SuperSoniqs announces Darky, the stereo ePSG soundcard

hurray!

Wow, cool! Chiptune pushed through another level!

TriloTracker for two PSGs is in the making!

interesting, how this wasn't used as an "update" for the msx norm, like when doing msx2+.

http://www.datasheets360.com/pdf/7756348957606408083?query=A...

My feeling says this defice may be put in a slotexpander (correct me if I'm wrong)... That would be a massive pro

Is there Any idea how much this gonna cost

There is indeed a SymAmp version for SymbOS with 6channel PT3 support (see the video posted by EdoZ above).
It should be easy to adapt it for Darky as well.

It's just the standard internal soundchip found in every MSX machine (among others).

Also pulse width modulation (variable duty cycle). Used a lot on the SID, and synthesizers.

Nice
In the UK you would not be able to market a product called "DARKY", it would be deemed as racist would you believe?

And sexist.

We have brand of chocolate in the Netherlands that's called Dark. We have a brand of clothing that's called Black. Actually we have a dessert that's called "White custard". Darky is the alter ego of a Asian woman (my girlfriend). I wouldn't call her racist. Or me for that matter. The name came out of love. Not out of hate.

Sorry ivke2006, I misread AY-3-8930 for 8910 the whole time. Don't know how I managed that, but I did.

Cooooooooool!!! Would it be possible to replace the internal PSG of a MSX (in case the PSG is a real chip) with an AY8930? It seems both chips have compatible pinouts....

There are cards that add a 2nd PSG for the ZX-Spectrum too. One of them is called Turbo Sound. I have many PT3 files here that support this and will gladly hand you them if they'll be of help.

One question: does this card feature it's own clock generator? It would then be an a very elegant fix for the PSG pitch for turbo mode of Panasonic MSX2+ machines and homebrew turbo kits.

sd_snatcher: It’s the Microchip Technologies AY8930 (EPSG), not the GI AY-3-8910.

Also Panasonic MSX2+ machines have a standard 3.58 MHz bus clock so there’s no need for a separate clock crystal. (Nonstandard 7 MHz buses are nonstandard so I don’t think they need to be supported, but that’s imo.)

The newspost should be adjusted by the way, “AY-3-8930” does not exist, should be “AY8930”. Also it may be worth more explicitly mentioning that it is a chip by MT with enhanced features, since several people seem to confuse it for the original (no real surprise with those similar product numbers).

How about this rephrasing then?

Can't follow you on this one. When I put my Panasonic 2+es on turbo mode, the PSG pitch goes up. Not the distorted type you get when putting a modded MSX2 to 7MHz, but it flies up. And since the turbo mode is not exactly twice as fast as the normal mode, the PSG will be very dissonant if mixed with PSG or SCC.

I do hope Darky has its own clock for the sake of both Panasonic 2+ machines and the 7MHz modded MSX2 machines. The latter not because it's not an MSX standard, but because it exists.

Only the Panasonic 2+’s internal PSG is affected by the higher clock frequency, because it’s built-in to the MSX-Engine which has to run at CPU clock speed. However, the bus speed remains 3.58 MHz so any sound cartridge you plug in will have the correct pitch and do not need their own crystal.

I'm a little bit confused.
In MSX sound scene we have:
PSG
SCC
OPL with 32K of sample but 256K expanded is better
OPLL
OPL4 with sample ram
COVOX or TURBOR for PCM

Now we have a double PSG solution.

I think that sound on MSX is too crowded, also if OPL4 could work as an OPLL and OPL.
For Video is different: the v9958 "include" the v9938 features whic "includes" the TMS features. This is perfect and, for the next-gen MSX it would be better to think about a retrocompatible V9978 for the same reason instead of tje v9998 thet is not retrocompatible.
For MSX sound the solution would be a chip (and a cart) that can works as all the chiptunes in the list.
If we think that
- all MSX has a PSG
- MEGAFLASHROM includes SCC+ and another PSG (that would be nice to use for ePSG stereo)

we really miss a definitive CART FOR PCM, OPL, OPLL, OPL4, with sample ram.

What do you think about?

It has two AY8930 on board and it has also it's own clk source for both psg's.

add interrupts
CPC video said interrupt
ST has interrupt

on the new AY the bitflip state is still unclear? how about a readout feature.
AY pin says 0 volts or volume register value, that tells the state.
for fx where phase plays a role.

Is it not possible to replace the current PSG in your MSX with this one?

I'm really eager to work with this piece of HW! I really like the stereo, pulse with settings and the effects!

Great work guys!

@sd_snatcher are you sure about twin PSG configurations on ZX-Spectrum? I thought it was on ZX-81. IIRC, all sound expansions for ZX-Spectrum works on the same port as internal Spectum 128 internal PSG works.

Apart from the 8910-8930 misreading, we already have a dual-PSG solution for MSX: Some cartridges has an AY-3-8910 embedded on FPGA code together with SCC code. This "external PSG" works on an alternate port, so with very little effort we can write code for two PSGs without the need to develop another cartridge. So, if we found it to be a good thing, maybe people start writting music for two PSG's on MSX. And Maybe @Grauw could support it on VGMPlay, as some arcade machines has twin-PSG music.

If MRC had a "like" button, I'd just click it instead of writting this

Trilotracker is limited to 8 channels. But darky + opll (or any other chip combi) could be possible with a redesign and a lot of work. I really am tempted to go this way other then making different versions of the tracker but lack a lot of time at the moment.

But there will be for sure a DarkyTracker version of Trilotracker

@WYZ
I've to say that also with PSG and MEGAFLASHROM your tune is very cool.

Are you going to release a your personal Music Disk for MSX?
The ROM above, for example, is very cool and the tunes on soundcloud are great!

Regards

Thanks WYZ for pointing out your songs. I can not find the boss theme on your soundcloud page, what is the name of the track exactly? I think all the tracks are also listed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgRv6BoCtY
I like track 1 t/m 4 the best. If we can get stuff like this out of Darky, we might consider ourselves lucky.

@Sander Evil Technoroid Empire.
Indeed Darky is more powerfull than this.

The Technical sheet

Maybe we even could combine it with MOS Technology 6581 or 8580 Sound Interface Device (SID) from Playsoniq We don't have a tracker for it right now on MSX...

I want to marry this girl .

Very nice!

Be carefull with the CPLD sourcing: The Philips logo on the IC triggered me, the PZ5128 IC seems to be transferred to Xilinx 15+ years ago...

Darky doesn’t have the AY-3-8910. It has the Microchip Technology AY8930, which has a bunch more features like pulse width and per-channel envelopes. It’s a pretty interesting sound chip. So you are already getting an upgraded PSG (but not the OPN).

It's also possible to address those two new chips independent of the msx psg, so in fact you will have three psg's at your disposal.

How can those three PSGs be addressed?
Apart from independent sound data, which would require a means to construct such a composition, could for instance the two 'spare' PSGs be instructed to play the data of the 'main' PSG with offsets on attributes like time, frequency, and relative volume?

For now the default is that the two new psg are mirroring the msx psg but in the near future it will be possible to save a config of your own likings.

So with internal PSG, external PSG on alternate ports, 2 ePSGs in Darky and an SSG in NeoTron / Makoto we could be playing these on MSX

Looking forward to mine arriving! x2 I'm waiting for 2 years. It has been 2 years since I placed my order...

Yes I received mine 2 weeks ago also ordered a long time ago (longer than I can remember), production for orders has commenced. The wait was definitely worth it!

Very decent and good looking box and yes the manuel is very decent and complete too. Cannot say anything about the sound yet but the feel of everything and the ease of use as a coder is allready pushing it to the reccomended list.

Mine has always worked fine. I will have a play over the weekend and remind myself how to use it.

Darky is here! Will be running through the psg collection tonight!