ENSONIQ Soundscape

[JoeCotellese]

Hello, my name is Joe Cotellese. I'm the Multi-media Product Specialist at
ENSONIQ Corp. I have been following the posts on this newsgroups for the
last few weeks and after the post concerning the ENSONIQ Soundscape I felt
it was time for a response.

ENSONIQ Corp a dominating force in the electronic musical instrument field
has incorporated its chip design expertise to develop a PC soundcard
solution. That solution is the technology known as Soundscape. At this
time ENSONIQ does not have any plans to bring a PC card to market. Instead
we have decided to offer the technology to various OEM manufacturers. Some
who will have cards on the market very shortly.

What is Soundscape?

The recently formed ENSONIQ Multimedia division is now poised to
revolutionize PC audio by brining its professional level audio capabilities
to a market currently dominated by inferior FM technology. Soundscape will
improve audio features of PCs in the same way that Super VGA improved
graphics relative to CGA.

Soundscape uses a technique called wavetable synthesis to simultaneously
produce up to 32 voices (instruments) of CD-quality, 16-bit music with
digitally recorded samples of over 100 instruments. While each manufacturer
has their own individual specifications I can at least give you the basic
sound engine specifications.

Synthesizer Section:

Architecture Digital Wavetable Synthesizer
Voices: Up to 32
Polyphony: Up to 32 Notes
Sample Memory: Up to 8 Mwords of ROM
D/A Converter 16-Bit Linear Serial
Maximum Playback Rate: 44.1 kHz
Level and Panning Controls: Seperate 12-Bit L&R Controls for Each Voice
Filters: Seperate Configurable 4-Pole Digital
Filter for Each Voice
Envelopes: Hardware Envelopes for Amplitude and Filters
Firmware: Downloadable- Supports General MIDI, MT-32,
FM-Emulation (Downloadable for easier upgrades)

FM Synthesizer

Software emulation of Yamaha OPL-2 FM Synthesizer

PCM Playback Section

Capability: Simultaneous Playback of Two Mono or Stereo
Streams
D/A Converter 16-Bit Linear Serial
Maximum Playback Rate: 44.1 kHz
Level and Panning Controls: Seperate 12-Bit L&R Controls for Each Voice
Filters: Seperate Configurable 4-Pole Digital
Filter for Each Voice
Data Formats: 8-, 12-, or 16-Bit Signed or Unsigned, or 8
bit u-LAW Compressed.
All Formats either Mono or Interleaved
Stereo.


Digital Recording Section:

Capability: Mono or Interleaved Stereo Recording
A/D Converter: 16-Bit Linear Serial Delta-Sigma Converter
Source Selection: Any Source(s) Via Seperate Stereo Record
Mixer
Level Control Individual Software controls for Each Source
Level Control Range: +30 to 0 dB on Microphone Input, 0 to -38 dB
on All Other Sources
Anti-Aliasing Filter: Digital Decimation Filter
Data Formats: 8-, 12-, or 16-Bit Signed or Unsigned, or 8
bit u-LAW Compressed.
All Formats either Mono or Interleaved
Stereo.

These specifications are subject to change without notice.

Ok, so these are the basic Synth engine specifications full specifcations
will be made available as soon as OEMs begin announcing there product. I
will try to post them as soon as I am able.

If there are any further questions please send me some e-mail. I may not
reply to everyone but I do read them.

Joe Cotellese
ENSONIQ Corp
jo...@cellar.org

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jo...@cellar.org (JoeCotellese)
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