xtc now working for pulsar users too?

horrn · Post by **horrn** » Tue Jun 26, 2001 1:50 am

hi,
i have been away a longer time, did not follow the progress in xtc software. can someone tell me the state we have now? is it still like it was telling at the frankfurt fair that xtc is also a regular update for the pulsar users?

thanx

t.

Mo · Post by Mo » Tue Jun 26, 2001 4:32 am

hey, horrn

all fine?

the current status of cw software updates is: ingo promised a w2k-beta for all pulsar users which shall be on their page in a week or two.
xtc will be included in version 3.0, which will come a little later this year (late summer they say).

me for my own dumb self looks more forward to the w2k-beta than to the xtc-'upgrade' (hey, imho xtc is senseless - powercore is senseless - just buy a faster computer, guys. that´s not the buiseness of dsp´s...!)

have fun
Mo

horrn · Post by **horrn** » Wed Jun 27, 2001 11:15 pm

hi mo,
a simple reason why i had asked. promises! with the xtc-software once it should have been released a new bundle of effectx for the pulsarplate ... but this seems to be not there!? okay, then we are doing the best like always: waiting!

greetings

t.

p.s.: mo, by the way ... i´m working too much outside, but my studio will get finished (maybe) at the end of august! then i will be here again (more time!)...

)

Lotuz · Post by **Lotuz** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 2:33 am

me for my own dumb self looks more forward to the w2k-beta than to the xtc-'upgrade' (hey, imho xtc is senseless - powercore is senseless - just buy a faster computer, guys. that´s not the buiseness of dsp´s...!)

I agree and disagree. If the plugins that you'll run on the DSP card are also available as normal VST/DirectX plugins, then it's probably wiser to invest in a stronger computer. But if those DSP plugins are not available as normal VST/DirectX plugins (which is often the case) and you would like to use them anyway, then I think these new DSP cards are very nice.

And what if you already have a Pulsar and you're hardly using it, because you started to dislike working with projects? Normally I would have sold my Pulsar II, but the upcoming update prevented me from doing that. Because of the XTC interface my Pulsar II has become valuable for me again. Especially if many of the available devices (CreamWare/3rd party) will be updated so they can be used with the XTC interface. Then there will be an incredibly large collection of XTC/VST/DirectX plugins (effects and instruments) to choose from to be used directly in Cubase VST and other VST hosts.

Peezahj · Post by **Peezahj** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 4:09 am

True, the value of DSPs is that they are fast enough for real-time work, but XTC will allow us to switch to direct mode for that & then back to XTC-mode for perfect sequencer integration (sample-accurate midi timing, for example).

Lotuz, it's surprising to hear you say that after all the praise you've given Pulsar on the KVR forum (my user name there is Uncle E). You're right, though, that XTC will breathe some new life into our cards but I think many of us will be switching back & forth when we realize how much we depend on the flexible routing capabilities. In contrast, VST is like having a complete studio but forgetting to wire up the really cool stuff on the patch bays.

Lotuz · Post by **Lotuz** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 4:40 am

Lotuz, it's surprising to hear you say that after all the praise you've given Pulsar on the KVR forum (my user name there is Uncle E). You're right, though, that XTC will breathe some new life into our cards but I think many of us will be switching back & forth when we realize how much we depend on the flexible routing capabilities. In contrast, VST is like having a complete studio but forgetting to wire up the really cool stuff on the patch bays.

I'm aware of the fact that my comments are contradictive sometimes. But with the rapid developments in the music software my opinions change as well. I still think the Pulsar II is a great card, I love the low latency, but since the introduction of the Pulsar XTC I've started thinking why I should keep creating projects if it could be simplified by using the XTC interface. Call me lazy, but I really like the way VSTi's and Reason integrate into Cubase VST and that's why I'd like my Pulsar devices to be integrated into Cubase VST as well.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Lotuz on 2001-06-28 05:41 ]</font>

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Thu Jun 28, 2001 5:12 am

i really like the routing flexibility of pulsar - i will give XTC a shot, but doubt that it will be used as much in my setup. the latency is an issue - the creamw@re readme says that it is DOUBLE your ULLI (correct me if I am wrong) because it has to go to and fro the dsp's - that misses the real time coolness of da p u l s a r

$.02

Mo · Post by Mo » Mon Jul 02, 2001 4:10 am

agreed, alg.
that doubled latency might get a little shorter, but it´s the bad foot of every dsp-card with that concept out there (tc, uaudio, etc.), and it´s the wrong way to use dsp´s (imho). for this purpose it would be better to use native plugs (there are quite a few out there, which are far better in quality than everything available for scope/pulsar), on a complete native workstation. so i see no real use for dsp-cards of that kind (which increase the latency while playing the devices live, compared to native devices)

but i also agree to peezaj, i think our cards (though they are the oldest ones, compared to tc and uadio) have a great advantage: we can switch

and use it in terms of the concept of dsp, or just to power up our systems (along with adding some latency, but... in playback mode this latency does <i>not</i> occur, afaik, because of some offset the seq app is setting).

have fun,
Mo