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a.k.a. Tropez Plus
Version 1.1 Release Notes
README.TXT
Copyright (c) 1995 Turtle Beach Systems. All rights reserved. Tropez Plus is
a trademark of Turtle Beach Systems, Inc.
This file contains important information that became available after the
printed documentation went to press.
To move through the document, press the PG UP or PG DOWN keys or click the
arrows at the top and bottom of the scroll bar along the right side of the
window.
To print the document, choose the Print command from the File menu.
Customer Support via CompuServe, America Online, or Internet
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An excellent alternative to customer support via phone or mail is using
CompuServe, America Online, or Internet, three of the leading online systems
in the world. Turtle Beach maintains several active forums on CompuServe. For
customer support contact Turtle Beach at 71333,2432 in forums MIDIVEN Section
2 and MULTIVEN Section 16 or GO TURTLE (multimedia vendors' forum) and GO
TBMIDI (MIDI vendor’s forum).
For Turtle Beach customer support via America Online, use Keyword 'Turtle
Beach.'
For support via Internet, visit our World Wide Web page at,
HTTP://WWW.TBEACH.COM or our FTP site at, FTP.TBEACH.COM or send email to
SUPPORT@TBEACH.COM.
Customer Support via BeachComber Bulletin Board
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The BeachComber bulletin board is available 24 hours a day. The bulletin
board can be reached at (510) 624-6279, up to 38,400 baud, eight (8) data
bits, No parity bits, one (1) stop bit via modem. The BeachComber bulletin
board maintains product demonstrations, sound files, MIDI files, and helpful
information for Turtle Beach products.
Customer Support via Faxback
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The Turtle Beach Faxback service can eliminate most common user problems and
is an excellent alternative for off-hours support. Call (510) 624-6296 for
assistance with the Faxback System.
Customer Support via Telephone
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If you encounter problems or have questions about installing the Tropez Plus,
call the Turtle Beach customer support staff at (510) 624-6265.
*******
Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11, and Windows for Workgroups Installation Note
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If you are performing the Tropez Plus DOS installation program, be sure you
are starting from a native DOS prompt, and not a MS-DOS box. Installing from
the enhanced mode DOS box will lead your Windows to repeatedly crash.
Installing the Tropez Plus in Windows 95
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The Tropez Plus is fully Plug and Play compatible. Please follow the
instructions outlined in the manual for Windows 95 installation.
Tropez Plus Applications in Windows 95
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Most of the applications supplied with the Tropez Plus work in the Windows 95
environment. There are some exceptions as noted:
1. The Sierra audio rack does not work in Stealth mode.
2. Microwave may cause problems when used as an OLE server.
3. The Turtle Beach CD player shows a white rectangle to the right of the
main controls. This does not affect the operation of the program.
Low Priority on the TB Mixer
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In general, you will not need to use the "Low Priority Input" button on
the TB Mixer. There are a few applications (such as "Voice Pilot,"
included with the Windows Sound System software) that make use of the input
levels shown after clicking on the Low Priority Input button, but most
applications do not. If you wish to set input levels for applications such as
Sound Recorder, Quick Recorder, Wave SE, or MicroWave, click on the
Wave Input button and adjust the levels shown.
MicroWave and OLE
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
MicroWave is functionally compatible with OLE 1.0, and with the identical
functions in OLE 2.0. However, MicroWave will not function with OLE 2.0
specific calls.
Problems Recording or Playing Back .WAV Audio
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If you are experiencing problems recording or playing back .WAV audio,
enter the Windows Control Panel and open the Drivers section (Win 3.1x) or
open the System icon in the Control Panel (Win95). Tropez Plus driver and
choose Half Duplex. Restart your machine and try recording or playing back
.WAV audio. NOTE: In this configuration, simultaneous .WAV record and
playback is not available.
Recording Through Multiple Inputs
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Although Tropez Plus has multiple inputs, you can only record through one
audio input at a time.
Using the Line In Jack on Tropez Plus
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If you are using headphone out jack on your CD-ROM drive through the Line In
jack on the back of Tropez Plus, you may notice that the volume is quite loud.
To remedy this, adjust the output level on the input mixer or turn down the
volume knob on your CD-ROM drive.
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ
Ý Tropez Plus Questions & AnswersÞ
ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß
The following are common questions and answers pertaining to the installation
and use of the Tropez Plus.
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º º Table of Contents º º
º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ º º
º I. Installation Issues º
º º
º 1. Can't enter Windows 3.1x after installation... º
º * Windows95 users see section IV, #7. º
º º
º II. Dos Application Issues º
º º
º 1. Audio levels in Dos games are not matched... º
º 2. Music in games sound unrealistic... º
º 3. General MIDI/SETUPSND fails... º
º 4. Changing DOS settings... º
º 5. Changing DOS default startup volumes... º
º 6. Hot-Key Mixer doesn't work... º
º º
º III. Windows 3.1x Application Issues º
º º
º 1. Changing Windows settings... º
º 2. Recording Problems/ Phase-shift... º
º 3. Enabling Full Duplex... º
º º
º IV. Windows 95 Configuration º
º º
º 1. Windows 95 compatibility... º
º 2. Problems entering Windows 95... º
º 3. Gameport problems in Windows 95... º
º 4. MIDI files sound unrealistic... º
º 5. Monitor/Record Monitor button & its function... º
º 6. Low audio levels in Win95 DOS-Box games... º
º * 7. Uninstalling/Re-installing the Tropez Plus... º
º º
º V. SampleStore/MIDI Questions (Win3.11 & Win95) º
º º
º 1. SampleStore RAM not recognized... º º
º 2. External MIDI Keyboard won't play... º
º 3. Advanced MIDI editing features... º
º º
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I. Installation Issues
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ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
1. Once my installation was completed, I was unable to boot into Windows 3.1x.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Chances are, you have a hardware conflict with another card in your system.
Boot into DOS and enter C:\TBEACH\DOSAPPS. Once in the TBEACH\DOSAPPS
directory, type TBSDIAG. This will run the DOS diagnostics. Run the
diagnostics and write down the settings that fail (Marked in red in TBSDIAG).
Insert your Tropez Plus drivers disk 1 in your floppy drive and type: Install.
Select 'Configure' from the Main menu and change the settings that were
failing diagnostics. After the configuration procedure, reboot the system
and try TBSDIAG again. Repeat this procedure until you find working
settings.
II. DOS Application Issues
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ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
1. The audio levels for my DOS game's sound effects and MIDI music are not
matched?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Use the TBSMIX.EXE utility to set the relative sound levels to more
appropriate levels. Type TBSMIX /? at the command line prompt to see the
available options. Once in the TBSMIXER, the WAVE slider controls sound
effects and the SYNTH slider controls MIDI music (both FM and Wavetable).
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
2. The music in my DOS games sounds "tinny" and unrealistic.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The Tropez Plus has two synthesizers built on to the board: An OPL3, FM
Synthesizer and the ICS WaveFront, Wavetable Synthesizer. For more realistic,
sampled sounds, you should use the wavetable synthesizer. Most games have a
separate choice for "Music Device" or "Music Board." You should choose
General Midi, Roland MPU-401, or Waveblaster. The port setting you select
should correspond to the WaveFront I/O setting that you selected during the
installation. If you chose 'Quick Install,' the default is 330.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
3. I try to select General MIDI in one of my games, but it says that it
cannot detect a General MIDI device. What's going on?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The WaveFront Synthesizer needs to be initialized before it can be used in
DOS. This is taken care of during bootup in your Autoexec.bat file. The
SETUPSND program will run and initialize the synthesizer, the effects
processor, and any RAM that you have on the Tropez Plus. The default port
address setting for the Wavetable synthesizer on the Tropez Plus is 330 and
the default IRQ is 9. The settings that your card is initializing at will
be shown while the SETUPSND program is running. If you hear a 'triple
beeping' sound during boot-up, there is a good chance that the synth
is not being initialized and you may have a resource conflict. To fix this,
insert disk 1 of your Tropez Plus drivers disks and type 'Install.' Select
'Configure' from the opening menu and proceed to the settings screen. Choose
alternate settings for either the 'WaveFront Port Setting' or 'WaveFront
IRQ Setting.' It is better to only change one of these at a time for
troubleshooting purposes. After making the changes, you will need to let the
Configure program update the appropriate files. Reboot the system to try
the new settings.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
4. How do I change the DOS configuration settings for the board?
(Win 3.1x installtion Only: Windows 95 users see Appendix B)
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Insert your Tropez Plus drivers diskette and type 'install.' Choose
'Configure' from the menu and follow the directions to change your settings.
You can choose to reconfigure DOS, Windows, or both using this utility.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
5. How do I change the DOS default startup volumes for the Tropez Plus?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Once your computer has booted to DOS, enter the TBEACH\DOSAPPS directory
and type the command TBSMIX. All of the default levels will be displayed.
Adjust the levels with the mouse our the keyboard and the tab key. Click on
'Save' to keep the settings.
You can also insert default volume levels in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with the
TBSMIX utility. Type TBSMIX /? in the TBEACH/DOSAPPS directory for the
parameters.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
6. In some of my DOS games, the DOS Hot Key Mixer does not function?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Some DOS games do not allow the DOS Hot Key Mixer to effect the volume
levels. Many of these games have their own level adjustments.
III. Windows 3.1x Application Issues
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ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
1. How do I reconfigure my Windows hardware settings?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
You can reconfigure your Windows settings using the 'Configuration'
utility on your original install disk. Exit Windows and return to a DOS
prompt. Insert your Tropez Plus drivers diskette and type 'install.' Choose
'Configure' from the menu and follow the directions to change your settings.
You can choose to reconfigure DOS, Windows, or both using this utility.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
2. When I am preparing to record and I want to check the levels in the mixer,
I notice a slight phase shift (fading in and out of sound) in the audio
from my speakers. What is causing this phase shift?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The Turtle Beach mixer is designed for maximum user control. One capability
allows you to switch between Master Out and Wave Input and hear the audio
signal as output and input simultaneously. This means you can mute the sound
in Master Out and switch to Wave Input to adjust the signal to an appropriate
level for recording. This capability may lead to a slight phase shift in your
output, but it will not be detectable in any .WAV file recording.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
3. I have an application that can utilize Full Duplex capability. Can the
Tropez Plus take advantage of this?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The Tropez Plus is fully capable of handling Full Duplex (Simultaneous
playback and Record) if you have the resources free to use it. To enable
Full Duplex, exit Windows and insert disk 1 of your Tropez Plus Drivers Disks
and type 'Install.' Choose the 'Configure' option from the main menu.
After answering several path related questions, you will be asked if you want
to enable Full Duplex. Press the space bar to toggle the answer to 'yes.'
You can also find this screen if you choose a 'Custom Install' rather than
the 'Quick Install.'
IV. Windows 95 Configuration
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
1. Does my Tropez Plus work with Windows 95?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Yes, the Tropez Plus works with Windows 95 and is fully Plug and Play
compatible.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
2. My computer locks when I try to enter Windows 95.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The first step in solving this problem is to see when the lock-up
happens. To do this, reboot your system and hit the F8 key when the
"Starting Windows 95" message appears. You will see a menu of choices;
choose "Step by Step Confirmation." Answer Y to the individual lines and
try to isolate the line that is locking the system. If the TBS2001.EXE line
is causing the system to lock, either move it to the top of the Config.sys
or make sure that EMM386.EXE is not being loaded. You can edit the
Config.sys by choosing F8 and entering Win95 in Safe Mode. If the computer
locks on another line, use the troubleshooting procedure in the manual for
assistance.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
3. I chose not to install the Tropez Plus gameport, but now there is a yellow
symbol next to "Tropez Plus" in the Device Manager section of my System
icon.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Since the Tropez Plus is a Plug and Play card, all five of the devices on
the hardware are detected by Windows 95 (Tropez Plus PnP hardware, Tropez
Plus WaveFront Synthesizer, Microsoft compatible Gameport and Microsoft
MPU-401, and Tropez Plus PnP Control Registers). By using the yellow symbol
in the Device Manager, Windows 95 is simply telling you that you have either
chosen not to install a possible Plug and Play device or all of its
components are not working. You can remove the Gameport from your current
Windows95 configuration by going to the Device Manager and double clicking
on 'Gameport Joystick' from the 'Sound, Video, and Game controllers' section.
"Uncheck" the Gameport Joystick from the 'Current Configuration' and restart
the computer.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
4. When I play MIDI files in Windows 95 they sound "tinny" and unrealistic.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
The Tropez Plus has two synthesizers built on to the board: An OPL3, FM
Synthesizer and the ICS WaveFront, Wavetable Synthesizer. For more realistic,
sampled sounds, you should switch to the wavetable synthesizer. This can be
done by choosing 'MIDI' in the 'Multimedia' icon from the Windows 95 Control
Panel. Select 'Tropez Plus WaveFront Synth' and press O.K. to confirm your
selection.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
5. What is the 'Record Monitor' fader in the Windows 95 mixer or the 'Monitor'
fader in the Turtle Beach Mixer used for?
Normally, when you are ready to record something (via line input or
microphone), you will want to hear or "monitor" what you are about to record
through your speakers. There are certain applications, however, in which you
will want to either mute or minimize the amount of signal that is sent through
your speakers. For example, there are a growing number of Internet
communication programs that allow you to use a microphone and your sound card
to actually talk to another user through your Internet connection. In this
situation, many people prefer not to hear themselves when they talk into the
microphone. Also, if you are using any of the Full Duplex features of the
Tropez Plus (ability to simultaneously record and play digital audio), you may
want to mute the Record Monitor to avoid feedback.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
6. When I play a DOS game through Windows 95, the audio levels are very low.
When Windows 95 is running a DOS application, it is responding to different
mixer settings then when it is running a true Windows 95 application. To
compensate for this difference, you can either manually adjust the mixer
settings using the TBSMIX.EXE program in the TBEACH/DOSAPPS directory or use
the supplied 95DOSMIX.PIF file on Disk One of the Tropez Plus install before
you run the application. The .PIF file should have also been copied to your
Windows 95 desktop directory during installation. Double-click on the icon
to reset the DOS mixer levels.
Note: The 95DOSMIX shortcut assumes that the installation files were copied
to the following path: C:\TBEACH\DOSAPPS. If your hard drive letter is
different, you will need to edit the .PIF file accordingly. Use the Windows
95 Help system for assistance with editing shortcuts.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
7. I've tried installing the Tropez Plus several times without success. How
do I uninstall the card in Windows 95 so I can start from scratch.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
We have provided a "Cleanup" INF file on your Tropez Plus Install Disk 1 that
will remove the Tropez Plus files from Windows 95. The file is called
CLEANTBS.INF and is located in the \ALTINF directory on the Tropez Plus
Installation Disk #1. This file clears out all "media-related" devices from
Windows 95, so caution should be used before you run this INF. If you
already have another Sound Card in the system, do not use this file unless
you are willing to re-install the other Sound Card after removing the media
devices.
Using the CLEANTBS.INF
1. Insert your Tropez Plus Installation Disk #1 in your Floppy drive.
2. Click on 'My Computer' and double-click on your Floppy drive.
3. Double-click on the /ALTINF directory
4. Click on the CLEANTBS.INF file with your RIGHT mouse button.
5. Choose 'Install' from the list of options.
6. Once you shut down the computer after running the CLEANTBS.INF
file, the Tropez Plus drivers will be removed from the system. If
you turn the computer back on with the card still in the computer,
your system will recognize the Tropez Plus as a new install. If
you do not wish to re-install the Tropez Plus, be sure to remove
the card from the computer after running the .INF and shutting
down.
V. SampleStore / MIDI Questions
ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
1. I added RAM to my Tropez Plus, but it doesn't seem to register in the
Tropez Plus Control Panel.
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
By default, the Tropez Plus Control Panel is set to "Quick Start." This is
useful if you only want to adjust settings for the Tropez Plus like effect's
levels, tuning, and auditioning features. If you want to take advantage of
your own sampling ram, though, you will need to uncheck the "Quick Start"
option under the "Synth" choice in the Control Panel. Close the Control Panel,
open it again, and the RAM will be recognized as the Control Panel does a full
initialization.
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
2. How do I hook up an external MIDI keyboard to the Tropez Plus?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
A MIDI keyboard can be attached to the Tropez Plus using a standard 15-Pin
MIDI/Joystick adapter. This adapter can be purchased from any major
multimedia dealer or music store. With the computer turned off, connect
the cable labeled MIDI IN on the adapter to the MIDI IN on the keyboard. This
will allow you to play the Tropez Plus synthesizer with the external
keyboard. If the keyboard has its own internal sounds and you want to
control them from the computer, you can also connect the cable labeled
MIDI OUT on the adater to the MIDI IN on the external keyboard. The routing
of the MIDI signal is controlled through software in the computer. The
example below shows how to play the Tropez Plus synthesizer from an external
keyboard using the Stratos Sequencer program that was included with the
Turtle Beach Applications.
1. Turn on the MIDI Keyboard.
2. Open up the Sequencer program.
3. Select 'Options' from the pull-down menu.
4. Highlight MIDI IN and choose "Tropez Plus External IN."
5. Highlight MIDI OUT and choose "Tropez Plus Sample Player."
6. Make sure that MIDI THRU has a check mark next to it.
7. Make beautiful music...
ÜÜÜ
ÝQÞ
ßßß
3. Are there any advanced patch editing programs available for the Tropez
Plus?
ÜÜÜ
ÝAÞ
ßßß
Turtle Beach has a program called WavePatch that allows the user to edit all
aspects of the WaveFront synthesizer (both embedded and uploaded samples) such
as envelope, LFO, multisampling, and other patch parameters. WavePatch is
available free of charge on Turtle Beach's BBS (510-624-6279) or from our
WEB/FTP site (http://www.tbeach.com or ftp.tbeach.com). The current version
of WavePatch as of this README is v1.3.
There is no further information available at this time.
6/21/96
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.