[sdiy] DSP kits (was: Re: has anyone ever made their own Nord Modular?)

[Rainer Buchty]

>Sorry, I didn't write clearly. I want to do it all from DOS, so if drivers
>are necessary, it wouldn't work for me. I need bare-metal access.

You can have bare-metal access via PCI as well. Nothing prevents you 
from bit-banging but the OS.

>What I meant is that you get lower latency from an ISA card based sampler
>than you would get over MIDI with an external sampler. Especially if we're
>talking sample editor latency...

Since a hardware sampler is pretty much the same system, i.e. CPU + 
dedicated, bit-banged hardware, I don't see any difference in latency. 
After all, the key data is still transmitted via MIDI, so in the end 
your ISA-PC box is just an expander module.

>But am I wrong? That would be great! :-) Where can I find those datasheets?

Sheesh, Google is really a bitch :)

But to spare you the searching, I downloaded the datasheets and 
programmer's reference from 
	http://mail.lipsia.de/~enigma/neu/soundconfig.html

and put them here:
	http://itec.uka.de/~buchty/datasheets/

into the "Custom Chips" section.

>BTW, does anybody happen to have datasheets and other info for other SAM
>chips, the esp. the 8905 ?

Hmmm, I think I have the datasheet *somewhere* in form of dead wood.

And since I'm forced to clean up my work room next weekend (to 
temporarily turn it into what it's officially labeled, the guest room) I 
might even find it.

Assuming it's *there* and not in <dramatic pause> THE BASEMENT 
</dramatic pause> where I keep those databooks and old magazines which I 
had to remove from the kitchen cupboard and the living room.

Rainer