Is paula enough for mp3?

keropi · 15 June 2005, 07:40

Well, lately I am using my amiga to play mp3's... I use AmigAMP warpOS engine and paula for audio output... question is if paula is enough, or does she take chipset time thus making this trivial task resource hungry? How is the quality? anyone tested? I only used some lame-o cheap speakers, did not had the time to try some good ones...
I think I'll get a zorroII soundcard or a clockport delfina, any suggestions?

manicx · 15 June 2005, 08:45

Buy an iPod instead.

Slayer · 15 June 2005, 09:03

this is where a moderator should step in and delete manicxs unneccessary response but alas...

but anyway keropi

I use songplayer but I also use a sunrise audio card with a ppc asyncio.library connected to the back of a stereo... I can't recall what mp3 sounds like using just the native chip set... perhaps on the highest setting with an 040/060 it might pass somewhat decent... and of course it also depends on the quality of the mp3... I do all my own mp3 at lame insane level... and I don't even care for music that much...

not much direct helpful insight here but some feedback nonetheless

keropi · 15 June 2005, 09:20

seems to me I must invest on some sort of soundcard... If only g-rex offered an automatic way to switch native/rtg video ...

ant512 · 15 June 2005, 09:37

Avoid the Delfina. It has major compatibilty problems with 060 processors. Of my three 1200s, it only works in the one equipped with a Blizzard 030 board. Plus, MP3 playback is crap - although the on-board DSP chip takes care of the actual hard work, the drivers are so badly written that it locks up after the first few MP3s. The only way around that bug is to use the hacked library by Michael Henke, but that is unofficial and won't be supported. But then, Individual Computers don't seem terribly interested in developing or supporting the Delfina anyway.

Furthermore, the "Flipper" interface was never released.

You could try a Prelude1200 - its Toccata emulation is buggy, but it works very well with AHI. Only problem with it is its lack of a DSP, meaning all of the number crunching has to be done by the CPU. An 060@50MHz can play 44.1KHz stereo MP3s encoded at 128Kbps without too much of a struggle, and can play 192Kbps MP3s if you're willing to drop the quality a bit, or you don't want to multitask.

There is a huge difference between the playback you get out of Paula in 8-bits and 22KHz, and the output you'll get from a soundcard in 16-bits and 44KHz. However, it's really not worth the expense. If you want to play MP3s, get a dedicated MP3 player, as has already been suggested

keropi · 15 June 2005, 09:43

nice ant512. thanx

I really don't care about the dsp mp3 decoding, the ppc is taking care of that

and why do I need toccata emulation? I just need a better audio chip with AHI support... I think...

andreas · 15 June 2005, 10:12

Yes, it definitely works with PAULA.
Long before WinUAE's AHI support days, I had been very happy "to get sound working with AHI", but got a sort of sneering reply from a user that I've just managed to get sound working with PAULA

The quality was sub-optimal, but yes, it was an MP3 and it did play

manicx · 15 June 2005, 10:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slayer

this is where a moderator should step in and delete manicxs unneccessary response but alas...

Slayer, you seem too obsessed with anything that you disagree with. Keropi asked: "Any suggestions?". I did suggest to buy a iPod instead. If you disagree with, that's your opinion. I have mine. Have a nice day.

alexh · 15 June 2005, 11:50

Cant you get Paula 14-bit AHI drivers?

DopPie · 15 June 2005, 12:36

I play MP3 using my Apollo 1260. It does not seem to bother decruncing the mp3 at 44khz 16 bits. Most are 128kbps mp3's. But the sound paula outputs is not very good. I thought paula became more capable when higher screen resolutions (more then 15khz) are used because the chipset clock is then upped or something. I would not recommend the PAULA as output for MP3.

My suggestion would be; buy a nice MP3 capable DVD player ;-)

keropi · 15 June 2005, 13:09

nope, I want to use the amiga... that's why I asked here at the first place...

kriz · 15 June 2005, 13:33

yes, playing mp3s via paula, it works (and not bad seeing how old it is) but its not perfect, low output volume and so on ("blurry" sound) ...

i think a zorro 2 card would be the best, the clockport adapters are also very cool but maybe a bit more buggy ?? (Please prove me wrong guys) ...

DrBong · 22 June 2005, 18:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by manicx

Keropi asked: "Any suggestions?". I did suggest to buy a iPod instead. If you disagree with, that's your opinion. I have mine. Have a nice day.

An utterly unhelpful suggestion given that Keropi (and anyone with half a brain) is well aware that an iPod is better for playing MP3s than an Amiga, but nevertheless asked specifically for suggestions for playing them on an Amiga

@Keropi
I've played MP3s on a few different Amiga set-ups, with and without gfx cards and PPC cards. From my experience I wouldn't really enjoy playing MP3s on an Amiga with Paula alone unless it had a graphics card, 060 (PPC is better though) and something like a Sound Enhancer. If you have a sound card (e.g. Delfina Lite) that is supported by MP3 players like AmigaAMP, then I'd recommend a graphics card and 040+ (060 or PPC is better though). Wouldn't bother trying to play MP3s at full quality with anything less than these set-ups. Alternatively, you probably wouldn't have to worry about gfx cards or accelerators at all if you used a hardware MP3 decoder like the MAS Player. They're still being sold by KDH in Germany and they're cheaper than a brand new Amiga sound card, but a secondhand Amiga sound card at a good price might be better value.

With regard to MP3 players, if you don't have a sound card then you should have AHI and mpega.library installed. You may want to consider the mpega.library_mad or mpega.library PPC (WOS) alternatives.

Anyway, I'm typing this post on my A4000/060 with gfx card and Sound Enhancer. Playing MP3s at full quality with the Sound Enhancer activated is not bad using cheap speakers, but they sound terrible with just Paula. Paula would probably sound better through some nice speakers (e.g. Logitech X-530 5.1 channel surround sound speakers - just bought a set and the sound quality rocks!).

Hope you find some of this info. useful for playing MP3s on your Amiga set-up

andreas · 22 June 2005, 18:27

WOT? And I was about sure that you CAN gain Winamp-like sound quality with a working and well-configured AHI setup, at least on the real thing and, say, a 68040!

Slayer · 23 June 2005, 07:56

@Manicx

play words game if you must but there is definately a group of your type floating around this membership base hell bent on always expressing some bullshit reality angle...

lets just say at times I decide to talk for the other side which is, if you and your lot like to always keep the Amiga passionate in check I at times will comment on your unneccessary outbursts...

like I said this board needs more precise moderation concerning the Amiga otherwise change the name of the board...

I always have a nice day...

15 June 2005, 07:40	#1
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	Is paula enough for mp3? Well, lately I am using my amiga to play mp3's... I use AmigAMP warpOS engine and paula for audio output... question is if paula is enough, or does she take chipset time thus making this trivial task resource hungry? How is the quality? anyone tested? I only used some lame-o cheap speakers, did not had the time to try some good ones... I think I'll get a zorroII soundcard or a clockport delfina, any suggestions?

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15 June 2005, 08:45	#2
manicx Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 991	Buy an iPod instead.

15 June 2005, 09:03	#3
Slayer Amiga Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New Zealand Age: 57 Posts: 695	this is where a moderator should step in and delete manicxs unneccessary response but alas... but anyway keropi I use songplayer but I also use a sunrise audio card with a ppc asyncio.library connected to the back of a stereo... I can't recall what mp3 sounds like using just the native chip set... perhaps on the highest setting with an 040/060 it might pass somewhat decent... and of course it also depends on the quality of the mp3... I do all my own mp3 at lame insane level... and I don't even care for music that much... not much direct helpful insight here but some feedback nonetheless

15 June 2005, 09:20	#4
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	seems to me I must invest on some sort of soundcard... If only g-rex offered an automatic way to switch native/rtg video ...

15 June 2005, 09:37	#5
ant512 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: California Posts: 965	Avoid the Delfina. It has major compatibilty problems with 060 processors. Of my three 1200s, it only works in the one equipped with a Blizzard 030 board. Plus, MP3 playback is crap - although the on-board DSP chip takes care of the actual hard work, the drivers are so badly written that it locks up after the first few MP3s. The only way around that bug is to use the hacked library by Michael Henke, but that is unofficial and won't be supported. But then, Individual Computers don't seem terribly interested in developing or supporting the Delfina anyway. Furthermore, the "Flipper" interface was never released. You could try a Prelude1200 - its Toccata emulation is buggy, but it works very well with AHI. Only problem with it is its lack of a DSP, meaning all of the number crunching has to be done by the CPU. An 060@50MHz can play 44.1KHz stereo MP3s encoded at 128Kbps without too much of a struggle, and can play 192Kbps MP3s if you're willing to drop the quality a bit, or you don't want to multitask. There is a huge difference between the playback you get out of Paula in 8-bits and 22KHz, and the output you'll get from a soundcard in 16-bits and 44KHz. However, it's really not worth the expense. If you want to play MP3s, get a dedicated MP3 player, as has already been suggested

15 June 2005, 09:43	#6
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	nice ant512. thanx I really don't care about the dsp mp3 decoding, the ppc is taking care of that and why do I need toccata emulation? I just need a better audio chip with AHI support... I think...

15 June 2005, 10:12	#7
andreas Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Germany Age: 50 Posts: 5,857	Yes, it definitely works with PAULA. Long before WinUAE's AHI support days, I had been very happy "to get sound working with AHI", but got a sort of sneering reply from a user that I've just managed to get sound working with PAULA The quality was sub-optimal, but yes, it was an MP3 and it did play

15 June 2005, 11:50	#9
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,397	Cant you get Paula 14-bit AHI drivers?

15 June 2005, 12:36	#10
DopPie Zone Friend Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Den Hoorn, NL Age: 45 Posts: 259	I play MP3 using my Apollo 1260. It does not seem to bother decruncing the mp3 at 44khz 16 bits. Most are 128kbps mp3's. But the sound paula outputs is not very good. I thought paula became more capable when higher screen resolutions (more then 15khz) are used because the chipset clock is then upped or something. I would not recommend the PAULA as output for MP3. My suggestion would be; buy a nice MP3 capable DVD player ;-)

15 June 2005, 13:09	#11
keropi . Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Ioannina/Greece Posts: 5,040	nope, I want to use the amiga... that's why I asked here at the first place...

15 June 2005, 13:33	#12
kriz Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: No(R)Way Age: 42 Posts: 3,211	yes, playing mp3s via paula, it works (and not bad seeing how old it is) but its not perfect, low output volume and so on ("blurry" sound) ... i think a zorro 2 card would be the best, the clockport adapters are also very cool but maybe a bit more buggy ?? (Please prove me wrong guys) ...

22 June 2005, 18:27	#14
andreas Zone Friend Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Germany Age: 50 Posts: 5,857	WOT? And I was about sure that you CAN gain Winamp-like sound quality with a working and well-configured AHI setup, at least on the real thing and, say, a 68040!

23 June 2005, 07:56	#15
Slayer Amiga Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: New Zealand Age: 57 Posts: 695	@Manicx play words game if you must but there is definately a group of your type floating around this membership base hell bent on always expressing some bullshit reality angle... lets just say at times I decide to talk for the other side which is, if you and your lot like to always keep the Amiga passionate in check I at times will comment on your unneccessary outbursts... like I said this board needs more precise moderation concerning the Amiga otherwise change the name of the board... I always have a nice day...

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