What was better for 'serious' tasks, Amiga or ST?

[pandy71]

Originally Posted by Megalomaniac

Is a 1040ST not an ST then? That's in the same section of the Wikipedia page (titled 'Atari ST' that you linked to). By that logic, an A500 isn't an Amiga (as it's under the 'later models' section of 'https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga'

Are you claiming that 1040ST has DMA PCM capability?

[Total Eclipse]

Originally Posted by petran

It must have been an STe because he got it in the late-80s when they lived in West Berlin and returned back home.

Actually, the STe didn't make it onto general release until 1990, so there's a good chance it was a STfm.

[Total Eclipse]

Originally Posted by pandy71

As i've already wrote before - i'm fully aware that you can play samples even at 1 bit (SACD/DSD Delta Sigma PDM, PWM etc), also i'm fully aware that tools to generate HQ samples on PSG exist ( http://map.tni.nl/articles/psg_sample.php ; https://www.msx.org/downloads/relate...cm-encoder-001 ) , also i can imagine software to mix 4 channels to simulate similar to Paula capabilities on ST but still this is not practical. Using similar approach (CPU intensive) you can expect from real Amiga Paula way more than from PSG.
Btw
C64, 8 bit Atari, even PC can play PCM trough PC speaker and i recorded and played samples on ZX Spectrum but IMHO this doesn't mean that PC or ZX Spectrum are samplers. Hope it is clear that Amiga has proper HW to play PCM samples where Atari ST not.



Once again - can you add audio card to ST or Amiga - fine - no problem but STE is NOT ST ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_...kin=vector#STE ) and ST is incapable to be sampler ( practical perspective) .
If you can do everything with CPU why bother with dedicated HW?

The whole point of dedicated hardware, as you well know, is to take the load off the CPU. Yes, of course the Amiga can play tracker modules using much less CPU time than the ST, whilst multitasking, and in better quality. However that doesn't mean that the ST can't do a reasonable job (as demonstrated by the number of tracker and tracker-like programs out there).

The Amiga showed what was possible, sonically, and the ST coders then had a stab at getting as close as they could within the confines of the hardware.

You still claim that the ST is not a "sampler" (and I'll continue to assume that you mean a machine to play back sampled sounds), and yet there are plenty of examples of the ST being just that.

I'll say, again, that the quality isn't Amiga-level on a standard ST, but it's certainly possible to play and write tracker tunes on a ST - I did so myself for a number of years before getting an Amiga.

[petran]

Originally Posted by Total Eclipse

Actually, the STe didn't make it onto general release until 1990, so there's a good chance it was a STfm.

I cant remember if he got it 1989 or 1990.

[Megalomaniac]

Originally Posted by pandy71

Are you claiming that 1040ST has DMA PCM capability?

No, there's been a misunderstanding. The link you used to claim that the STe wasn't an ST because it was in a separate section also had the 1040ST in the same section - so, by that logic, the 1040ST wouldn't be an ST. I don't know that anyone doesn't consider the STe to be an ST, any more than an A500+ (or ECS 1.3 Amiga) isn't an Amiga.

[Bruce Abbott]

Originally Posted by Megalomaniac

No, there's been a misunderstanding. The link you used to claim that the STe wasn't an ST because it was in a separate section also had the 1040ST in the same section - so, by that logic, the 1040ST wouldn't be an ST. I don't know that anyone doesn't consider the STe to be an ST, any more than an A500+ (or ECS 1.3 Amiga) isn't an Amiga.

STe is an ST, but STe is not ST. If it was there would be no need for the 'e'.

Confused yet? Wikipedia groups the models thus:-

ST/STF/STM/STFM - "As originally released in the 520ST"

STE - "As originally released in the 520STE/1040STE"

Compared to the original ST (F/M/FM), the STE series has the following enhancements:-

-Extended palette of 4,096 colors
-Blitter chip
-Hardware horizontal and vertical fine scrolling and split screen
-DMA sound 2 channels stereo 8-bit PCM sound at 6.25/12.5/25/50 kHz
-audio controller chip with left/right/master volume bass treble EQ
-Memory: 30-pin SIMMs upgradable to 4 MB
-Genlockable
-Analogue joystick ports

Closest equivalent on the Amiga would be OCS/ECS vs AGA. You wouldn't say 'Amiga had 24 bit color' without clarifying that this only applied to AGA Amigas.