[[Image:rammusicmashineRammusicmashine.jpg|right|thumb|right|250px|The Ram Music Machine]]
A digital sound sampling and playback device.The Music Machine was built by a British Company called [[Ram Electronics]].== Description ==
A digital sound sampling and playback device. The Music Machine was designed by Flare Technology and manufactured by [[Ram Electronics|RAM Electronics]]. The Amstrad CPC version was is almost identical to the the ZX Spectrum version, only difference was the address decoding logic.
The Music Machine came with a simple microphone. Recording quality could be improved by using a better(and more expensive) microphone. It came with its own sound sampling software and a sequencer.
No known emulator supports the Music Machine.No other There was a club advertised through the magazine Sinclare User which sent out a computer tape twice a year full of interesting software than RAMs own sequencer is know to use developed for the Ram Music Machine. This was contributed to by the members and included thing such as a 128k sampler, fsk syncing mods to the original software and many useful midi tools to name but a few.<br>
The Music Machine was never used for producing sound effects in [[:Category:Demos|Demos]].
== Technical Specifications ==Now, thanks to Jose Leandro, the hardware specialist of the spectrum, with his famous page :
Information from the manualhttp://trastero.speccy.org/cosas/JL/JL.htm
The Music Machine incoporates two Ferranti devices for digital-to-analogue (DAC) and analogue-tod-digital (A to D) conversion.The part numbers are ZN429E8 and ZN449 respectively. The circuit also include a Motorola 6850 ACIA (Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter) for handling the MIDI channel, two anti-alias filters (one for input and one for output), a discrete microphone amplifier and a headphone amplifier. The clock signal for the ACIA and the ZN449 is provided by a ceramic oscillatorWe can know more about this hardware.
The incomming signalo from the microphone amplifier is sampled to an 8-bit resolution at a rate of 19.444 thoudsand samples per second. This yields an analogue bandwidth of approximately 9.5KHz which is in fact the cutoff frequency of the filters.== Technical Specifications ==
All of Information from the devices on The Music Machine data bus are accessible to the Amstrad within its IO space. ACIA transactions must use 16-bit IO instructions; the converters are accesible via 8-bit IO instructions.manual:
The Music Machine incoporates two Ferranti devices for digital-to-analogue (DAC) and analogue-to-digital (ADC) conversion. The part numbers are ZN429E8 and ZN449 respectively. The circuit also include a Motorola [[6850 ACIA chip]] (Asynchronous Communications Interface Adapter) for handling the [[MIDI]] channel, two anti-alias filters (one for input and one for output), a discrete microphone amplifier and a headphone amplifier. The clock signal for the ACIA and the ZN449 is provided by a ceramic oscillator.
The incoming signal from the microphone amplifier is sampled to an 8-bit resolution at a rate of 19.444 thousand samples per second. This yields an analogue bandwidth of approximately 9.5kHz which is in fact the cutoff frequency of the filters.
The clock signal for the ACIA is '''unknown'''. As said above it is based one the same oscillator as used for the ZN449, however, the oscillator is probably ''whatever'' MHz (?) divided by ''whatever'' (?), and its unknown if the ACIA and ZN449 clocks are using the same divider (ie. the ZN449 samples at 19.444kHz, but the ACIA may, or may not, use another frequency).
The Music Machine uses NMI interrupt, but it is not clear exactly what it uses it for.
All of the devices on The Music Machine data bus are accessible to the Amstrad within its I/O space. ACIA transactions must use 16-bit IO instructions; the converters are accesible via 8-bit IO instructions.
{|{{Prettytable|width: 700px; font-size: 2em;}}
|''I/O MapPort''||''PortDirection''||''Name''||''MeaningDescription''
|-
|ADC STARTF8E8h ||&F8F8Write Only ||Reading or writing INTERUPT_SEL| Writing 01 to this port will start analogue to digital conversiondisables internal Amstrad interrupts and replaces the IRQ signal from ACIA. Writing 00 restores normality. ''(Unclear how this works exactly - the description sounds as if uses an [[External Interrupt]] (rather than a [[NMI]]), and as if it does somehow disable the CPC's internal 300Hz interrupt?)''
|-
|ADC READF8ECh ||&F8F4(Read Write only)||The contents of the A-to-D can be read via this port. Note that the A-to-D must have been startet at least 20uS before this port can be readACIA_Control| See [[6850 ACIA chip]] for details
|-
|DAC WRITEF8EDh ||&F8F0(Write only)||Data can written to the DAC via this portACIA_Data_write| See [[6850 ACIA chip]] for details
|-
|INTERUPT SELF8EEh ||&F8E8(Write Read only)||Writing 01 to this port disables internal Amstrad interrupts and replaces the IRQ signal from ACIA_Status| See [[6850 ACIA. Writing 00 restores normality.chip]] for details
|-
|ACIA StatusF8EFh ||&F8EE(Read only)||Se Motorola datasheetACIA_Data_read| See [[6850 ACIA chip]] for details
|-
|ACIA Data readF8F0h ||&F8EF(Read Write only)||Se Motorola datasheetDAC_WRITE| Data can written to the DAC via this port
|-
|ACIA ControlF8F4h ||&F8EC(Write Read only)||Se Motorola datasheetADC_READ|The contents of the A-|ACIA Data write||&F8ED(Write only)||Se Motorola datasheetto-D can be read via this port. Note that the A-to-D must have been startet at least 20uS before this port can be read
|-
| F8F8h || Strobe || ADC_START
| Reading or writing to this port will start analogue to digital conversion
|-
|}
== Pictures ==
<gallery> caption="The Music Machine">
== Weblinks ==Image:MusicMachine boxed.JPG| the unit in its boxImage:Music machine 1.jpg|Image:Music machine 2.jpg|missing female connector (?)Image:Music machine back.jpg|BacksideImage:Music machine microphone 1.jpg|The microphoneImage:Music machine microphone 2.jpg|The microphoneImage:Rammusicmashine.jpg|With female connector
[http:<//www.microhobby.com/200903/hard/ram_music_machine.htm Spanish site about the Music Machine]gallery>
[http://www.worldofspectrum.org/hardware/feat17.html Advert for the <gallery caption="The Music Machine]Layout, thanks to Jose Leandro">
[httpFile://reviewsMusic Machine - Delante.harmonyjpg|The Music Machine -centralFrontFile:Music Machine - Detras.com/reviews/Keyboard%2FSynth/product/RAM/jpg|The Music+Machine/10/1 Review]- BackFile:Music Machine - Conectores.jpg|The Music Machine - ConnectorsFile:Music Machine - Sin Tapa.jpg|The Music Machine - Without TopFile:Music Machine - PCB Componentes.jpg|The Music Machine - PCB ComponentsFile:Music Machine - PCB Pistas.jpg|The Music Machine - PCB TracksFile:Music Machine - PCB Front.png|The Music Machine - PCB FrontFile:Music Machine - PCB Back.png|The Music Machine - PCB BackFile:Music Machine - Layout.jpg|The Music Machine - Layout
[http:<//www.wacci.org.uk/magazine/136/136_10.html Data transfer via [[MIDI]]]gallery>
== Other similar devices Tape ==
[[Digiblaster]] (Sampling/Playback)<gallery> caption="Music Machine">
[[Amdrum]] (Playback)Image:Music Machine Tape - side B.jpg|Music Machine Tape side BImage:Music Machine Tape - side A.jpg|Music Machine Tape side A
[[EMR MIDI Interface]] (Midi)</gallery>
== Pictures Reviews ==
<gallery caption="The Music Machine">Image* [[Amstradbladet]] (1987, Issue 9, [[Media:Music machine 1Amstrad Bladet8709022.jpg|ImagePage 22]], and [[Media:Music machine 2Amstrad Bladet8709023.jpg|Edge connector missingPage 23]]) (Danish) Image* [[Amstrad Computer User]] (March 1987, [[Media:Music machine backAmstrad Computer User8703 064.jpg|BacksideImagePage 64]], [[Media:Music machine inside 1Amstrad Computer User8703 065.jpg|PCBPage 65]], and [[Media:Amstrad Computer User8703 066.jpg|Page 66]])* Review in [[Ε.Π.Τ.Α / Η Ελληνική πλευρά του Amstrad (Greek Side Of Amstrad)]]:<gallery caption="Review in Greek Side of Amstrad n.6 (May 1987)">Image:Music machine inside 1MusicMachine GSOA p1.jpg|PCBImage:Music machine microphone 1MusicMachine GSOA p2.jpg|The microphoneImage:Music machine microphone 2MusicMachine GSOA p3.jpg|The microphone
</gallery>
== Manual Advertisements ==
<gallery caption="Ram Music Machine Manual">Image[[image:frontpageMusicMachine ACU ad 1987.jpg|FrontpageImage:contents.jpgthumb|Contentsnone]]Image:p01.jpg|Page 1Image== Datasheets == * [[Media:p02-03MC1458.jpgpdf|Page 2-3Datasheet for MC1458]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image* [[Media:p04-05MC 6850.jpgpdf|Page 4-5Datasheet for MC6850]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image* [[Media:p06-07A6850.jpgpdf|Page 5-6Datasheet for ACIA 6850]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image* [[Media:p08-091983 Ferranti Data Converters.jpgpdf|Page 8-9Datasheet for Ferranti Data Converters]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image* [[Media:p10-11ZN448.jpgpdf|Page 10-11Datasheet for Ferranti ZN448/ZN449]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image== Manual == * [[Media:p12-13Music_Machine_Manual.jpgpdf|Page 12-13Music Machine (RAM Electronics) Manual]] {{EN}} {{PDF}}Image== Download == * [[Media:p14-15Music Machine (tape).jpgzip|Page 14-15Music Machine (Tape).zip]] (CDT for Emulators & Exemple on MP3)Image* [[Media:p16-17Music Machine (Eagle).jpgzip|Page 16-17Music Machine (Eagle).zip]] (Music Machine files for Eagle) == Weblinks == Image* [http:p18-19//www.jpg|Page 18cpc-19Image:p20-21power.jpg|Page 20com/index.php?page=detail&num=4329 ''Music Machine'' from CPC-21Power]Image* [http:p22-23//cpcrulez.jpg|Page 22fr/hardware-23Image:p24audio-25music_machine.jpg|Page 24-25htm ''Music Machine'' from CPCrulez]Image* [http:p26-27//hardware.jpg|Page 26speccy.org/temp/Amstrad-27MusicMachine.html ''Music Machine'' from hardware.speccy.org]Image* [http:p28-29//www.jpg|Page 28-29microhobby.com/200903/hard/ram_music_machine.htm ''Music Machine'' from www.microhobby.com] Image* [http:p30-31//www.jpg|Page 30-31worldofspectrum.org/hardware/feat17.html Advert for the Music Machine] Image* [http:p32-33//reviews.jpg|Page 32harmony-33central.com/reviews/Keyboard%2FSynth/product/RAM/Music+Machine/10/1 Review] Image* [http:p34-35//www.jpg|Page 34-35wacci.org.uk/magazine/136/136_10.html Data transfer via MIDI]Image* [http:p36-37//www.jpg|Page 36-37<compeng.dit.ie/gallery>staff/tscarff/6800/6850acia/6850.htm Information about the Motorola 6850 ACIA]
[[Category:HardwareSerial interfaces]] [[Category:Peripherals]] [[Category:Music_and_sound]] [[Category:Manual]]
