Richard Dobson wrote:

> CDP did this on the Atari XT - by talking directly to the hard
> disk, and to the cartridge port, we were able to get full CD-guality stereo i/o
> on an 8MHz cpu.

!! Cool. What else was that CPU doing at the same time? ;)

> If there's a fault, its in us demanding a (pre-emptive) multi-tasking system
> with single-tasking performance, and Microsoft and Intel betweeen them trying to
> square the circle on our behalf.

With a sensible system of process priorites I don't see it as a *huge*
problem. These "next generation" (eugh) quality-of-service (double-eugh)
operating systems are, I guess, trying to solve this problem.

> Musicians are now asking almost absurd things of a general-purpose computer -
> real-time processing and mixing of 32 channels of 48KZ  16bit audio, all while
> updating increasingly luxuriant displays all designed to create the illusion
> that somehow you are not using a 'computer' but a real hardware synth or mixer -
> while sending your email, printing your letters, and playing DOOM. To me, it is
> extraordinary it can be managed at all. And if it can't do it, we blame everyone
> and everything except our own ambitions, which are always entirely reasonable,
> of course!

I think so! People's ambitions drive technology and innovation.
If people expect all this, then it Shall Be Done... even if you have to
fork out for a bit of extra hardware (almost always the case, the
hardware
usually being extra memory, HD, processor speed...)

Can anyone point me at a good web site regarding cheap PCI DSP cards?

Bye!