Upgrade to Scope 5.1 question - for 3/4 DSP or unlimited?

[kweithman]

Hi All - first post!

I have been running WinXP with a Pulsar 1 (4 DSP) card and SCOPE 4.5 software. I have moved to a newer mobo and am now running Win7 Pro 64 bit, so I need to upgrade the software to version 5.1......

Here is my question:

I have future plans to buy another card (perhaps a 6 or 15 DSP) but have not obtained one yet, and I am ready now to buy the 5.1 software, but am unsure whether to buy the lower cost (159 Euro) version for 3/4 DSP, or (since I have plans to add another card sometime) go for the the 239 Euro version. Would my present 4 DSP set up run fine on the 239 Euro version?

Thanks!

[jhulk]

yes it will run fine just that you wont be able to run lots of plugs at same time

and when you add another card that will use the 5.1 software of your 4dsp card and will add extra dsp

[next to nothing]

Hello

I cannot see any reason why you should go for the more expensive version. The lower cost version includes the same plugs. Its just some weird price policy.

[kweithman]

Thanks jhulk and next -

@next - the reason I ask about the unlimited version 5.1 is that I don't see an "upgrade" path from 5.1 for 3/4 DSPs to 5.1 for unlimited DSPs. If I buy the 3/4 version now, and get an addtional card later, can I still run the 3/4 version or will I have to "upgrade" to the unlimited? That path - and any extra cost - is unclear to me.

I appreciate the help!

[next to nothing]

Hello again

first, let me come with a correction

I don't know why but for some weird reason i thought you had a 3dsp card. If you plan on updating your system i would actually prefer having 3dsp card compared to a pulsar 1. The reason is the second generation cards (Luna, Pulsar2 etc.) works better when multiple cards are connected.

If you buy 5.1 for your P1, you get a good softwarebundle at a cheap price. If you later add a Pulsar 2 (or another second gen card), it will just show up as more dsps in your system and more I/Os. However, you will be locked to the 23ms ASIO latency.

If you buy a Pulsar 2 with 5.1, you will be able to use your system with less latency, and your 4 dsps from the pulsar 1 will just show up as extra dsp and I/Os.

The card you decide to upgrade to 5.1 wil be the "main" card in the system, deciding latency etc. Other cards will be "slaves" just adding dsp and in/outs. So you have a few options, i would suggest you look for a second hand Pulsar 2 with 5.1 for a start. More horsepower and more instruments and effects for a cheap price. Then i would go to SC and buy a device or two, just to show some respect

[kweithman]

Hi again Next - thanks for the additional info. I was not aware that my first gen card had such latency. In my old XP system, I was runnning SCOPE 4.5 and and the Pulsar 1 predominanlty as an instrument (and/or fx processor) in parallel with my Cubase SX 2.2. That is still my plan in Win7. That brings a couple more questions to mind......

If I buy ONLY the 5.1 software for 3/4 DSPs now, and later get another (second gen) card, can I make the second gen card the master so that I can be freed from the 23ms latency you mention?

Whether or not I can make the future second card my master, would I still need somehow to upgrade the software from 3/4 DSPs to unlimited? How is that done, given that the Sonic Core website shows no such software upgrade path from 5.1 3/4 to 5.1 unlimited?

Thanks again!

[next to nothing]

I think i need to clear up in a confusioin. There is no such thing as "scope unlimited". There are two upgrades from 4.5 to 5.1, one for 3/4 dsp cards, and one for the rest (6/14/15 dsp). Both includes the same software.

But you got me thinking. I might have been wrong in my former post Maybe someone else can clarify, if i have a combination of 1st and 2nd gen cards, and i get 5.1 for the first gen card, can i use either one as main interface?

[next to nothing]

and regarding latency, if you havent noticed it doesn't matter

[kweithman]

Appreciate the continued conversation.....I had used the word "unlimited" to describe a system where the total number of DSPs are greater than 4 (like a 4-DSP and 15-DSP card setup would be a 19 total DSP system). So then, is the choice of 5.1 software (3/4 vs 6/14/15) based on how many DSPs are on the selected "master" card?

Also, in a multi-card system, it looks like it is prefered to have the second gen card be the master for reduced latency....other than that, is there any other performance difference to have the master card be first or sencod gen OR to have the master card be the one containing the most DSPs? I wonder if there is, since SC prices the 6/14/15 software higher.....

Sorry for all the questions, but thanks for helping me "learn as I go!"

[garyb]

the only reason that there are different prices is that there is a discount for the smaller cards, since they can't use much. this works well for some, since all you need is one card with the v5.1 upgrade. any card can have the license, regardless of which one is the master.

[next to nothing]

long story short; the price of the upgrade is dependant of the card you register it to. In essence, that means since you have a 4 dsp card you are only obliged to the cheapest option. However, that is far from a showstoppr. If you decide to buy another card later on, you can just hook it up to your P1, and the additional DSPs and I/Os will be available to you with no further purchases being nececary.

However, what i ask you to consider is that
a) If you are happy with the ASIO latency of the P1, then you cant go wrong in upgrading that card to 5.1.
b) If you plan to add more cards, consider buying a second hand second generation card with 5.1 instead, as that elevates the price/performance ratio.
c) the 3/4 dsp description is not a limit as such, it only relates to how many dsp there are on the card you register it to. as an example if you buy the 5.1 upgrade for your 4 dsp card and add a 15 dsp card afterwards, your system will be a 19 dsp* system running 5.1 with more I/Os.
d) your 4 dsp card will be a bottleneck in a multi card setup, not only for latency but it has less PCI throughput. This might not bother you unless you use a lot of instances of reverb or other delay-hungry stuff.

* 19 or 18, even that has variations but its irrelevant to this issue *


EDIT: GaryB clarified while i was typing, that basically means that if you plan to keep your 4 dsp card as part of your system, go buy that upgrade.

[next to nothing]

One more thing; if you feel the DSP hunger (i am sure you will), also consider buying one of the Xite variations if you can afford it

[garyb]

excellent breakdown, ntn....

[kweithman]

Thanks for the help, folks - I did buy the 3/4 version and have got it "mostly" running (I'll put up a separate post for THAT issue)

I did have to run the registry patch for Steinberg's WaveLab 7 (see http://forums.planetz.com/viewtopic.php ... +7&start=0) since I am a WL7 user - glad that PG at Steinberg was able to create a simple fix for that incompatibility....