============================================================== A M P 1.31 The module player for Sound Blaster AWE32 and compatibles (c) 1995-1996 by Lada Kopecky a.k.a. Grinus / Torture Of Music ============================================================== FEATURES - plays XM modules (FT2.0x, format version $0104) - plays S3M modules (ST3.0 - 3.21) - plays MOD/NST modules (M.K. FLT4 nCHN nnCH OCTA N.T.) - plays MTM modules - plays multiple modules (using wildcards and/or listfiles) - up to 32 channels and 30 sounding notes - makes no clicks! - the strict compatibility with the FT2.06 and ST3.21 playback routines! - can play in Windows, even in background! Just increase the Priority (using PIF editor) in Windows 3.x or decrease the Idle Sensitivity (in Properties of AMP icon) in Windows 95 to achieve the continuous playback. However, the background playback may be affected by running other tasks. - supports the animated messages using sample names - can report all suspicious events! (during the module load and playback) - fast forward mode, pattern skip in both directions - forced tempo mode - settings taken from AMP.INI or the command line - can play if not enough AWE memory - no problems with memory or extenders (68-200 KB of DOS memory is enough) - does not change the Sound Blaster mixer settings - and of course, the maximal sample upload speed :) SWITCHES (preceded by '/' or '-') V verbose mode - all info shown in Log window, incl. unsupported effects in runtime - message colors: INFOS - white, WARNINGS - yellow, ERRORS - red S single mode - no module looping, no batch looping P pause mode - waits at the end of each module in single mode (you can continue switching and scrolling the screens) F force play if not enough AWE RAM - some samples will be ignored I show numeric pan values 0 to F and M (instead of L/M/R) Xn force the EMU8000 base port (in hex, e.g. 620 or 640) - if you include this switch, AMP won't use the 'BLASTER' variable nor autodetect routine Nn default panning from the middle (0..127, default 72) - this is the initial panning of the left/right MOD/S3M channels (something like 'n' switch in DMP player) Mn initial volume 0..64 (default is the automode) - in automode the initial volume depends on the number of channels Rn initial reverb level (0..255, default 36) Cn initial chorus level (0..255, default 0) En reverb type (0..7, default 4) On chorus type (0..7, default 0) Bn initial bass level (0..11, default 5) Tn initial treble level (0..11, default 5) n Bass/Treble Reverb Type Chorus Type --- ----------- ----------- ----------- 0 -12 dB Room 1 Chorus 1 (*) 1 -8 dB Room 2 Chorus 2 2 -6 dB Room 3 Chorus 3 3 -4 dB Hall 1 Chorus 4 4 -2 dB Hall 2 (*) Feedback Delay 5 0 dB (*) Plate Flanger 6 +2 dB Delay Short Delay 7 +4 dB Panning Delay Short Delay Feedback 8 +6 dB 9 +8 dB 10 +10 dB 11 +12 dB All switches above can be used in AMP.INI, one option per line. The command line switches take precedence over the INI file settings (but the On/Off switches V/F/S/P/I can't be reset from the command line). AMP.INI must be placed in the same directory as AMP.EXE ! MODULES AND LISTFILES You can specify one or more modules and/or listfiles in the command line. You can use wildcards in module names. The extensions may be omitted. The listfile is the list of modules to play, one filename per line. The lines with leading ';', '#' or space will be ignored (also in AMP.INI) KEYBOARD F1 Help Screen F2 Log Screen (in verbose mode only) F3 Channels Screen F4 Instruments Screen PgDn PgUp scroll channels or instruments Enter fadeout and the next module in batch -> pattern forward (the remaining pattern data are ignored) <- pattern back Up fast forward (4-times faster) Ctrl Down/Up forced tempo down/up (the remaining tempo changes are ignored) Esc fadeout and exit to DOS spacebar pause/resume - + volume down/up F5 F6 EMU equalizer bass level down/up F7 F8 EMU equalizer treble level down/up F9 F10 reverb level down/up F11 F12 chorus level down/up 1-9 A-P channel 1-25 on/off (no more free letters) R S all channels off/on REQUIREMENTS - at least PC 286 (but not tested on 286) - EGA/VGA - Sound Blaster AWE32 or a compatible sound card with EMU8000 (at least 2 MB of on-board sample RAM is strongly recommended) - no AWE32 drivers are needed - 68..220 KB of free DOS conventional memory (no EMS/XMS required) UNSUPPORTED EFFECTS - set filter (unsupported by ST3/FT2, Amiga HW specific one) - old ST stereo control (unsupported by ST3, anybody knows the function?) - funk repeat (unsupported by ST3/FT2, never seen it) - set fine tune (unsupported by ST3, never seen it) FUTURE PLANS - professional quality downsampling of highest samples to prevent the EMU8000 pitch overflows and for you with less sample memory :-) (resampling with the high quality anti-aliasing filter and with the original pitch of a short-looped samples precisely preserved) WHAT YOU CAN'T EXPECT I'm not planning to implement the DOS shell and file selector... Use Windows or OS/2 instead of DOS shell and the association of modules with AMP.EXE in your favorite disk/file manager. That's the way I use it. ;-) FOR CUBIC PLAYER USERS Cubic Player (versions 1.6 and 1.666) does not initialize the EMU8000 chip properly. If used after any program using the ADIP 2.52 style initialization (e.g. AMP), some sounds are lost. The same problem persists with AWEMP player by B.Boer (up to version 1.45). For this reason I created a simple utility called AWERESET to reset the AWE32 in the style of ADIP 2.0. You'll need it to prepare the AWE32 hardware for Cubic Player after AMP was used. Instead of my AWERESET utility you can use the 'AWEUTIL /S' command as well (thanx to B.Boer ;-). NOTE: There are no init problems when running CP or AWEMP under Windows 95. SOMETHING ABOUT THE TREBLE SETTING When playing a module, there are 2 or 3 equalizers in chain: 1. the digital equalizer in EMU8000 2. the equalizer in AWE32 mixer (controlled by SB16SET or Windows mixer) 3. the equalizer in external amplifier I think there should be used only last one in chain. So I decided to set the default bass & treble levels of the EMU8000 equalizer to zero. But the AWE32 hardware defaults to the treble level approx. +10dB. That's why you can hear some loss of high frequencies compared to other AWE32 players which use the hardware default. However, you can use '-Tn' option to change it. COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS OR ANYTHING ELSE My Internet mail address is kopecky@tsoft.cz If you use AMP, don't be lazy and send me at least a few words. The player is released as freeware and I'd like to know of you :*) Also the future enhancements depend on feedback I'll get. It's up to you!