From alsa-user-owner@alsa.jcu.cz  Mon Jun 15 23:11:14 1998
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Date: Mon, 15 Jun 1998 16:08:08 -0500
From: Ben Reed <ranger@ironweb.com>
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To: alsa-user@jcu.cz
Subject: Re: 16 digital stereo channels
References: <199806151628.SAA21653@smtp3.xs4all.nl> <35854F51.7D451F00@ironweb.com> <35858831.13208794@iastate.edu>
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Jacob Jaeggli wrote:

>   I'm not sure, but I think that you could actually have 16 stereo channels,
> as it is a 32 channel synth.. I think that the 14 comes from several
> channels being reserved for the drums.  This may just be in the driver.  For
> the interwave card under the ALSA driver you have the Codec audio device...
> which can play 16-bit, 48khz audio.  This resides under the device
> /proc/sound/[device no (probably 0)]/pcm0.  If you look, you will also see
> pcm0p and pcm0r.  Look a little further and you will see pcm1 and pcm1p.
> The second sound playback device is, in fact, two channels on the GF1
> synth.  You will, of course, need the 512k dram (for the Dynasonix3D); if
> you have the GUS PnP, you already have the onboard ram.  With this device,
> you can play over this device with an ALSA-compatible sound player (aplay).
> It's not hard to test out either.  Find some audio files that are fairly
> long and try it out:

My knowledge of it is very basic, as I am not a coder, so I could be
wrong, but the 14-channel 44khz 16-bit limit is in effect for tracker
programs too (like ScreamTracker, Impulse Tracker).  I think it's a
hardware limitation, after 14 channels, the quality ramps off depending
on how many channels above 14 there are.  These programs don't use the
drivers, they write directly to the card, so it's not a software
limitation as far as I know.  Either way, we're kind of veering
off-topic.  ;)  It *would* be cool to allow multiple voices with
hardware mixing on GUS/AWE/etc. cards...

-- Ben Reed a.k.a. Ranger Rick (ranger@ironweb.com)
   http://www.ironweb.com/~ranger/

"I used to pick up the morning paper and giggle my way through
breakfast. Now I get either so angry or so scared that I have to
wait until after I eat to read it." -- Tom Lehrer, on politics

