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Is audio playback on a Classic even possible?

uniserver

Well-known member
Ok the tune Entertainer in my video is not a MID file… I am pretty sure, here is what the data looks like in a text editor:

0 30,

48 1000, 50 1000, 52 1000, 53 1000, 55 1000, 57 1000, 59 1000, 60 1000,

59 1000, 57 1000, 55 1000, 53 1000, 52 1000, 50 1000, 48 1000;

and here is what the data looks like in a MID file.

MThd‡MTrkˇXˇQ∑5ä∆ˇQ¿J(ˇQ¡õ(ˇQ»í(ˇQœë(ˇQ÷ó(ˇQ›¶(ˇQ‰º(ˇQÎ⁄(ˇQÛ(ˇQ˙.(ˇQ

d(ˇQ

°(ˇQ

Á(ˇQ

5(ˇQ

 

NJRoadfan

Well-known member
this is a good question.I am pretty sure you can at-least play MIDI files on the 68000 cpu, its amazing what the amiga does with just a 68000 cpu!
The Amiga is loaded with custom chips to handle sound and video. MOD files take advantage of the fact that the Paula chip supports 4 channels of DMA sound output.

A Mac Classic should be able to play simple digital audio like the system sounds. Some games played music, but it was usually just monotone beeps and boops (Wheel of Fortune on the Portable sounds like this). An 8Mhz 68000 just doesn't have the horsepower to do serious real-time mixing of multi-channel music.

 

Scott Baret

Well-known member
Almost forgot about the time I got an SE/30 to play an MP3 converted to System 7...I think it took about five minutes to load it and I had a ton of virtual memory on, but it PLAYED!!!

I don't think a Plus or Classic has quite that muscle, but they could at least handle an excerpt.

 

techknight

Well-known member
I remember messing with this stuff back in the day, converting my MP3s to macintosh AIFF, and letting them play on my Q700. That was kinda neat. it wouldnt play an MP3 natively though, but it was fun doing it via AIFF.

This was back when MP3s were just taking off and P2Ps started popping up and getting popular.

 

uniserver

Well-known member
when MP3's first came out i was BLOWN AWAY…

it was magic how a 40-45 meg cd quality track could fit into 3 - 3.5mb it was like black magic to me… my packard bell DX-4 100 worked pretty hard to play em though… loved WINAMP!

my friend connected to me @28.8, he was like dude you gotta check this out… sent me WINAMP.exe and then SPCE-GRLS-2BECOM1.MP3

Ha you all know at the time you thought the spice girls were hot!! :)

 

techknight

Well-known member
Yea those were the days, Well I remember the first MP3s i obtained, they came from mp3.com before it went "legal" then of course napster/scour media exchange.

My P133 played them pretty decently. But i could always here the "mechanical sound" in the MP3's compression, and still can for the most part. I didnt use winamp back when I first got into MP3s, I used i think sonique player or something like that.

 
I finally updated!

IMG_20131124_175052.jpg


I just installed the system on Mini vMac, then stuffed it into a self-extracting archive, then splitted and moved on two diskettes, then joined and unpacked, then blessed the system folder, and volia~

Also, it turns out that it booted from a folder that is inside a subfolder somewhere on the hard drive, when I got it :x

 

techknight

Well-known member
you had a p133!!!, man you are such a snob!
And it was free, back when corporations were dumping compaq prolinea desktops by the boatloads. Was A P75 i stuck a 133 chip into. I was just a kid, volunteering with a local computer recycle/reuse facility called FCG, full circle group, which my jr high computer lab teacher got me into, he was a mac nut, and this was before I got into macs or knew anything about them. No idea if they are still around, they were loosing thier warehouse way back long ago and lost touch.

The brand new computer we had was dads, and it was a 200Mhz K6 CTX brand peice of crap from office max. That computer had everything replaced in its life but the case and motherboard. Floppy went bad at one time, so did the CDROM drive. And the processor died once. the hard drive was a 2.1GB Maxtor and it died 3 times in warranty. Ram went through a replacement, then an upgrade once when we went to Win98 from 95.

 

uniserver

Well-known member
nice on the zip drive, they are quite useful.

what is the bare minim you need in order to play MP3's?

do you think a IIsi could handle such?

 

theos911

Well-known member
My 270c struggled with 22/48 mp3s, so I'd start at something around 22/32/1 and see where that gets you.

 

uniserver

Well-known member
yeah i found out for MP3 playback you need a minimum of maybe a 40mhz IIfx or something like that.

A Stock(20mhz) IIsi does not have enough to even do 22khz / mono.

anyone want to try this theory, IIfx is one thing i have not been able to get my hands on.

or any working mac II main board for that matter :(

 

uniserver

Well-known member
found this:!

Archived - Macintosh: Sound Capabilities (9/94)

The following article provides information on a variety of topics relating to audio and the Macintosh.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA32601

Mac Plus, SE, Classic

8-bit mono sound to one channel (you'll hear only one side with stereo headphones, unless you use an adapter)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Performa 200, Performa 400-467 (not 47x), Classic II, LC II

Mixed 8-bit mono sound to both channels (you'll hear sound out of both sides with stereo headphones, but the sound won't be true stereo)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Performa 475, 476, LC 475, Quadra 605

Stereo 8-bit sound, including true stereo from non-audio CD's (connected externally). Audio CD's require external speakers, enhanced Apple Sound Chip supports stereo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Performa 5xx, 63x, LC 5xx, 630, Quadra 630

Stereo 8-bit sound, including true stereo from audio and non-audio CD's (Enhanced Apple Sound Chip supports stereo).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Performa 600, 600CD except Mac IIvx

Mixed 8-bit mono sound to both channels, except true stereo from audio CD's (No ASIC to support stereo from software)

Among desktop Macintosh computers, only the 660AV, 840AV, and Power Macintosh models have 16-bit audio input and output capability because of the AT&T DSP3210 hardware circuitry and the 16-bit Singer codec circuitry in the AVs. The Audio Waveform Amplifier and Converter (AWAC) chip in the Power Macintosh performs the same 16-bit I/O functionality. The PowerBook 500 series computers support 16-bit stereo output, but only mono input.

Kind of interesting about the Apple IIgs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_IIGS#Audio_features

Audio features[edit]

The Apple IIGS' sound was provided by an Ensoniq ES5503 DOC wavetable sound chip, the same chip used in Ensoniq Mirage and Ensoniq ESQ-1 professional-grade synthesizers. The chip allowed for 32 separate channels of sound, though most software paired them into 16 stereo voices, as did most of the standard tools of the operating system (the MIDISynth Tool Set grouped four channels per voice, for a limit of seven-voice audio). The IIGS is often referred to as a "fifteen-voice system," because one stereo voice is reserved by the OS at all times for timing and system sounds. Software that doesn't use the OS, or uses custom-programmed tools (most games and demos do this), can access the chip directly and take advantage of all 32 voices.

The computer's audio capabilities were given as the primary reason for record label Apple Corps's 1989 resumption of legal action against Apple that had been previously suspended. Apple Corps claimed that the IIgs' audio chip violated terms of the 1981 settlement with the company that prohibited Apple, Inc. from getting involved in the music business.

A standard 1⁄8-inch headphone jack was provided on the back of the case, and standard stereo computer speakers could be attached there. However, it provided only mono sound through this jack, and a third-party adapter card was required to produce true two-channel stereo,[7] despite the fact that the Ensoniq and virtually all native software produced stereo audio (stereo audio was essentially built into the machine, but had to be de-multiplexed by third-party cards). Applied Engineering's SonicBlaster was one of a few developed cards for this purpose.

More about the Macintosh Portable and IIci Sound Features

http://tech-insider.org/mac/research/1989/0920.html

- Apple Stereo Sound capability: The Portable features

the same high-quality digital sound capabilities as found

in the Macintosh modular line and in the SE/30.

 

uniserver

Well-known member
LOL decrecy-tempovision-22k.AIFF has some serious bass man… i got my B&O head phones plugged into my IIsi… it was shocking.

 
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