outloud thought bubble

[1Squid]

Hi, I've checked into this forum most days for the last few years, ever since I got my xite-1 when they had the revolution sale, waiting for the announcement of scope 6.
I'm just a dreaded hobbyist.
For me what's important is that the system is powerful and silent. I run it on a i7 4770s on the onboard graphics in an old hd-plex case passively cooled.
I've had constant problems with pops and clicks at low latencies, and it's always irritated me a little that not evrything works properly on 64bit.
Long story short put it on 32bit turned off hyper threading ..magic no spiking in cubase can run everything like a dream on lowest possible latency.
Kept crashing because I'm running out of memory, but that can at least be managed.
It got me thinking though.
I think that part of the problem with scope 6 is that the project is too big. One guy recoding everything is too grandiose and to liable to bugs and failure.
I asked the guy from ferrofish if there was any chance of a z-link module for the A16 mk2 and he said it was just not compatible and that I should try and find a second hand A16 ultra.
To me there's a real danger of the system being legacy withou it ever really getting of the ground.
I think that the system needs to be approached in a different way, the xite-1 is really small.
Take it out to a full rack and add a small mother board with 4gb ram, powerful enough cpu to run the system, some kind of storage for the devices and then either a network,lightning or madi.
Since you don't have to have the environment installed on your computer but are instead networking to the environment wouldn't that give you better compatibility across all platforms aswell as more controlled working and development platform.
It seems to me that all of that could be done relatively quickly and you expand your potential buyers
For me it really is an uber box of toys and effects, I've tried kyma which sounds awesome and what they've done with the version 7 software is really great but it doesn't have the immediacy of scope and it's got fans. And I've tried the axefx 2 which is good but it just shit me that I could build a computer without a fan but they would a whiny little 6cm one in their box. I really hate fans.
Regards

[Bud Weiser]

I think that the system needs to be approached in a different way, the xite-1 is really small.
Take it out to a full rack and add a small mother board with 4gb ram, powerful enough cpu to run the system, some kind of storage for the devices and then either a network,lightning or madi.

Or,- take XITE, add a AD/DA (A16mkII AE) for more I/Os, buy a 2HU short server case, throw in a socket 1150/ 1151 microATX mobo w/ at least 1 PCIex1 slot and mount the low-profile bracket to the XITE´s PCIe card.
Put in 4GB of RAM.
Use a M.2 flash drive for Windows 32Bit system and SCOPE 5.1 installation.
For SCOPE, you don´t need a very fast processor, any Intel i5 will do.
Add a 1 HU power- stabilizer & conditioner and a 1HU ventilation panel, then put ALL in a 6HU shockmount rack for travelling, gigging, touring.

Alternately and w/ some skills, you might be able to squeeze the computer in a 1-HU rackmount case using a riser card,- and save 1HU for the price of more noise from fans.
Or you choose some "beauty case" style computer case.

Since you don't have to have the environment installed on your computer ...

You will always have the environment running on a computer, may it be a computer in the same box or not.
So, the count of communication lanes needed between XITE hardware and computer RAM and CPU (for some devices) will exist always too.

... but are instead networking to the environment wouldn't that give you better compatibility across all platforms aswell as more controlled working and development platform.

Why talking about compatibility across platforms when SCOPE runs on it´s individual machine and you transmit/receive MIDI and audio via "interfaces", may that be network, lightpipe or whatever oldschool MIDI interface ?
With such setup, you can always run your ASIO or CoreAudio DAW on it´s dedicated Windows or OS X machine.

It´s pretty much the same I described above and there´s no need to have everything in the same box.
It´s not ideal at all to have everything in the same box because replacing parts and upgrades will be much harder and S|C would have to deal w/ computer components in addition.
At the end of the day, you´ll end up w/ a very outdated machine running SCOPE inside a new XITE case,- comparable to p.ex. NOAH.

It seems to me that all of that could be done relatively quickly and you expand your potential buyers

No, the opposite !
Xite-1 together w/ integrated computer and additional AD/DA, all assembled in a new case, would be much more expensive.
Consequently you´d find less potential buyers in a consumer world where cheapness has priority.

Bud

[wouterz]

How silent is the fan of the Kyma system, did you use a Pacarana or the older Capybara system?

Putting the XITE-1 and a PC in one box will probably require fans.

[Bud Weiser]

Putting the XITE-1 and a PC in one box will probably require fans.

I hope it never happens, but when, it WILL require cooling which means more fans and room inside tha case.
DSPs run hot when busy and the computer CPU runs hot too ...
It will never be very compact,- so no advantage over a component system mounted in a rack.

Bud

[garyb]

turning off hyperthreading and EIST probably would make your system click-free in 64bit, too. whether it's a 32 or 64bit system won't really make a difference in dropouts.

what's more likely than another z-link AD/DA is a retrofit for MADI on the XITE. right now, that's not a reality, but it's very possible that it will happen sooner or later.

as to the unit becoming "legacy", so what? it will still work. the new stuff that will come out in the mean time probably won't do anything any better. that's what there are still 15 and 18 year old PCI cards in professional studios belonging to major producers. one in particular that is my client finally got an XITE after literally 18+ years with a Pulsar1. his card has been legacy for a long time and he's quite a big deal in Hollywood. the Pulsar1 had run his studio all that time.

is it about computers, or music and audio?

[tlaskows]

You absolutely need to turn off SpeedStep.

I have no clicks at all with PCI cards at lowest latency.

-Tom