Possible scope purchase

Dingo · Post by **Dingo** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 6:53 am

I'm considering a scope purchase in the (hopefully) not too distant future. Could someone tell me what is available quality wise for reverbs, compressors and eq's? I'm going to be recording mainly live instruments so I would mostly need those sorts of effects. Are the stock reverbs and eq's any good ? What should I look at for third party plugs?How many reverbs and eq's can I get on a 24 track project? How are the converters in the a16 ultra? How do they compare the RME comverters. Is the system stable? I will be using this on a Mac. Anything I should be aware of before I buy? Does anyone have songs up that I can listen to that use the A16 and other effects? Thanks.

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 7:14 am

Blimey. Well I can't answer all your questions but I'll answer the bits I know about. I run Pulsar/SFP on a Mac (OS9.2.2 recommended) and although you get the sense of it being ported over from the PC version it is actually very stable on Mac. Go to the Tips & Tricks section of this board for Mac optimisation. Also note that OSX support is a little way off yet. I have two cards: Pulsar 2 Plus and Scope SRB which gives me 21 DSPs. However I use loads of synths, which if you're not then you probably could get away with a Pulsar 2. Also it is worth noting that the Plus version has balanced XLRs for analogue audio I/O and AES/EBU digital I/O. The stock reverb (Masterverb) is OK and certainly better than a lot of native reverbs. The Pro version of the Masterverb is supposed to be good and there are some good third party reverbs (EarlyFirst PT series and D&M Timeworks) but these all cost extra to your purchase. There are usually demos of these so you can try before you buy, although for some reason the Creamware Shop devices only have PC demos, so you'll have to go by people's recommendations. You don't mention compression, but I would seriously consider getting Vinco (again at additional cost) as it is a really good compressor and would probably suit your live instrument sound nicely. I don't have an A16 so I can't tell you anything about that except that I want one!

borg · Post by **borg** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 7:15 am

read along with rainman's thread, there are some of your questions answered. if you're on a mac, the sonic timeworks bundle is a bit of a risk. the devices work, but are not supported.
there is a thread somewhere about convertors... http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 19&forum=5

thermos · Post by **thermos** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 7:51 am

i mostly do live recordings to, and for me this platform is very good. The Monitoring possibilities is as good as it gets. the reverbs availible are very well suited for acoustic recordings, the bundled dynamic effects that comes with creamware cards are usefull and comes in handy, but you will probably want an optional compressor for vocals and lead instruments. so ill sugest you check out http://www.sonictimeworks.com and their scope bundle, this will give you a top quality compressor, reverb and eq.

thermos

[ This Message was edited by: thermos on 2002-09-25 08:52 ]

jupiter8 · Post by **jupiter8** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 4:12 pm

The reason Sonic timeworks is'nt supported on Mac is that there is a PCI performance problem with older macs (way old). Nowadays you have as good PCI performance with Macs as the best PC:s.

There is reports about PCI problems with the new dual proc. Macs but there is an extension on the Digidesign page that fix this.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 4:28 pm

Timeworks plugins were recently updated for free for existing users to work with SFP. So I think it's as not as unsafe as mentioned. Although you should also take a really good look at the EarlyFirst reverbs, I really like their sound (PT_96Kfree is the newest uncrippled free one, the big ones sound even better).

[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2002-09-25 17:29 ]

kimgr · Post by **kimgr** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 5:54 pm

Just wan't to add that I tested the Timeworks Series III plugs A LOT on Macs before they where released. No problems found on any AGP G4...

Kim.

at0m · Post by **at0m** » Wed Sep 25, 2002 11:32 pm

About STW: IMHO the only problem on Mac was the installer (.exe) that came with the efects. The workaround was to copy/paste the installed files into the right folders. The STW_III version does just that: it's a zip containing folders and files, to be copied into /SFP/ folder. Perfectly compatible on both platforms nowadays

[ This Message was edited by: at0mic on 2002-10-01 12:12 ]

Dingo · Post by **Dingo** » Mon Sep 30, 2002 6:44 pm

Damn so many replies! Thanks for the helpful info. Can anyone suggest a retailer that has a liberal return policy in case I hate this stuff?

Post by **garyb** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 1:28 am

that's not a good attitude.you have set the situation up for failure.of course it's not exactly want you always imagined!it does work well enough to get an oscar!

orbita · Post by **orbita** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 6:54 am

As for the Ultra A16, they are really nice units, I have 2. They sound very good but they suffer from quite high noise levels when recording. Ive had my local distributer test them and they fare no better than cheaper fostex convertors in this respect. The sound quality itself is very good though and for the price you wont do much better.

subhuman · Post by **subhuman** » Tue Oct 01, 2002 10:53 am

I agree with garyb 100%.

I also have 2 a16 Ultras, and they are quiter than the Yamaha 01v/03d and Spirit 328 digital mixers... quieter than the Alesis AI3. Not sure about all these people with noise problems, but you might check your cables and the +4/-10 dipswitches on the back to be sure it matches your gear!

from a very happy A16 Ultra user...

alfonso · Post by **alfonso** » Wed Oct 02, 2002 6:52 pm

hi dingo,
i'm very happy with this platform, it's a different philosophy, something with bigger creative potentials...
i'm a pc user, but here is something related to some recent macs to consider:

http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... 3&forum=10

ciao.