Audio Precision System One

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Siegfried Meier

Siegfried Meier

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 2, 2004
Messages
1,606
Location
Ontario, Canada
Hey guys,

I was looking at getting a used one of these for our shop as they can be had for around $1400 on eBay now.  However, AP no longer has support or parts for them, and it is quite an old unit (1985-2002).

My question is, is there an alternative to these that I can run on Windows?  I have a nice PC built up with an RME card and some nice Lavry converters.  I'm just curious if there's software that is equivalent to what AP does in their boxes, or anything else out there.

Any thoughts much appreciated!
Thanks,
Sig
 
You can use this for System One, and System Two running under Windows 98 instead of the original PCI card.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Driver-Kit-for-Audio-Precision-APIB-Instruments-/130740628592?pt=BI_Analyzers&hash=item1e70bfac70

This software driver solution will ONLY work with Win 98, not 2000, not XP, not Vista, and not Win 7.

I just bought one of these driver sets, and will let you know how it performs with our System One in the next day or so.  I have been told by the author that it is function for function exactly the same as the PCI card for later System One and System Two units.

Be very careful of used AP equipment.  I have heard horror stories of folks buying what they thought was a complete system, only to find that there were internal boards missing.  Also be careful in that some of the very early System One units had a different interface (not APIB), and could ONLY be used with the ISA card from AP that is no longer available.

Some of the less expensive units on eBay do not have the oscillator as well, so be sure and read the fine print.

Hope this helps!

Best,
Bruno2000
 
Thanks Bruno!

My question was more asking if there was an alternative software to use as opposed to buying a used AP System One.  Like you say, I'm a bit leery of buying something so old and discontinued, especially if things are missing...

Thanks,
Sig
 
My question is, is there an alternative to these that I can run on Windows?
Click to expand...

From your description I have little idea what you need, so it's hard to say if there's an alternative. If you need best analog performance, the System One is hard to beat unless you're prepared to spend at least 10x the money.

The full service info (manual etc.) is on their website. Besides a hybrid MDAC (used for frequency and gain setting in the generator and analyzer) and the output transformer there is probably not much which you wouldn't be able to find a replacement for.

Samuel
 
Be careful of anything that requires Windoz 98.

Manufacturers stopped producing W98 drivers for computers about 10 yrs ago. which means any computer than can run W98 is probably on its last legs.

The best way to run W98 software is to use Virtual PC for XP.  You can still buy computers which will run XP properly and this version of Virtual PC is pretty good in making resources available.  I'm not sure this extends to PCI cards etc though.

The Windoz 7 version will not run W98 so expect any support for W98 to fizzle out soon (sooner if Redmond had its way

I know all this cos my own serious software needs W98.  I'm still stuck in the last millenium, programming wise.  :(

Caveat for RMAA http://nwavguy.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/rightmark-audio-analyzer-rmaa.html which I mostly endorse.

Wayne Kirkwood (da ex THAT man) uses and rates Visual Analyser http://www.sillanumsoft.org/prod01.htm  I've not tried it.

All these packages need a fair amount of understanding and care not to get misleading (ie wrong) results.  They are also dependent on your soundcard for low distortion etc.  You need at least an independent method to calibrate levels too.
 
Well, the APIB-LPT kit works really well.  I could not get the DOS window to work correctly with the S!.exe program, but the windows stuff works well, and pretty fast on a 1gHz P3 Dell laptop running Win98.  Dell even still had the Win98 drivers on their site.  As far as the obsolescence issue is concerned, I plan on buying several old computers for cheap, and outfitting them all with the software.  Then, if one goes TU, I'll just plug in another.  The DOS computer that used to run our System One is about 20 years old, and still kicking.  Seems to be a small price to pay for such a useful piece of gear, and there are several third party vendors who will still service the old AP hardware. 
Best,
Bruno2000
 
+1 for APIB-LPT kit.
As mentioned finding a computer that run runs Win98 might be biggest problem. I got some laptop that has sticker "designed for Windows Vista" or something but after few hours searching I found all necessary drivers for it. Win98 is surprisingly stable OS as long you keep it miles away from badly polluted internet.

DOS window is something what you need when you want to calibrate your System-One. What I can tell is DOS window works with APIB-LPT kit and Win98. S1.exe needes some parameter with it but I can't remember right now what it is. I'll check it and tell later.

-Paavo
 
kilmister said:
I got some laptop that has sticker "designed for Windows Vista" or something but after few hours searching I found all necessary drivers for it. Win98 is surprisingly stable OS as long you keep it miles away from badly polluted internet.
Click to expand...
Paavo, what laptop was this?

My favourite laptop for W98 was the IBM T2x series [1] but they are now all dead or dying.  I have 5 dead ones.  I'm presently using a Dell X300 with XP and Virtual PC for W98.  There doesn't seem to be good native W98 drivers for this.

And LPT ports are also getting thin on the ground.

Bruno, sadly, the days when computers were designed & made to last 20+ yrs are long gone.  Even from the highest quality manufacturers like IBM/Lenovo.

[1] One reason why I liked them was they had stereo Line inputs with textbook 16b 44.1/48kHz performance.  You could make good recordings with just a good mike preamp.
 
Ok prompt to run S1.exe in dos window is
Code: 
s1.exe /i1
There's plenty of anoter options. To list them type
Code: 
s1.exe /?

My laptop is Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8010. I didn't remember right as it's made for XP not for Vista.

-Paavo
 
kilmister said:
Ok prompt to run S1.exe in dos window is
Code: 
s1.exe /i1
There's plenty of anoter options. To list them type
Code: 
s1.exe /?

My laptop is Fujitsu-Siemens Lifebook E8010. I didn't remember right as it's made for XP not for Vista.

-Paavo
Click to expand...

Greetings Paavo,
Thanks for the suggestion, but S1.exe /i1 will still not run on my Dell Latitude laptop (1G P3).  The AP splash screen comes up and freezes.  No relay clicks, no nothing.  I might try some of the display options, though.  BTW Jim from Sound Logic says it might be that my laptop is too fast.  What speed is the machine you are running S1 on?
Best,
Bruno2000
 
I've been using audioTester for a while now and am pretty happy with it.

http://www.audiotester.de

Of course any testing like this includes PC and converters and whatnot in the results, but that's good for most everything I need.  Something like the AP would sure be nice, but it's hard to argue with the price of this software at 39EUR.
 
bruno2000 said:
Greetings Paavo,
Thanks for the suggestion, but S1.exe /i1 will still not run on my Dell Latitude laptop (1G P3).  The AP splash screen comes up and freezes.  No relay clicks, no nothing.  I might try some of the display options, though.  BTW Jim from Sound Logic says it might be that my laptop is too fast.  What speed is the machine you are running S1 on?
Best,
Bruno2000
Click to expand...

My laptop is with Centrino processor which is something like 1.4Ghz. Without
Code: 
/i1
parameter I have "PCI interface not found" kind of error message but softaware does not crash.
Do you have your s1.exe and related files in
Code: 
c:\audio
directory? IIRC s1.exe needs to be located there or it doesn't work. And you've propably checked from bios lpt port is configured as ECP?

-Paavo
 
kilmister said:
bruno2000 said:
Greetings Paavo,
Thanks for the suggestion, but S1.exe /i1 will still not run on my Dell Latitude laptop (1G P3).  The AP splash screen comes up and freezes.  No relay clicks, no nothing.  I might try some of the display options, though.  BTW Jim from Sound Logic says it might be that my laptop is too fast.  What speed is the machine you are running S1 on?
Best,
Bruno2000
Click to expand...

My laptop is with Centrino processor which is something like 1.4Ghz. Without
Code: 
/i1
parameter I have "PCI interface not found" kind of error message but softaware does not crash.
Do you have your s1.exe and related files in
Code: 
c:\audio
directory? IIRC s1.exe needs to be located there or it doesn't work. And you've propably checked from bios lpt port is configured as ECP?

-Paavo
Click to expand...

Greetings Paavo,
Once again, thank you for the insight! 
No, I do not have S1 in the c:\audio directory, as I am running it from within the Service Manual folder.  I'll break out the old DOS book, see which floppies go where,  try again, and will check back.
Thank you!
Best,
Bruno2000
 
OK, I set up the directory structure as it says in the Users' Manual, but still no joy.  By trying different display settings, I was able to finally see the error:
Runtime error R6003
integer divide by 0
Anyone know what this means, or how to fix it?
Any help would be appreciated.
Best,
Bruno2000
 
Doh, that's crap.

What OS you have? Mine is Win98 SE (Second Edition)
First hit when googling runtime error refers to Win ME (Millennium) which doesn't have very good reputation.

-Paavo

 
kilmister said:
Doh, that's crap.

What OS you have? Mine is Win98 SE (Second Edition)
First hit when googling runtime error refers to Win ME (Millennium) which doesn't have very good reputation.

-Paavo
Click to expand...

I'm using Win98 (not SE).  Jim said it would work fine, but maybe not.  Finding Win98 SE might be a challenge, but I'll start looking.
Thanks again for your help!
Best,
Bruno2000
 
bruno2000 said:
kilmister said:
Doh, that's crap.

What OS you have? Mine is Win98 SE (Second Edition)
First hit when googling runtime error refers to Win ME (Millennium) which doesn't have very good reputation.

-Paavo
Click to expand...

I'm using Win98 (not SE).  Jim said it would work fine, but maybe not.  Finding Win98 SE might be a challenge, but I'll start looking.
Thanks again for your help!
Best,
Bruno2000
Click to expand...

I set up a "new" computer with Win98, and after a few battles with video drivers, everything seems to be working fine now on both the System One and System Two boxes.  Must have been a bad LPT port on the laptop.  Thanks to all for the help!
Best,
Bruno2000
 

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