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Play2CPC (Plus2CPC II) : Extra sound channels and rewritable cartridges

Started by abalore, 15:38, 23 November 21

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eto

Quote from: Cwiiis on 18:16, 24 November 21
Just wondering, if it's 3 extra sound channels, how does that get merged with the existing 3 channels? The PlayCity has its own audio output and 6 channels, I was under the impression that PlayCity software would only use that and not the on-board channels, but having never seen one, maybe I was under the wrong impression?


Afaik Playcity mixes its channels with the (mono) sound which is available on the expansion bus.

abalore

Quote from: Cwiiis on 18:16, 24 November 21
Just wondering, if it's 3 extra sound channels, how does that get merged with the existing 3 channels? The PlayCity has its own audio output and 6 channels, I was under the impression that PlayCity software would only use that and not the on-board channels, but having never seen one, maybe I was under the wrong impression?
The 6 channels (3 internal + 3 in expansion) are mixed down and played through the CPC speaker, optionally you can pick the 6 channel mix from the expansion board to an external amplifier.
About Playcity, there are many 9 channel songs that uses both internal and external sound chips, and even more 6 channel songs. Normally in trackers you can assign each channel to either internal or external at your choice.



GUNHED

Quote from: abalore on 17:16, 24 November 21
Yes, it's 3 channels. It's not a Playcity, it follows the Playcity specification, which means the hardware ports used are the same.
Understood. Which chip / which IO addresses of the PlayCity to correspond to the Play2CPC?

And are they left/center/right?

It would be great to know, so I can adapt some of my software supporting PlayCity.  :)
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eto


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abalore


abalore

Quote from: GUNHED on 19:38, 24 November 21
Understood. Which chip / which IO addresses of the PlayCity to correspond to the Play2CPC?

And are they left/center/right?

It would be great to know, so I can adapt some of my software supporting PlayCity.  :)
Instead of replying all technical questions, which is out of the scope of this thread, I'll let you know when the wiki page is ready. There you'll have plenty of technical information  :)

Maniac


Cpcmaniaco


CraigsBar

Quote from: Cwiiis on 18:16, 24 November 21
Just wondering, if it's 3 extra sound channels, how does that get merged with the existing 3 channels? The PlayCity has its own audio output and 6 channels, I was under the impression that PlayCity software would only use that and not the on-board channels, but having never seen one, maybe I was under the wrong impression?


The play city provides 6 additional sound channels (And 2 extra noise generators). On a CPC this is passed back into the CPC via the expansion port (Albeit in Mono) and mixed into the standard AY sound making 9 channels and 3 noise generators in total.


On a plus there is no facility to feed audio back in on the expansion port, and because of this the PlayCity also has a stereo 3.5mm stereo jack for the extra channels.


I hope that answers the question?
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pelrun


Maniac

Quote from: CraigsBar on 13:25, 25 November 21

The play city provides 6 additional sound channels (And 2 extra noise generators). On a CPC this is passed back into the CPC via the expansion port (Albeit in Mono) and mixed into the standard AY sound making 9 channels and 3 noise generators in total.


On a plus there is no facility to feed audio back in on the expansion port, and because of this the PlayCity also has a stereo 3.5mm stereo jack for the extra channels.


I hope that answers the question?
With that in mind will the Play2CPC have an audio out for us Plus owners please?

Singaja

I have trouble understanding what "The cartridges can be written directly from the CPC." exactly allows. I've never owned a CPC Plus so I'm not very familiar with cartridges in Amstrad context. Are they by standard read only like roms? So is this writing to those modern cartridges using SD cards internally as their storage? Ignoring the musical channels for a second, how this device is supposed to be used on a tradish CPC6128?


HAL6128

Quote from: abalore on 10:47, 24 November 21
The device itself must be connected to a computer, but the cartridges you write can be later used on a GX4000.
ok understand. are those cartridges, if used with a gx4000 then still writable?
...proudly supported Schnapps Demo, Pentomino and NQ-Music-Disc with GFX

abalore

Quote from: Singaja on 14:33, 26 November 21
I have trouble understanding what "The cartridges can be written directly from the CPC." exactly allows. I've never owned a CPC Plus so I'm not very familiar with cartridges in Amstrad context. Are they by standard read only like roms? So is this writing to those modern cartridges using SD cards internally as their storage? Ignoring the musical channels for a second, how this device is supposed to be used on a tradish CPC6128?
Normal Plus cartridges are read-only. We developed a RW cartridge, which can be read, written, erased and written again. To erase and write the cartridge you need the Play2CPC device. When used in a normal Plus cartridge port or a GX4000, it behaves as a normal read-only cartridge.


Quote from: HAL 6128 on 21:27, 26 November 21ok understand. are those cartridges, if used with a gx4000 then still writable?
The previous reply should answer your question too.

HAL6128


That means I gain extended memory possibilties for the GX4000 or writing things to the cartridge (as mentioned above). Sorry for my dumb questions - just to make it sure. :)
...proudly supported Schnapps Demo, Pentomino and NQ-Music-Disc with GFX

asertus


Dear @abalore , please sign me in. You know I want one of this along with Alcon 2020 game.


Thank you.

Quote from: abalore on 15:38, 23 November 21
I'm proud to announce a joint development with TotO, the Play2CPC, an evolution of the Plus2CPC adapter which includes two major new features:

- 3 extra AY sound channels
- Support for rewritable cartridges

The new sound channels follow the Playcity hardware specification, so they are compatible with existing software like Arkos Tracker 2 and Alcon2020.

The cartridges can be written directly from the CPC. They can be used from a cartridge game to store settings and hi-scores, for instance, or be fully written with new games or other contents.

The status of the project is: working prototype

Cwiiis

Quote from: CraigsBar on 13:25, 25 November 21

The play city provides 6 additional sound channels (And 2 extra noise generators). On a CPC this is passed back into the CPC via the expansion port (Albeit in Mono) and mixed into the standard AY sound making 9 channels and 3 noise generators in total.


On a plus there is no facility to feed audio back in on the expansion port, and because of this the PlayCity also has a stereo 3.5mm stereo jack for the extra channels.


I hope that answers the question?
Oh, that's interesting - what's missing on a Plus that's there on a CPC with regards to feeding audio back? Kind of a shame, I wonder if a hardware mod is possible/feasible to make up for that deficiency...

CraigsBar

Quote from: Cwiiis on 22:27, 27 November 21
Oh, that's interesting - what's missing on a Plus that's there on a CPC with regards to feeding audio back? Kind of a shame, I wonder if a hardware mod is possible/feasible to make up for that deficiency...


It would be better enhanced not just added. If the Playcity input ot the PLus could be in stereo and mixed into the monitor speakers, that would be amazing!
IRC:  #Retro4All on Freenode

HAL6128

...proudly supported Schnapps Demo, Pentomino and NQ-Music-Disc with GFX

Maniac

Quote from: CraigsBar on 01:59, 28 November 21

It would be better enhanced not just added. If the Playcity input ot the PLus could be in stereo and mixed into the monitor speakers, that would be amazing!
I keep wondering about this too. I'm left thinking that if not by the expansion port then maybe via some kind of audio board that can be plugged in to the monitor output of the Plus. That can thru-put the video signals and mix the two audio sources together so that they can be output via the CM14 stereo speakers. But I don't have the skills to design or make such a device nor understand if it would even be possible.

Cwiiis

Quote from: Maniac on 13:10, 28 November 21
I keep wondering about this too. I'm left thinking that if not by the expansion port then maybe via some kind of audio board that can be plugged in to the monitor output of the Plus. That can thru-put the video signals and mix the two audio sources together so that they can be output via the CM14 stereo speakers. But I don't have the skills to design or make such a device nor understand if it would even be possible.

Definitely possible and I'll design it if I get a PlayCity, but I'd like to understand how the mixing works on a stock CPC but not a Plus - as far as I know the expansion port is the same(?) If it isn't, a better mod would be something internal to the Plus to make it work like the CPC, if it's possible...

TotO

Quote from: Cwiiis on 18:30, 28 November 21
Definitely possible and I'll design it if I get a PlayCity, but I'd like to understand how the mixing works on a stock CPC but not a Plus - as far as I know the expansion port is the same(?) If it isn't, a better mod would be something internal to the Plus to make it work like the CPC, if it's possible...
Yes, the same expansion port, but the Amstrad Plus doesn't have an internal speaker to output the mixed audio.

I imagine that you liked this comment, because you can wait for technical informations from the wiki, next. :)
We have an answer around that but not now, because some work in progress and tests to do first.
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