Hi there - I'm building a Mac G4 system to replace my old G3 Powerbook, and have been looking around for a suitable soundcard. The Luna has all the I/O that I need, and the onboard DSP is attractive (mixing and effects to take some load off my computer).
Given that I can get Elektra for not too much more, I was wondereing if anyone could give me examples of just how much the 3 DSp's can handle ? I run all of my stuff as VSTi's at the moment, so won't be looking to Elektra to produce the bulk of my sounds - just a synth (or two ?) + the mixer & some dynamics etc.
Any examples / advice would be much appreciated - thanks.
How powerful is Elektra ?
Hi I've had a Elektra for a few months on a PC with Cubase 5. I can only run the mixer, Modular and the necessary i/o. Overall I give it 6/10. As an Audiocard it's good. The down side are a few annoying wierd clicks and pops that come and go away. I had a Gina20 Audiocard and YamahaDS2416 and feel I had less problems with these. If you want to use the Creamware Synths get the Pulsar. If you want a good sounding Audiocard with a bit of creamware get the Elektra. If you want a good sounding Audiocard get ???? My overall experience of the whole Creamware setup is really average. Most things I have tried to do have nearly worked, like running a few applications at once, there always seems to be something not right. Creamware have a reputation for poor support, I have followed threads on the creamware forum site and people with real problems are ignored by the support people. My experience is that Echo Audiocards are best. Thats just my opinion.
kenf, the clicks and pops thing is not a problem with creamware themselves, but with the hardware one is using with it.
it can take a lot of tweaking (mostly on the pc side) to get rid of these things, but as i have experienced here, it is entirely possible to get creamware stuffs running well (noting that you have a GOOD mobo and chipset).
as for what else ken says, yes its true. elektra (luna II) is a good soundcard which provides a little bit of power and a lot of flexibility.
i can run the mixer, my soft hard i/o which consists of4 asio i/o, hard audio i/o, hard midi i/o, midi seq i/o, and sound manager i/o. a sequencer remote, midi monitor, audio meter (vu and db meter), some note pads, and a few low polyphony synths, or one 3-4 voice large synth, 5-6 voices from one smaller synth. usually i have room for a few small dsp effects. the included compressor and eq are very light, so one can be pretty generous about using those.
using the modular, i can do 3-4 medium to small patches, or one LARGE patch (i have done some monster, patches), or one medium sized patch with 3-5 voices, again, i usually have enough room for some effects in addition.
so based on what you say i think you would have reasonable expectations for what it would provide.
overall i am very happy i picked up an elektra, the modular is really a great tool to have availible.
i use mine as a high quality audio card, and as you mention, a few synths, effects, some simple mixing of things, and what not.
i don't do much effects processing of other tracks through asio at this point, once i pick up os 3 this will be more viable, as it comes with 20 or so effects plug-in's. the modular comes with some of these effects and they are actually quite lite, and i do use them on occasion, but i tend not to as my native effects tend to sound better and be a little easier to use (i'm not set-up right to, monitor the effects in real-time coming from my sequencer).
best.
it can take a lot of tweaking (mostly on the pc side) to get rid of these things, but as i have experienced here, it is entirely possible to get creamware stuffs running well (noting that you have a GOOD mobo and chipset).
as for what else ken says, yes its true. elektra (luna II) is a good soundcard which provides a little bit of power and a lot of flexibility.
i can run the mixer, my soft hard i/o which consists of4 asio i/o, hard audio i/o, hard midi i/o, midi seq i/o, and sound manager i/o. a sequencer remote, midi monitor, audio meter (vu and db meter), some note pads, and a few low polyphony synths, or one 3-4 voice large synth, 5-6 voices from one smaller synth. usually i have room for a few small dsp effects. the included compressor and eq are very light, so one can be pretty generous about using those.
using the modular, i can do 3-4 medium to small patches, or one LARGE patch (i have done some monster, patches), or one medium sized patch with 3-5 voices, again, i usually have enough room for some effects in addition.
so based on what you say i think you would have reasonable expectations for what it would provide.
overall i am very happy i picked up an elektra, the modular is really a great tool to have availible.
i use mine as a high quality audio card, and as you mention, a few synths, effects, some simple mixing of things, and what not.
i don't do much effects processing of other tracks through asio at this point, once i pick up os 3 this will be more viable, as it comes with 20 or so effects plug-in's. the modular comes with some of these effects and they are actually quite lite, and i do use them on occasion, but i tend not to as my native effects tend to sound better and be a little easier to use (i'm not set-up right to, monitor the effects in real-time coming from my sequencer).
best.
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evilteenagetwin
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2002 4:00 pm
