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Tropez Plus ISA sound board FAQ.

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Tow Wang

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Apr 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/25/97

Archive-name: PCsoundcards/TropezPlus-faq
Comp-sys-ibm-pc-soundcard-misc-archive-name: TropezPlus-faq
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 25 March 1997
Version: 1.01

================================================================================
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
about the Tropez Plus (TM) sound board
Copyright 1995-1997 by Tow Wang
Version 1.01
Release date: Tuesday 25 March 1997
================================================================================

Contents

(I) Introduction
(A) What information was updated?
(B) Abbreviations
(C) How to obtain the latest release of this document.
(D) Additional sources of information
(II) Technical specifications
(III) Errata to the User's Guide
(IV) Software for the TBS-2001 developed by TBS
(A) Utilities
(B) Drivers
(C) Other software
(V) Installation
(A) Tips for DOS and Windows 3.1
(VI) Other questions
(VII) Software and firmware upgrades
(A) Not included but distributed
(VIII) Operating system support
(A) OS/2
(B) Windows 3.x
(C) Windows 4.x (aka "Windows 95")
(D) Windows NT
(E) Linux
(IX) Programming information
(A) Software Development Kit
(D) CS4232 codec chip
(G) YSS225 effects processor
(X) Unanswered questions
(XI) Credits
(XII) Disclaimer and permission to distribute

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(I) Introduction

About the word "Tropez":
~ ~ ~ ~
Pronounced as "Tropa" ( 'o' as in toe, 'a' as in pay ).
Presumably named after the french island St. Tropez, famous for its
beautiful beaches.

The Tropez Plus is a high-end consumer-grade sound board manufactured by Turtle
Beach Systems; it was released in the spring of 1996 as a replacement for the
Tropez board, a predecessor product. The Tropez Plus plugs into 16-bit ISA-bus
slots and is compatible with several hardware standards supported by most games
and multimedia applications. At the same time, it features high-fidelity
audio capabilities that make it a leading product in its class and price
range.

The functionality and features of the Tropez Plus are a superset of those of
the Tropez, and the two products share a lot of software and drivers in common.
For this reason, this document is just a suplement to the "Answers to Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) about the Tropez (TM) sound board", known in short as the
"Tropez FAQ file". This latter document is available from the sources listed in
section I.D below. The reader will find herein references to the contents of
the "Tropez FAQ file" and is thus advised to obtain a copy of it, as this
document does not duplicate information applicable to the Tropez Plus that is
already in the "Tropez FAQ file".

To avoid confusing the Tropez Plus with the older Tropez board, it seems that
TBS attempted to make the Tropez Plus better known through its model name
TBS-2001. Therefore, throughout this document I will use liberally this model
name.

The purpose of this document, referred to as the "TBS-2001 FAQ file" from
hereon, is two-fold:

1) To supplement the documentation provided with the TBS-2001 package and aid
owners of this product in setting it up and troubleshooting it.

2) To inform the general public of the characteristics of the TBS-2001 and
help assess the suitability of this product for the applications of
potential end-users.

(A) What information was updated?

Each update is to be found in the (sub)section indicated within parentheses.
The previous release of this document was version 1.00 (not widely distributed).

********************************************************************************
A possible problem in detecting the sound board's capabilities. (VIII.C)
How to record from the "CD/Aux" input. (VIII.B)
Added section (VII.A)
Options to be enabled under Linux. (VIII.E)
Added sections (IX.D and IX.G)
Several distributors of the "Tropez FAQ file" will carry this document. (I.C)
********************************************************************************

(B) Abbreviations

[Please see this section in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

[Almost all sites carrying the "Tropez FAQ file" will also carry this document,
so please see section I.D below. Also, refer to this same item (and section
VII.B) in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

(D) Additional sources of information

1) Related information files:

The Tropez FAQ file can be obtained by FTP from:
ftp.wi.leidenuniv.nl /pub/audio/tropez/
ftp.hawaii.edu /outgoing/Maui/
ftp.uwp.edu /pub/msdos/soundcards/turtle.beach/
NCTUCCCA.edu.tw /PC/soundcards/turtle.beach/
rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet-by-hierarchy/comp/sys/ibm/pc/soundcard/misc
/pub/usenet-by-group/news.answers/PCsoundcards/

All references in this document to the "Tropez FAQ file" are valid for
version 1.21 of the "Tropez FAQ file".

An excellent tech-note for the TBS-2001 can be found at:
www.tbeach.com/text/technote.htm

[Please see also this item in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

2) Mailing lists:

[Please see this item in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(II) Technical specifications

The quoted information for this chapter (lines starting with '|') is
distributed by Turtle Beach Systems in its corporate web pages. I have added
some additional comments and corrections for clarity.

Compatibility

Digital audio: (only one of the following available at any time)
Microsoft Windows Sound System 1.0
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Pro 2.0
Music synthesis: (these interfaces can be accessed concurrently)
Roland MPU-401, and a MIDI interpreter compatible with the SCC-1B
Yamaha OPL3
Configuration: PnP compliant.

| Audio Performance

Signal to Noise: 89dB (A-weighted) 87dB (Unweighted)
| Total Harmonic Distortion: < 0.01% (A Weighted) < 0.02% (Unweighted)
| Phase Response: +/- 0.1 degrees
| Stereo Crosstalk: 100Hz -90dBV, 1kHz -89dBV, 10kHz -83dBV
| IM Distortion: < 0.01%
| Frequency Response: 20Hz-22KHz, +0/-1dB
| Sample Rates: Selectable between 4kHz and 48kHz
| Resolution: 16-bit and 8-bit
| Audio Channels: Stereo or Mono
| A/D Converter: 64X oversampled sigma-delta, 16-bit
| D/A Converter: 8X interpolating filter 64X oversampled,
| 16-bit DMA mode for increased performance
| Simultaneous Play and Record Capability

| Supported Interfaces

| Wavetable Synthesizer
|
Synthesizer: ICS2115 WaveFront
Audio effects (global): reverb, chorus, flange, delay, pitch-shift, EQ,
wide stereo, SRS
Effects processor: Yamaha YSS225
| 128 Instruments in 4MB Wavetable ROM set
| Sample Data Formats: 16-bit, 8-bit, and 8-bit u-law
Polyphony (user-selectable):
Maximum simultaneous voices Synthesizer sampling rate (KHz)
32 32
24 44.1

TBS has confirmed that the TBS-2001 contains the exact same ROM patch set
as that found on the Rio.

SampleStore(tm)
(RWM to store your custom-created instrument samples for the synthesizer)

There are 3 SIMM slots on the Tropez. They all accept SIMMs with 30
contact-pads. Any slot can accept any of the following SIMM capacities at
any time: (TBS recommends access times no slower than 70ns)

Rows Bits per row (parity not required)
256 K 8 or 9
1 M 8 or 9
4 M 8 or 9

| FM Synthesizer

| Stereo FM Synthesizer (Yamaha OPL3)
| Adlib Compatible
| 20 independent stereo voices of FM synthesized sounds
| 4 FM operators per voice

| System Requirements

80386SX processor or better
2 megabytes of system memory
16-bit ISA bus slot
| Windows 3.1 or higher
| Powered speakers or headphones

| Product Logistics

| UPC: 737762402116
| Dimension: 7.5"x4"x14"

The TBS-2001 incorporates almost all the good features found on the Rio and
Tropez boards, so with some subtle restrictions it can be considered as "two
boards in one":
TBS-2001 = Rio + Tropez

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(III) Errata to the User's Guide

The following corrections are applicable to the manual 1.0 (copyright 1996
TBS, as indicated on page 12 therein).

P 11

The appendix chapters B and C are not matched with their correct titles.
The description of each title is nevertheless correct.

P 14 "What's in the Box?"

The line that reads
"Connecting any external audio accessories to Tropez Plus."
should have appeared before the subtitle
"What's in the Box?".

P 16 Paragraph starting with "1. Ground yourself..."

The illustration on page 17 has nothing to do with the SIMM sockets on the
TBS-2001, but nonetheless do follow the instructions in this paragraph
and see the illustration on page 20.

P 18 Step 4.

There is no illustration on page 16. Refer to the one on page 20.

P 20 Illustration.

The ATAPI and secondary MPU-401 connectors should not have been labelled
as "JPx"s, since these label prefixes normally refer to jumper switches.
Input J1 labelled "CD Audio" is not shown.

P 20 Step 2.

There is no illustration on page 14. Refer to the one on page 20.

P 21 Step 4.

The 4-pin CD audio connector is located near the microphone input jack,
but is not shown in the illustration on page 20.

P 25 Step 4.

Should read "...in accordance with the previous chapter."

P 35

Due to the software architecture, there are no 32-bit device drivers for
Windows.

P 40 Step 11.

Should read "Follow the directions in 'Installing the Tropez Plus in
Windows 3.1/DOS' beginning with step 11."

P 51 "Initialization Utility"

"The only reason you should run this utility" is explained in a slightly
misleading way. See section IV.A for further information. A few lines
below, the string "TB2001" is a typo.

P 57 "SETUPSND Utility"

Parameters 'x' and 'h' are not described in this page; see the help text
displayed by "setupsnd.exe /?".

P 73 Step 6.

Some MIDI files may not play correctly if not all 16 channels are mapped
to the "TBS-2001 Sample Player".

P 77 "Appendix A - Troubleshooting"

Neither table A-1 nor A-2 lists any standard I/O addresses. The manual
for your motherboard may have such a listing.

P 89 "DOS Application Issues"

The filename of the hot-key utility is actually "tbshmx.exe".

P 100 "Viewing your Current Settings"

Procedure "To Open the System Control Panel" is in page 32.

P 101 Paragraph after step 5.

Second sentence should read "See pages 85-88 for information on editing..."

P 105 Two internal CD audio inputs?

Perhaps some revisions only have one.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(IV) Software for the TBS-2001 developed by TBS

If you do not have the latest versions, refer to the FTP sites for updates.

(A) Utilities

"playcd.exe" v0.70

Command line utility to play audio CD's in your CD drive.

"setupsnd.exe" v1.17

Loads operating system code to the firmware memory on the TBS-2001, then
configures the WaveFront synthesizer and the YSS225 effects processor. The
o.s. code is executed by the Motorola 68000 processor to control the
synthesizer.

"setupsnd.exe" takes about 28 seconds to load "wfos2001.mot" to the TBS-2001.
The duration of this process seems to be independent of system speed.

In most motherboards, if not all, you need to initialize the synthesizer
(i.e. upload its MIDI interpreter firmware), only once after power up. No
need to repeat this after warm boots.

Yes, it does take 28 seconds to initialize the synthesizer if you have
not entered Windows since power-up, but otherwise the latest Windows
driver will do the initialization (or check for initialization) in 4
seconds or less. The preceding paragraph applies here too.

"tbs2001.exe" v1.19.32 and v1.25.68

Activates the TBS-2001 so that it will use the I/O ports and IRQ lines
assigned to it. This utility uses the settings stored in the "tbsdos.ini"
file. The installation diskettes come with two versions of this utility: a
recent one that relies on motherboard support for PnP and is found in the
root directory of disk 1, and an older one that does not rely on motherboard
support and is found in directory "install" of disk 1. If either one does not
work properly, try using the other one.

"tbsmix.exe" v1.20

Command line utility to change all mixer volumes.

"tbshmx.exe" v1.19

TSR program that allows changing mixer volumes using hot-keys.

"tbswss.exe" v1.20

Resets the codec chip if it is somehow stuck in SB Pro mode.

(B) Drivers

"tbs2001.drv" v1.20

Windows 3.x and 4.x digital audio driver.

"tbsfm.drv"

Windows 3.x FM synthesis driver.

"wf2001.drv" v1.60

Windows 3.x wavetable synthesis driver.

"wf200195.drv"

Windows 4.x wavetable synthesis driver.

"wffx.drv" v1.20

Windows 3.x driver for the effects processor.

"wfos2001.mot" v1.20

The firmware code that is loaded to the TBS-2001 by "setupsnd.exe" under DOS
and by "wf2001.drv" under Windows 3.x. This code makes the WaveFront
synthesizer understand MIDI commands used by most sequencing and game
software.

[Please see this section in the "Tropez FAQ file". The TBS-2001 does not
include however any CD with software.]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(V) Installation

(A) Tips for DOS and Windows 3.1

P 17 Installing the Tropez Plus sound card. (Step 3)

As is the case with all sound boards, try to select a slot away from the
processor(s) and disk drives to reduce their interference.

P 38 After step 18.

After finishing the installation procedure for DOS (and Windows 3.1 if
applicable), you may wish to remove the call to "setupsnd.exe" from your
"autoexec.bat". See section IV.A.

If you are connecting a CD drive to the enhanced IDE interface of the
TBS-2001, make sure that the line
DEVICE=?:\tropplus\tbs2001.exe
in your "config.sys" file precedes the line that loads the device driver for
your CD drive. This is because "tbs2001.exe" must be executed first to
initialize the TBS-2001 so that the other device driver can detect the CD
drive interfaced with the TBS-2001.

If you completed installation for Windows 3.1, you may want to execute
"MIDI mapper" and map all 16 MIDI channels of the "WaveFront synth" setup
to the "TBS2001 sample player". If not all channels are mapped to it, some
complex MIDI files may not play correctly.

P 40 After step 12.

"install.exe" will enable the joystick port of the TBS-2001 without asking
whether you so wish. To disable this joystick port, edit the file
"tbsdos.ini" so that you have the setting:
GameIO=disabled
in the section "[PNP]".

Even if you select different DMA channels for the WSS mode, "install.exe"
will set them both to 1 in "tbsdos.ini". You may wish to make this change if
you have to use the full-duplex capability of the TBS-2001 under DOS:
WssDmaCapture=x
where you set 'x' to either 0 or 3.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VI) Other questions

Q. [AIL] Where can I get AIL and MIDPAK drivers for the TBS-2001?

A. [Please see this item in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

Q. [buy] Where can I buy the TBS-2001?

A. Some retail stores that carry it are: Fry's Electronics, CompUSA.
Mail-order businesses: Computability, Computer Discount Warehouse.
Pick up an up to date issue of "Computer Shopper" magazine to check for
availability and prices.

Q. [MT-32] Can the TBS-2001 emulate a Roland MT-32 or LAPC1 for games?

A. [Please see this item in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

Q. [Ports] Why is the base address of the WSS I/O ports off by 4?

A. WSS I/O requires a block of 8 I/O addresses ("ports"). Of these, the first
4 are used to identify and configure the board. With the advent of PnP,
these first 4 addresses have become obsolete, and software applications
only use the last 4 addresses to control the codec chip. Therefore, the
base address setting "skips past" the 4 unused addresses.

Q. [Sound Blaster 16] Is the TBS-2001 compatible with the Sound Blaster 16?

A. No, and the TBS-2001 does not have a WaveBlaster connector.

Q. [time] How much time does it take to load samples to the TBS-2001?

A. Sample-loading speed is comparable to that of the TBS Maui and Tropez.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VII) Software and firmware upgrades

[Please see also this chapter in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

(A) Not included but distributed

"2001.zip"
Rewrites the proper configuration data into the TBS-2001's EEPROM, so that
PnP will detect the board correctly.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(VIII) Operating system support

[Please see the paragraphs in this chapter of the "Tropez FAQ file" regarding
the usage of generic MPU-401 drivers.]

(A) OS/2 (TM)

[Please see this section in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

(B) Windows (TM) 3.x

See also section IV.B.

[Recording audio CD]
To record from an analog source connected to the CD-input of the TBS-2001,
select "Mix Out" in the "tbmixer.exe" as the active input.
On Fri, 11 Oct 1996, David Gasior wrote:
> In Windows3x, there may not be an option for MIX OUT due to an
> omission in one of the INI files. This is easily corrected by using
> Notepad or any text editor. Open up the TROPEZP.INI file which
> resides in your Windows directory. Look for the line that reads
> InputSources=Line,Aux1,Mic
> and change it to read
> InputSources=Line,Aux1,Loop,Mic
> Power off the computer. When you boot back into Windows, you will be
> all set.

See also section IV.B.

[Capabilities]
A possible problem in the detection of the sound board's capabilities:
If after installing the board, your system works correctly everytime it
updates the ESCD but it hangs when it boots without updating the ESCD...
Bill Holt <bi...@itsound.demon.co.uk> posted on Mon, 9 Sep 1996:
> In my case, W95 didn't detect the wavetable hardware as being part of a
> soundcard, and arbritrarily allocated IRQ 11(I think) to it. This just
> happened to be the only IRQ that was set in the PCI part of the bios for
> use by the video board ( a Diamond Stealth 2001 in my case). This hung
> the PC.
>
> I went into control panel/system/device manager, found ICS2115
> wavefront listed under other devices. Then changed its IRQ to 12 in the
> resources tab.

[Coexist]
Suggestion by Bob Chalfin <rcha...@ee.net>, Fri, 21 Jun 1996:
If you need to make the TBS-2001 coexist with another PnP sound board such
as the "Sound Blaster 16 PnP", you can set up two hardware profiles (one
profile for each board), and boot using the profile that corresponds to
the board you want to use.
Suppose you already set up the TBS-2001, so you already have a hardware
profile. Let's call it profile #1. Copy profile #1 to a profile #2, and in
profile #2 disable the TBS-2001 (free up all of its hardware resources).
Then, with profile #2 active, install all drivers for the SB16. Finally,
reboot with profile #1 and make sure that the SB16 does not use any
resources in it.

[EEPROM]
Symptom: the OS no longer detects the TBS-2001 (but instead a CS4232).
Solution: reprogram the EEPROM. See section VII.A.

(D) Windows NT (TM)

[Please see this section in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

(E) Linux

[Please see first this section in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

On Mon, 21 Oct 1996, Sander Verbruggen wrote:
> The T+ requires the following options (I believe):
> CS4232 PnP should be enabled. (_Not_ the MAD16 compatible)
> WaveFront based cards should also be enabled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(IX) Programming information

[Please see also this chapter in the "Tropez FAQ file".]

(A) Software Development Kit

To my knowledge, TBS has not released any official SDK for the TBS-2001. You
may wish to look up whatever programming information is available for the
Tropez, as much of it applies to the TBS-2001 as well.

(D) CS4232 codec chip

You may obtain the manual/data sheet for this chip from the addresses listed
in this section of the Tropez FAQ file.

(G) YSS225 effects processor

Read the following article by Art Hunkins (distributed by Brandon Higa):
http://archive.uwp.edu/pub/msdos/drivers/soundcards/turtle.beach/tpmidief.txt

For more information, obtain faxback document #60510 from Yamaha. Look up
their telephone number at "www.yamaha.com".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(X) Questions that remain unanswered

If you have information about the following and would like to contribute it
to this document, please contact me at my address in chapter XI.

**********
The "Control Panel" for the TBS-2001 absolutely refuses to run under Windows
3.1 in my machine. Upon startup, it always reports the fatal error "Could not
find synthesizer. FE-1".
**********

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(XI) Credits

I want to thank all the parties who contributed information; their contributions
are acknowledged throughout this document. In addition, the following parties
have helped with the maintenance or distribution of this document:
(Names are listed in alphabetical order.)

Brandon Higa <bh...@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu>, for FTP site support, and for
the Maui FAQ file and Maui Software FAQ file.

Eric Hsiao <hsi...@rpi.edu>, for GFX News and WWW site support.

Sean McCreary <mccr...@cs.colorado.edu>, for maintaining the TBS Mailing
List.

Daniel R. Tauritz <dtau...@wi.leidenuniv.nl>, for FTP+WWW site support.

Very special thanks are owed to Turtle Beach Systems, in particular to Gary
Worsham, David Gasior and Seth Dotterer, for making possible the creation of
this document.

With the kind collaboration of the mentioned contributors, this document
was written and is maintained by yours truly, Tow Wang. I can be reached
on the InterNet by electronic mail as: tow...@umich.edu

Please note: I am not affiliated with Turtle Beach Systems. I am under no
obligation to provide technical support for the TBS-2001 or any other related
products.

All trademarks mentioned are registered by their respective companies.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(XII) Disclaimer and permission to distribute

This document is distributed at no charge to the general public. No guarantee
whatsoever is provided for the accuracy and/or fitness of the information
contained herein with respect to any purpose or task.

Readers may re-distribute this document provided that the following conditions
are met:

1) No fee whatsoever is charged to the recipient(s) in order to receive this
document. This requirement implies (but is not limited to):
-no fee for downloading or copying this particular document.
-no bundling this document with something for sale or lease, including any
medium used to store this document.
2) Recipient(s) must get this entire document without any modifications.

If you are ALREADY distributing this document in compliance with the above two
conditions, you may request to be added to my mailing list and receive future
updates to this document as soon as they become available.

Distribution of this document by other parties (such as commercial
establishments), and waivers to the preceding conditions, require the written
permission of the author.

David Gasior

unread,

Apr 26, 1997, 3:00:00 AM4/26/97

In article <5jqvns$jbe$1...@news.eecs.umich.edu>, tow...@quip.eecs.umich.edu says ...

>P 105 Two internal CD audio inputs?
>
> Perhaps some revisions only have one.

I'm not aware of any boards going out with only one CD Audio
connector. They should all have a Sony and Panasonic CD Audio
input.

> (A) Software Development Kit
>
> To my knowledge, TBS has not released any official SDK for the TBS-2001. You
> may wish to look up whatever programming information is available for the
> Tropez, as much of it applies to the TBS-2001 as well.

The WaveFront SDK was updated for the Tropez Plus, but I no longer
have a copy of it, unfortunately. The majority of the WaveFront SDK
remains in effect for the Tropez Plus.

--
David Gasior
dga...@home.com

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