Copyright: Copyright 1994, Advanced Gravis


UltraSound Setup
UltraSound Driver Configuraton Dialog

The UltraSound device driver for Windows is designed to accomodate all types of UltraSound cards.  Select the type of Ultrasound you have in the drop-down listbox in the upper left corner.  The three possible settings in this box are UltraSound for a base UltraSound card, UltraSound w/DB for an UltraSound with the 16-bit recording card, and UltraMax for an UltraSound MAX card.

Click on the name of the control you want explained:

Regardless of which UltraSound card you have, you will see:

UltraSound Base Port

GF1 IRQ

MIDI IRQ

Performance Options

You will see one of the below:

Patch and Record DMA (UltraMax)

Patch DMA (UltraSound w/DB)

Patch and Playback DMA (UltraSound)

You will see one of the below:

Playback DMA (UltraMax)

CODEC DMA (UltrSound w/DB)

Record DMA (UltraSound)

If you have an UltraSound MAX or UltraSound with 16-bit recording card you will see either:

CODEC Base or

CODEC Base and IRQ


ICS Mixer

Click on the control you want explained:

Additional commands located in the system menu are:

About

Always on Top

Mute Output


CODEC mixer

Click on the control you want explained:

Additional commands located in the system menu are:

About

Always on Top

Mute Output

Select Recording source

Select Voice source


GUS Mixer

Click on the control you want explained:

Additional commands located in the system menu are:

About

Always on Top


Exit
This button causes the mixer application to shut down.  Your mixer settings remain the way you have set them until you leave Windows.  To make the current mixer settings the default Windows start-up settings, use the Save button.


Save
This button stores the current mixer settings in the ULTRAMIX.INI file.  The Ultrasound device driver uses this file to determine the mixer settings whenever Windows is started.  Therefore, when you press Save, the current mixer settings become the default start-up settings.


Help
Pressing the Help button invokes this help file.


MuteCD
Pressing this turns muting on or off for the CD input.  A check mark appears in the box if the input is muted.


Muting an Input
Muting an input is the same as turning the input volume all the way down.  You will not hear the input in the mixed output.


MuteMic
Pressing this turns muting on or off for the microphone input.  A check mark appears in the box if the input is muted.


MuteLine
Pressing this turns muting on or off for the line input.  A check mark appears in the box if the input is muted.


MuteAll
Pressing this turns muting on or off for all of the inputs.  A check mark appears in the box if the inputs are muted.


LockLR
When this option is checked (a check mark appears in the box), whenever one side of a stereo control is changed, the other side is set to the same level.  This way, the gain for the left channel is always the same as the gain for the right channel.


CODECGainL
This scrollbar controls the recording gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to 22dB.

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Recording Gain
This gain applies to all of the inputs.  Sometimes, you may want to record an input that is very quiet.  If the level is too low, you must increase this gain control to get a satisfactory recording level.  This control does not affect the mix levels, so you will not be able to immediately hear the results of changing it.  If you are recording, the application you use to record may have level meters which will allow you to see the recording level.  It is best to keep this gain as low as possible to avoid over-driving the input and amplifying input noise.


CODECGainR
This scrollbar controls the recording gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to 22dB.

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dB
dB (decibel) is a unit used to describe power ratios.  0dB represents no volume change from the original input signal.  A value of 3dB means a doubling of the power. i.e. an input at 3dB is has roughly twice the power of an input at 0dB.  Similarly, an input at 6dB has twice the power of an input at 3dB and four times the power of an input at 0dB.  For negative numbers, an input at -3dB has half the power of an input at 0dB, etc.

An input at 0dB is a whopping 2580 times more powerful than an input at -34dB!

Since human hearing responds on a roughly logarithmic scale, for a signal to be noticeably louder, it requires 3dB more power.  For a signal to sound twice as loud, it requires about 10dB more power.

Thus, in terms of the mixer, an input at 10dB is about twice as loud as an input at 0dB, and an input at -30 dB will sound about 1/8 as loud (1/2 of 1/2 of 1/2) as an input at 0dB.


Overdriving an Input
When an input signal is too big for an electrical circuit to handle, we say that the circuit is being over-driven.  In audio circuits, this usually results in yucky sounding distortion.


Amplifying Noise
Noise gets added to a signal whenever is goes from place to place.  The amount of noise added to the signal as it travels between your stereo and your sound card is approximately constant, and does not depend on how big the signal is.  Consequently, the smaller the signal is, the larger the proportion of noise to clean signal is when it finally arrives at the sound card.  It is usually best to make the signal entering the sound card as large as possible without overdriving the inputs.


CODECLineL
This scrollbar controls the Line input gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECLineR
This scrollbar controls the Line input gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECCDL
This scrollbar controls the CD input gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECCDR
This scrollbar controls the CD input gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECMic
This scrollbar controls the Microphone input gain.  The gain value is displayed below the bar.  The gain ranges from 0dB to -45dB.  Since Microphones can be quite quiet, it may be necessary to adjust the gain control to get an adequate recording level.


CODECMIDIL
This scrollbar controls the output level of the left channel from the MIDI synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECMIDIR
This scrollbar controls the output level of the right channel from the MIDI synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 12dB to -34dB.


CODECWAVEL
This scrollbar controls the output level of the left channel from the digital waveform synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 0dB to -94dB.


CODECWAVER
This scrollbar controls the output level of the right channel from the digital waveform synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 0dB to -94dB.


CODECSystem
The System Menu

This is the system menu button:

The system menu is accessed by clicking on the system menu button (in the top left corner of the window) or by clicking on the mixer icon when it is minimized.

The following functions are accessed through the system menu:

About

Always on Top

Mute Output

Select Recording source

Select Voice source


About
The About function displays version information about the currently installed Ultrasound drivers and the mixer.


Always on Top
The Always on Top function causes the mixer's main window to remain visible even when it is not the active window.  Always on Top is on (checked) by default.  If this behavior bothers you, turn it off.


ICSLineL
This scrollbar controls the Line input gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


ICSLineR
This scrollbar controls the Line input gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


ICSMicL
This scrollbar controls the Microphone input gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


ICSMicR
This scrollbar controls the Microphone input gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


ICSSystem
The System Menu

This is the system menu button:

The system menu is accessed by clicking on the system menu button (in the top left corner of the window) or by clicking on the mixer icon when it is minimized.

The following functions are accessed through the system menu:

About

Always on Top

Mute Output


MuteOutput
This turns muting on or off for the output.  Turning muting on is the same as turning the output off.  If it is on (checked) no sound will come from the soundcard.


PlainSystem
The System Menu

This is the system menu button:

The system menu is accessed by clicking on the system menu button (in the top left corner of the window) or by clicking on the mixer icon when it is minimized.

The following functions are accessed through the system menu:

About

Always on Top


ICSCDL
This scrollbar controls the CD input gain for the left channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


ICSCDR
This scrollbar controls the CD input gain for the right channel.  The gain is displayed below the bar.  The value ranges from 0dB to -63dB.


PlainWaveL
This scrollbar controls the output level of the left channel from the digital waveform synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 0% (no output) to 100% (full blast).


PlainWaveR
This scrollbar controls the output level of the right channel from the digital waveform synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 0% (no output) to 100% (full blast).


PlainMIDI
This scrollbar controls the output level of the the MIDI synthesizer.  The output level is displayed below the bar and ranges from 0% (no output) to 100% (full blast).


RecordingSource
When you activate the the Select Recording Source function from the system menu, the following group of radio buttons appears:

This allows you to choose where the digital waveform input comes from. The default is for the input to come from the mixer.  If you want the input to come directly from one of the other sources, select the corresponding button.  This setting only affects digital recording.  There will be no audible difference while recording, but during waveform playback, you will notice that only the selected input was recorded.


VoiceSource
When you activate the the Select Voice Source function from the system menu, the following group of radio buttons appears:

This function is similar to Select Recording Source.  It allows you to choose where the digital waveform input comes from for "low-priority" recording applications such as Voice Pilot.


Minimize
Pressing the minimize button causes the mixer window to be replaced by a small icon at the bottom of the screen.  Double-clicking on the icon restores the mixer to its previous size and position.


UltraSound Base Port

The computer communicates with the sound card through ports.  The port that the UltraSound uses is set by jumpers on the card.  See the installation guide for details on setting this.  The default base port for the UltraSound is 220.  Valid values range from 200 to 2F0 (hex).

Ensure that no other peripheral uses the port for which you have the UltraSound configured.  If the port address is set incorrectly, your UltraSound card will not function properly.


IRQ's
IRQ Settings

The GF1 IRQ is used by the GF1 synthesizer chip on the UltraSound cards to communicate with the host computer.  Valid values are 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 15.  Set this to an IRQ that is not used by other peripherals.

The MIDI IRQ is used by the UltraSound MIDI port to communicate with the computer.  Valid values are 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, and 15.  Set this to an unused IRQ number.


DMA
DMA Channel Settings

The UltraSound cards uses two DMA channels.  If both DMA channels are set to the same value, some functions may not be available simultaneously.

For the UltraMax:

The Patch and Record DMA channel is used for loading MIDI patches into the sound card's DRAM, and for digital recording.  Valid values are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

The Playback DMA channel is used for digital waveform playback.  Valid values are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

If both DMA channels are set to the same value, you will not be able to perform simultaneous digital playback and recording.

For the UltraSound w/DB:

The Patch DMA channel is used for loading MIDI patches into the sound card's DRAM.  Valid values are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

The CODEC DMA channel is used for digital waveform playback and recording.  Valid values are 1, 2 and 3.

The CODEC DMA must match the value set by the jumpers on the 16-bit recording card.

For the UltraSound:

The Patch and Playback DMA channel is used for loading MIDI patches into the sound card's DRAM, and for digital playback.  Valid values are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

The Record DMA channel is used for digital recording.  Valid values are 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7.

DMA Buffer Size

Beside the DMA channel controls are DMA buffer size edit boxes.

This setting tells the UltraSound device driver how much memory to reserve for use in buffering DMA transfers.  The default is 4096 bytes.  If you experience sound quality problems with high-speed recording and playback, increasing the buffer size may help.  The maximum is 8192 bytes.  Switching from 8-bit to 16-bit DMA channels will also help.

For some voice-recognition programs, it may be necessary to reduce the DMA buffer size (to 512 bytes, or so) in order to quicken response time.

Beside the buffer size edit boxes are check boxes for setting the buffer size as Fixed.  When Fixed is checked, the UltraSound drivers (on starting Windows) will allocate only the amount of memory specified for the buffers.  Consequently, increasing the DMA buffer size will require re-starting Windows.  Leaving the values un-fixed will allow you to change DMA buffer sizes at any time, but it leaves less memory available below 640K for other Windows and DOS based programs.


8 bit DMA
DMA channels 1,2 and 3 are 8-bit DMA channels.  Data moves through these slower than the 16-bit DMA channels.


16 bit DMA
DMA channels 5, 6 and 7 are 16-bit DMA channels.  Use of these is preferred for high quality digital recording and playback since data moves twice as fast through these channels compared to the 8-bit channels.

The 16-bit DMA channels do not work properly on some computers.  If you experience problems with the 16-bit DMA channels, switch to 8-bit DMA, or replace your motherboard.


CODEC Settings
CODEC Base Port

The UltraSound Max and the 16-bit recording cards contain a CODEC chip which is used for multi-rate digital waveform playback and recording.  For the device driver to communicate with it, it must know the CODEC's Base Port number.  For the UltraMax, valid values range from 30C to 3FC (hex) and are set by software.

For the 16-bit recording card, valid values are 530, 604, E80, and F40 (hex).  The port number for the 16-bit recording card is set by jumpers on the card, and the value you use in the configuration screen must match the port set by the jumpers.

CODEC IRQ

For the UltraMax, the CODEC shares the GF1 IRQ, which is set by software.

For the 16-bit recording card, the CODEC IRQ is set by jumpers on the card, and you must enter the IRQ the card is configured to use.


Performance Options

Linear Volume: This option, when checked, tells the MIDI synthesizer to use a linear scale for the MIDI output volume.  If it is unchecked (disabled), a logarithmic scale is used for MIDI volume.  Linear volume is the default.  If a MIDI sequence you wish to play requires (was composed with)  non-linear volume, uncheck this option.

Verify Patches: If this option is enabled, the UltraSound driver will attempt to load each patch to verify that it is not corrupt.  It does this every time you start Windows, and can take quite a while.  The default is not to verify patches (unchecked).

Active Voices:  The number of active voices you choose is a compromize between sound quality, and voice quantity.  14 is the minimum, and will give you the highest quality playback.  32 is the maximum, and will give the lowest quality playback.  The default setting of 22 is a good compromise for general MIDI.  This setting does not affect CODEC performance on the UltraMax or UltraSound with 16-bit recording card.

Patch Memory Options

High Fidelity (16 bit): When this option is enabled, patches are loaded in their native format (16-bit).

Conserve memory (8 bit): When this is enabled, patches are converted to 8-bit format to save memory.  The sound quality is inferior to 16 bit, but an cards with little memory, this may be required to play MIDI sequences with many instruments.

Refresh Defualt Patch Bank:  This will case the device driver to re-read the ULTRASND.INI file.  Press this button if you have made manual changes to the ULTRASND.INI file.