Posted By
BSZ
on 2023-11-16
09:14:03
|  Re: SoundX - An AdLib card on your C16/+4!
Hm... Interesting project! 
Important info: I really like the sound of OPL(2)!
Unfortunately, it was often bad used in the past for PC use. It was typically used to play MIDI, not in very good quality. Because of this, users have bad memories of the AdLib sound card. But the musics made especially for it sounds very good! I used to plan to make one for plus/4, but just for fun. I didn't think of it as a product, for the following reasons:
- The chip has more than 200 (!) registers! As you write above, these can be set through a "hole". Before writing each register, the register number must be set separately.
- The chip is "slow". Wait a while after setting the register number, then wait again after setting the register value. While these times are not very long (~3-4 µSec + ~24 µSec), they are still very noticeable even at CBM CPU speeds.
- Playing a single sound means setting about 10 registers. This is compounded by the above waits.
Don't have to update all registers every time, but it still takes a lot of CPU time to play any complex music. In my opinion, I can think of using OPL(2) (in an 8-bit environment) is to have a dedicated (co-)processor to handle the chip. (This is typically how it was done in the past.) However, this makes the hardware overly complicated. I think that's one of the reasons why OPL didn't become a huge success on C64 either. (Or is it?  )
I still think so: You can make music programs, but using this chip in games/demos is not very rewarding: it takes CPU time away from effects/other tasks. Regardless, I'm curious what other people think about this! As I said at the beginning, I really like the sound of the OPL2, maybe it will spark the imagination of some people here.
Edit: For those of you who don't know what the AdLib sounds like:
Shelter - The author is unknown for me, does anyone recognise him?
En Lille Test - MSK / Vibrants
The Alibi - JCH / Vibrants
Gone... - JCH / Vibrants
If there is familiar music among them, it is no coincidence!
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