Contents |
Description
The Casia Tyzack VSD was constructed between 1989 and 1992 by the Dutch company Casia. It is basically a combination of a modified Philips VG-8230 MSX2 enhanced to MSX2+ and used as main computer with 5 other computers:
- a Sony HB-F9P MSX2 used as digitizer
- a Toshiba HX-10P MSX1 used for 48T music keyboard control and MIDI
- a Philips P2000C used as sampler controller
- a Tulip System 1 used as number cruncher and for word processing
- an Acorn Atom used for drums and synchronicity
It was also planned to use a Philips VG-8020 MSX1 as sequencer.
CP/M 2.2 is used on the Philips P2000C to initialize the sampler before loading the Tymos Operating System from the main computer.
The Philips VG-8230 is enhanced with MSX2+ VDP, MSX-DOS 2 rom, a rom with the Tymos OS including Tymos BASIC and another rom with the TyzackVSD BASIC extensions. The RAM is upgraded to 256kB, a 20Mb SCSI harddisk is built-in and a writable at boot 16kB SRAM is included, allowing loading of the Tymos OS and easy updates of the system.
A little rom added to the Toshiba HX-10P is used during the boot sequence to initialize the subsystem.
Besides, this transputer system has
- a improved homebrew digitizer with a resolution of 256 x 256 pixels and 32 shades of gray (addition of 3-bit A/D to handle the 19268 MSX2+ colors)
- two stereo Philips SAA1099 sound generators with 6 channels per generator - for info about the internal registers, see the instruction CMD SND of Tyzack64M BASIC
- a General Instrument SPO256-AL2 speech synthesizer (64 phonems)
- a homebrew stereo AD/DA sampler, with its own RAM (partly inspired by the Doepfer/Elektor sampler, though much less sophisticated)
- a homebrew A/D interface for printer scanner
- a MIDI interface (AY-3-1015 UART)
- an RS-232C interface
VSD stands voor Veel Snel Duur, what means Much Fast Expensive.
The following table does not includes the Philips VG-8020 as it was only planned and the Casia team does not have found trace of it in his archive.
Brand | Casia |
Model | Tyzack VSD |
Year | 1989 to 1992 |
Region | the Netherlands |
Launch price | |
RAM | 2076kB : 256kB (Philips VG-8230) + 16kB (SRAM) + 128kB (Sony HB-F9P) + 64kB (Toshiba HX-10P) + 64kB (Philips P2000C) + 512kB (Tulip System 1) + 12kB (Acorn Atom) + 1024kB (sampler RAM) |
VRAM | 304kB : 128kB (Philips VG-8230)) + 128kB (Sony HB-F9P) + 16kB (Toshiba HX-10P) + 32kB (Philips P2000C) |
Media | MSX cartridges, 3.5" 1DD floppy disks (Philips VG-8230) + 5.25" floppy disks (Philips P2000C and Tulip System 1) |
Video | Yamaha V9958 (enhanced Philips VG-8230) + Yamaha V9938 (Sony HB-F9P) + Texas Instruments TMS9929A (Toshiba HX-10P) + Motorola 6845 (Philips P2000C and Tulip System 1) + NEC 7220 coprocessor (Tulip System 1) + Motorola 6847 (Acorn Atom) |
Audio | PSG (custom chip integrated in MSX-Engine S3527) (Philips VG-8230) + PSG (YM2149 integrated in MSX-Engine S1985) (Sony HB-F9P) + PSG (AY-3-8910A) (Toshiba HX-10P) + speaker 1 channel (Acorn Atom) |
Chipset | Yamaha S3527 (Philips VG-8230) + Yamaha S1985 (Sony HB-F9P) + Toshiba TCX-1007 (Toshiba HX-10P) |
Keyboard layout | {{{keylayout}}} |
Extras | internal 20MB hard disk drive, built-in MSX-DOS 2, two stereo Philips SAA1099 sound generators, General Instrument SPO256-AL2 speech synthesizer, stereo AD/DA sampler, digitizer with 3-bit A/D, A/D interface for printer scanner, interface for music keyboard, MIDI interface, RS-232C interface, Tymos Operating System with Tymos BASIC, TyzackVSD BASIC, reset button |
Emulation | not applicable |
Pictures
Specifications
Main system
The Philips VG-8230 is an MSX2 with a Z80 from Zilog (Z8400APS) and the MSX-Engine S3527 from Yamaha. It is enhanced with the MSX2+ VDP.
Digitizer subsystem
The Sony HB-F9P is an MSX2 with a Z80A from Sharp (LH0080A) or NEC (uPD780C) and an S1985 MSX-Engine from Yamaha.
48T music keyboard control and MIDI subsystem
The Toshiba HX-10P is an MSX1 with a Z80A from Sharp (LH-0080A).
Sequencer subsystem (as it was planned)
The Philips VG-8020/00 is an MSX1 with a Z80 from NEC (D780C-1) without MSX Engine. The other revisions have a Z80 from NEC (D780C-1) or Zilog (Z8400APS) and the MSX-Engine S3527 from Yamaha.
Sampler subsystem
The Philips P2000C is a 8bit computer with two Z80A (the second is dedicated to I/O) running at 4 MHz.
Number cruncher and word processing subsystem
The Tulip System 1 is a 16bit computer based on the Intel 8086 running at 8 MHz. Its VDP is based on the Motorola 6845 and there's also a built-in NEC 7220 video display coprocessor.
Drums ans synchronicity subsystem
The Acorn Atom is a 8bit computer with a MOS Technology 6502 clocked at 1MHz.
Connections
- RF output
- RGB output (8-pin DIN)
- Monitor connectors
- Audio output connectors
- Audio input connector
- Video input connector
- Keyboard connector
- Tape recorder connector
- RS-232C connectors
- MIDI connectors
- Connector for music/sampler keyboard
- Centronics compatible Parallel port for a printer
- 2 general connectors (joysticks, mouse, paddle controllers, ...)
- 2 cartridge slots
- 220V AC Power socket