Shiuming Lai finds a
great sound utility for Falcon control-Meisters
We've no shortage of programs for
tweaking just about every tweak able aspect of our Atari
computers, mostly generic stuff from VDI palette to
system input response and the ubiquitous key-click toggle.
One area I've found lacking in the control department
is the audio sub-system of the Falcon. There is Atari's
limited CPX effort which allows setting the master volume,
balance and microphone gain. Another program which comes
to mind even displays a graphical status of the SDMA
routing matrix but, frustratingly, doesn't do much else.
Iphigénie is different. It's
a superb interface which gives comprehensive control
over the complete internal audio circuit by means of
an interactive diagram, consisting of the SDMA matrix,
A/D:D/A channels, level controls, mixers and PSG (Programmable
Sound Generator). There are also buttons to reset and
lock/unlock the SDMA and DSP. Very useful for recovering
audio functionality after a spurious process termination
or exit from a badly-written program.
The real fun starts when you start
re-routing, mixing and processing the signals, or adjusting
the sample rate. At the moment, Iphigénie doesn't
permit configuration of external clocks, so if you play
a 44.1 or 48 KHz audio file and accidentally change
its playback frequency mid-song, you're stuck with the
Falcon's internal frequencies until another program
alters it. Pierre (the author) says he may try to add
these modes in the next update.
If you use external
D/A convertors and miss your Falcon's
key-click,
just route the PSG into the SDMA A/D and out
to
the DSP port. It's easy.
For effects, it can load a DSP *.LOD
file, containing some algorithm for modifying the audio
signal (reverb, flange, modulation...). Pity that the
parameters of these effects modules aren't also adjustable,
otherwise we'd be having a real party. Last of all,
the entire session's status can be saved into a configuration
file (*.IPH) which may be read by Iphigénie upon
launch or loaded manually.
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