When will new hardware/soundcards be released from Creamware

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 11:18 am

Just to create some hysteria while we are all holding our breaths, because - let's admit it, it can't be long untill Creamware will have to release new hardware, if they want to keep up with the competition.
And these "anniversary"-deals smells a lot like they are trying to squeeze out the last few €'s from their excelent, but in this buisiness a bit old, products.

So what do you think?
- When will it happen?
- What kind of features do you think they will include?
- Does anyone have some hard facts on the new DSP-Processors?
- And what will the pricerange be?

I'm just curious and like the excitement while waiting for an upcoming product

Cheers!
Thomas

mythalethe · Post by **mythalethe** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 11:38 am

In keeping with the RISC architecture, I dream of 4-10 G3's chained together! Maybe they should just use G4's to totally kill the competition...

Also, as cheap as RAM is these days, 64-128 megs onboard would make the DSP's even more versatile.

-Mythalethe

[ This Message was edited by: mythalethe on 2002-10-01 13:05 ]

musquash · Post by **musquash** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:42 pm

maybe creamware waits with their new cards till the new pci standard is released.
http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/display_ ... ewsID=2074
my guess.. 3rd quarter of 2003?

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 3:09 pm

Hmm reading that article, I would say that it's a good guess! But still, a whole year! Ah well, it would give me just enough time to save up the money needed, both for the new Creamwarecard and mobo-upgrade

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 4:29 pm

You joined just to ask about new hardware?

There really isn't much that they could change. Sure, they could add more RAM and make their devices use it for reverbs, etc, but any decent motherboard makes this a moot issue. Sure, they could update to 192khz audio, but how many people are even using 96khz audio in their productions? And they could "upgrade" to a 66mhz PCI bus, but what would it need all that for?

Anyway, I'm as excited as the next guy to see new cards but I'm not sure I see a real need at this point. The current cards work very well in a decent audio computer... if Creamware does plan on creating a new card, it would be nice if it was linkable or backward compatible with their current generation of cards.

I'm still trying to figure out what exactly the main benefits would be for new hardware besides fitting in new Macs...

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 5:01 pm

Nope - I didn't join just to ask about new hardware, but it was the first question I felt like asking

One of the reasons why, is that the DSP-cards Creamware are making today doesn't offer a special increase in musicprocessingpower compared to nowerdays 2.5 Ghz/512 MB PC's. And to be honest, it isn't more easy to go from sequencer to Creamware-environment and maybe back again, than simply just staying "native" in the sequencer of your choice running VST's and DX's, which are giving pretty good results now. To me it looks like "native" systems is a strong opponent to DSP-based systems, and might "win the competition", unless Creamware and other DSP-system-producers comes up with something that can justify the extra money spent on DSP-chips and expensive software written for them.
Yes I know they still have something special to offer, I bought an Electra card, and I don't regret it. My point is simply that I might have been just as well off upgrading my PC instead!?

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 5:01 pm

the new member of the Sharc family 21161N with twice the RAM and 3 times more processing power than the current 21065L at just a 25% price increase can hardly be ignored by Cream (imho).
It's said to be completely compatible with previous design and might even reduce load on PCI bus due to its increased memory (?).
There was even a statement by Mr. Hund about increasing DSP power, which in his opinion was generally overlooked by the fans of 'native' processing...
Makes me convinced they'll introduce something based on that stuff within this year.
Anyone to bet ? I'll place my Wizzoo Magnetica (Rhodes and Hammond Akai)

cheers, Tom

ps: Petal, you were a millisecond earlier

if you have Elektra simply check the FM Rhodes against an FM7 counterpart - without effects (!).
There is no competition in audio quality. Even the (imho) best native synth (VirSyn) can't compete, though it's a very good device. Those sounds impress just by their effects at first hearing, without they get very thin and quickly boring.

[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2002-10-01 18:15 ]

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 5:58 pm

I guess with my setup of over 30 DSPs, I can't think of anything that would make me happier...

But I guess more power for cheaper would be good for those of us without this kind of power. Honestly I have a hard time filling 30 DSPs though!

And one other thing that would help in utilizing all this DSP power would be quicker DSP loading times, perhaps this could be helped by using a faster DSP?

Now we're talkin'!

petal · Post by **petal** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 6:08 pm

Yes, faster DSP-loading time, and a faster GUI! - Please! I really think that the interface feels heavy, which is bad for the flow, while working in the SFP-environment. It's become faster with FSP 3.1C, but it still doesn't feel "light".

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 6:30 pm

Well over the years, and certainly the past few months we've seen the release of every more sophisticated devices, which need more and more DSP to run, so it would be logical to upgrade at one point to faster DSP's as well.
Native is competitive, certainly in price, but it seems the dedicated DSP system makes it possible to create better sounding devices. It may seem like you can get more native plugins to run on your processor, but a native version of Minimax would probably eat up lots more power than your average VST synth too.

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 11:58 pm

IMO, they will not release new cards until the new PCI has become mainstream. What's the use of selling a super audio card without anyone having the right comp for it?
They will use much faster DSP's, more RAM etc, I don't think that'll increase loading times: you just make bigger projects

They will probably still make use of the computer's RAM -or they'd have to reprogram the whole reverb/delay/samplers system I think. Or maybe new devices can make use of it, while old still adress to RAM.

Got 21 DSP, which indeed rarely is filled up -initially. It's nice having some headroom. Why is everyone dreaming of these mega cards? You can put 3 Scope's in a comp if you want. 45 DSP. @ 44.1, you'll have a hard time to think of more devices you could load. That is, if you wanna spent some for 45 DSP. And I don't think the new fast DSP will make everything cheap at once.

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 1:03 am

If i had a Scope DP i can think of several devices i wanna build that is simply too heavy on both DSP and PCI bus.
So i would definitley like faster DSP and onboard memory.

On the speculations on CW fitting G3:s on the new cards.....
That is NOT going to happen.
The G3 processor does'nt support multiprocessing. And on a DSP card you'd want DSP processors not general "do it all" stuff.
Plus they are'nt backwards compatible.
So that won't happen for sure.

spoimala · Post by **spoimala** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 2:46 am

Damn you guys, I was just about to buy a SCOPE card, and now I stopped to think whether to wait for the new cards...

But I think it's not worth waiting, it's a known fact that prices go down and power up every day... so if I decide to wait, I can wait to eternity.

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 4:07 am

Why is everyone dreaming of these mega cards? You can put 3 Scope's in a comp if you want. 45 DSP. @ 44.1, you'll have a hard time to think of more devices you could load. That is, if you wanna spent some for 45 DSP. And I don't think the new fast DSP will make everything cheap at once.

Yeah, but the speed/price ratio can't stay the same forever. As technology moves on, you get more power for the same price, it happens with native processing, so if CW want to remain competitive it should happen with DSP processing as well. If you bought a Pentium three years ago, you would get a much faster one today for the same price, with Creamware, you would get pretty much the same as three years ago. Of course CW can't update their cards as often as Intel and Athlon do their processors, but it will have to happen.
It won't be any cheaper, but you get more bang for the buck, so to say. Not everyone can afford to buy all that power at the current prices.

[ This Message was edited by: King of Snake on 2002-10-02 05:12 ]

valis · Post by **valis** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 4:17 am

Creamware does plan on creating a new card, it would be nice if it was linkable or backward compatible with their current generation of cards.

YES!!!!!!!!!! (and the link should support higher throughput for new cards with backwards compat. with the old ones at the same time [if necessary] so you're not crippling new cards by hanging on to old ones. Or perhaps two internal connectors?...)

samplaire · Post by **samplaire** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 4:24 am

if CW would think about new cards they should think about an upgrade policy, too. Look at Subhuman - he owns 2 scopes and he spent lots of hard earned money for them. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes if new cards would bring new software not backward compatible.

Hey, Sub, I don't wish it to you, really!!! Nor to anybody!!! Let's knock on wood.

I know not everybody likes Digidesign but their upgrade policy is good idea - buy new hardware, bring us your old cards and get a big discount on it!

thermos · Post by **thermos** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 7:34 am

i think noha wil be released with new and better sharcs. And I think thats the reason its been delayed a year.

keep in mind, im just guessing here.

Thermos

bosone · Post by **bosone** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 7:57 am

a possible scenario can be:
"let our customers buy all our existing cards to finish our stocks, and then let's introduce a new card..."
this would explain both the special summer sales and the nowadays "special price" for the ones who bring new customers to CW.
(a bit of x-files, yhea!)

anyway, i hope that the new cards (if they will be introduced) will bring more DSP power for less money... with 6DSP you can't go so far in music production, if you want to do all with pulsar (synth and fx)

petal · Post by **petal** » Mon Oct 07, 2002 2:28 pm

I got this mail today, I suppose just like the rest of you:

CreamWare E-News
October 07, 2002

The Pulsar X-MAS Packs are available now
----------------------------------------

CreamWare heralds the coming holiday season now! Don't let this great
opportunity pass you by!

Never before has Pulsar been available at such a low price - and packed so full
with professional features! The limited-edition Pulsar X-MAS Packs are complete
Pulsar II or PowerPulsar systems, outfitted with professional I/O-options and
including the SPL Attacker plug-in. You can get the Pulsar X-MAS Packs right now
at sensational holiday season prices!

Pulsar X-MAS Packs Highlights:

Includes the Attacker plug-in by SPL
------------------------------------
The unique dynamic processor is based on the technology of the award-winning SPL
Transient Designer. A fantastic studio tool.

Professional I/O options included: "Plus" or "Z-Link"
-----------------------------------------------------
- Superior sound quality - ideal for professional studio environments
- "Plus" version: Analog balanced, AES/EBU, 2 x ADAT (20 I/Os total)
- "Z-Link" version: Analog, S/PDIF, ADAT, 2 x Z-Link (28 I/Os total)
- Also available in the standard versions "Classic 20" and "24 ADAT"

Incredibly low price points!
----------------------------
The Pulsar X-MAS Packs are available at prices of up to 30% below the normal
list prices at CreamWare dealers worldwide! Contact your local CreamWare dealer
or distributor for the price in your country. A list of CreamWare distributors
and dealers can be found in the "Links" section on our website.

Please note: The Pulsar X-MAS Packs offer expires December 31st and is available
only while supply lasts. Detailed information about the Pulsar X-MAS Packs is
available now at http://www.creamware.com.

They are selling out

They want to get rid of the stock! I'm positive. We might see new hardware from Creamware sooner than suggested earlier in this thread. My guess now, is that they will introduce the new soundcards at NAMM 2003!

Oh man - Where shall I find the money?

Cheers!
Thomas

spoimala · Post by **spoimala** » Tue Oct 08, 2002 7:18 am

What are exatcly those great prices? And how much people have paid for their cards?
I have a pretty interesting (and long) story about my soon-coming purchase of a SCOPE card. It took.. a few months. But I'm satisfied.
The price will be only a little over 3000euros! The list price in Finland at the moment is 5150euros....

I don't get the SPL plugin though

[ This Message was edited by: spoimala on 2002-10-08 08:18 ]