Adlib Tracker II - the official website

Hello. I recently aqcuired an old laptop (Pentium, 10 MHz) with the hope that it would have an OPL chip in it. My wish was granted, inside it was an YMF262-M, connected to an OPTi 82C930A. According to Wikipedia, the YMF262 should have OPL3 (Maybe the -M is the problem) But, this computer seems to be only OPL2 compatible. Or at least the old OPL2 compatible version works fine, while the latest version is all glitched out.
Any advice or possible solution?

If it is of interest, here's a photo of the chips:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gameboygenius/2116399575/

DaNyL: thanks for the effort, man :) anyway, the freaking program is blanking my screen and freezing windows everytime I want it to run in fullscreen :(

the newest (cvs) VDMsound has the same soundemulation core as dosbox. i compiled the emuadlib.dll; it's availble at my homepage dawork.synchronus.de; just replace the old emuadlib with the new one to use the same opl3 core as dosbox,mame and adt2plug are using

@subzero ->
http://www.combatarts.ca/asgb/
ANTISPAM GUESTBOOK SCRIPT!!!

I was under the impression that VDMsound doesn't emullate OPL3 at or, or maybe that it didn't work. I know that using it, it sounds just like my ThinkPad 760XD trying to run it. Like it's missing a couple channels, and some of the instruments are wrong.

2Gamorbab: As the CPU consumption - yeah, it's pretty high, mostly because many routines (replay routine, visualization routines, etc.) are hooked up on some 250+ Hz timer (up to 1kHz), so it also greatly depends on how many effects you are using in your song (replay routine processor time) or how smooth you want to have the visualization effects (can be also set by 'cpu_saving' value in the config file). Of course, making these critical routines all 100% assembler would be of help.
As the VDMSound, please do not even try to use it - it has some horrible OPL3 emulation ;)

Never mind - I just got it working by upping the cycle rate, hehe. I didn't realize just how much CPU Adlib Tracker consumes. So now all is well, and I am happily learning the secrets of making Adlib sounds.. (kinda difficult to learn new kind of logic always when using another system after being used to some other.. I used to make Commodore 64 SID-songs, and now I finally get to try to make FM songs too, hehe) Thanks very much for this great seeming tracker!

I wonder why I cannot get it to workin DosBOX. The screen scrolls from above the screen like it should, and when it stops scrolling, the cursor just blinks, and the tracker doesn't respond to any commands, keypresses, or anything else, except you can scroll the screen with mouse. Also the 'Adlib Tracker' ascii logo scrolls along with the 'Revision 038' .. but nothing happens, no matter what I try. I can use the editor in Windows XP just fine (though I am gonna install the VMSound so I can also get some sound out of it hopefully). I would like to know if someone else is also having similar problem, and how it possibly could be solved, perhaps. Thanks.

Discovered adlib tracker 2 a short while ago. Very nice! Runs well in DOSBox. Thanks for making such a great tool!

uh... is it possible to add textfield check or something to this board? =)

heh seems I haven't missed anything here :P
maybe a link to SS on top of this page (in brackets under the Message Board title?) wouldn't be a bad idea :) if someone new comes here and wonders why bots and not opl3-geeks are having a tidy time in here :P

I do not own one, and do not know if it would work. I've not found one for sale, actaully.

Moogle!

ARStech has ISAtoUSB reduction but it is not cheap... And not tested... Maybe I will buy it - but later.
(They are high priced... I can buy oldPC for that price)...
But ISA2PCI will be interesting too...Do You have that reduction??? Is it working with Adlibtracker???

http://www.soundshock.se/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=3&sid=b04467d560feac77f4cc12d4f1f06a77

FM Synthesis forum. For great discussion.

Eer, i think a couple on non spam messages got trimmed....Like the ones about the ISA card converters.

Don't make me take away the delete stick. :p

@DaNyL
Any news on the Adt2-plugin issue regarding XMPlay and the non-working ESC/Enter keys? Did you try to get in contact with Ian (XMPlay author) as i suggested? He can provide you with an SDK for XMPlay native input-plugins on request, btw.

Also I was looking forward to an improvement for the small font which is rather hard to read on higher resolutions.

_________________________
Kind regards,
deus-ex (MODLAND co-admin, ftp://ftp.modland.com)

Huh, was that background always there? :p

Somewhere on the net, I swear I once saw a PCI to ISA adapter. I can't find it. It was built just like those two you showed us.

Look at what I have found Adlib 2 LPT!!!
Maybe can be used with som /LPT2USB based on PIC.../...

http://www.raphnet.net/electronique/adlib/adlib_en.php

Is there a guide to getting this working with DOSBox? I have the latest versions of both DOSBox and AT2, but it doesn't work. It only gets to the tracker screen when I set "core" to "dynamic," then freezes and doesn't respond to anything. The other "core" options don't even get that far. Help, please?

I think we need to raise awareness about this tracker. FM is just too darn awesome to not be heard.

Any ideas?

@Moogle->Yeah Yeah I know I have 3xSB at home and another is on the way :)...

Oh, and the TX81Z is supports up to 4 operator instuments.

Great find HS. Gotta love that awesome FM. I think 'll break the Genesis and listen to the music from the Sonic games. ;) Now that was some quality FM, with a dash of PSG thrown in.

Actually, the TX81Z, released in 1988, is actually superiour in most aspects to an OPL3 chip. I'm not sure if it can produce every waveform than an OPL3 can, but I know it can do square, sine, and I bekleive Saw, like an OPL3 You can use any of eight algorithms, as opposed to OPL3's 4. I rerally wished Adlib has used the 81Z's chip, (which at the time should has come down in price) for the Adlib Gold.

The TX81Z has a 12bitDAC, and there is also a Keyboard version of it called the vsx50 or something with a 16bit dac. Hard to find.

For those interested, here's an FM EP. It wasn't made with adlib tracker, but if you guys are like me, any FM is usually GOOD FM. This guy used a Yamaha TX18Z, which is pretty close to the OPL3 in 4OP mode as well as a couple of other sources.

http://waveform.jmflava.com/

Elan, I'm confused as to why you mentioned the DosBox bundle thing. I use real hardware. :)

The laptop wasn't really important, just sort of a shits and giggles thing. :)

Madbrain -> Amazing song!!!

Moogle -> go to links on this forum then click on Dan!L web.He has configurate ADT2 for DOSBOX -> ADT2DOSBOX bundle...

Nooly&Moogle ->What about external LCD or repase LCD backlight-tubes???I have seen somewhere on net how to repair that tubes...And in some computer shops (in my country) has that tubes...

Moogle! yes it's me, thank you =) and yeah, i had screen problems with my notebook too... anyway you can take any of nowadays laptops and run AT2 with dosbox, the emulation sound suprisingly good...

" MadBrain: total madness, rocks hard! i really love the sound... the composition could be imho a little bit more coherent =) "

Aren't you the one who wrote "Alleycut'? ;P

Still one of my favorites though.

MadBrain: total madness, rocks hard! i really love the sound... the composition could be imho a little bit more coherent =)

I had Adlib Tracker working on my old Zenith laptop, but the screenlight stopped working. :(

I liked having Adlib to go. Not that I went anywhere.

Just for the record, I got the latest release of Adlibtracker II running with following configuration (Compaq Deskpro):

-P2/400MHz/448Mb RAM (64 Mb available with himem.sys)
-Logitech Soundman (SB16-compatible, YM262-M)
-MS-DOS 6.22 without tweaking
-opl_latency=1

wonderer:

-Try settings in BIOS for I/O recovery time.

-Tweaking a adtrack2.ini is always a good idea when things don't work right.

-Try without drivers in config.sys and autoexec.bat

-Try with different memory manager-settings (emm386 and himem)

I got mine working with windows 98 by booting to safe-mode :)

Sorry if the previous message sounded sarcastic. It wasn't meant to. :p

Oh wow, that's really awesome Madbrain.

Lol, the finger snapping. :)

I've just made yet another expansive song, with lots of 4 operator mode, macros and big band sound:

http://battleofthebits.org/depository.php?act=view&track=1496

wonderer> what do you mean with "newer" (not working) version? and what with "older" (working) version? please, identify these versions of program by the revision mark (newest is rev.38). what is the most recent version that works for you?

I must comment that i'm unable to get the newer ADT2 version to work on genuine hw, whereas the older version works perfectly (ms-dos, 486, opl3). The newer one hangs when pressing F3 and on quit, in addition it doesn't output anything except garbage. This happens also on dosbox. The older version seems to work perfectly. i'm wondering what could be the cause?

@nim
I'm afraid that the SB Live doesn't support ASIO natively, even the successors Audigy I and II doesn't offer this. Your best bet is to try the <http://www.asio4all.com> drivers since it doesn't replace/modify your existing driver and is only active if you're actually using Audiosoftware with ASIO support. The KXProject drivers though do replace your existing drivers, and they (still) lack EAX support.

SoundBlaster Audigy SE specs:
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
<http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=1&subcategory=205&product=14257&nav=technicalSpecifications>

SoundBlaster XiFi XtremeMusic specs:
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
<http://us.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=209&subcategory=669&product=14066&nav=technicalSpecifications>

_________________________
Kind regards,
deus-ex (MODLAND co-admin)

@nim: could you try some different ASIO drivers?
http://kxproject.lugosoft.com/
http://www.asio4all.com/

thanks for the long explaination :)
realised I had a too old version when you said output is in the settings tree..
seems my live card can't output via the ASIO driver and I can't hear the difference between regular integrated audio circuit (nvidia) and ASIO by that hardware.. :/
the latter two seem crisper than live anyway.. but then live isn't poor on bass as they are so hard to tell..

for some reason though, with new xmp version adt2plug seems to have gotten skippy...

@DaNyL
Nope, I'm afraid ESC and Enter keys doesn't work here (WinXP Pro). 8)

@nim
1. extract Xmplay to any directory (e.g. C:\Progra~1\XMPlay)
2. extract Xmp-asio and in_adt2.dll into XMPlay's subfolder "Plugins" (e.g. C:\Progra~1\XMPlay\Plugins)
3. run Xmplay, rightclick on Xmplay's skin avoiding any controll areas like playlists, buttons (e.g. aim for Xmplay's titlebar), choose menu entry "Options and stuff"
4. select "Output" from the tree on the left, then choose ASIO output device on the right, that's it

You might want to make sure to disable interpolation in XMP's mixing options, which can be accessed by selecting "MOD" from the tree on the left.

If you find accessing XMP's config dialog using rightclick as anoying as me, you might want to add a shortcut:
· select "Shortcut" from the tree on the left
· choose "Options and stuff" from the dropdown menu
· press "Click here to add shortcut" and press your desired shortcut (single key or combo)

For instance I choosed "Ctrl+P". Sneaky, eh? ;)

For reference here are my XMP ASIO settings:
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
(WinXP Pro, Creative XiFi Extreme Musician)

Output:
+ Device: ASIO - Creative ASIO
+ Sample rate:44100
+ Channels: stereo
+ Resolution: 32 bit
+ Buffer: 1.000s
+ all other options unchecked

Output\ASIO: (you may need to disable these options if you encounter any problems, see XMP manual)
+ set hardware sample rate when possible
+ use optimal resolution (else pad to it)

Note:"SB Live" soundoutput isn't quite pure since it applies internal remixing. This is true for the SB Audigy I/II series as well. That's why i sold my Audigy back then soon after i got it and went for an Terratec Aureon Space 7.1, which lacked propper EAX support though.

_________________________
Kind regards,
deus-ex (MODLAND co-admin)

deus-ex: wow, that's some elaborate configuration.
I don't think I can imagine the difference as I think the sound is quite pure from my SB Live through my set of speakers which are good but probably aren't comparable to studio monitors. but purer sound is always interesting :)
Is there a way to do this without muting all applications without ASIO support? could only xmplay use it?

@deus-ex: hmm. both ESC and ENTER should work... ah well; at least it still has less bugs than windows me. gonna check that for the next version

@DaNyL
> DaNyL: @deus-ex: should the gain have an auto reduction to avoid clipping?
Yeah, sure, that sounds quite reasonable. Maybe make it optional, though.

I like the new info box. Though the small font appears a little hard to read on higher resolutions (i.e. 1280x1024). Is it possible to add support for the ESC and ENTER key as well for closing the info box? :B

@nim
I strongly recommend to try adt2-plugin with XMPlay in combination with the Xmp-ASIO output plugin. Fast download mirror: <ftp://modland.ziphoid.com/pub/players/Windows/XMPlay/>
Now that is when I talk about crisp and clean. ;)

_________________________
Kind regards,
deus-ex (MODLAND co-admin)

@nim: loop will be implemented just like described in whatsnew.txt ^^
I believe the post processing is done by winamp, as the opl3 emulator sure doesn't have anything like it. subz3ro told me that the port of adt2play to win32/console sounds cleaner than the plugin,too.
and nim, i'll make the auto gain reduction save it's gain, no problem.

I think auto gain reduction would be great if it changed the gain setting saved in config, so the brutest track you've played helps set the gain.
btw: if you have time, looping mode would be great!
and, is there interpolation or lpf as post process involved? (it sounds like it but might just be the emulation) if so an on/off in options would be great, I like it crispy! :)
go adt2plug!