37 replies to this topic

[yell0w_lantern]

I got a PC power supply cord from the flea market yeasterday and it fits all 3 Apples I have. Now to test them someday...

[yell0w_lantern]

I checked out the 2 IIe computers and both seem to wirk. One is enhanced and the other is not. I have not tested the ii Plus.

Is a sound card a good investment for a ][e?

I see a "Mockingboard-K" for almost $100 on ebay - yikes!

[Keatah]

Mockingobards are somewhat collector's items. Investment as a "rare" collector's item, sure. As something useful? Aside from updating the blips and bloops to FM-style synthesis, there's not a lot of software that uses it. I'd say 5-10% of the games are MB aware.

Edited by Keatah, Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:55 PM.

[potatohead]

Well, you could get this:

Apple II DMS Drummer Software

http://www.8bitweapon.com/store.htm

Check out the MP3

[desiv]

yell0w_lantern, on Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:59 PM, said:

Is a sound card a good investment for a ][e?

If you want to hear the beautiful sound in the Ultima series...
Yes..

In fact, for Ultima V, I believe you need 2 sound cards to appreciate it..
(I only have the one sound card, so I haven't heard the extra channel version myself..)

But my soundcard came with my //e. Can just about guarantee I wouldn't pay that much for a Mockingboard...

desiv

[Tempest]

desiv, on Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:12 PM, said:

yell0w_lantern, on Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:59 PM, said:

Is a sound card a good investment for a ][e?

If you want to hear the beautiful sound in the Ultima series...
Yes..

In fact, for Ultima V, I believe you need 2 sound cards to appreciate it..
(I only have the one sound card, so I haven't heard the extra channel version myself..)

But my soundcard came with my //e. Can just about guarantee I wouldn't pay that much for a Mockingboard...

desiv

Yes Ultima V supported two Mockingboards or one Phasor card (and even rarer card that supported ore channels). Ultima V is the only game that did this though so it's really not worth it unless you're a diehard Apple II fan. I had a list somewhere of all the games that supported the Mockingboard, but in the end it was only 20-25 or so so you could easily go without. They weren't that common back in the day as they were really expensive and weren't well supported. I could never afford one then, but I got a reproduction for around $60 from ReactiveMIcro (http://www.reactivem....php?cPath=1_42). There's also a speech chip you could get for it, but other than making your computer swear there wasn't much point to it as no games made use of it AFAIK.

Keep in mind though that the Apple II is a slow beast. When it's busy playing music though the Mockingboard it's using a lot of CPU power. In games like Ultima III-V that have constant overworld music it will stutter or interrupt every time you move which takes away a lot of the joy of hearing the music. I'm not sure if other games had this problem or not, but that's why I stopped using mine with Ultima V.

[yell0w_lantern]

Alright, I'm not going to worry about a sound card then unless it falls into my lap.

[desiv]

Tempest, on Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:14 AM, said:

Keep in mind though that the Apple II is a slow beast. When it's busy playing music though the Mockingboard it's using a lot of CPU power. In games like Ultima III-V that have constant overworld music it will stutter or interrupt every time you move..

Really? I'll have to try again...
I don't remember that at all.. Guess I just liked the game that much...
(Then again, I only have the one Mockingboard..)

Yeah, the sound is great, but I only ever use it in the Ultima games.. I'm a huge Ultima fan, and even I wouldn't pay too much for that..
Then again, when I was younger, it was my friends Apple II+ with no soundcard. That's what I remember of the games..

desiv

[Tempest]

desiv, on Sun Dec 18, 2011 12:56 PM, said:

Tempest, on Sun Dec 18, 2011 9:14 AM, said:

Keep in mind though that the Apple II is a slow beast. When it's busy playing music though the Mockingboard it's using a lot of CPU power. In games like Ultima III-V that have constant overworld music it will stutter or interrupt every time you move..

Really? I'll have to try again...
I don't remember that at all.. Guess I just liked the game that much...
(Then again, I only have the one Mockingboard..)

Yeah, the sound is great, but I only ever use it in the Ultima games.. I'm a huge Ultima fan, and even I wouldn't pay too much for that..
Then again, when I was younger, it was my friends Apple II+ with no soundcard. That's what I remember of the games..

desiv

Yeah there was a definite stutter in the sound when you moved. Not a pause really, just a noticeable 'chug' so to speak.

[Keatah]

Must be slacker programming on the part of Lord British, as Skyfox did simple, but full-speed, 3D realtime animation and had the Mockingboard going simultaneously. Same deal with Willy Byte in the Digital Dimension, though that was all 2D stuff.

If you want to get a sample of Mockingboard output (no pun intended) then try out AppleWin emulator. It simulates a mockingboard. And let's you run at a custom MHz, perfect for role-playing games that are not timing critical.

Edited by Keatah, Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:07 PM.

[Blackbag]

The mockingboard is one of those novelty items that is cool to pick up once you've collected several other items on your must have Apple II accessories list. At the top would be some sort of mass storage option like the original CFFA, or MicroDrive with CF attachment, or ideally the CFFA3000 on it's next run. It's an amazing device-- I'd highly advise it.
http://dreher.net/?s...ppleII/main.php
Click on Order Form on the left, and it will tell you that it's sold out but give you a link to get an email when he's ready to make another batch.

Apple II games that supported the mockingboard:
http://apple2.info/w...enhanced_titles

IIRC, the mockingboard wasn't interrupt-driven, so you had to attend to it in your main program loop. With everything that's going on in Ultima V, it's possible that there's stutter. I'll have to go back and play around with it to see. The other thing that could be happening is that if there's anything loading off of disk it would certainly cause sound to skip, as interrupts are disabled and everything is squarely focused on reading in data in a tight timing loop. I don't recall if Ultima 5 loads in an entire "zone" in memory, or if it quickly streams in new map data as you hit certain boundary point.

I have one of those Korean Mockingboards, as well as an original, and they both work well. I've seen the Korean one go for as low as $60 shipped in the past, so it might be worth waiting it out when demand is down and they start lowering prices. Collecting rarer Apple II items is an exercise in patience. The other thing you can consider is posting to comp.sys.apple2.marketplace with a WTB Mockingboard title. A lot of collectors, enthusiasts may have a couple and usually ask much fairer pricing than ebay. In fact, I've been able to structure trade deals with guys to include current hardware and/or other vintage systems/accessories for Apple II gear. So, if you have other interesting tech sitting around, put it in your WTB thread as a potential trade list and see what happens...

Good luck!
Rich

[Tempest]

Thanks for the Mockingboard game list, I knew there was one out there somewhere. I had asked about it on Compy.sys.apple2 a long time ago.

Quick question: Will a mockingbaord work in a IIgs? I have mine in one of the slots, but I haven't tested it yet. I heard the Ultima's had to be patched for it to work on the IIgs, but I'm not sure about other games.

[madmax2069]

Tempest, on Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:36 AM, said:

Quick question: Will a mockingbaord work in a IIgs? I have mine in one of the slots, but I haven't tested it yet. I heard the Ultima's had to be patched for it to work on the IIgs, but I'm not sure about other games.

I beleve so. It should work, seeing how the IIgs will work with just about any other 8bit apple hardware/software.