MediaVision PAS-16 Mac
Bob Shuster
Spectrum 16 NuBus card for Mac (from MediaVision.) I recently purchased
one of these (although I have not yet installed it) and thought I might
glean some insight from current or former owners. I have a few
points/questions:
Can anyone tell me what the most recent versions of the software and
firmware are? My install disk says v2.00 and my firmware EPROM has REV
A. printed on it. Surely there must at least be a newer version of the
firmware?
You all know there *is* a 22-voice 4OP FM synthesizer on-board the
PAS-16? MediaVision either had major trouble with the code or just never
bothered to write it, but officially from MVis, there is no way to access
this capability! Does anyone know of any shareware, PD, or commercial
product that will access this synth?
Can anyone give me any info on the MIDI ports? I see them on the patch
panel, but there is no mention of their use in the user's guide. Has
anyone successfully used them with a commercial MIDI program (such as
Finale or LOGIC - both of which I own!)
At any rate - as I learn something new (and if there's interest) I'll
post whatever I find out here. Original mailorder price for these was
like $350, I bought it from Tiger for $50 and now I see MacConnection (or
was it MacWarehouse?) selling them for $30! Might be worth picking one
up if it does *anything* useful at all! I'll keep ya posted. - Bob
--
= = = /| Bob Shuster |\ = = =
[>----|-|-|-----/ | Composer/Arranger/Copyist/MIDI & | \-----|-|-|----<]
(___|_|_|____)\ | Computer Consultant (215-927-4928) | /(____|_|_|___)
" " " \| (& trumpet!) (rshu...@netaxs.com) |/ " " "
Stern, just Stern
>Just thought I'd start a thread for a discussion of the Pro Audio
>Spectrum 16 NuBus card for Mac (from MediaVision.) I recently purchased
>one of these (although I have not yet installed it) and thought I might
>glean some insight from current or former owners. I have a few
>points/questions:
You should check out http://central.itp.berkeley.edu:80/~tim/pas16/
/stern
--
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Irgendwo ist ein Fehler aufgetreten! * st...@deshaw.com * st...@panix.com
******************************************************************************
Thomas G. Kozma
>You all know there *is* a 22-voice 4OP FM synthesizer on-board the
>PAS-16? MediaVision either had major trouble with the code or just never
>bothered to write it, but officially from MVis, there is no way to access
>this capability! Does anyone know of any shareware, PD, or commercial
>product that will access this synth?
>Can anyone give me any info on the MIDI ports? I see them on the patch
>panel, but there is no mention of their use in the user's guide. Has
>anyone successfully used them with a commercial MIDI program (such as
>Finale or LOGIC - both of which I own!)
I would also like to learn how to access the FM synthesizer. MVis claimed
to not know of any product that could access it when installed on a Mac. I
would really like to use the board as a sampler and incorporate it
into my MIDI setup. Does anyone have information about how this could be done?
I know that sometime ago there was a sampling board for the Mac IIs, but it
cost $900+. So I guess I might be asking too much for $50.
I also wanted to get a longer cable for the patch board, but MVis indicated
that there was too much signal loss if the cable were any longer. So I guess
I'll have to keep the patch board wedged between the wall and the computer :(
The only way to access the MIDI ports, but I haven't actually tried it, is
through Midi Manager and the Patchbay. When opening the patchbay, the PAS16
icon appears, and one can set connections between sequencers and the PAS16
MIDI ports. But you're right, there was no indication of this in the manual.
I've also had some problems with the compatibility of the PAS16 and certain
programs. For example, the sound will frequently cut out through the sound
board in certain games. It also doesn't play game sounds at all when set
to 16 bit. Also, in Soundedit Pro, can I apply effects to a sound recorded in
16 bit mode?
I guess I have a lot of concerns, but I mainly bought it for the 4 channel
mixing capabilities and the Trax sequencer, so I'm happy with it.
Tom