User`s guide

MockingBoard C is simply a MB-A that has been upgraded by plugging in one speech
chip. Suggested retail price is $179.00. (There was an 'undocumented' upgrade,
obtainable by plugging in the other speech chip, which allowed the board to
"sing harmony" with itself!)
MockingBoard D is a stereo music, sound and speech synthesizer for the Apple
IIc. It connects to a IIc through a serial port and is, of course, external
(unlike the Slot board models for other Apple II's). Its drivers are very
different from the slot I/O of the other MockingBoards. Suggested retail price
is $195.00.
Phasor is a MockingBoard-compatible sound card produced by Applied Engineering.
Looking at the software that comes with the Phasor may be helpful to MB users.
MockingBoards work on Apple II's with at least 48K RAM. MB can go into any
Slot (except for MB-D, which must plug into a IIc). Most programs expect it to
be in Slot 4; however, it is fairly common for a program which supports MB to
ask you to enter the Slot #.
Most for-MB products will work with Sound I, Sound II, Sound/Speech I, A,
and C. (Some work with D.) Products that use MB include Ultima III, IV, V Sky
Fox, Wiley Byte', Thunder Bombs, Lancaster, Under Fire, Music Construction Set,
GuitarMaster, and Music Star.
MB's 0.5 Watt Audio Output(s) can directly drive an 8 Ohm speaker. You can
also run the Output(s) to a hi-fi amplifier.
Except for speech-only models, MB uses the General Instruments AY-3-8910
Programmable Sound Generator IC. The PSG has 3 on-chip tone oscillators (via
channels A, B ,C) and a Noise Generator (NG). So, for example, the Sound II can
play up to 6 notes or effects at once. The NG on each PSG can be mixed with any,
all, or none of the three tones.
Many MB "Speech" version boards use the Votrax SC-01 Speech Synthesizer IC.
The SC-01 uses 64 phoneme sounds to produce speech. MB software lets you adjust
duration of each phoneme in 4 steps, create "rules" for custom sounds, and speak
sentences from text in BASIC programs. The SSI-263 speech synthesizer appeared
on later model MB's. (At present, more info on the SSI-263 is not included
here.)
All MB versions use the 6522 Versatile Interface IC to handle board I/O.
Except for the Sound I board, early models have circuit board points to which
you can add cables to utilize I/O ports not needed for Sound or Speech.
Part 2: Sound Programming
Each Programmable Sound Generator (PSG) has 3 output Channels: A, B, and C.
There are also 3 Tone oscillators, one committed to each Channel, and one Noise
Generator (NG) which can send its output to any Channel(s). Amplitude (output
Level or Volume) and Envelope Control ON/OFF is set for each Channel.
The PSG's Enable/Disable register has 8 bits. Three bits let you decide
whether or not to send a Tone oscillator''s output to its Channel. For example,
you can enable Tone outputs for the oscillators going through Channels A and B
while disabling Tone output for the oscillator connected to Channel C.