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Muchly improved documentation and installation instructions.
author Matti Hamalainen <ccr@tnsp.org>
date Tue, 21 Dec 2004 18:50:00 +0000
parents de47d797ee33
children d3a4d35f2a8f
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250:295c1b369d2f 251:e9ea4ce4c697
13 XMMS-SID is a plugin for XMMS (X MultiMedia System) which provides 13 XMMS-SID is a plugin for XMMS (X MultiMedia System) which provides
14 support for playing Commodore 64 "SID tunes", which are music 14 support for playing Commodore 64 "SID tunes", which are music
15 from old Commodore computer software including games, demos, etc. 15 from old Commodore computer software including games, demos, etc.
16 16
17 17
18
19 Installation requirements and recommendations
20 =============================================
21 Refer to file "INSTALL" for information about what XMMS-SID requires,
22 where to get those required packages and how to install.
23
24 Some words on which emulation library you should choose to install
25 and use - it depends somewhat on your system and personal preferences.
26
27
28 - libSIDPlay v1: This is the old SIDPlay v1 emulation library. Its
29 emulation is "frame-based" and not very accurate. The waveforms
30 produced are harsher and emulation of SID filter is far from
31 accurate.
32
33 libSIDPlay v1 requires very little CPU power, it is faster and
34 may have fewer bugs due to being more mature software. Many
35 OS distributions have pre-built packages of it, not something that
36 can be said of libSIDPlay v2. Some people may even like the
37 harsher sound produced by libSIDPlay v1.
38
39 Drawbacks are: worse emulation, eventually weakening compability
40 as new SID-tunes/files are ripped into "RSID"-format which
41 libSIDPlay v1 does NOT support.
42
43
44 - libSIDPlay v2: New, next generation modular SID-emulation framework.
45 Along with reSID-library it produces probably most accurate emulated
46 representation of SID-chip available. This, however, comes at high
47 cost: libSIDPlay2 tends to eat CPU like popcorn, depending on the
48 selected emulation options. It is also less spread, not as many
49 distributions/operating systems come with pre-packaged libSIDPlay2,
50 so you may have to roll your own.
51
52 Also the API-stability of libSIDPlay2 is not yet 100%, there may
53 be changes. Bugs are evident, though many of them will be fixed
54 eventually.
55
56
57 Conclusion thus is as follows: If you are using an old system with not
58 much spare CPU-power, choose libSIDPlay v1. On a relatively recent
59 system (more powerful than Pentium III 500MHz) you may wish to choose
60 libSIDPlay v2, although your mileage may vary.
61
62
63
64 Configuration 18 Configuration
65 ============= 19 =============
66 20
21 Audio-tab
22 ---------
23 - Resolution: 8 or 16-bit. Usually you should select 16-bit, unless
24 your audio hardware/drivers do not support it for some reason.
25 Speed benefit from using 8-bit audio is minimal, audio quality
26 is much worse than 16-bit.
67 27
28 - Channels: Mono is the way to go. Original SID (single chip) output
29 is mono, the "stereo" and "autopanning" settings are just
30 artificial additions.
68 31
69 Usage 32 - Samplerate: High samplerate means better quality sound. Usually
70 ===== 33 you'll set this to 44.1kHz (44100 Hz), but latest audio hardware
71 Using the plugin is quite simple: if you are familiar with XMMS and 34 may support rates up to 48kHz (48000 Hz) and sometimes 96kHz.
72 SIDPlay, then you already know how to use XMMS-SID. Configuration 35
73 should be self-explanatory for most part, here are few tips: 36 Bigger samplerate means also more work for the emulator and
37 thus requires more CPU power.
38
39 - Oversampling: Some emulator backends (currently only SIDPlay 2)
40 support technique called "oversampling", which further enhances
41 audio quality. Oversampling is done by computing audio data to
42 higher rate (factor * samplerate) and then downsampling with
43 rate-conversion filter.
44
45 This results in smoother waveforms, BUT consumes very much CPU!
46
47 Emu#1-tab
48 ---------
49 - Emulator library selection: Here you can choose a emulator
50 backend from those which for support has been compiled in
51 XMMS-SID. Refer to discussion about emulator libraries in file
52 "INSTALL" for more information.
53
54 - Memory mode: libSIDPlay supports several different memory modes
55 for SID emulation, most of those are for compatibility, though.
56 For SIDPlay 2 emulation, select "Real C64" unless you know better.
57 For SIDPlay 1 emulation, select "Bank switching".
58
59 Emu#2-tab
60 ---------
61 - Clock Speed: Sets default clockspeed and can also "force" the
62 emulator backend to use it. Usually the tune's clockspeed is
63 automatically detected, so do not set "Force speed" unless you
64 know what you're doing.
65
66 - SID Type: Sets default SID-chip type. Most fileformats contain
67 information about the preferred SID-chip type to emulate, but
68 here you can select a default for those situations when it is
69 not known.
70
71 - SIDPlay 2 options:
72 - Optimization mode: If enabled and SIDPlay 2 emulator library
73 has been selected, the emulator is run in "optimization" mode
74 which is partial frame-emulation. Results in faster, but
75 inaccurate emulation.
76
77 - reSID-emulation / HardSID: Select SIDPlay 2 backend. reSID
78 is a software SID-chip simulation and currently the only
79 option available. HardSID is backend for HardSID card,
80 but it is not supported yet by XMMS-SID.
81
82 Filters-tab
83 -----------
84 - Emulate filters: Enable filter emulation. Usually you will want
85 to enable this option, unless you are running on very slow CPU.
86 SID filters affect outcome of most tunes very much.
87
88 - Filter settings: Unless you are advanced user (and thus know what
89 these are), the defaults will work very well and there is no need
90 to touch filter settings.
91
92 Songlength-tab
93 --------------
94 Most of song length settings should be self-explanatory. The
95 respective "Only when song-length is unknown" options make
96 maximum/minimum playtime limits work only when song length
74 97
75 * XSIDPLAY-compatible song-length database is a file that contains 98 * XSIDPLAY-compatible song-length database is a file that contains
76 lengths for most songs in High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC). I 99 lengths for most songs in High Voltage SID Collection (HVSC). I
77 highly recommend that you download the database and configure 100 highly recommend that you download the database and configure
78 XMMS-SID to use it. The SLDB is available at 101 XMMS-SID to use it. The SLDB is available at
79 http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5147/sidplay/sldb.html 102 http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/5147/sidplay/sldb.html
80 103
104
105
106 Miscellaneous tips
107 ==================
81 * SIDPlay2-emulation is heavier, but more accurate. So you need to 108 * SIDPlay2-emulation is heavier, but more accurate. So you need to
82 have more CPU-power for it. 109 have more CPU-power for it.
83 110
84 * Oversampling is available with SIDPlay2-emulation, it can further 111 * Oversampling is available with SIDPlay2-emulation, it can further
85 enchange the audio quality, but you need some really powerful 112 enchange the audio quality, but you need some really powerful
88 * Filter-settings can be usually left as they are, unless you know 115 * Filter-settings can be usually left as they are, unless you know
89 what you're doing. 116 what you're doing.
90 117
91 * If the plugin doesn't recognize your SID-tunes, try checking the 118 * If the plugin doesn't recognize your SID-tunes, try checking the
92 'Determine filetype by contents' option in the XMMS-SID config 119 'Determine filetype by contents' option in the XMMS-SID config
93 window. This is horrendously slow if you're reading a 10000-tune 120 window. This is EXTREMELY slow if you're reading a 10000-tune
94 playlist, though. 121 playlist, though.
95 122
96 * For those who don't know it: Autopanning and stereo are not native 123 * For those who don't know it: Autopanning and stereo are not native
97 to the original SID chip, but are extra options implemented in 124 to the original SID chip, but are extra options implemented in
98 libSIDPlay. So if you think that the tune does not sound as it 125 libSIDPlay. So if you think that the tune does not sound as it
100 127
101 * The "kb/s rate" box is actually the play rate in Hz, so you can 128 * The "kb/s rate" box is actually the play rate in Hz, so you can
102 see if it's an NTSC or PAL song (if you haven't set the Force Speed 129 see if it's an NTSC or PAL song (if you haven't set the Force Speed
103 option). 130 option).
104 131
105 Also see FAQ for more tips, notes and such. 132 Also see FAQ for more tips, gotchas and such.
106 133
107 134
108 License 135 License
109 ======= 136 =======
110 XMMS-SID is distributed under GNU General Public License version 2, 137 XMMS-SID is distributed under GNU General Public License version 2,