kX Project updates

**Eugene Gavrilov** · Aug 10, 2004, 05:55 PM

As most of you have probably noticed, the development has slowed down a little bit, as well as my own forum activities. This doesn't mean the project is suspended or closed -- don't worry

However keep in mind that my present occupation doesn't allow me to participate in all the kX-related activities the way I used to. That's why please don't expect your questions (either sent to me by e-mail or addressed on this forum) are answered in 'real-time'.

The kX Knowledgebase project seems to include most of the answers you are looking for, so visit this resource often. If you managed to solve your problem yourself, please contact dj_stick in order to update the Knowledgebase with your experience!

If you have found a bug, make sure to provide enough information to reproduce it -- discuss it on the forum, and only if it is confirmed, send a brief description and a link to the forum thread dealing with it to the contact e-mail found on the kX Project site. Once again, please use the 'search' feature of the forum and browse the kX Knowledgebase BEFORE sending any e-mails -- otherwise this will ruin my effort to concentrate on developing and solving real issues than re-directing people to the FAQ!

If you have a suggestion, (1) review 'FAQ' and 'ToDo List' before posting it

(2) review the very recent changelog and future plans posted by me (3) if you are still sure your idea is new and good, post a poll -- and if the kX Users appraise it (of course I mean 'experienced kX Users'), send me an e-mail with the links to the forum threads dealing with your suggestion.

I understand that this seems to be very 'restrictive' policy, but I simply cannot spend my time browsing all the messages and answering all the questions. Unfortunately, it is practically impossible to guess whether the question is important or not by just reading its subject. I really expect the Experienced kX Users to keep watching the forum and notifying me by e-mail about any important messages -- I would really appreciate your help.

I would like to thank most of you for being with us for so long

Please keep up the good work and I hope we will manage to overcome the present problems and make the kX Audio Driver even a better piece of software.

As always, I highly advise kX Users to review the kX Project Plans & Contributions page and act accordingly.

Best wishes and good luck with music composing, not hacking the drivers

Eugene,
kX Project Lead Programmer [and, hopefully, Coordinator of some kind

]

RIV@NVX · Aug 15, 2004, 04:49 PM

FAQ link code is not exactly correct

gooday · Oct 25, 2004, 02:17 AM

The mail page www.kxproject.com cannot be opened in China? or anywhere on the planet?

**dj_stick** · Oct 25, 2004, 02:18 AM

what do you mean?

geraldandreas · Oct 25, 2004, 05:17 AM

hy dj stick
do you think, it will be possibile in the future to have not only 2/2-48, 8/8-48 and 16/16-48. i think a 4/4-48 and a 12/12-48 setting in the ASIO-Panel will be also fantastic.
for traktor, for example you need only 2 stereo out, 1 master and one monitor.
also will it be fine when i will set a dsp-plugin for a vsti, i have to use the 8/8-48 today, but i only need one extra asio fx-out (4/5 for example) to route the vsti to the plugin and record it again with 0/1.
thanks,

**dj_stick** · Oct 25, 2004, 05:22 AM

i'll ask eugene to add it if he has the time

nakamichi · Oct 27, 2004, 07:14 PM

dj_stick,I have 2 requests for the next version.These are very simple to add and small changes,but make an important improvement.
Can you add an option "always on top" for the peak level meter and the ASIO control panel settings? I keep getting problems when I open the ASIO panel within Fruity Studio.It doesn't show on top of FL Studio,so I have to minimize and get out of FL Studio and return to the desktop to find the ASIO control panel,set it and then get back to FL Studio.This gets really annoying.Also,the peak level monitor needs to stay always on top.

Can you also make the volume increase/decrease using the multimedia keyboard to be handled in smaller increments than it is now? For now,I can't control the volume smoothly enough.One press up or down makes a large difference in volume.I like to be able to increase for about 1 block for a press (on the OSD volume meter),not 2 blocks (or 1.7) as it is now.It does make a big difference when playing on speakers with higher volumes.

Will you add these options in the next release?

**dj_stick** · Oct 27, 2004, 09:28 PM

the peakX module in the UFX pack has always on top, wait until the 3538 version of that is released

btw i have no control over what is implemented in kX and what is not, but i will make this thread known to Eugene

bogdan.maxim · Oct 27, 2004, 09:28 PM

i'm wondering.. why don't you go open-source or at least shared source? i'm sure there will be lot's of people who'd like to work on this project..

**dj_stick** · Oct 27, 2004, 09:31 PM

Eugene has signed several NDAs in relation to parts of the driver, making open source impossible for parts of kX
currently the open source segment of kX is the DSP

bogdan.maxim · Oct 27, 2004, 09:32 PM

i edited my last post.. "Or at least shared source..".. i thought about "NDA's"..
i don't know.. maybe.. there are some other parts that can be open source.. like the kxMixer? i think.. or some higher level parts of the driver..

nakamichi · Oct 28, 2004, 07:14 PM

Another bug I have to post here:
It seems the DirectSound output of these latest 3538a drivers is really screwed.I get no problems with the Wave Out,but when I use DirectSound,it's terrible.
For example,when I use the ePSXe PlayStation emulator with the Eternal SPU audio plugin,output set to DirectSound,it sounds terrible,almost like that terrible sound I get when using ASIO output in FL Studio with the kX Manager killed (not in the system tray)But terrible in a different way,it sounds even worse..But in this case the kX manager IS active and I still get bad sound.When I change output to WaveOut,I get no problems at all.
I didn't get this kind of bad sound with the Creative drivers in any mode.
Something really weird is happening with these alpha drivers.
(Running WinXP Pro SP1,AMD XP 2200+,SB Audigy 2 (SB 0240),3538a drivers)

Lex Nahumury · Oct 29, 2004, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nakamichi

Can you add an option "always on top" for the peak level meter..?

[color=yellow]This was/is possible all along;[/color]
[color=yellow]just click on the peak's taskbar icon and select 'Always on top'.[/color]
[color=yellow][/color]
[color=yellow]/LeMury[/color]

Lex Nahumury · Oct 29, 2004, 01:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bogdan.maxim

. maybe.. there are some other parts that can be open source.. like the kxMixer? i think.. or some higher level parts of the driver..

[color=yellow]Unlike dj stated; there are more aspects 'open' besides the DSP part in kX API. (see SDK)[/color]
[color=yellow]btw; as announced, the next (3538)SDK will extend kX API functionality.[/color]

[color=yellow]/LeMury[/color]

nakamichi · Oct 29, 2004, 03:15 AM

LeMury,
Yes,it works this way,but it is not memorized,so I have to do thatt every time when I activate it.

Tiger M · Oct 29, 2004, 03:38 AM

Quote:

Unlike dj stated; there are more aspects 'open' besides the DSP part in kX API. (see SDK)

having just the headers is not very "open" in my opinion. The only "really" open source part is the fx library.

edit: and kxctrl

Lex Nahumury · Oct 29, 2004, 05:07 AM

[color=yellow]That's why open is spelled "open" here, or why my DSP fx sources *are* open[/color]
[color=yellow]whereas your e-fx are "open". Right..

?[/color]

[color=yellow]/LeMury[/color]

[color=#ffff00]PS:[/color]
[color=#ffff00]For those who don't know;[/color]
[color=#ffff00]kX is not Open Source.[/color]
[color=#ffff00]However it comes with a SDK/kX API which *not* only deals with DSP..![/color]

Tiger M · Oct 29, 2004, 07:54 AM

Quote:

or why my DSP fx sources *are* open
whereas your e-fx are "open". Right.. ?

He-he, don't change the topic of the discussion. In my native language quotation marks ("") are used for quoting somebody. I quoted you.

My ef-x will be absolutely open in the next kX release.

As for kX's open sourceness

, I believe that it's beter that it remains in its present state for the next 5 years or so, when the E-mu 10kX chips will become obsolete.

Lex Nahumury · Oct 29, 2004, 08:05 AM

>>My ef-x will be absolutely open in the next kX release.
[color=yellow]Nice.
[/color]
>>..... when the E-mu 10kX chips will become obsolete.
[color=yellow]Aren't they already? nah..j/k ..(although?)[/color]
[color=yellow][/color]
[color=yellow]/LeMury[/color]

Tiger M · Oct 29, 2004, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Aren't they already? nah..j/k ..(although?)

I don't think so. Creative's still making new cards with these dsps.
And of course E-mu too.

rlrevell · Oct 31, 2004, 01:17 AM

Those people could always come over to alsa-devel@lists.sourceforge.net and help us with the Linux driver... right now kX is way ahead of us but I am working on it.

rlrevell · Oct 31, 2004, 01:21 AM

The interesting parts of the kX driver are already open. As I understand it the NDAs apply to rather boring stuff. Anyway if you want to get an idea what an open source driver would look like then you can check out the Linux drivers.

bogdan.maxim · Oct 31, 2004, 03:14 AM

it would be awesome to have kx to linux.. especialy the DSP and the router. Personally I never tried the linux drivers but i saw they are strugling with the DSP part of the Driver (They don't have? the EMU10K DSP Lang?)

rlrevell · Oct 31, 2004, 07:52 AM

Well we are not quite struggling, Peter Zubaj (http://ld10k1.sf.net) is doing a great job on the DSP stuff. The biggest thing missing from the current ALSA driver is multichannel, low latency capture & playback a la kX ASIO. I have been working on this and it's almost finished. Capture was easy, that has (kind of) worked since ALSA 1.0.6, playback is trickier. I could have had this working a month ago but decided it would be more interesting to figure it out on my own rather than reverse engineer the kX driver.

bogdan.maxim · Oct 31, 2004, 02:49 PM

Reverse Engineering... hm.. it may be illegal.. i haven't read the licence for kx..
So you prefer trying opcodes and stuff... out of your mind.. if that's the thing you are saying..:

Quote:

EMU10K1 DSP Documentation
-------------------------
Most of the following information was obtained by trial-and-error.
Use it at your own risk!
Please send any comments, corrections or additions to
dkoukola@atrey.karlin.mff.cuni.cz.
Instruction Format
------------------
31 23 20 19 10 9 0
0 | | X | Y |
1 | | opcode | R | A |
Opcodes
-------
0x0 (MAC) : R = A + (X * Y >> 31) ; saturation
0x1 (MAC) : R = A + (-X * Y >> 31) ; saturation
0x2 (MAC) : R = A + (X * Y >> 31) ; wraparound
0x3 (MAC) : R = A + (-X * Y >> 31) ; wraparound
0x4 (MACINT) : R = A + X * Y ; saturation
0x5 (MACINT) : R = A + X * Y ; wraparound (31-bit)
0x6 (ACC3) : R = A + X + Y ; saturation
0x7 (MACMV) : R = A, accum += X * Y >> 31 (accum == 0x56)
0x8 (ANDXOR) : R = (A & X) ^ Y
0x9 (TSTNEG) : R = (A >= Y) ? X : ~X
0xa (LIMIT) : R = (A >= Y) ? X : Y
0xb (LIMIT): R = (A < Y) ? X : Y
0xc (LOG) : ...
0xd (EXP) : ...
0xe (INTERP) : R = A + (X * (Y - A) >> 31) ; saturation
0xf (SKIP) : R, CCR, CC_TEST, COUNT

The accum register can only be used as the A operand.
The result of X * Y, on the MACMV instruction, is accumulated in to the
67 bit ACCUM without the shifting (>> 31).
When you go to fetch the accum on the next instruction, if you use a MAC,
ACC3 or any other instruction it will be shifted (i.e. you'll use bits 31
through 62 of the ACCUM). An exception, however, is if you use a MACINT,
in which case it won't be shifted (you'll use bits 0-31).
Apparently if an instruction tries to access more than one of
the input registers (0x00 to 0x20) the result is undefined.
Operands
--------
0x00n : FX send bus
0x010 : in0 l (digital output of the AC '97 codec
0x011 : in0 r the source is the recording source)
0x012 : in1 l (S/PDIF CD digital in on card)
0x013 : in1 r
0x014 : in2 l (mic?)
0x015 : in2 r
0x016 : in3 l (LiveDrive -- TOSLink Optical In)
0x017 : in3 r
0x018 : in4 l (LiveDrive -- Line/Mic In 1)
0x019 : in4 r
0x01a : in5 l (LiveDrive -- Coaxial S/PDIF Input)
0x01b : in5 r
0x01c : in6 l (LiveDrive -- Line/Mic In 2)
0x01d : in6 r
0x01e : in7 l
0x01f : in7 r
0x020 : out0 l (AC '97 codec)
0x021 : out0 r
0x022 : out1 l (Digital Front / LiveDriveI (?) -- TOSLink Optical Out)
0x023 : out1 r
0x024 : out2 l Digital Center (5.1 card)
0x025 : out2 r Digital LFE (5.1 card)
0x026 : out3 l (LiveDrive -- headphone out)
0x027 : out3 r
0x028 : out4 l (rear channel Digital and Analog)
0x029 : out4 r
0x02a : out5 l (ADC recording buffer)
0x02b : out5 r
0x02c : out6 l (microphone recording buffer)
0x02d : out6 r
0x02e : out7 l
0x02f : out7 r
0x030 : out8 l
0x031 : out8 r Analog Center (5.1 cards only)
0x032 : out9 l Analog LFE (5.1 cards only)
0x040 : 00000000
0x041 : 00000001
0x042 : 00000002
0x043 : 00000003
0x044 : 00000004
0x045 : 00000008
0x046 : 00000010
0x047 : 00000020
0x048 : 00000100
0x049 : 00010000
0x04a : 0008000
0x04b : 10000000
0x04c : 20000000
0x04d : 40000000
0x04e : 80000000
0x04f : 7fffffff
0x050 : ffffffff
0x051 : fffffffe
0x052 : c0000000
0x053 : 4f1bbcdc
0x054 : 5a7ef9db
0x055 : 00100000 (?)
0x056 : ACCUM, accumulator
0x057 : CCR, condition code register
0x058 : uniformly distributed (-0.5 to 0.5) white noise source
0x059 : noise source, 4097 sample delayed copy of register 0x058
0x05A : IRQREG, set the MSB to generate a FX interrupt
0x05B : DBAC, used by TRAM engine, decremented at each sample
0x1nn : general purpose registers
0x2nn : tank memory data registers
0x3nn : tank memory address registers (0x380-0x39f external TRAM)

Input/Output details:
out0, AC97 PCM channel (Front Analog)
out4, rear channel:
stereo analog and digital output on the back of the card.
out5, ADC recording buffer:
what your record when the AC97 recording buffer is selected.
(16 bit only, stereo/mono, variable samplingrate)
out6, microphone recording buffer:
what your record when the MIC recording buffer is selected.
(16 bit only, mono only, 8000Hz only)
References:
see manuals.txt