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Last modified on 31 May 2022, at 12:19

LambdaSpeak III ROM

Before you use this RSX expansion, you shall use the command |LSINIT (English mode) or |LSINIC (Catalan/Spanish Mode) to enable all the features of the great LambdaSpeak III. If not, the LS3 will just behave like the Amstrad SSA-1 speech synthesizer!

LambdaSpeak III Speech Synthesizer, Drum Machine, Sample Player, Real-Time-Clock and MP3/WAV Player

This is a new generation speech synthesizer which emulates/simulates the following expansions:

  • EPSOM mode / - These modes provide different voices and can even sing!
  • DECtalk mode /
  • dk'tronics SPEECH synthesizer
  • Amstrad SSA1 synthesizer
  • Amdrum drum kit
  • PCM Sample player
  • MP3 / WAV player
  • Real-Time-Clock
  • MIDI (with little expansion cars, connected via serial connection)

Software support: ROM with RSX commands, Z80 library, FutureOS and some games

RSX Library for the LambdaSpeak III expansion interface

To use the RSX commands you either put disc in your drive and type: run"disc Or you can install the "LS3.ROM" as an expansion ROM. It contains all RSX commands and more.

Before we start

To use LambdaSpeak III in the mighty Epson mode you type the RSX command |LSINIT or |LSINIC. This initializes LambdaSpeak III, which is in SSA1 mode when you switch on your CPC or Plus.

List of Commands

The RSX command |LSHELP will display this list on your screen:

RSX commands for LambdaSpeak III

  • |LSINIT (for English speech) or |LSINIC (for Catalan speech) --> Use commands to initialize LambdaSpeak III
  • |RESET
  • |STOP
  • |SP,@text$
  • |LAMBDASPEAK,@text$
  • |SETVOLUME,0-15
  • |GETVOLUME,@v%
  • |SETVOICE,0-15
  • |GETVOICE,@v%
  • |SETSPEED,0-15
  • |GETSPEED,@v%
  • |SETDELAY,0-15
  • |GETDELAY,@v%
  • |SPEAKMODE
  • |GETLANGUAGE,@v%
  • |ENGLISH
  • |SPANISH
  • |LAMBDA
  • |SSA1
  • |DECTALK
  • |DKTRONICS
  • |SSASPO
  • |DKSPO
  • |SERIAL
  • |SEROFF
  • |GETMODE,@v%
  • |GETFMODE,@v%
  • |BLOCKOFF
  • |BLOCKON
  • |CONFOFF
  • |CONFON
  • |GETFAST
  • |GETMED
  • |GETSLOW
  • |SPEAKINFO
  • |SPSCREEN
  • |SPFILE,file$
  • |DAISY
  • |BIGWATCH
  • |HAL9000
  • |AMDRUM
  • |PCMTEST
  • |GETVERSION,@v% *|LED,0-255
  • |PLAY,address,length,delay
  • |EPLAY,address,length/64,delay,E-RAM
  • |XBLKON
  • |XBLKOFF
  • |SAYTIME
  • |SAYDATE
  • |SAYTEMP
  • |SETTIME, hour , minute , second
  • |SETDATE, year , month , day , dow
  • |GETTIME,@hour%,@minute%,@second%
  • |GETDATE,@year%,@month%,@day%,@dow%
  • |PCMUP,adr,StP,#P
  • |PCMMODE,1-4
  • |PCMPLAY,chan,sample_#,#_pages,rate
  • |EECLR
  • |EETEST
  • |EEGET,adr,page
  • |EEUP,adr,StPage,#pages
  • |MP3SLEEP
  • |MP3WAKE
  • |GETTEMP,@t%
  • |HIBERNATE
  • |RESUME
  • |MP3PLAY,song
  • |MP3XPLAY,dir,sng
  • |MP3PLAYC,song
  • |MP3PLAYF,folder(01-99)
  • |MP3VOL,vol(0-30)
  • |MP3STOP
  • |MP3HOLD
  • |MP3CONT
  • |MP3RES
  • |LSHELP --> will display a help message

Support can be get via email using: FutureSoft@gmx.de

Commands to control LambdaSpeak III

Attention: One of the two following commands shall be used before you can use the power of LambdaSpeak III

|LSINIT: Initializes the LambdaSpeak III when using the LambdaSpeak III ROMs. The following steps are carried out: The passing of parameters is switched to 'fast' (using |GETFAST), the language is set to English (|ENGLISH), the Blocking is set to OFF (|BLOCKOFF), the mode is set to Epson (|LAMBDA) and the speech delay is set to a minimum (20 ms) (|SETDELAY,1).

|LSINIC: Initializes the LambdaSpeak III when using the LambdaSpeak III ROMs. The following steps are carried out: The passing of parameters is switched to 'fast' (using |GETFAST), the language is set to Spanish (|SPANISH), the Blocking is set to OFF (|BLOCKOFF), the mode is set to Epson (|LAMBDA) and the speech delay is set to a minimum (20 ms) (|SETDELAY,1).

|RESET.: This is like to switch OFF and ON the LambdaSpeak III. It switches LambdaSpeak III into the dk'tronics mode.

|STOP..: Stops the current output of language (only in non blocking mode). Attention: You need to completely unblock the LambdaSpeak III using |BLOCKOFF and |XBLKOFF before using |STOP.

|WAIT..: Waits until LambdaSpeak III is ready. This means port &FBEE equals &20 or &80.


Commands to select the LambdaSpeak III mode

|LAMBDA: Selects the powerful Epson mode.

|DECTALK: Selects the DECtalk mode, it even can sing songs.

|SSA1: Switches to the Amstrad SSA-1 mode. The LambdaSpeak III now emulates the Amstrad SSA-1 speech synthesizer.

|SSASPO: Like the SSA1 mode, but uses the SPO256-AL2 chip onboard (like the real thing from Amstrad).

|DKTRONICS: Switches to the dk'tronics mode. The LambdaSpeak III now emulates the dk'tronics SPEECH synthesizer. |DKSPO: Like the dk'tronics mode, but uses the SPO256-AL2 chip onboard (like the real thing from dk'tronics).

|AMDRUM: Switches to the Amdrum mode. The LambdaSpeak III now emulates the AMDRUM drum system. This mode needs to be activated when using the RSX commands |PLAY and |EPLAY to play Amdrum samples. Attention: This mode can only be left by switching the CPC / LambdaSpeak III OFF and ON again!

|PCMMODE: Switches to PCM mode. In this mode PCM samples of the 128 KB EEPROM can be played. Attention: This mode can only be left by pressing the Reset_LambdaSpeak III button on the LS3 board.

Commands to select parameters of the LambdaSpeak III expansion

|SETVOLUME,0-15: Sets the volume to a value between 1 and 15. The value 0 select the standard volume.

|SETVOICE,0-15: Sets the voice to a value between 1 and 15. The value 0 select the standard voice.

|SETSPEED,0-15: Sets the speed of speaking to a value between 1 and 15. The value 0 select the standard speaking speed.

|SETDELAY,0-15: Sets the delay to a value between 1 and 15. The value 0 select the standard delay. With the 'delay' the time is indicated, which will pass before the LS starts talking after sending the last character to it.

|ENGLISH: Switches the language to English.

|SPANISH: Switches the language to Spanish.

|BLOCKON and |BLOCKOFF: These two commands switch the 'Blocking' on and off for 'User content'. If the 'Blocking' is switched on, then the LambdaSpeak III will HALT the CPC until all characters have been spoken and the LambdaSpeak III is ready again.

|XBLKON and |XBLKOFF: These two commands switch 'Blocking' on and off for 'Confirmations'. If the 'X Blocking' is switched on, then the LambdaSpeak III will HALT the CPC until the actual 'Confirmation' was spoken and the LambdaSpeak III is ready again.

|CONFON and |CONFOFF: These two commands switch the 'Conformations' on and off. If the 'Conformations' are switche on, the LambdaSpeak III will tell you all alterations (f.e. mode, language etc.) acoustically.

|GETFAST, |GETMED and |GETSLOW: These commands influence the length of the time span the LambdaSpeak III will provide parameters on the bus for the CPC. The LS3 shows data for 10 us, 50 us or 20 ms. For quick machine code the 'fast' mode should be used. As for FutureOS. 10 us. For regular machine code the 'medium' mode should be used. As for the RSX commands. 50 us. For BASIC programs (using IN and OUT commands) the mode should be switched to 'slow' = 20 ms.

Commands to read parameters from LambdaSpeak III

|GETVOLUME,@v%: Reads the actual value of 'volume' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETVOICE,@v%: Reads the actual number of the used 'voice' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETSPEED,@v%: Reads the actual value of 'speed of speech' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETDELAY,@v%: Reads the actual value of 'delay until speech' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETLANGUAGE,@v%: Reads the actual value of 'used language' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETMODE,@v%.: Reads the actual value of 'speech mode' (from 1 to 15) into a variable. Depends on mode, language, blocking. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETFMODE,@v%: Reads the actual full mode in which LambdaSpeak III currently operates This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|GETVER,@v%: Reads the actual value of 'version of LambdaSpeak III' (from 1 to 255) into a variable. This variable (here: v%) must be defined before usage.

|SPEAKMODE: The LambdaSpeak III tells its actual speech mode.


Commands to output speech

|SP,@text$ or |LAMBDASPEAK,@text$: The words contained in the variable text$ will be spoken using LambdaSpeak III. You should switch to Epson mode or DECtalk mode first. Attention: You must use |LSINIT or |LSINIC before you use this command!

|SPEAKSCREEN: The actual content of the screen will be spoken using LambdaSpeak III. ATTENTION: If the LambdaSpeak III is not in Epson or DECtalk mode, it will be switched to Epson Mode. And Confirmations are OFF. This command can be cancelled by pressing the ESCape key for some seconds.

|SPFILE,file$: The content of an ASCII file (here: 'file$') will be spoken using LambdaSpeak III. ATTENTION: Command |LSINIT, |LAMBDA or |DECTALK must be used before this command. Else this command will switch to EPSON mode and Confirmations are OFF. This command can be cancelled by pressing the ESCape key for some seconds.

Commands to control the Real-Time-Clock of the LambdaSpeak III

|SAYTIME: LambdaSpeak III will tell you the time

|SAYDATE: LambdaSpeak III will tell you the date

|SETTIME: The format of the command is |SETTIME, hour(0-23), minute(0-59), second(0-59). The command is used to set the time of the Real-Time-Clock of LambdaSpeak III. Attention: This command switches Confirmations OFF, you can/should switch them on again with |CONFON.

|SETDATE: The format of the command is |SETDATE, year(00-99), month(1-12), day(1-31), day of week(1-7). The command is used to set the LambdaSpeak III Real-Time-Clock's date and day of the week. In this case 1 = Monday and 7 = Sunday. Attention: This command switches Confirmations OFF, you can/should switch them on again with |CONFON.

|GETTIME: The format of the command is hour%=0:minute%=0:second%=0:|GETTIME,@hour%,@minute%,@second% This command allows to read the time of the Real-Time-Clock of the LambdaSpeak III into variables.

|GETDATE: The format of the command is year%=0:month%=0:day%=0:day_of_week%=0:|GETDATE,@year%,@month%,@day%,@day_of_week% This command allows to read the date of the Real-Time-Clock of the LambdaSpeak III into variables.

Commands for the Amdrum Mode of the LambdaSpeak III

|PLAY,adr,len,del: Plays a sample using the Amdrum emulation. The sample begins at address 'adr' in main RAM, it's 'len' bytes long and will be played with a delay of 'del'. Attention: Before using this command you need to switch Amdrum emulation on using |AMDRUM. From the Amdrum mode you can only switch back using a power cycle.

|EPLAY,adr,len/64,delay,E-RAM: Plays a sample using the Amdrum emulation. The sample begins at address 'adr' in the expansion RAM, it's 'len/64' bytes long and will be played with a delay of 'del'. The length in bytes can be calculated by: len * 64 This way you can play samples up to 4096 KB. The expansion RAM in which the sample starts is provided in variable 'E-RAM'. The parameter 'E-RAM' has the format of &7FC4, &7FC5, ... &7FFF. Attention: Before using this command you need to switch Amdrum emulation on using |AMDRUM. From the Amdrum mode you can only switch back using a power cycle.

Attention: Samples located in the first 64 KB of RAM are played using |PLAY, whereas sample being located in the expansion RAM will be played using the command |EPLAY

Commands for the PCM sample player Mode of the LambdaSpeak III

|PCMUP: The format of this command is |PCMUP, RAM-address, first_page(0-255), number_of_pages_to_be_written(1-256) This command is used to upload data from RAM into the 128 KB EEPROM of the PCM sample player. Every page is 512 bytes long. Page 0 can't be used to play samples. Attention: This command switches the confirmations off.

|EEUP: The format of this command is |EEUP, RAM-address, first_page(0-255), number_of_pages_to_be_written(1-256) This command is used to upload data from RAM into the 128 KB EEPROM of the LambdaSpeak III. Every page is 512 bytes long.

|EEGET: The format of this command is |EEGET, RAM-address, first_page(0-255) This command is used to read 512 bytes (one page) from the EEPROM of the LambdaSpeak III.

|PCMMODE: The format of this command is |PCMMODE, number_of_channels(1-4) This command switches to the PCM sample player mode and selects how much channels (1-4) shall be used The PCM mode can only be left by pressing Reset_LS3 button on the LambdaSpeak III or a power cycle.

|PCMPLAY: The format of this command is |PCMPLAY, channel(1-4), first_page(1-255), number_of_pages(1-255), speed-rate(1-255) The command is used to start playing a sample. The sample can be up to 128 KB long. Sample borders are defined by the 512 byte long pages of the EEPROM. Attention: Before you use |PCMPLAY you need to activate PCM sample play using the command |PCMMODE!

|PCMTEST: Send an 'test sample' to the Digital-Analog-Converter of the Amdrum emulation. Will loop forever.

|EECLR: Clears the 128 KB EEPROM which is used to store PCM samples.

|EETEST: Verifies the 128 KB EEPROM which is used to store PCM samples and tells its size and state.

Commands to control the MP3 module of the LambdaSpeak III

|MP3PLAY.: The format of this command is |MP3PLAY,number_of_song. The number can be from 0 to 99. In the root directory of the SD card of the MP3 modules must be a song starting with the corresponding number.

  • Examples:
  • |MP3PLAY,1 will play the song "001_The_cats_meow" or...
  • |MP3PLAY,7 will play the song "007_FutureOS_rulez" and so on...
  • Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3XPLAY: The format of this command is |MP3XPLAY,directory,song-number. This command allows to play a song (defined by number) from a folder (defined by number)

  • Example
  • |MP3XPLAY,1,1 will play song "001_Captain_Future" from the folder "01_CF"
  • Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3PLAYC: The format of this command is |MP3PLAYC,song_number. It will repeat to play the same song continuously. Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3PLAYF: The format of this command is |MP3PLAYF,folder(01-99) To repeat all songs of a folder with the name 01xxx to 99xxx you can use this command. For example |MP3PLAYF,9 will repeat all songs in the folder "09_A_Tribute_to_the_Sisters" Like usual the file names of the songs must start with "01xxx" up to "99xxx" Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3VOL: The format of this command is |MP3VOL,vol(0-30) To set the volume of the MP3 song output this command can be used. Volume is between 0 (off) and 30 (loudest). Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3STOP: Will stop the current MP3 song. There will be silence. Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3HOLD: Pauses the currently being played MP3 song. Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3CONT: Continues to play the current MP3 song after pausing it using command |MP3HOLD. Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3RES: Resets the MP3 circuit, probably only needed when soneting wents wrong. Should be used before using any other MP3 command ;-) (Well, if needed). Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3SLEEP: Puts the MP3 module into sleep mode (other serial communication possible?!??). Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|MP3WAKE: Wakes up the MP3 module after it was put into sleep mode using |MP3SLEEP. Attention: This command activates the serial mode of the LambdaSpeak III!

|SERIAL: Switches the serial mode on.

|SEROFF: Switches the serial mode off.

In case of timing problems please use |SERIAL or |MP3RES first.

Additional commands

|SPEAKINFO: Provides (tells) information about the LambdaSpeak III speech synthesizer.

|DAISY: Just sings an example song.

|HAL9000: Tells a citation from the legendary HAL9000 computer.

|LED: The format of this command is |LED,0-255. The LEDs will be set according to the provided value.

|GETTEMP: The format of this command is t%=0:|GETTEMP,@t% This command is used to read the actual temperature of the Real-Time-Clock board.

|BIGWATCH: This command shows a BIG watch on screen. Date and temperature are also shown.

|HIBERNATE: The format of this command is |HIBERNATE,first_page This command will save the first 48 KB of the CPC's main memory to EEPROM beginning at the given page. To save this 48 KB in the EEPROM 96 pages will be used. Attention: You must use |LSINIT or |LSINIC first, else the CPC hangs!

|RESUME: The format of this command is |RESUME,first_page This command will load 48 KB from EEPROM to of the CPC's main memory beginning at the given page. To load 48 KB from the EEPROM 96 pages will be read. Attention: You must use |LSINIT or |LSINIC first, else the CPC hangs!

Hardware of the LambdaSpeak III

More about this great piece of hardware can be found here: https://github.com/lambdamikel/LambdaSpeak