Prisma Megamix. New soundcard for classics!

[alexh]

I think we can see where Spirantho is coming from. This project is effectively the successor to the MAS player. While it's features overlap some of the features of a re-target-able sound card that was not the purpose of it's invention.

I do question if there is a market for a Music Player on the Classic Amiga.

Whereas there certainly is a market for a sound card.

[DarrenHD]

I think the real test will be - will the music sputter or click or pop if you are also doing other heavy, cpu intensive things, like web browsing, lots of disk activity, or lots of graphic activity?

Hopefully it will be rock solid.

It won't have zero CPU load because the data still has to come from the hard disk drive and travel through the system to the zorro bus (or clock port) and out to the prisma, so I estimate minimum 5-10% cpu usage on a 68060 just to get the data "out the door" so to speak. It could be more if coming from a PIO hard drive.

[Spirantho]

Originally Posted by DarrenHD

I think the real test will be - will the music sputter or click or pop if you are also doing other heavy, cpu intensive things, like web browsing, lots of disk activity, or lots of graphic activity?

Hopefully it will be rock solid.

It won't have zero CPU load because the data still has to come from the hard disk drive and travel through the system to the zorro bus (or clock port) and out to the prisma, so I estimate minimum 5-10% cpu usage on a 68060 just to get the data "out the door" so to speak. It could be more if coming from a PIO hard drive.

You will never get the audio rock solid if you're doing lots of disk activity. If the process can't get the data (because another process is chewing up the data source, especially the slow IDE bus if you use that) then obviously the card won't be able to carry on playing. What's important in this case is that the card cleanly stops until data is available again.
There are ways to lessen the problem, though - by changing the disk buffer size you can minimise disk access, and make it load in larger lumps of data at a time. Of course this requires more RAM (Can't have your cake and it, after all).
It should be less than 5% of a 68060 as the IRQ is pretty optimal now (it has to run on a 68000, after all), but when the disk activity kicks in that'll all change - not a lot I can do about that if you're using IDE.

I'm currently hooking the IRQ into a CIA timer, but I can also use the VBL which may make things more reliable (but it's a bit less "clean").

[daxb]

@Spirantho:
Is that right you are writing the software (ahi driver, ...)? If yes, can you explain what is the difference between other sound cards (I`m still not sure if I understood)? Especially, using music software. Other cards have more then two channels, ok. For me, and the most others, more then 2 channels aren`t used. DigiboosterPro uses only 2 channels. Sampling Software needs one or two channels. SoundFX can handle multiple channels but I guess nobody need that.

So what can be done with the old know sound cards what can`t with Prisma?

[Retrofan]

When do you think it will be available?

Will it be able to play radio streams like the MAS?

[Spirantho]

@daxb
Yes, I am.
It's less a sound card and more a music card. It's a card dedicated to streaming audio, not to playing spot effects - so if you're usage is music it's an excellent device. What it can't do it (for example) play games like a proper sound card (Soundblaster sort of thing).

@Retrofan
Don't know yet.. still got a few thing to iron out yet.
Will it play radio streams? If someone adds support, sure. The writer of the radio player would have to support it, either via prisma.library or the MHI device. Possibly the AHI....

[amigakit.com]

What do we have here

[bubbob42]

C'mon, give us a preorder button now!

[tomse]

Originally Posted by bubbob42

C'mon, give us a preorder button now!

Or free samples...

"the first is for free....." ;-)

Still no idea what the price will be ?

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by amigakit.com

What do we have here

Mmmm sexy

[Reido]

Gimme gimme!

[NovaCoder]

[ Show youtube player ]

[Retrofan]

I must have some problem with the sound because I hardly hear anything of your video.

Edit: Forget it, it plays ok, don't know what happened.

[fitzsteve]

Does it work for mixing CD music with Games like T-Zer0 and Payback?

I have a CDROM in my A1200 but no way as yet to mix CD Audio.

[amigakit.com]

Yes of course. It has a CDDA header on it for mixing CDDA input with Paula/Prisma.

@Novacoder

Thanks for the great video demonstrating Prisma with your Duke Nukem port :-)

[fitzsteve]

Thanks, it's becoming a tempting upgrade for my A1200

[CMTX]

It's a real pitty that Megamix doesn't support full AHI. I hope future versions will do, because I am a musician and this card is pointless for me sadly

But hey, keep up the work. It's amazing to see new hardware coming in 2014, and i'm sure a lot of people will want to listen their music in their amigas without CPU load.

[dlfrsilver]

where do you connect them on a regulat A1200 ?

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by dlfrsilver

where do you connect them on a regulat A1200 ?

Clock port :-)

[Reido]

Great video alright. The big questions: price and availability?