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WIP: Now That's What I Call Chip Tunes (WinAPE)

Started by tastefulmrship, 11:10, 29 June 11

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arnoldemu

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 22:55, 01 July 11

Here's a quick version of OCEAN LOADER 3 by PETER CLARKE (copyright 1987 Ocean Software).
It still needs a lot of work, but you can get the gist of how it will eventually sound. It's only 50hz for now as I wanted to get the tune structure right before fine-tuning things.
it is a promising start.
I look forward to your polished final version.
My games. My Games
My website with coding examples: Unofficial Amstrad WWW Resource

Gryzor

Sounds fantastic. Better turn the volume up before girlfriend comes back... :)

Also, love the cover!!!

tastefulmrship

Quote from: arnoldemu on 14:01, 07 July 11
it is a promising start.
I look forward to your polished final version.
Yeah! Still working on it, honest! I've just got a lot of other tunes to work out first...

... however, Peter Clarke has released a really great remix of his own tune at R.K.O.!
Hopefully, here's a direct link to the .mp3!

http://remix.kwed.org/download.php/4768/Peter%20Clarke%20-%20Ocean%20Loader%203%20%2821st%20Century%20SID%20Remix%29.mp3

(if not, go to R.K.O. and download it from there, it was released today and is at the top of the list)

Gryzor


tastefulmrship

Ok, I've finally finished the few 'new' tunes I was working on before I get a solid grip on redoing the olde ones! (ie, converting them all to 'WinAPE 2A18' daunts me! I have sleepless nights, you know?)
Anyway, here they are for you to ridicule;



Yep! Six more tunes that I have fecked-up beyond all recognition. This time, however, I have converted them using WinAPE 2A18 instead of WinAPE 2A17! But, again, don't play these on REAL HARDWARE 'cos they won't work. I have deliberately made sure they only work in emulators! Or something...

McKlain

Man, you shouldn't use winape 2.18, the sound is pretty screwed on that one. JavaCPC or CPCE do have an accurate emulation of the real hardware.

TFM

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 16:34, 02 October 11
Ok, I've finally finished the few 'new' tunes I was working on ...

Great work! Thank's a lot!! I really like them! Drink!
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Gryzor


tastefulmrship

Quote from: McKlain on 16:46, 02 October 11
Man, you shouldn't use winape 2.18, the sound is pretty screwed on that one. JavaCPC or CPCE do have an accurate emulation of the real hardware.
Oh, I was under the impression that WinAPE 2A18 was infinitely more accurate than WinAPE 2A17... and playing those 6 tunes in JavaCPE/CPCE, I can only hear a few differences from WinAPE 2A18; the notes seem to cut-off at volume 9 in JavaCPE/CPCE rather than volume 8 in 2A18 and the noise channel is pitched higher in JavaCPE/CPCE (notably, both differences can be heard quite clearly in FOOLS 'N' GHOULS). Other than that I can't hear any real difference, but my musical-ear is almost non-existent.

McKlain

Try your SKS in Arkos and you can hear how they sound on a real CPC (I can't tell any difference).  ;D

Gryzor

I tried 2A18 and WinCPC, didn't hear much difference I must say...

Again: great tunes! Great!

tastefulmrship

Quote from: McKlain on 14:08, 03 October 11
Try your SKS in Arkos and you can hear how they sound on a real CPC (I can't tell any difference).  ;D
My PC refuses to play HARDENV in Arkos for some reason. I've played around with the buffer, but it doesn't seem to help. Maybe a rebuild of Windows will help as Arkos has worked perfectly in the past.

Quote from: Gryzor on 14:11, 03 October 11
I tried 2A18 and WinCPC, didn't hear much difference I must say...
Thankfully, the differences ARE small, but when you've heard these tunes as many times as I have, you do notice them.

McKlain

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 15:21, 03 October 11Thankfully, the differences ARE small, but when you've heard these tunes as many times as I have, you do notice them.

Just like when I hear any of my tunes in winape  ;D

TFM

Now, nothing is better than the real machine - connected to a decent amplifier  :P
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Executioner

Quote from: McKlain on 16:46, 02 October 11
Man, you shouldn't use winape 2.18, the sound is pretty screwed on that one. JavaCPC or CPCE do have an accurate emulation of the real hardware.

I must say that comments like this really don't inspire me to keep maintaining WinAPE. After all the effort I put into improving it for 2.0A18, and I know the volume level is too high on B, that'll be fixed in the next release (actually, is now but not released).

TFM

Quote from: Executioner on 01:05, 04 October 11
I must say that comments like this really don't inspire me to keep maintaining WinAPE. After all the effort I put into improving it for 2.0A18, and I know the volume level is too high on B, that'll be fixed in the next release (actually, is now but not released).

Forget it! Your emulator is still the most comprehensive one! And you did a wonderful creation!!!  :) :) :)
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

tastefulmrship

Quote from: Executioner on 01:05, 04 October 11
I must say that comments like this really don't inspire me to keep maintaining WinAPE. After all the effort I put into improving it for 2.0A18, and I know the volume level is too high on B, that'll be fixed in the next release (actually, is now but not released).

I think McKlain could've been referencing 2A17, which was a long way off the real hardware. This is a real shame for me as I prefer the uniform volume scaling and the HARDENV sound you get from 2A17 than is audible on 2A18, CPCE, JavaCPC, etc. All of my AY mp3s are recorded using either 2A17 or ay_emul.exe which (I believe, but may be wrong) also uses uniform scaled volumes and they have a richer, stronger sound for it. The few mp3s I've done via 2A18 (Batman Forever, Bloc Us, Blue Angel 69, Edge Grinder) have a 'tinny' sound in comparison and I'm considering re-recording them with 2A17; it's really noticeable when playing through them all in WinAMP.

Maybe real hardware needs to be modified to conform with 2A17? No? Well, that's a personal choice.

MaV

Quote from: Executioner on 01:05, 04 October 11
I must say that comments like this really don't inspire me to keep maintaining WinAPE. After all the effort I put into improving it for 2.0A18, and I know the volume level is too high on B, that'll be fixed in the next release (actually, is now but not released).

I prefer yours to the others. Short of making my own which I don't intend to do, I'd like to keep using your emulator.

Please keep maintaining it!
Black Mesa Transit Announcement System:
"Work safe, work smart. Your future depends on it."

Devilmarkus

Quote from: Executioner on 01:05, 04 October 11
I must say that comments like this really don't inspire me to keep maintaining WinAPE. After all the effort I put into improving it for 2.0A18, and I know the volume level is too high on B, that'll be fixed in the next release (actually, is now but not released).

Hey man,
are you nuts?
Just because 1-2 people mention that the AY emulation is bad, you are demotivated?
Come on! Is this really you?
People always moan around! And if so, think:
"Don't moan, do better!"
Really, there's no reason to abandon the WinAPE project!
It's with big distance the best CPC emulator ever!
And when somebody has a problem with you or with WinAPE, he can keep it safe, because it's HIS problem and not yours ;)
When you put your ear on a hot stove, you can smell how stupid you are ...

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tastefulmrship

Quote from: Devilmarkus on 14:57, 04 October 11
Just because 1-2 people mention that the AY emulation is bad, you are demotivated?
Can I just say; I happen to love WinAPE. I use it exclusively. There's rarely a time that I'm awake that it's not running on my PC.
Actually, I have three instances running at the moment! (... and one instance of 2A17!)

@Devilmarkus
You may not have been implying my comments were derogatory, but I thought it worth while confirming that they weren't. That is the very last thing I would ever want to do against the best link to my 'computing childhood'.

Devilmarkus

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 15:12, 04 October 11
@Devilmarkus
You may not have been implying my comments were derogatory, but I thought it worth while confirming that they weren't. That is the very last thing I would ever want to do against the best link to my 'computing childhood'.

No, no, surely not ;)
My comment was meant in general!
When you put your ear on a hot stove, you can smell how stupid you are ...

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TFM

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 08:28, 04 October 11
Maybe real hardware needs to be modified to conform with 2A17? No? Well, that's a personal choice.

Ok, you can have the PC world, and I take the CPC world  :laugh:
TFM of FutureSoft
Also visit the CPC and Plus users favorite OS: FutureOS - The Revolution on CPC6128 and 6128Plus

Executioner

Quote from: tastefulmrship on 08:28, 04 October 11
I prefer the uniform volume scaling and the HARDENV sound you get from 2A17 than is audible on 2A18
...
I'm considering re-recording them with 2A17; it's really noticeable when playing through them all in WinAMP.

Maybe real hardware needs to be modified to conform with 2A17? No? Well, that's a personal choice.

Maybe it'd be worth putting in some option to change it back to linear or a selection like Markus did with JavaCPC. The lower volumes on a PC a barely audible with the logarithmic output, I can't remember the real CPC ever being like that.

Executioner

@Markus: I'm not going to stop development on WinAPE. It's just quite annoying that I spent so many hours with Audacity comparing waveforms from various emulators and listening to lots of tracks and sounds to try and improve it, only to get told it's still not as good as almost every other emulator (one of which I wrote the AY emulation for, except for the log volume stuff!). I'm usually the one out of my friends/family that picks imperfections in music and stereo systems etc, hence spending nearly $500 a few weeks ago repairing my TDL's, and, buggered if I could hear the difference between the recording you made of Burnin' Rubber on the real thing and the emulation under WinAPE.

Devilmarkus

#49
Well perhaps you could give the values I adapted from AY_Emul a try?
Here are all my volume tables:
    //
    // AY Amplitude values taken from CPCe95
    // and re-calculated for JavaCPC
    //
    // To calculate:
    // FOR n=0 TO 15: PRINT 15*(2^((1+n)/2))/256: NEXT n
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME = {
        0.08286408, 0.1171875, 0.1657282, 0.234375,
        0.3314563, 0.46875, 0.6629126, 0.9375,
        1.325825, 1.875, 2.65165, 3.75,
        5.303301, 7.5, 10.6066, 15
    };
    //
    // AY Amplitude values taken from Ay_Emul
    // and re-calculated for JavaCPC (divided with 4369)
    //
    // { (c)Hacker KAY }
    //  Amplitudes_AY:array[0..15]of Word=
    //   (0, 836, 1212, 1773, 2619, 3875, 5397, 8823, 10392, 16706, 23339,
    //   29292, 36969, 46421, 55195, 65535);
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME_A = {
        0, 0.117418174, 0.189517052, 0.283588922, 0.440146487,
        0.741130694, 1.12748913, 2.08514534, 2.36758984, 4.09155413,
        5.64934768, 6.96772717, 8.8908217, 10.8194095, 12.9095903, 15
    };
    //{ (c)V_Soft }
    // Amplitudes_AY:array[0..15]of Word=
    //   (0, 513, 828, 1239, 1923, 3238, 4926, 9110, 10344, 17876, 24682,
    //   30442, 38844, 47270, 56402, 65535);}
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME_B = {
        0, 0.191348135, 0.277409018, 0.405813687, 0.599450675,
        0.886930648, 1.23529412, 2.01945525, 2.37857633, 3.8237583,
        5.34195468, 6.70450904, 8.46166171, 10.6250858, 12.6333257, 15
    };
    //    { (c)Lion17
    // Amplitudes_YM:array[0..31]of Word=
    //    (0,  30,  190,  286, 375, 470, 560, 664, 866, 1130, 1515, 1803, 2253,
    //    2848, 3351, 3862, 4844, 6058, 7290, 8559, 10474, 12878, 15297, 17787,
    //    21500, 26172, 30866, 35676, 42664, 50986, 58842, 65535);}
    //    Downgraded [0..15]
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME_C = {
        0.0, 0.065461203, 0.107576104, 0.151979858, 0.258640421,
        0.412680247, 0.651865415, 0.883955138, 1.386587319, 1.959029526,
        2.947585259, 4.071183337, 5.990386816, 8.165712977, 11.66994735, 15.0,};
    //{ (c)Hacker KAY }
    // Amplitudes_YM:array[0..31]of Word=
    //    (0, 0, $F8, $1C2, $29E, $33A, $3F2, $4D7, $610, $77F, $90A, $A42,
    //    $C3B, $EC2, $1137, $13A7, $1750, $1BF9, $20DF, $2596, $2C9D, $3579,
    //    $3E55, $4768, $54FF, $6624, $773B, $883F, $A1DA, $C0FC, $E094, $FFFF);
    //    Downgraded [0..15]
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME_D = {
        0.0, 0.102998397, 0.189059281, 0.283588921, 0.439230945,
        0.601052872, 0.864728770, 1.151522087, 1.639047837, 2.202334630,
        3.133211261, 4.184023804, 5.984893568, 7.983291371, 11.30785076, 15.0
    };
   
    public static final double[] LOG_VOLUME_L = {
        0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
    };

Where LOG_VOLUME_L is also the user defineable value.
Volumes are calculated like this then:
(Add the other LOG_VOLUME's, too)

            leftc = (int) (LOG_VOLUME_A[volume[A]]) * cnt[A] >> 13;
            center = (int) (LOG_VOLUME_A[volume[B]]) * cnt[B] >> 13;
            rightc = (int) (LOG_VOLUME_A[volume[C]]) * cnt[C] >> 13;

            center = (int) (center * 0.75);

            leftChannel = (leftc + center);
            rightChannel = (center + rightc);
            player.writeStereo(leftChannel , rightChannel );

Result:

JavaCPC - Advanced AY settings / volume tables
When you put your ear on a hot stove, you can smell how stupid you are ...

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