[Nosc] ([ColorForth]) toy workstation (composite reply)

["Arthur W. Green" <goshawk@xxxxxxx>]

This will be the last time I cross-post as well. I just felt the colorForth list
might benefit from sense of continuity.

Mr. Plichota wrote:
> 
> My interest in a big toy workstation is because I want to develop an 
> integrated MIDI software synthesizer+audio multitrack recording studio. 
What kind of hardware did you have in mind for this undertaking?

> Too 
> tiny a system just won't do because of the sheer size of the digital audio 
> streams, not because I anticipate bloated code. These would ideally be held 
> in RAM, not franticly streaming in and out of the hard drive(s). 
That's a real concern. Although I think that performance suffers either way if
you let the buffers get too large and attempt to throw them to disk.

This is more of a concern for an audio multitracking system rather than a
software synthesizer.

I believe a very adequate software synthesizer could be written within the size
of one floppy disk and a nice "wad" of RAM, assuming of course you don't need to
read large waveform segments or tables, where I would think a hard disk is
unavoidable.

> My integer 
> DSP experience leaves me no doubt that even 32-bits is marginal for getting 
> _true_ CD-quality end results after any significant processing. This 
> technical concern warrants consideration of investing the extra transistors 
> in a double-precision lookahead carry adder and shifter. This is getting to 
> be a pretty big toy, but the toyness could be preserved by sticking to an 
> essential minimalism.
> 
My knowledge of DSP is minimal. If what you say is true, it would certainly
explain the poor fidelity found in many common studio systems.

> Other people have different visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.
> 
> > First, I say we design a small wearable computer that uses a one-handed
> > variant of Dvorak key layout. Each machine should have intercomputer and
> > interdevice connectivity using something to USB and a small VHF or UHF
> > "packet radio" to facilitate radio networking.
> 
> An example above.
> 
Actually, it was meant to be a somewhat funny, rather than a serious comment.
While I would try to actively support a "stack-computer" wearable, it is quite
far from my own ambitions.

A radio network wouldn't be such a bad thing, though (now that I think of it)
maybe even for just "messing around" with an amateur radio license.
  
Best regards,
-- Art
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