whats so good about pulsar vs. other solutions

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:25 am

Hello,

I would realy like to understand what's so good in pulsar:
1st: comared to the native processing.
Now that computer get more and more speadier and get speeds never achieved before, is it realy needed to have a dedicated dsp system for music work?
2nd: What so special in it compared to the http://www.sydec.be Soundscape16/32 (it's a complete dsp solution that process every audio aspect without a computer, crash free system, needing computer only for monitor and mouse/keyboard) or their mixtereme pci addon??
what about the mackie UAD-1, TC Powercore and I assume there may exist quite many other dsp cards??

I'll be glad to hear from you what are you thinking on all that matter, are you knowing other dsp cards I didn't mention?? what are you thinking should be best in the actual situation and why...

thank in advance

ilovepets

eliam · Post by **eliam** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 11:47 am

...And as processing speed increases, the new native plugins grow more and more cpu-hungry... In almost all my projects, I reach the limit of my p4@2.1 ghz (I try not to go above 2/3), so I'm happy to be able to load a couple more plug-ins in my cw cards without adding an additional charge to the processor.
CW's routing flexibility is really useful and the quality of most programs justifies the investment too.

AndreD · Post by **AndreD** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:10 pm

there is no othere solution that replaces a hardware mixer in your studio-setup like creamware sfp

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:15 pm

There is no other solution that gives you the extremely powerful routing flexibility of SFP. Also there are many high-quality plugins available for SFP that you won't find anywhere else -- especially in the synth realm. And yes, it's always good to have the extra power in your computer when you run out of CPU!

Shayne

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:17 pm

Are you reffering in your answer also to the http://www.sydec.be soundscape systems??
Is pulsar better than this one and why?

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:27 pm

It looks like the Soundscape card is an all-in-one solution like Pro Tools -- its own software works with its own hardware. I didn't see any mention of WDM or ASIO drivers, so I'm assuming it won't work with any other software. Pulsar, on the other hand, is designed to integrate with the sequencer software of your choice -- be it Sonar, Cubase, Samplitude, or anything else. I also don't know if the Soundscape has the amazing routing window like Pulsar; they seemed more interested in showing off a lot of marketing talk than showing you what the card actually does. But maybe somebody saw something I didn't....

Shayne

kimgr · Post by **kimgr** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:32 pm

You can't compare Pulsar and SoundScape. (Or you shouldn't!)
SoundScape is a recorder/editor/mixer, comparable to Protools. (Are there other dsp based DAW's worth mentioning in this price range ?)
Pulsar/SFP is a complete vitual studio, except for the recorder/editor... But with the most flexible routing.
(And off course the best VA synths on the planet.)
And SFP / Protools|HD sounds MUCH better than SoundScape !

Kim.

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[ This Message was edited by: kimgr on 2003-11-06 12:34 ]

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:34 pm

Soundscape is cool, I've only had experience with the Mixtreme cards which were pretty nice things. However, from what I can see it's a pretty dead platform.. even if it still somehow survives I remember the plugins were pretty expensive and there weren't very many of them available.

peace

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:42 pm

Shayne White,

Yes, soundscape supports fully GSIF (giga-Studio) ASIO2, and WDM drivers.

They also have the mixtreme solution that add hugh dsp power to a computer and also fully work with all native ASIO2-GSIF apps

and thank you for the response

)

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:44 pm

Dear dArKr3zIn,

I'm glad to see a person that used soundscape ...

How as a person using it, you compare it to all other dsp cards on the market (including pulsar)
what are the pro & cons and what would be your advices

thank for your reply

)

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 12:53 pm

Soundscape Mixtreme is nothing compared to Pulsar IMHO. Some of the plugins are quite decent but it's nothing that you cannot get on TC Powercore for example. I've tried the Powercore, UAD1 and Pulsar and really Pulsar is the best out of all of them - there is a huge range of devices, and many of the best ones are actually free. For synths there is no contest, Pulsar has the most diverse range. Also, the TC and UA platforms all work through VST protocol so they have built-in latency problems (for some users this is not an issue but to me the Pulsar approach of a separate routing and mixing application between sequencer and audio outs is much better and more 'studio-like').

This is not to say I don't like the TC and UA platforms - on the contrary they offer extremely high quality FX. The Powercore I found to be very clinical and digital-sounding, but in a good way: the quality is very sweet-sounding to me. The UAD I have not had a huge amount of experience with yet.. tried it briefly and the compressors certainly seemed very nice.

The best thing is to have all of them, as they all have their own unique sound and creative potential.

peace

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 1:04 pm

Dear dArKr3zIn, Hello

Will you have the same verdict for the soundscape32/16 (not the mixtreme addon card)??
Also, does soundscape also work through the VST protocol and experience the same latency problems??

Can you explain on this topic? working through vst protocols or via "separate routing and mixing application between sequencer and audio outs"?? I didn't understand much from that paragraph

thank and best wishes

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 1:10 pm

I have had no experience with the soundscape HDR system, I have no use for things like that since I use Logic Audio. I seem to remember that the Mixtreme worked in a similar way to Pulsar, except the routing wasn't ultra-flexible and visual like Pulsar.

The separate application thing: imagine if you had a modular routing environment where you could see all your audio i/o, ASIO i/o (for sequencer), WDM/wave i/o (for windows sound/wave editors/seqs without ASIO), MIDI i/o, virtual MIDI i/o (for extensive MIDI routing between applications) laid out with little ports and virtual cables between them so you can route anything to anything with no latency. Also, the DSP-based synths, FX and mixers reside in this virtual studio patchbay.

The way the TC and UAD cards work is by giving you VST front-ends for the processors so audio goes out of the sequencer, into the DSP and back again. This creates quite a bit of latency (especially when you start chaining DSP processors). The Creamware cards also offer this kind of capability by the way, but the devices which work this way are limited.

[ This Message was edited by: dArKr3zIn on 2003-11-06 13:12 ]

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 1:29 pm

Dear dArKr3zIn

It's cool to see your reply!! I'm not sure if I got exactly the point of the 00ms latency difference between pulsar and the other ...

What architectural difference is in pulsar that let it get all the routing to 00ms latency compared to the other way of doing it found in the other solutions

thank again cause your answers are realy informative and great!!

Peace

)

Post by **Neil B** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 2:02 pm

Apart from the techy stuff that my fellow Pulsarians and Planet Z inhabitants are offering you, consider another couple of ideas:
1: Where else would you get such a great user site with these forums - full of instant advice and knowledgeable friendly people.
2: Consider what type(s) of music and the full scope of usage is that you intend to use it for:
Do you want vocals, outboard F/X, external sources such as acoustic instruments, elctric guitars etc?
Then go to the music forum, look for the genres of your choice and requirements to suit your needs amongst the hundreds of tracks and dowload some of the them. It should give you an idea of the quality of the Pulsar kit and you're not listening to sales demos.
3: Consider where you live and the levels of support you may require from music dealers etc.

Now do the same research for Soundscape before you make your choice.

As someone who is constantly pushing the CPU limits of my pc, I'm really glad of the DSPs.

Happy decision making

_________________
Neil B

[ This Message was edited by: Neil B on 2003-11-06 14:03 ]

ilovepets · Post by **ilovepets** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 2:12 pm

Dear Neil B,

Thank you

)

All your sayings are true!! Though I'm very interested to know the exact objective comparison between all the possible available products ... from the sound and feature aspects

thank again

dehuszar · Post by **dehuszar** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 5:09 pm

Unfortunately, you won't get anything objective unless you're hands on. You go through feature by advertised feature on their websites, comparing your options. Even that isn't really trustworthy though. MP3's won't do it either as you are listening to the restraints and capacities imposed by the person preparing each preset, song, idea.

The best way is to figure out which you groove with more and that'll require you fiddling with each system.

Where to you live?

Sam

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:43 am

darkrezin · Post by **darkrezin** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:54 am

Lot of time on your hands?

King of Snake · Post by **King of Snake** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:02 am

is that a new plugin or something?

for me personally the pro's of Scope are the routing and modularity of the scope environment, the fact that I don't need an external mixer and can just route my Nord Rack and guitar with no latency into the scope system (of course for the guitar using the nice amp emulation plugins available like Celmo's and Dynatube), the great quality of SC's synth emulations and of course the great community!

The con is that you need to invest a bit to get decent enough DSP power to do what you want but especially if you pick up a second hand card with a bunch of plugins already included it's a great deal and a great addition to native.

My projects always use a combination of Cubase and VSTi's and Scope synths, mixing and processing.