear the screen
type welcome.ans ; display a color screen
SPLAY welcome.m22 ; play a cheerful tune
echo hit a key ; prompt the user for a key stroke
pause ; wait for the keyboard
:END ; label to mark the end of the batch
This example was a bit short, but I think clear.
SPLAY does its work quietly, so it will not mess up
any messages that you have displayed previously.
IT has auto-port-detect so you won't ever have to guess
which port you plugged you AUDIO BYTE into.
SPLAY is very small (about 3K) so memory should never be
a problem.
Child process (or EXEC)
-----------------------
This a short discussion for normal sound program algorithms.
For more information see the SPLAYIT source code.
1) - check for presences of external retrictors
(DeskView, GeoWorks, or MS-Windows)
These types of applications have a tendency to steal
time from sound program... so they may not even work
with them reliably
2) - resize memory
Use DOS call int 21h function 4ah to reduce you memory
overhead, so you can load a big a sound file as possible.
3) - close any unwanted files
Open files rob memory space, close them as soon as
possible.
4) - set up pointers to enviroment tables
(call path directly if no table)
Check your Programers' Reference for DOS int 21h
Function 4Bh or for and EXEC process or a Child Proces.
5) - set up inheritance flags
Most of upper level languages (like C or PASCAL)
have a limiter flags to setup, so you can limit any
excess information you may not want to pass to an
external program.
6) - know the parameters your are using
If you need to change the default parameters to
SPLAY (like the speed) have a table or array
ready so you can insert the parameter in your
calling string.
7) - check for network presence when calling
(or use compatiblity mode)
Most people will never have to worry about this
point but, if you plan to use SPLAY at work
(let's say) not check for file lock may bomb your
program.
8) - play your sound sample
At this point most anything would need to have done
is done, so, just play the sound sample back.
9) - ALL DONE
When SPLAY is done the program should continune
on the following line, just as if you called
a subroutine.
LAST, but not Least...
----------------------
SPLAYIT, in order to facilitate it's use may keep a speed
database associate with each directoty that it uses files
from. To determine the playback speed for a sound file
SPLAYIT will look at the file's extension name.
Upon exiting the program (or changing directories) SPLAYIT
will update the database from any changes you may have made.
The name of the database is SPEEDS.TXT (more about it later).
Here is how the database associates:
M44 will default to a speed of 44,000 Hz
M22 .......................... 22,000 Hz
M16 16,000 Hz
M11 -------------------------- 11,000 Hz
M8 8,000 Hz
M7 .......................... 7,000 Hz
M55 5,500 Hz
SND will default to unknown
VOC will default to unknown
An example would be DARTH.M11 this sound sample would default
to a playback speed of 11KHz, unless you change it, in which case
it would save your new playback speed when you exited SPLAYIT.
SPEEDS.TXT
----------
Quickly, here is the database format. It simply a
text file with the filename on one line, follow on the
next line by the "S" (speed) parameter needed to play it
back at the speed requested.
Here is an example.
DARTH .M11
4
MUSHROOM.M11
3
The commandline verions for each file would look like this.
C> SPLAY -s4 DARTH.M11
SPLAY will playback the sound file DARTH.M11 at 11KHz.
C> SPLAY -s3 MUSHROOM.M11
SPLAY will playback the sound file MUSHROOM.M11 at 13.5KHz.
THAT'S IT
---------
Don't be afraid to call or write if I have made any
misspellings or errrors while documenting SPLAYIT.
ALSO, if anything is unclear, do call, after all this
is our business.
A N D
T H A N K S
A N D
P L E A S E
T R Y
O U R
A U D I O
B Y T E
******************************************************************************
* *
* More sound files are availible *
* *
* on Turbo Sys BBS (415)365-7491 2400 N/8/1 *
* *
******************************************************************************
For MORE HELP, upgrades, registration, or additional sound files.
Contact : Zebra Research
modem (415)365-7491 --- Turbo Sys BBS 2400bps 8/N/1
{ NEW, also check out the public domain software that run with }
{ our sound adapter, MODPLAY and PLAY (sound editor). }
US mail: Zebra Research
P.O. BOX 5716
Redwood City, Ca. 94063