IMS PLAYER for the Apple IIe

IMS PLAYER for APPLE II

IANKIM

 

I have finally completed IMS PLAYER for the Apple IIe.

This is the only IMS music player that runs on the Apple IIe.
I put almost every feature I could possibly implement into it.

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Main Features

Unlimited Music File Size Playback

IMS PLAYER uses a HIDDEN READING method, allowing even very large IMS files to be played all the way to the end without file size limitations.

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Massive Instrument Support

Each IMS file can use up to 128 instruments.

Instrument search is performed in two stages:

1. First, IMS PLAYER searches for a BNK file with the same name as the IMS file.
2. If some instruments are still missing, it searches again in STANDARD.BNK.
3. If the instrument still cannot be found, it plays using the default selected instrument sound.

The larger the BANK file, the longer the search time.

Example:

• 160KB BANK file / about 4,000 instruments: about 4 seconds
• 670KB BANK file / 15,867 instruments: about 11 seconds

For an 8-bit computer, this is very fast. ^^;
While making an IMS player, I somehow ended up building a database search engine.

At first, searching instruments in a 160KB BANK file took 33 seconds.
In the final version, it was reduced to about 4 seconds.

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Original Stereo Mode

IMS PLAYER supports my own STEREO ON/OFF function, designed to preserve the original character of the music as much as possible.

It first assigns instruments to left, center, or right based on the instrument names, then dynamically rearranges them in real time using my own algorithm depending on the music.

It does not ruin the original feel of the song, and it creates a pretty nice harmonic stereo effect.

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Powerful Storage Expansion

An HDD is required, and up to 8 HDD volumes are supported.

In the demo screen, two 32MB HDDs are connected through emulation.

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Visual UI Elements

Using an optimized ISR interrupt routine, IMS PLAYER supports:

• 11-channel level meter
• Progress bar at the bottom of the screen

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Complete Percussion Support

Percussion is fully supported.

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Fast and Intuitive UI & Jukebox

Up to 384 IMS files can be displayed in a single directory.

Non-displayed files such as BNK files do not count toward this limit.

IMS PLAYER also supports a JUKEBOX function, allowing continuous playback upward or downward through the file list.

You can put your favorite songs into one folder, start playback, and leave it running while doing something else.

Pause and volume control are also supported.
Very useful when you get a phone call.

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Required System

Hardware:

• Apple IIe
• 65C02 CPU
• 64KB RAM or more

Sound card:

• SD Music Deluxe OPL3 card is required
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Development Note

During development, I also implemented a file sorting function.

However, it was not very useful in real use and only consumed memory, so I boldly removed it from the final version.

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IMS PLAYER will soon be uploaded to the link previously provided to SD Music Deluxe card buyers.

Development was not easy and took a lot of effort.
If you enjoy this software, even a small donation would be greatly appreciated.

For questions, please contact me by message or email.

Now, please enjoy the real Apple IIe demonstration.

Real hardware used:

• Apple //e
• SD DISKII Plus
• SD Music Deluxe card

IMS Player for Apple II

 

https://youtu.be/k6lBFk7fZlY