New Features, Devices, and Ideas for Pulsar
Ok, heres a hardware thing that is an extension of the RAM card idea. . . what about a pulsar card or series of cards that both had sdram bannks and could be 64bit pci or 66mhz pci or both. No DSP's just stdm connectors. Since that won't happen some software ideas, I know that many people like the gui but I'd like one that was a windows app and not an OS (pulsar feels and looks like its own subOS to me) another thing more clear concept on what is happining with dithering, is everthing going into pulsar dithered to 32bit? if so any dest or source should have a few different dither options or just croping or L or R justify options so that you can actually have an idea of what it's doing. Currently its easy to use but their is less control my guess is that a 16 bit word just gets L justified and 16 extra zero's are added at the end. how about useing the function keys for favorite devices and the numbers to eisily toggle throgh the first 10 devices that you loaded (only ones that have a surface obviosly). And one final thing, the ability to add an insert point in any device. I think that like Sub said that it would be nice to be abe able to have a tube sound in a synth, well what if you could quickly create a pre filter insert and route the signal through a tube distortion pedal (guitar style) and then back to the rest of the synth. my $.02
1. Something like "midi controller multiplier tool". I mean, I send some controller message with, say, controller #74. The tool copies the same controller change to several different controllers. The usage can be simple: controlling several choosable controls on one synth with one controller. The amount of copied controllers can be variable. Perhaps, the change can be not only just copying, but with some scaling etc... A morphing group? 
2. There are already a lot of synthesis types in Pulsar: subtractive, FM, sample-based, wavetable... But still no physical modelling (of acoustic instruments). Perhaps something like Yamaha VL. Can it be expected?
3. Ability to disable devices (freeing DSP resources) without their deletion from the project. Sometimes it might be useful, as my (not really rich though) experience shows.
2. There are already a lot of synthesis types in Pulsar: subtractive, FM, sample-based, wavetable... But still no physical modelling (of acoustic instruments). Perhaps something like Yamaha VL. Can it be expected?
3. Ability to disable devices (freeing DSP resources) without their deletion from the project. Sometimes it might be useful, as my (not really rich though) experience shows.
Ryan, I like your idea of such RAM-card very much, I already thought of stuff like that. A card like that could make Pulsar completely independend and should be quite cheap to produce. One card with two SD-Ram slots for up to 1GB could handle all samples and devices and release all of the computer´s RAM and PCI traffic for running different applications at their max performance. This could give a big boost to much more complicated devices and handling really big sample programs with up to 800Megs like some grandpianos or even some of those Gigasampler libraries. As long as Pulsar is not in use, this card´s RAM could be used by Windows as a cache for the swap file, for example. Maybe pulsar´s overall latency could also be reduced to 1ms at either samplerate that way...
But somehow, this sounds too nice to come true, doesn´t it?
But somehow, this sounds too nice to come true, doesn´t it?
One more idea I just had in this moment is "intelligent" cabling in projects.
I mean: having only 1 audio connector for stereo signals, too, and cables that "feel" if they´re connected to mono or stereo... this would improve space and time saving in your projects, the devices themselves could become smaller then, and last but surely not least, this solution would be great to have for the AUX sends, so a single AUX-out could transmit either mono or stereo signal to an FX depending on what it is connected to. Stereo cables should be coloured differently then, maybe green.
I mean: having only 1 audio connector for stereo signals, too, and cables that "feel" if they´re connected to mono or stereo... this would improve space and time saving in your projects, the devices themselves could become smaller then, and last but surely not least, this solution would be great to have for the AUX sends, so a single AUX-out could transmit either mono or stereo signal to an FX depending on what it is connected to. Stereo cables should be coloured differently then, maybe green.
I think that instead of seeing Something like a ASIO little box. It should say the program it's talking to. Like if you are using Cubase you should be able to bring up a Cubase box and then select ASIO in it. It would make things a lot easier to see what programs you are using.
It would be great if you could select Cubase, Logic, Cakewalk in you software I/O. It would make it so much easier, then you could run a few programs all at the same time and know exactly want is pluged in where. You counld still use the ASIO interface and stuff, but you select it in the I/O sofware box of your chose. That's what I want to SEE.
It would be great if you could select Cubase, Logic, Cakewalk in you software I/O. It would make it so much easier, then you could run a few programs all at the same time and know exactly want is pluged in where. You counld still use the ASIO interface and stuff, but you select it in the I/O sofware box of your chose. That's what I want to SEE.
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Neil B
Wow. I'm really impressed by how many of the ideas in this thread have been implemented. Nice work Creamware!
1. I found the External Effects modules to be really, really sweet. Now, I want more like this: a device which has assignable number of inputs and outputs just like the External Effects module. Example: External Synth Device, which I setup with 6 outputs, 2 inputs, and call "Waldorf Q." Or an 8 input/8output device which I can also assign the I/os, and call "Second PC" if for example, I have one adat port connected to a second PC. Basically a way to make the environment even more friendly. I am still smiling in disbelief with just how cool the External Effect module is. More please!
2. Cursors. I noticed that when wiring, (SFP 3.1 currently in Standard Mode), that after you click, the cursor becomes an hourglass - even though the computer is still ready to accept input. This also makes it a bit challenging to know exactly where the tip of your cursor is when you go to select the other device you're connecting: if you 'miss' this device, you must go and re-select the first device again. If the cursor was always just an arrow (except when maybe the cursor is hovering over a 'hot area' that allows connections), I think this would really make the routing window 'feel' better.
Thanks for listening - SFP <i>rocks</i>!
1. I found the External Effects modules to be really, really sweet. Now, I want more like this: a device which has assignable number of inputs and outputs just like the External Effects module. Example: External Synth Device, which I setup with 6 outputs, 2 inputs, and call "Waldorf Q." Or an 8 input/8output device which I can also assign the I/os, and call "Second PC" if for example, I have one adat port connected to a second PC. Basically a way to make the environment even more friendly. I am still smiling in disbelief with just how cool the External Effect module is. More please!
2. Cursors. I noticed that when wiring, (SFP 3.1 currently in Standard Mode), that after you click, the cursor becomes an hourglass - even though the computer is still ready to accept input. This also makes it a bit challenging to know exactly where the tip of your cursor is when you go to select the other device you're connecting: if you 'miss' this device, you must go and re-select the first device again. If the cursor was always just an arrow (except when maybe the cursor is hovering over a 'hot area' that allows connections), I think this would really make the routing window 'feel' better.
Thanks for listening - SFP <i>rocks</i>!