151

(4 replies, posted in Sinclair)

I've just tested it. It works rather well:

- instant boot
- easy to use
- all the games I tried were working

but for music lovers, there are some drawbacks:

- for general tap with loading code, unless you add some pause at the beginning, it will cut 1/2 second of the music when it loads, I don't know why
- all the engines I've tried seems to replay well, at the correct speed. However, on some of them, there is a high carrier noise in the background
- it's a pure zx48, so no AY music sad

It's a very cool project anyway.

152

(4 replies, posted in Sinclair)

I missed this one, it looks very interesting for beeper music. I haven't tested it yet though.

http://zxmini.speccy.org/

ZXBaremulator is the first complete ZX Spectrum 48K bare-metal emulator for the Raspberry Pi computers.

Emulator features

- Support all Raspberry Pi models (A, B, A+, B+, 2, 3, Zero).
- Includes 55 classic 48K Spectrum games.
-  Precise Z80 emulation (undocumented opcodes, hidden WZ register, bits 3-5 from 'F' register).
-  Precise Spectrum 48k emulation (full border, real-time screen drawing without double buffer, contended memory, floating bus, hi-res color effects).
-  Kempston joystick emulation using a PS3 DualShock gamepad in USB mode (no Bluetooth supported).
- Accelerated tape loading from virtual TZX tapes (when possible). Original tape loaders are preserved.
Beeper emulation using the PI PWM capabilities, present on 3.5mm socket (no HDMI sound, sigh!).
-  No Linux needed!. Super-fast loading from µSD.

I've just tested it on LMMS with Linux, and it works great!

154

(135 replies, posted in Sinclair)

I can't say much about this, but it sounds indeed great!

that's great to learn you're still working on this! I've updated my installation. Thank you.

@PROTODOME: very cool project, well done!

it's also possible to build a very simple midi in arduino using this kind of schematics, without optocoupler:

https://github.com/farvardin/C64-music/ … _v2_bb.pdf

(connecting only rxd and gnd) but maybe there are some drawbacks, I don't know.

157

(15 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

Could the use of a linux double boot be an option for you?
Or if the problem is the arduino software, trying an older version?

158

(4 replies, posted in Sinclair)

That's very impressive!
It really sounds like there is an AY interface on it!!

Cool music, as always.

159

(15 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

I remember before your last fix one song stopped after only a few seconds. But after your fixed it worked (at least longer).

I've tested on another arduino (a dccduino clone), and it's the same, it stops at the same moment. But this moment seems rather random from one song to an other: I've isolated the part when I stopped, and removed all patterns before it. Then this time it won't stop there, but only after a while.

In the original "bourrasques" tune it stopped after 25 seconds, now with this abridged version, it's after 12 seconds, will it be enough for you to test? Here is the music_data as attachment.
I've put 2 files, one (v0) with the original data, only the part before the bug were removed, but the song last until the normal end. For the other one, I've removed the end, I've only kept the data until it stops + about 3 seconds, so it's supposed to stop after 15 seconds but will stop at 12 sec.
I've also tried to remove the loop (I chose exit instead before compilation) but it's the same, stop after 12 sec (the output data are identical)

Will your arduino reset as well if you plug it to a 5V phone charger, after you've uploaded the sketch?

160

(37 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

I've looked further about the detuning.
I don't know much about this and how it works, but while looking for OCR2A, I found this table:

http://cdn.makezine.com/make/35/OCR2A-f … -table.pdf
(from http://makezine.com/projects/make-35/ad … ynthesis/) (they even talk about 1-bit DAC)

They suppose this:

C3 = 60
C4 = 30
C5 = 15

(I think it's rather C2, C3 and C4 instead but anyway...)

while the current code use this instead: 61, 30 and 18 for C.

I've tried to replace in my sample test 15 instead of 18 and it sounds different, I can't really tell if it's better or not (it's only through a pc speaker), but it's not worse as a unison.

I still think 61, 30 and 18 are more accurate (in decimal it would be 97, 48 and 24 and 24*4 is 96), but I don't know, maybe there is something else to take into account.

161

(15 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

the one called music_data_snakecharmer.h replays completely. "Incantation" stops after a while, like "bourrasque". The one called "souvenirs"  plays for most of the song, but is cut anyway before the end. The mister beep song replays correctly. What could it be? What is strange is one parts plays well, while later the same part which is repeated will stop abruptly.

I'll test it on another arduino, in case it's the one I use (official Arduino Uno) which has some limitations (but it doesn't stop like that with other engines). I've already encountered differences between arduino versions, for example a shield was working on a clone, but not on the official one, and not either on another clone.

162

(15 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

ok, I'll have a look at the new version this evening, thank you.

I don't know what happened with the attached files. Here it is again. (edit: I know, I've just selected the file with the browser, but forgot to click on "add file")

(edit) I've quickly tested it, tempo is ok for the "bourrasque" tune, but it still stops during the replay. For the other "souvenirs", it doesn't stop at the beginning like before, but I haven't replayed it completely. I'll test more soon. Thanks again for the fix anyway.

163

(15 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

it sounds very good too (I've only tested through an old speaker), very close to original it seems. What you did for getting the conversion is very impressive!

Yet, I've found a few problems:

- I have a song with a very fast tempo of 19 (in the zip it's called music_data_bourrasque.h and the original from zx version can be heard there http://chipmusic.org/garvalf/music/bourrasques ). The arduino code doesn't handle that probably because it's too fast. The song is slowed down, with it seems some accelerations and decelerations (I guess it's not possible to fix this, which I can understand)

- on at least two of my songs, (music_data_souvenirs_tritone.h and music_data_snakecharmer.h) the arduino stops the music before the end, on the first one it's after just a few notes, on the second one it's a bit longer but not much. Probably there are some data which are confusing the engine...

164

(7 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

yeah, I can guess that. I hope with the wonders of open source, there will be someone else interested in coding this kind of thing!
I've already redirected people to your 1bit studio vst plugin!

165

(7 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

hey Shiru, now people on chipmusic.org want an arduino synth out of this: http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/19450 … n-arduino/ wink

166

(7 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

I think with 5x it's a good compromise, it sounds better than 10x in my opinion.

167

(7 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

thanks a lot, again, that's very impressive. I'd say the sound is perfectly recreated on the arduino. On some tunes I know by heart, I can't tell the difference from the original.
For the enhanced version, it sounds sometimes out of tune, in comparison to the normal mode (I've added in attachement a tune which shows this).

168

(10 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

the low pass filter was ok, I can hear it clearly from headphones, I think it's because of the crappy soundcard / setup, I wasn't using my usual external usb one.

169

(10 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

I've posted (the same) message there:

http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic … msg3131717
http://chipmusic.org/forums/topic/19450 … n-arduino/

170

(10 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

maybe it's my low pass filter which is not very adapted to this type of sound. I'll make more tests of possible.

171

(37 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

thanks for the link and explanations. Now I understand better the PORT, DDR and Bit parts of the code. It works perfectly this way.

172

(10 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

wow, that's very good too! Congrat and thank you for this port.

I've made a recording of the demo song by Mister Beep:
http://picosong.com/GFmm/ (it's not complete)

I've also found an old Phaser1 project I hadn't finished yet, the conversion was easy thanks to your clever script:

http://picosong.com/GFuS/

I have an account on the arduino forum, I'm sure your 2 engines will be praised by several people, do you want I post a link to this forum, or do you prefer to do it yourself? (And I can do this too on the Chipmusic.org forum)

173

(37 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

just out of curiosity, do you know if it's possible to change the output pin?

#define SPEAKER_BIT           (1<<7)            //PD7 (Uno pin 7)

if I change to something below 7, it works (I can redefine pin 5 or 6 for example), but for pin 9 it doesn't work. I got an error because of "unsigned char output_state", which I changed to "unsigned int" to avoid the error, but it doesn't output sound with
#define SPEAKER_BIT           (1<<9)

(On my arduino set up with the low pass filter, PIN 9 is already soldered to the audio out plug, but I can add a new wire if necessary)

I don't know about the note off, it's not very noticable, but it's a bit like on some engine which get off on some lower or higher notes (I don't think octode on zx spectrum is like this).

We can hear this if we define a sample case with only C-2 and C-4 playing together. Here is a recording: http://picosong.com/GFX8

first it's C-2 + C-4, then C-2 + C-3, then C-2 + C-3 + C-4, then C-1 + C-2. The problem seems to be C4 which detune a bit.

174

(37 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

Still not sure if I want to install the latest IDE, especially not alongside the older install.

it's completely safe, believe me: there is no installer (at least in the old versions), you just extract the archive where you want, and start it by calling the main script, for example for me: /opt/arduino-1.6.7/arduino
So it won't mess your existing installation.

I've made a recording of my "Rotor" tune, from the arduino, it's presented on my blog there:

http://garvalf.online.fr/index.php?page=blog_2017-02-12

I'd say the drum sounds a bit different (but maybe I'm not using the recommended notes, I don't remember), it's slightly faster (2 sec difference on a 2 minutes tune), and it's also slightly out of tune on some notes (it's less acurate than on original octode). But it's a very good port anyway, I find this very exciting to have this new thing on Arduino!

On this one it's a raw recording with crocodile clips directly from the arduino to the soundcard (the signal is very loud). It might be improved with the low pass filter presented above. I've already made one for an arduino Sid emulator, see the attached pic (the one on the right). I haven't used it on this recording because it's not at my home at the moment...

Also it seems it's possible to use some Octode2k16 or octodeXL tunes, probably with some adjustements. I've uploaded an octodexl, it was ok for most part, but some others were played alone. I'll test further.

175

(37 replies, posted in Other Platforms)

@utz you should be able to just download a more recent arduino IDE from the official page. Since it's a java program, it should work anyway. I have several arduino versions in my /opt folder. It's a pity the arduino platform is so inconsistent across the different versions, you often get arduino code on internet you just can't compile any longer because of the slight variations they added to the IDE.

(edit) here is a compiled version anyway, in hex format, you should be able to send it to arduino, I hope (it's not Shiru's original song, it's mine, it was the last compiled project)

@shiru: I love you, honestly I was looking for long for such 1-bit rendering on Arduino, and what you've done is simply perfect. I don't understand everything (I'll read your post several times eventually), but I really enjoy what I'm hearing! (I've just attached an old pc speaker to the pin 7 of my arduino, and the other one to ground)

It worked out of the box on arduino IDE 1.6.7

And I could also upload my own (octode) songs. Very cool smile

Now I'll try to record something and compare it with the zx spectrum version.