11/11/90

    CMS card users:  Don't listen to anybody about how your card 
sucks.  It is a very good card.  I would recommend upgrading to 
Sound Blaster, though.  You not only get the SB card, but you 
also get the two $30 CMS chips that allow the SB to play CMS 
music.  This is something that someone buying the hardware 
package off the street doesn't get.  Upgrading requires one of 
two things:
     1) Sending $139 and your CMS card to Creative Labs.
     2) Sending $149 and your CMS documentation or warranty card.
    I would call Creative Labs before you did anything; the re-
quirements might have changed.

    Sound Blaster users:  I am the proud owner of the Sound 
Blaster, and I believe it is going to beat Ad-Lib by a long 
throw.  I was shocked, however, to find out that Brown-Wagh (USA 
distributors of Sound Blaster) had not created and was not ever 
going to create a composer for all 24 voices of the card.  I 
guess they don't care about us end users.  (I'm sure Sierra has 
gotten one, though, but then they probably made their own)  If 
anyone feels left out by this gross error, please contact me:

                         Eric Deren
                         Rt. 1 Box 401
                         Andrews, NC 28901

    I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a petition, but 
if anyone has any better ideas, please let me know.  If you have 
never heard 24 voice sound (12 Stereo CMS, 11 FM Ad-lib, one 
digitized channel) from your card, join the crowd.

    We song writers/converters need to start programming in 24
                             voices!
                  Brown-Wagh needs to know this!

Gossip:
    I also just found out that they [Creative Labs] are taking
the Sound Blaster card and adding more features to it, as well
as putting the entire card onto one chip.  This means they have
shortened the SB to about 4".  So for those of you that upgraded
from CMS to Sound Blaster, prepare to upgrade again.

More Gossip:
    I am planning to start a BBS of my own.  I do not know most
of the details as of yet, except that it will probably be an
after-hours BBS (5pm-9am weekdays & Saturdays, all day Sunday).
Keep an eye out for it.

(keep watching these READTHIS docs for up-to-the-month information
about things influencing the Sound Blaster's CMS side; I include
a READTHIS with every song I release)