A d v a n c e d ÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ ÜÜ ÜÜ Ü ÜÜÜÜÜ Þ ÜÜ Þ Ý ÞÛ ÛÝ ÞÛ ÛÝ Û ÞÜÜÜÜÜ Þ Ý ÞßßÛß ÞÛ ÛÝ ÞÛ ÛÝ Û Ý ßßßß ß ß ß ß ßßßß ß ßßßßß Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. Fax (604) 431-5155 BBS (604) 431-5927 V32bis Compuserve: GO PCVENB (71333,350) InterNET EMail: tech@gravis.com FidoNET: 1:153/978 SBCNET: 13:900/3 AOL: Adv Gravis Genie: Page M805 Topic 6 Copyright (C) 1995 by Advanced Gravis Computer Technology Ltd. All Rights Reserved ============================================================================= 1.0.0 Introduction ------------------ MIXER.EXE is a DOS mixer for use with Gravis Ultrasound and Ultrasound MAX cards. It should not be used with Ultrasound ACE, since the ACE has no onboard mixer. MIXER.EXE is ULTRAMIX compatable, which means it reads settings from and saves settings to ULTRAMIX.INI. Either the mouse or the keyboard can be used to work the controls on screen. 2.0.0 Configuration ------------------- MIXER.EXE uses the environment variable ULTRADIR to find files that it needs. It will not run unless this variable is specified in your environment. ULTRADIR should be the path to your Ultrasound directory - usually 'C:\ULTRASND'. MIXER.EXE determines which sound card is configured, and sets up its controls automatically. Note that if you change the type of sound card (for example, from Ultrasound to Ultrasound MAX) the mixer settings will be mixed up the next time MIXER.EXE is run. Simply set each of the controls to the desired setting, and exit the program. This will save the new settings. 3.0.0 Running MIXER ------------------- Make sure MIXER.EXE is in the current path. Type "MIXER" to start the program. Remember that the ULTRADIR environment variable must be defined. 3.1.0 The Controls ------------------ 3.1.1 Sliders ------------- The sliders can be dragged up and down with the mouse. They will also snap to the position of the cursor if the left mouse button is clicked along the slider path. Sliders can be locked together using the LOCK control at the top left. This control locks all stereo sliders at their present differential settings. For example, if CD Left has a level of 5dB and CD Right has a level of 10dB, and either of the sliders is dragged, a 5dB (approximately) difference will be maintained between them. If sliders are locked, and one is dragged (or pushed) to one extreme, the lock will become "elastic" until the mouse button is released. The sliders will then stay at their new positions. They will NOT snap back to preserve the old separation distance. 3.1.2 Buttons and LED Indicators -------------------------------- At the top and left of the mixer screen are push buttons. These buttons are of the "push on, push off" type. The small "LED light" embedded in each button indicates whether the button is currently on or off by its color. Red means the button is on, and black means it is off. 3.1.3 Keyboard Controls ----------------------- Use the arrow keys to move the cursor around on the screen. The key functions in the same way as the left mouse button. Use it to "click" on buttons or snap a slider to the current cursor position. The PageUp and PageDown keys mimic the left mouse button as well. PageDown is the same as pressing the left mouse button down and holding it. PageUp is the same as releasing the left mouse button. Here are two examples: Say you want to turn on the Lock control, to lock stereo sliders together. First use the arrow keys to move the cursor over top of the Lock button. Then press . The button should momentarily depress, and then the LED on the Lock button should turn red, indicating that the Lock control is turned on. Now say you want to adjust the level of the Synth sliders. They are locked together, so you only need to adust one to change both. First, use the arrow keys to position the cursor over one of the sliders. Press the PageDown key. The cursor will disappear. Now, you can move the slider using the arrow keys. When you are finished, press PageUp, and cursor reappears. 3.2.0 What The Controls Do -------------------------- 3.2.1 Buttons ------------- Most of the controls are self-explanatory. The Lock Balance control works on all stereo sliders. The locking behavior is explained above in section 3.1.1 Sliders. Mute Output mutes all channels at the same time. It is independent of the channel mutes (the buttons above the sliders). 3.2.2 Sliders ------------- Each slider has a small box below it. The number in the box contains the dB value of the slider. If a slider has a red region (on the MAX only), these numbers will turn red when the slider is moved into this region. This indicates a positive dB value (gain). Blue numbers indicate a negative dB value (attenuation). Note that if the levels moved to far into the red regions, the sound may become excessively loud and distorted. Be careful. You may notice that the sliders skip some values as they are dragged. This is because the mixer chip on the Ultrasound has a discrete number of gain settings for each mixer channel. If a slider is set between two settings, it will snap to the nearest one. 4.0.0 MIXER and Other Applications ---------------------------------- Mixer settings may be ignored by some programs (PLAYFILE, for example). Some TSR's grab control of the keyboard (PLAYMIDI -TSR, for example). If such a TSR quits while MIXER.EXE is running, the system will hang when you exit MIXER.EXE. Quitting MIXER.EXE before the TSR ends should avoid this problem. 4.0.0 Fun Options ----------------- Try running "MIXER /p". Happy mixing!!