Specifications

converter 1.5

2000 - 2005 urr Sound Technologies Inc.
11
A note about the graphics system
The graphics routines in converter are a
low priority
task, since handling the midi data stream and the
related input conversion, audio dsp, and processing is the most important task the computer has to do.
This is by no means to say screen updates are at all slow (in fact you will likely be surprised by the
speed of converter’s graphics), but as a result, under heavy processing loads or on slower systems the
response time of the graphics system may create the visual appearance of a slight computational lag.
This doesn’t correspond to a lag associated with the actual midi stream. With regards to audio
conversion using smaller buffers, often a couple buffers or more will pass by and be processed before
the computer is able to update the screen, resulting in the visual effect of the peak meter “floaties”
bouncing up from an audio peak that wasn’t reflected by the actual peak meter itself (the slower the
computer, the more noticeable this effect). Keep in mind that updating the screen is at the bottom of
the list in terms of computing importance, and by the time the screen reflects the ‘current’ input state,
the processed or generated midi data has already been transmitted and received by the intended
outboard device.
Also note that converter has been programmed in such a way that if the system has a heavy
processing load, some of the graphics functions (such as the midi message text box) may automatically
update slowly or cease to be updated; this is simply converter ‘adjusting itself’ to ensure the best
possible real-time performance on your system.
A note about simultaneous audio and midi input sources
Aside from the LFO generators, there are four sources of actual input within converter – midi, audio,
gameport (joystick), and mouse. When configured to use a single soundcard, there are two core input
modes in which converter functions – midi input mode, and audio input mode. With the exception of
the SoundBlaster AWE64, simultaneous audio and midi input in converter requires a second card with
an MPU-401 UART for solid, reliable, error-free real-time performance. This dual-card approach is a
result of hardware limitations inherent in these older soundcards. Note that mouse and gameport input
(as well as the LFO generators) are always available in all core input modes (both midi input mode and
audio input mode). The desired core input mode for converter to operate in (audio or midi) is chosen in
the
hardware.cfg
file. This topic is discussed further in the section entitled “software configuration”.
For further details, refer to the section in this manual entitled “supported soundcards / hardware”.
Keep in touch with us!
If you find converter useful, please let us know what you think of it, any suggestions you might have,
what kinds of projects you’ve used it on, what types of computers / soundcards you are using it with,
or any other information and/or suggestions. Thanks to everyone for their feedback so far.
Make sure to visit our website (www.urr.ca) from time to time in case there is an updated version
posted (as this release was), or to find other new tools and technologies we are already developing.
If you have problems, or found a bug we should know about, you can reach us at [e-mail], or
by posting in our user forum (which may already have answers to your questions).
Rest assured that any personal information we receive remains completely confidential, including
personal email addresses. We do not sell address lists, and we despise spam.
Thanks for checking out converter! We believe it’s a very strong application, and is the result of many
thousands of hours of work. Hopefully it at least meets if not exceeds your expectations!
Tom Roscoe
urr Sound Technologies Inc.
www.urr.ca