PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

OK, Ive had a little bit of trouble with my computer and setup so in the end, Ive had to start again.
Im using cubase SX3 an I have a ScopeHome(Luna2) and a Pulsar2XTC.
on a p.c. 3.2 AMD with 1.5gRAM
windows xp

I really like to use the CW boards in XTC mode as it suits my style.

So the question is:-
In what order should I install everything, and then how is the best way to configure my 2 cards to work in cubase.
How do I know which card is the main one and then how do I cahnge it (bearing in mind my Pulsar has no outs,I use the Luna for that)

what is the optimal cset.ini look like

any help at all would be much apprietiated, cos I did have it working at one point, but now I just cant get it right. I keep losing effects or the synths dont appear in VST esp.3rd party ones. An I know they are capable cos I was using em before

NOTE TO ALL:
Back up yor scope folders...I wish I had

cheers
-Me$$iah

Damn.
I knew this was gonna happen....after I installed my luna card i then went on to install the pulsar and now I cant change the activation number for scope4. It shows up the number for the luna card, and it wont let me change it. I tried installing the pulsar first and it wont accept the activation key for scope4.. Does any one know why this is and what I can do to fix it....Also where can I get the Volksapmler program...I got the activation key but I dont seem to have the program ....

cheers
Messiah

Hi Me$$iah,

Me too for XTC.

You probably should install Cubase SX first. Creamware installation prefers to have VST folders to find.
Before you do the installation of SFP add a couple of folders in to help it along.
c:ScopeAppOxe
In the Oxe folder place all the Oxe files of the "Optional Plugins" you intend to install. Plugins, plugin packs, synths and mixer packs....anything you own. You'll find the .oxe files in the "Optional Plugins" folder in the SFP4 installation/disc. When you've done that, run the SFP installation.(Note: I always make sure the the "xSource" folder goes on c: Drive with the other programs instead of d: which is my audio drive) You'll notice that at the end of the installation when it's trying to boot SFP it first registers all the plugins that you added. The process of regitering the .oxe files also copies the .dll version to the VST Plugins folder that you specified in the SFP installation. This way of doing the installation has not failed me yet and I was having terrible troubles with things not working - synths and third party plugins especially - before I started doing the installation this way.

For the order of the cards, just go into SFP and look at the order of the cards in the "Hardware" list. The master card is the first one in the list. To change the order of the cards you will have to make an entry to the cset.ini file. (More on this if you need it). The Pulsar will need to be the master card 'cause it has more DSP's.
An alternate way to change the order of the cards is to swap them in the PCI slots if it's practical to do so. This deosn't always work, but it tends to work if you only have two cards and not three.

The "optimal cset.ini file" is dependent your setup and your needs. Just be aware that XTC won't remember the sample buffer you set so it will always default back to the large buffer size and hence the largest latency possible, every time you boot Cubase.
I'll use Gonzoft's amazing words of wisdom again....

NOTE: XTC doesn't remember the Latency that you set in the previous session. To have XTC load up with a set low latency every time you need to add an entry to your 'cset.ini' file. This is part of GonZoft's amazing guide to XTC setup modestly called "Some hints as to XTC mode".

7. XTC mode does not remember your ULLI settings unless you do the following:

Add the following entry into your /SFP/App/Bin/Cset.ini under item
[XTC-config]:

intBlkSize=x

whereby x is a values out of 64, 128, 256, 512 or 1024 and translates as follows to the card's latency:

64: latency = 3 ms
128: latency = 4 ms
256: latency = 7 ms
512: latency = 13 ms
1024: latency = 25 ms

A wrong latency will still be displayed in the ULLI Settings of the ASIO Control Panel, but you can ignore this.

It is a good idea to refresh the plugin info display after changing ULLI settings.



Thankyou GonZoft.....
Oh and in terms of backing up, my theory is, do your perfect, dream installation of you computer once. Everything working the way it should be, the right keyboard shortcuts in Cubase, VST Connections the way they should be, labled and all....everything perfect. Then get a disc imaging program and do a hard drive backup. This means that you can do horrible things to your installation and then restore it within twenty minutes. That's the way it should be....oh and to let you know, OSX has that function built in.....I hate Windows!!!!

OK. Hope that helps.

Cheers,

AudioDan

ps. Make sure you connect that STDM cable and use adjecent plugs, don't skip a plug and use the ends.





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-07-21 01:37 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-07-21 01:39 ]</font>

Thanks Dan

That is exaclty the list of things i needed to hear. Also great tip about not using the ends of the STDM cable, I read somewhere(maybe manual..not sure) that you should use the end plugs seemed a bit wierd to me but so far i have. I will try the other way now

should i not use the Luna as my main board as it has the ins and outs on it??
Why cant I get the setup prog to accept my scope4 reg key for the pulsar. Ive beent to the site to activate it and everything tho I cant download the allkeys file neither

Cheers
Messiah

OK,
It doesn't really matter which card SFP4 is licenced to, as long as one or the other is licenced it will work fine. I wouldn't stress too much about it.
Do you have the SFP4 activation key for both cards in your "allkeys.skf" If so, remove the line (use Notepad to edit it) that is the SFP4 key for the card you don't want using it. That way it won't be able to install for that card. If you don't have the activation key then you haven't activated SFP4 for that card. You have to do that online in your page on Creamware's site, then re-download your "allkeys.skf" file. Still.....not a big deal.

If you do the installation of SFP the way I've told you, by adding those .oxe files in first, Volksampler will install properly. Remember though, it's an instrument and not an effect so you know where to find it in Cubase...

Hope that helps,

Cheers,

AudioDan

Dan
you are awesome that has helped me immeasurably.
thank you.

the only thing is I dont appear to have the Volksapmler prog on my disc. I got all the other things there, but no Volksampler at all.maybe it isnt shipped anymore, all sts now


thanks again Dan, a great help.


Messiah

HAHA

ignore my last post
I found the Volksampler

Like a fool I was looking on the disc which came with my Luna not the disc which came with the pulsar

Now I feel stupid


Cheers
-Messiah

No problems at all man.

I spend six days a week helping stupid cheap people in the music shop I work in so it's good to help the cool people who have the good gear and actually know how to be helped.....(also good to get help too, he he).

Glad to hear you're back on track.

Cheers,

AudioDan

Oh...sorry, I missed one of your earlier posts.

OK, I've got to send an email to Creamware about the "allkeys" thing. I don't think anyone can download at the moment and I certainly can't log into the FAQ's section either. Apparently Creamware have their server in a different location and aren't aware when things aren't working unless someone emails them. I'll do that tonight....they've probably received a thousand by now.....

Strangely I thought I remembered reading in a manual that you shouldn't skip plugs on the STDM cable....I might have to look that one up to make sure I'm not telling fibs. I am quite sure though, that in the past I found that with two cards in the system, depending on which card was on the end plug and which one was on the middle plug, the Master/Slave order would change....maybe I dreamed that. I'll do some research and get back to you on the STDM thing.

As for the Pulsar verse Luna as master thing. OK. Creamware's explanation was that if you are using a big plugin...like Volksampler for example...it's a bad thing to have the processing for the plugin spanning two cards. That is, if the plugin uses more DSP than what is available on the master card, it will span to the next, but it makes the system unstable and will probably result in clicks and pops and error messages. So, if you have the largest card as the master, you run a much lower chance of card-spanning.
The audio I/O side of things is not affected by the order of the cards. Again, Creamware's explanation of the DSP and the processes that go on, was that when a process is activated, for example and effect, the effect will automatically reserve as much DSP as it can possibly use in any situation. Even if it only uses a little of its reserved size, that DSP realestate now belongs to that plugin. To give you example, if the plugin has a "look ahead" function it needs a lot of DSP when that function is active. Even if you don't use that function, the plugin will retain the DSP that it would use in maximum "look ahead" mode.
I'm not sure how much - if any - DSP the audio I/O uses. I don't think it's much, but just assume that as soon as you activate an I/O in the XTC ASIO control panel, XTC will automatically reserve the required DSP and order of cards won't affect it.
What I did personally with my system was to make sure that Audio and MIDI I/O was exclusively managed by one card. I have two LunaII's in my system with my 15DSP Booster so the temptation is there to spread my I/O around. However, I figured that the usage of DSP would be more efficient if Audio I/O processes weren't cutting in on a couple of different cards. So, I made card number 3 in the system the exclusive audio I/O. Obviously it will still be used to plugin DSP as well, but it will be the only one.

OK, that's enough rambling from me.

Cheers,

AudioDan


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AudioDan on 2005-07-21 05:48 ]</font>

Hey Dan,

Ive eventually got round to doing it (damn life stuff) and that oxe tip was damn awsome-o start a thread somwhere relevant and type the whole thing in like bold. It put all my synths and fx where they should be. Cept it didnt put the sts's in as XTC tho ive worked aroud it and got the 2000 working and thats fine for the moment, Ill get the rest in later. Ive jus gotta now get the modular working in XTC and Im laughing. I can do it i did it before by creating a dll file for each preset and then copying the preset into the synths folder( i rename the preset and dll by adding XTC, seems to werk. Unless you know a better or qwicker way...I also dont know if I can create new M2 synths within XTC this way by putting in an empty one and building ....but at the moment being new to these cards Im so impressed with the included presets and with a little tweaking when theyre open... OMG... theyre great, perfect.But if I can build em in XTC too, Id just have to learn how to build synths then...heeheheheh.

Any way thanks for the help Dan youve turned my frustrations into joy

cheers
Me$$iah

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Me$$iah on 2005-07-25 20:02 ]</font>

Hi Me$$iah,
You've gone passed my scope(ha ha) of understanding there. I actually don't use a lot in the way of synths and I didn't realise it was possible to get Modular anything working in XTC. Mainly 'cause I don't know how to build a synth either. I find myself these days helping other people record, edit, mix and master their music rather than making my own. I like playing around with the more dummy-based synths for ignorant people like me, but I hardly ever use them seriously, so it's never been a big focus trying to get those things to work in my system.
Sorry I can't help you more than that. We all have our limits....you just reached mine.
Goodluck though...I'd like to know how you go.

AudioDan

@Me$$iah: You can setup M2 / M3 devices to run in XTC the way you have, but you'll not be able to create/save new patches (devices/synths) - just load and tweak presets for the synths that you setup to run in XTC.

I also don't believe that you'll get the STS series samplers to run, although VolksZampler will run XTC.

Enjoy!

well Ive got my modular running in XTC and Ive got the STS2000P to run in XTC without any problems at the moment.
As for not being able to create mod synths in XTC then thats cool Ill just have to learn how to make em, then build em in Scope mode before saving them across to the XTC mode.

Tho wierdly the Volksampler doesnt seem to produce any sound, I dont know why.. But Im sure Ive just missed somthing little and soon get it running

thanks for all the help here, most apprectiated

cheers
Me$$iah

if any one wants to know how I got the sts to work in XTC then all I did was rename the .dev file STS2000PXTC.dev and copied it into the synths folder. I then copied a synth.dll renamed to STS2000PXTC.dll into the XTC folder of my plugins folder in cubase


edited due to bloody awful spelling

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Me$$iah on 2005-07-29 10:06 ]</font>

Hi Me$$iah,
Just to let you know, you're absolutely right. I was reading through the Creamware manual and it does say to use the ends of the STDM cable and not the middle when only two cards are in the system. Sorry about the miss-information.
Doesn't sound like it's caused any catastrophic problems though.
Goodluck with it all.

Cheers,

AudioDan

On 2005-08-03 17:11, AudioDan wrote:
Doesn't sound like it's caused any catastrophic problems though.

Wrong SCSI termination once made me loose the content of an MO disk for my Kurzweil K2500.
Which I sold halfayear ago for 1050,- EUR btw
cheers

Wrong termination of STDM cable merely results in a change in the order of cards. I've been using my cards in the "wrong" configuration for quite some time, and nothing catastrophic has happened to them.
SCSI is one of the most touchie, sensitive (and quickly superseded) tranfer formats ever invented. Sorry about your Kurzweil...
Thanks for your input.

AudioDan