Sound Card Signal Generator Control Dialog

Macro: GenDlg

You can invoke the Generator dialog by clicking on the thin bar below the toolbar Generator toggle button, from the Edit menu via ALT+E, G, or from the keyboard via CTRL+G.

• Generator On/Off

• Left / Right output toggles
• Dual
• Solo

• Swap

• Left and Right Wave Controls

• Multi-Channel Output Controls

• Bits
• Volume
• Volume/dB Slider Button
• Volume Slider Dialog
• dB Slider Dialog
• Multi-Channel Slider Dialog
• Attenuator Options

• Save Setup
• Load Setup
• OK Button

At the top of the dialog is the name of the output device that the Generator is controlling. If you have more than one output device on your system, you can change this from the Output Device select in the Start Preferences dialog. (Note that changes won't take effect until the next Daqarta session.)

Below the Generator On/Off control are separate Left and Right buttons. At least one of these must be on (as well as Generator On/Off, which is the "master" control) in order to produce sound. Controls in the columns below each of these pertain to separate Left and Right settings. For the moment, leave the Dual, Solo, and Swap buttons off. Click on the Left or Right Wave Controls button midway down the Left or Right column to open the respective dialog.

There are actually four Stream dialogs for each Left or Right output, numbered L.0 Stream through L.3 Stream and R.0 Stream through R.3 Stream. The 0 Stream dialog comes up by default, but you can select any other via the buttons at the top of the dialog, or via ALT and the desired Stream number.

Think of each Stream as a separate signal generator. It has its own Stream On button, with independent Waveform, Frequency, Modulators, Level, and Offset controls. Normally, all active Streams are summed together to create the overall Left or Right output.

Below the On button is the Wave button, with the current selection shown under it. Wave brings up a dialog with various waveform options (Sine, Triangle, etc), some of which open dialogs for further control.

After the Wave button on the Stream dialog is the Tone Freq button, with the frequency control under it. The control can be used directly, or the button can be used for additional options such as Phase. The button and control change to Timing if Wave has been set to a non-repeating type like White Noise.

Next on the Stream dialog is a group of Modulation buttons: Burst, AM, FM, PM, and Sweep, each of which brings up a dialog allowing full control. Any combination of modulators may be applied to a Stream. If Pulse Wave is selected, PM (Phase Modulation) is replaced by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). If Ramp Wave is selected, you may choose either PM or Slope modulation.

As noted earlier, all active Streams are normally summed together to create the overall Left or Right output. The relative contribution of each stream is set via its Level control, with the total for all active streams limited to 100 percent in most cases.

A constant DC Offset value may be added to any stream for special purposes.

Macro Notes:

GenDlg=1 opens the dialog, GenDlg=0 closes it, and GenDlg=x toggles between open and closed.

Note that you do not need to open this dialog to change controls directly via macro command.

See also Generator Introduction and Features, Basic Operation - Your First Output Sound, Waveform Stream Controls.