Green Xenon

Oh no! The forum attachment options won't let me post wave files no matter how small the size. What should I do? "Allowed file types: txt, doc, pdf, jpg, gif, mpg, png, asm, inc, h, c, hex, jpeg, mp3, diy, rar, zip, skp"

The wave file is 25 MB Anyways, I'll try to post a proper 5-second sample if I can.

Has anyone listened to the songs? BTW, it would be nice if I could upload the full 44.1 kHz, 16-bit linear PCM wave file. Unfortunately, the size of this file would largely cross the 1,024 kb limit.

Here is an attachment of the audio file. It's compressed in MP3 format, 24 kbps, 24 kHz sample-rate [which I regret]. The song is "The Way It Is" originally sung by "Bruce Hornsby and The Range". Please try to ignore the MP3 compression artifacts, I know they are very annoying. If the forum allowed me to attach the WMA format version of this audio [which IMHO is much better], I'd do exactly that. I was initally planning to post the WMA file which is 20 kbps and 44.1 kHz sample-rate. Sorry for the inconvenience. MP3s are definitely not my choice of compression but I'm left with no option. For MP3s, a minimum of 32 kbps is required in order to use a 44.1 sample-rate -- the file would be too large, though. So I had to settle with a not-so-good 24 kHz sample-rate in order not to exceed the 1,024 KB limit for attachments. Enjoy! This is my favorite song played through an OPL3 MIDI synth. Wayitis.mp3 Wayitis.mp3

Does more voices [channels] and operators mean the sound quality will be better?

Does MBFM have polysynth-pads as one of the instruments? I hope so, as it is my favorite OPL3 sound.

How many voices does Creative Music Synth have? Also, the website http://www.opensound.com/dmguide/dmfm.html states: "OPL-3 mode supports 18 channels of 2-operator Stereo FM tones or 6 channels of 4-operator and 6 channels of 2-operator FM tones 5 percussion instrument channels" What does "channel" mean, in this context?

You're right, when referring to CM/S I am referring to the "Creative Music System", not "Creative Music Synth". The two are totally different things. When asking about the bit-resolution/sample-rate, I was more interested in the bit-resolution/sample-rate of the FM-synth itself and not the ADCs/DACs involved. Yes, the "emulation" I am referring to is pure software emulation run on the host CPU. I hate it. I've looked at my SB16 ISA card, it has a chip which has "Yamaha" printed on it. The rest is too small and covered in dust for me to read. I've tried to remove the dust but I still can't see what else is printed on it. I'm assuming this is the Creative Music Synth [i.e. OPL3] chip. Is it likely that Creative Technology made modifications to this OPL3 before soldering it on this card? Approximately, what is the cost difference of a real OPL3 chip vs. emulation of that chip?

How do I post the wave files? There doesn't seem to be an "attachment" option on this forum.

I done this on 4 PCs. BTW, I did not disable any of the operators. I don't have nearly enough knowledge and math skills required to do to be able this. For me, that would be dream. I don't have any patch files. Sorry. Is it likely that Creative Technology added their own patches to the OPL3 in the SB16 card? I hope not but I fear so. CT provides very poor customer service and never responds to my questions about Creative Music Synth. CT will never let me in on any info about what they did to the OPL3 on SB16 or whether they did anything to it. I do have the wave files I made from recording audio from the Creative Music Synth. I use Adobe Audition or Wavelab to record the audio.

What is the bit-resolution of the C/MS's audio? I believe OPL3 is 16-bit and OPL2 is 8-bit? Also, why don't PCI sound cards have any real OPL3 chips in them? All of them are emulation, which I really hate. I can easily notice the difference between the real OPL3 in my golden great SB16 ISA card and the stale fart-machine of the OPL3-emulation in the newer PCI cards.

I doubt it's my setup. I've tried the same experiment on other computers which still have Creative Music Synth. The results are the same.

These effects are present only in OPL3, not OPL2. This is because OPL2 is mono. If the effects are caused by "technical imperfections", then these 'imperfections' are a good thing. I like the quality of the audio better after it is "voice-cancelled" than before.

I've recorded sound from the Creative Music Synth. I make a stereo recording of a wave file [of the CMS sounds] that is 44.1 kHz sample-rate, 16-bit and stereo. I then invert the left channel and then combine it with the right channel. I then get a mono of the sound without what used to be panned to the center. This is how those karaoke voice-cancellers work. I notice, after this processing I use, the sounds are even better than what they used to be. After I use the "voice-cancellation" method, the resulting sound is a lot sharper, fresher, warmer, crisper, brighter, more rejuvenating -- and otherwise more heavenly -- than what it sounds like if I don't use "voice-cancellation". Why was the chip made for certain sounds to be out of phase while other to be identical? I notice the audio of Creative Music Synth is equally-loud and equal-pitched whether or not its "voice cancelled". Its the *waveshapes* that are different. So its obvious that CMS's audio signal have certain elements [the freshness, warmth and brightness] of their L and R signals phased differently from each while certain other elements [cheeziness, whininess, moaning] phase identically in the L and R channels. This occurs in CMS much in the same way that many of the stereo hits from the 80s onwards, have their lead-vocals, bass, and drums phased-identically while their painos, guitars, pads, and chorus are phase-differently. Once again, I ask, why was Creative Music Synth designed like this?

Darnit! The sale is closed. This means I can no longer buy any of them.

Is it possible for me to buy the Creative Music Synth chip from ucapps or here?

Hi: Creative Music Synth [220] is the hardware chip-based FM synth present in the SoundBlaster-16 ISA card. Is this the same synth as OPL3? If not, then what are the differences? Thanks, Green