Try to keep up : P

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:07 am

aiiiiiiii,

Hello everyone howsit goin? This forum rox some serious arse

.OK, lets get to the point of why Im writing this.I just got Luna II over Game theater XP -spreads his arms wide inhales and screams yeeeeeeeeeeepeeeeeeeeeeeeeee !, khm-and I literally dont know SQAT about SFP nor Luna II, so ama ask some questiones aight ?

Here goes :

1) The most annoying thing so far was that since I got all this my comp has gone slower(altho after a brief excursion to some forums topics I tweaked my pc and things got a little better)so that with some really basic operations in windows it would freeze for some time.That makes me impossible to even try to open any of my projects with cpu usage up to 60 percent alone,without the SFP opened.My first guess is to insert more RAM, which I will today, coz now I have only 216.I will totally fill the RAMholes

2) Ok, I got MIDI running at least so I can play instruments in Reason and SX and VSTis.Im not used to latency this low ! hhehe anyways I had some problems tho with reason and SX, in preferences or device setup or whatever, where u select your driver(asio scope in my case).We have asio control panel there also.Ok so this panel if u open it should well, erm open and there one can muck with ulli and bit depth and rate etc.Well it opened for me once but now if I press it nothing happens

3) The Sp/DIF I/O on the Luna isnt quite working for me.It can be used as output for listening on i.e. headphones right ??If YES can anyone explain the routing so I will be able to examine my mixes over the phones also.If NOT, then ermmmmmmm make yourself a cup of cocoa

this will be enuf for one day, but take my word Ill ask a whoooooooole lot more.

Thanx big time in advance,

LAters

_________________
"Miss, what gear were you in when you hit mr.Smith's car?"
"If I recall correctly, pink blouse with trousers and some ugly shoes"

[ This Message was edited by: ShaTNorsK on 2002-10-29 05:15 ]

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 5:17 am

uff sorry I see this is the wrong forum.
@Moderator can you plz move this to problem sloving

thx

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 12:59 pm

Hi,

I hear everybody thinking 'oki, at0m, fix this one now'

re: 1) SFP shouldn't slow down your machine, unless you use loads of ASIO ports or reverbs. Both of them use the PCI bus to communicate with CPU or RAM. If you overload the PCI bus, the machine will slow down. What's your machine's spec's?

re: 2) You can only call up the ASIO contorl panel when in XTC mode. When SFP is open, SFP does all the ASIO control. Do not change ASIO I/O's etc when Reason/Cubase/... is open.

re: 3) S/P-DIF is digital audio. I doubt your phones can handle that. Plus, S/P-DIF puts 5 Volts on the wire, instead of analog's 0.5V. Do not connect analog equipment to the S/P-DIF.

See you in the Problem Solving Forum. In the mean while, run searches here, read tips and tricks etc etc.

Enjoy.

at0mic.

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 2:25 pm

hello,

and thanx for replying so quickly at0m.So to brighten some things for starters....

1)re:re: Please bare in mind that I got Luna two days ago so when you asked if i have multiple ASIO devices or reverbs turned on, I had quite a laugh

(havent got a clue how to do that).And when I meant that my machine was "slow", I meant when, i.e. I tried just to minimize SFP, my comp froze.Is it maybe coz of I just reinstalled windows and I didnt select FAT32 when formatting partitions ?? My specs are:

1.5Ghz athlon
218 RAM (for now

)
40 GB disk with three separate partitions
Luna II

2)re:re:OK, this XTC mode is giving me some serious headaches.I mean, whats the point of it if whenver I startup Cubase there is an error that says XTC plugins are not available while another creamware application is running.But there isnt anything running except SFP

3)I got this SP/DIF figured out so no questions here

4)Sometimes when I accidentaly close SFP in the middle of an opened program I get some driver problem error.Ok, I reopen SFP again select driver, but there is no sound until i restart my compo ?

Havent eaten anything in 20 hours coz of this devil called SFP.But i like him !

LAters

Tony B · Post by **Tony B** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 4:05 pm

What you should be doing now is getting to understand the SFP routings. Do not close it before closing the sequencer. Most of the problems were dealt with and is posted in this forum. Do a search first.

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 4:39 pm

ShaTNorsk, I think you will be better off reading some basics in the manual for now, cos it will contain most of the answers to your current questions. You need a basic knowledge of the system, like abre11 said...

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 4:51 pm

willdo guys, thx for replys anyway

LAters

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 6:26 pm

arghhh !

I know im getting a bit, well, quite a lot on your nerves but please try to understand that for a 16 year-old all this is like freakin rocket science.Ive learnt quite alot from reading the manual, but this XTC mode just eats my nerves out !!!
I do everything like I am supposed to (or not ??)and it still doesnt work.I select enable XTC mode and then open Cubase.But when initializing I always get an error about XTC plugins not available while other creamware application is running.From what Ive read in the manual it only says how to open XTC plugs from within Cubase, but not how to start the whole friggin' process !!

Brffffffff, sorry for some harsh expressions but this thing is really pushing me to the verge of my senses.

thanx in advance,

LAters

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 6:49 pm

yeah.. the learning curve is quite hard. Hang in there.

I don't use XTC mode at all, but make sure SFP isn't running in the background. You may have a background project running. (check taskbar)

Actually, you could do everything in SFP for the moment, untill you get the hang of things. and then switch over to XTC mode. I don't think you'll be using much of XTC later on I think..

In the meanwhile, a warm welcome to PlanetZ!

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 7:02 pm

Ken's right, stick to the SFP environment. It's much more flexible than the Cubase one. As a Mac user we never got XTC and frankly I will live without it ever coming to Mac. If you want to learn routing then SFP is very visual and very much like wiring a hardware studio (for those of us that remember such things). When I was 16 I had a Tascam 244 (ask your grandad) and I couldn't have even dreamed of a system like you've got. Enjoy.

Post by **hubird** » Tue Oct 29, 2002 10:21 pm

Oh my god, I still have my old Akai MG 614... and it still works (I think)!!, 4-track tape cassette recording system at double speed, for the price of a Pulsar system... uhff.
Shat, take a couple of weeks and study your new gear, read everything you can find, here on planetz, the web and reread the f.ng manual, and, like others said, forget XTC for a while, even At0mic had some struggles with it... not his fault I think.
And if you are really desperate, play 'Sweet Sixteen' of B. B. King, so you will remember there's always left the classic analogue non computer way of making music...

Good luck anyway.

RedSun · Post by **RedSun** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 2:16 am

Also, keep in mind that this is a great learning tool.

You see, great flexibility comes with it's price: A steep learning curve.

It also has some great benefits: Mastering this one tool will teach you more about digital music production than a lot of other tools combined.

Enjoy!

RedSun .:.

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 5:28 am

hi,

Wow quite alot of replys since I went to bed yesterday

Yeah the lurning curve is steeep altho im afraid there are loads of functions I wont/cant use.I mean i bought Luna because I wanted to be able to play VSTis realtime.But all this that came with it....Thank God I have holidays for 10 days now (already spent 4 "whole" days) coz I literally aint going out of my room anymore, especially since I got midi running yesterday

. BUT, after "discovering" how to record input signal, let me tell you a little story.....

I was just finishimg reading the manual where I learnt some simple routing and recording input signal.So I was full of confidence and decided to give my cousin a call to try and record his guitar.There we were at 3.30 in the morning still with no results when I wisely say :"OH of course, the fader on the card's mixer is too low."I go and push the fader ALL the way up.Still nothing??"What the f**k??The wave image was drawn but no sound?Then I open Cubase because we wanted to record one more time, just in case, when I see that the track on which the guitar was recorded is set to "Mute"

.Hahahhahaah, we had one of them man-are-we-stupid-but-now-we-know-what-was-wrong sort of laugh.So I reach to press play, being totally confident that we will hear at least "something" now.Boy was I wrong!!RRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWdrwooooooooooofffffffffffffffffffffffff BAGAGAGaBAGABAGABAGABAGABAGA !!!!!and multiple that by 1000.I was in such a shock of the moment, coz I didnt know what to do, I pushed restart on my comp

.My sis came running in my room all muckered coz she was sleeping, where we were sitting unmovable, and screamed :"Guyyyyyys run for it, the gas pipe just blew up !!!!!!!"a moment of silence....................then ROTFLMFBAO !!!! we were laughing so much I wont bother loosing words about it.

There you have it a story of succes of a Luna user

.I will post later today some other questions, if thats ok?
Thanx for the help,

LAters

_________________
"Miss, what gear were you in when you hit mr.Smith's car?"
"If I recall correctly, pink blouse with trousers and some ugly shoes"

[ This Message was edited by: ShaTNorsK on 2002-10-30 15:20 ]

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 6:52 am

Hehe, glad you're having fun with your new card. Man, you're still 16 and you've got all these toys to play with. Dunno what will become of your generation! But I'm sure the future looks pretty darn optimistic.

And by the way, Luna has nothing to do with playing VSTi in realtime. What luna, or any SFP card does, is it loads its own set of synths (like the bundled bluesynth or inferno) into the card's DSP, and plays them realtime on its hardware. When using VSTi, Luna will just act as a low-latency soundcard. To take advantage of the onboard DSP, you'll need to load the Pulsar synths, or Pulsar effects. But since Luna doesn't have too much DSP power, you might find yourself using it in conjunction with VSTi's for maximum output.

But heck, I'm very glad you're with us at such an early age! Keep coming back!

PS. Happy thanxgiving to you and everyone here on PlanetZ!

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-10-30 06:54 ]

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 7:18 am

hello kensuguro,

and thanx for replying.U can be pretty sure Ill post messages every day here(at least for some time now) coz there is soooooo much that I still dont know about this card.Basically I dont know anything except how to use midi and record external gear(but in the end thats all I need for now ).And yeah, what I meant about playing VSTis realtime, I meant latency-free

I dont want to start a "tribal war" now, I just want to know if I made the right decission with Luna, coz Terratec DMX fire was also in the battle.You know all this scope fusion inferno for me and stuff that I "think" I dont need

LAters

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 1:40 pm

Hi ShaTNorsK,

I'm glad you enjoy your card -'t Was very funny, your midnight full blown level play

And a said before: man, if you get an overview on this card, you'll be ready to use any studio technique or device. We all wish we had such a card at 16. But back then it did not exist... I rememver my SB64 Gold, it had 4MB memory for samples and it drove me crazy already ;o)

Have fun!!

at0mic.

PS. Could you put some spaces in that 'wall of sound simulation' line cos it makes this page difficult to read.

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 3:37 pm

ellow,

all yu guru pulsarians and totally obsessed pulsar geeks, this is another question that will stir your foam

.
here goes.....

Ok, one of the things that still bothers me a little with my basics task with Luna is the stm 1632 desk.More specific, I dont really get the faders

.Lets say there is an asio source set on channel 1.The stm's fader acts like output volume right?Because if I lower it to the ground the meter will still jump, but if I change the volume i.e. in Reason(input right:???: ) the meters in stm will flash differently.Altho the main fader on the 1632 acts like input fader, or not

Im asking all this because if I will get me some real monitors (im already gathering ALL of my savings for Mackie hr624's)will I be able to control the volume through stm or not ??
LAters

marcuspocus · Post by **marcuspocus** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 3:45 pm

Yes, completely, but usualy, what i do is throw in a simple channel object in the setup, so i can control the output volume separatly for my monitor while keeping full volume for recording the entire mix into wavlab for example.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Wed Oct 30, 2002 4:24 pm

This might sit better in the Puldar Study forum.

Eeeek! I loaded stm1632 for the first time in my life... I'm tellin' ya, this is a wierd mixer.

The key to understanding how this mixer works is the "VU Mode" section, on the right hand side. Right under it, is a button that either says "Ins" or "Outs". When set to Ins, the VU will display the pure input signal, at pre-everything. While the Outs mode will have the VU display the signal of the direct outs. (going out of D1-D16 outputs) Typically, you'd expect to see the VU as in the Outs mode... just that the only way to see it, is to connect something to the direct out ports. The best would be to connect the D1-D16 to ASIO dest module so your VU acts right. Seems this is the way this mixer was intended to be used.

The master VUs though, work as expected. They are post fader, and reflect proper output values.

After you get the hang of that, you'd probably want to get into the Aux section, because it's what makes this mixer more powerful than the lesser ones. (click "Aux" under the Page section, on the right)

From top to bottom:
"Pre" button enables you to do aux sends pre-fader. That means, you can put the volume fader all the way down, whithout it affecting the aux send. (if Pre is off, the lower the volume, the lower the aux send) I usually keep my aux sends at Pre, because it's especially usefull for controling reverb signals.

Aux Sends faders control the overall volume of each of the aux channels. Pretty straight forward.

The "Int" button may be hard to grasp. The default is on, meaning the Aux channels will use the internal Aux effect inserts. But, when turned off, a new Aux out will appear at the bottom of the stm1632 module in the routing window. How many outs per aux channel do you see? Yes, ONE. So, by doing Aux externally, you've limited yourself to MONO aux channels.. It's better to just work internally so you can do everything stereo, and use the MultiFX module if you need more than one effect per aux channel.

Remember, all aux channels are muted by default. (not smart) Be sure to turn them on before you panic, or make a preset with all of them turned on to make your life easier.

Okee, so I think that about does it for 1632. Now go kick some arse.

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-10-30 16:27 ]

ShaTNorsK · Post by **ShaTNorsK** » Thu Oct 31, 2002 7:42 am

hello and thx for the replys,

kensu, Im not sure if I understand your comments correctly.I set the mixer to outs and then I connected d4L d4R to asio dest.But then the faders were acting like, when I lowered the fader on the 1632 the meters started to lower also.Is this supposed to be ??

And about the monitors,marcuspocus what do u mean u throw a single channel object in the setup ??

LAters