how do you listen to speccy music/audio? mono/stereo? thru the hifi?
hi all
i was just wondering what kind of setup people are using when they are using their speccy, emulated or otherwise. when i'm making AY music, i always do it with the output set to mono, and that's generally what i prefer to hear. but i'm wondering what kind of reproduction most others are actually hearing.
so a few questions:
1) do you have the AY output set to mono or stereo?
2) if stereo, is it ABC, BAC, or what?*
3) do you use any "enhancement", eg, Spin's built-in reverb/echo effect
4) what sort of system are you listening on? tv/monitor built-in speakers, multimedia speakers, a hifi system, etc?
thanks!
*does anyone know what is the "usual" stereo configuration? eg, when in stereo mode, is it usually ABC, BAC, or what?
i was just wondering what kind of setup people are using when they are using their speccy, emulated or otherwise. when i'm making AY music, i always do it with the output set to mono, and that's generally what i prefer to hear. but i'm wondering what kind of reproduction most others are actually hearing.
so a few questions:
1) do you have the AY output set to mono or stereo?
2) if stereo, is it ABC, BAC, or what?*
3) do you use any "enhancement", eg, Spin's built-in reverb/echo effect
4) what sort of system are you listening on? tv/monitor built-in speakers, multimedia speakers, a hifi system, etc?
thanks!
*does anyone know what is the "usual" stereo configuration? eg, when in stereo mode, is it usually ABC, BAC, or what?
Post edited by Lee_dC on
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https://discordapp.com/invite/cZt59EQ
1) my real +3 is the unmodified mono AY output (except for the resistor to fix the amplifier stage). When I'm using Spin, I have it set to stereo mode.
2) ACB *I think this is the nearest to a "standard" :)
3) in spin yes, I have reverb etc switched on, makes it sound more realistic, less clinical and emulated.
4) I use my +3 with my PC and TV card. I don't take the noisy audio out from the TV card, I have the tape cable plugged into the computer's mic input, and listen to the (clean) audio that way.
I usually have a pair of headphones plugged into my audio out, otherwise it's switched to a pair of old PC speakers
What kind of cable/lead do you use for this? I'm still using the mono cable that came with the computer, but I only get sound on the left speaker. I'm also trying to do .TZXs of TS2068 tapes and have the same problem. Are you using a mono-to-stereo adapter?
You also mentioned the mic input... Isn't the Speccy too loud for that? I always thought Line in was a better choice, unless you're using a laptop and the mic input serves both purposes.
well on my computer it can be either too actually, they are software reconfigurable ports. But it works fine on mic, I just have the sound turned down.
at some point I might put an attenuator in that line, the other needs an amp anyway, it's just a case of finding space in that corner of the speccy to put the circuits!
the lead out from the speccy is soldered to the board :s as the socket disintegrated, but it is effectively the original lead type
but with stero jacks with both channels connected replacing the two mono jacks
128k I have external speakers I plug in as the PAL TV I have gives good picture but does not carry the sound.
....Still trying to figure out how to route my currah microspeech through external speakers If anyone has a suggestion.
i wonder if an option in the emulators to emulate the speaker response of a typical tv speaker would be popular :)
thanks for the replies everyone
My set-up as used as the competition machine at raww.orgy is a Spectrum +2 (grey case) with ACB Stereo, if possible pumped through my amp (my "home cinema" system). It works well. Regarding the "effects" you get in emulators I try to turn them all off... Spin's reverb in particular annoyed me as I was developing some SFX for an intro and it sounded great in Spin but crappy on a real machine. Coz a real machine doesn't have reverb by default. Hmph.
Regarding a "standard" for stereo, it depends where you are. In the Russian demoscene you're more likely to find people with ABC stereo. In the western scene (UK and Europe, etc) you're more likely to find people with ACB stereo. I keep meaning to modify the PT3 player I use to allow you to specify the input and output modes, swapping channels as required. But I'm lazy.
Use a little mixer.
Most of people do, I think. It's rather pointless to use small PC-speakers or to listen Beeper music from Beeper itself.
About AY stereo modes, I prefer mono mostly, due to radical stereo split in ZX (however still way batter than Amiga's radical stereo).
But sometimes some better songs are well-written for stereo, with some nice effects and so on.
Then I use ABC.
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haha thats true :)