BigMixer vs. PulsarMixer

northcore · Post by **northcore** » Thu Jan 31, 2002 8:58 pm

Can anybody educate me as to why both of these mixers are offered in the pulsar suite? does one sound any better? to my eyes the pulsar mixer looks lots sweeter... but i've difficulty understanding otherwise why you'd need both these mixer types.

dynamic mixer, sure, i understand - low dsp load, simple + good for submixes.

carl

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 12:19 am

The BugMixer existed before the PulsarMixer and for some existing users bvefore version 3 that's all they have unless the buy the optional ProPack. Of course this pack is free for new users.

Eventually the BugMixer will fade away....

btw I'm In Sydney and looking tio get another card, probably an XTC. I've got a great price from the US but it looks like I have to pay duty and GST and go to some office and fill out a customs entry import form

If you don't mind saying, how much did you pay for Pulsar ? It's tough trying to find a competitive dealer here it seems...

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 1:10 am

got mine in guitar factory Parramatta -a16 and Pulsar 1 for $2000 14 months ago - demo model to make way for P2. Finding old stock can be difficult in the wide brown land, and am afraid to look at new Aust. prices (at least until after i start work at Belvoir St next week!) Good luck, Spirit

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 2:11 am

I used to live in Belvoir St - a regular black-clad Surry Hills trog.

And yeah, CW prices here are terrible.

[ This Message was edited by: Spirit on 2002-02-01 03:08 ]

northcore · Post by **northcore** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 6:51 pm

dude, i haven't even bought one yet... i'm just going through one of those "broke and obsessively researching gear that i want" phases... working out whether sellin my 01V and ESI2000 will allow me to afford the setup i need (a16 and pII).

thanks a lot for the info about the differences in mixers though !! more useful info for the penniless researcher

quotes from shops in melbourne for an a16/pii combo have so far all weighed in at well over $AU4000

and yes - it's cheaper from the states, but you have to pay import duty + this brings the price higher than local... you can try to evade paying duty but then the fines are over 10,000

carl

[ This Message was edited by: northcore on 2002-02-01 18:52 ]

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Fri Feb 01, 2002 7:05 pm

I know that research phase, it's sweet pain. As you get familar with the gear through reading and pictures you can almost feel it. Then you read something negative and think "whoaaa! glad I haven't bought anything yet". Then another week or three passes and you think "damn, I should just go and buy something". Many months later I usually end up doing what I had first thought of anyway.

Pulsar is good

synths are fantastic and you'd be coming in at a very healthy time.

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 4:14 pm

Hey spirit, I recently went down to a store to pick up an XTC to expand my setup (pulsar1 + SRB) and they stuffed up the layby. When I opened the box it also had the expansion card which basically turned it into a Pulsar2.

But anyway the combination works very well, although I recommend doing a fresh install to avoid STDM errors.

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Sun Feb 03, 2002 4:36 pm

That's where I need to shop

ontik · Post by **ontik** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 4:13 am

Seems we have an all australian post going here.

Quite a contingent indeed. Can we all list States and suburbs

And Northcore since you are in Melbourne lemme know where you are, some buddies and me have some clout at local our outlet in the eastern subs and whats the best $$ so far. I'll see what I can organise.

Peeeeeeeace!

[ This Message was edited by: ontik on 2002-02-05 04:15 ]

Spirit · Post by **Spirit** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 5:39 am

I'm in the Sydney CBD right on Hyde Park
Nice view

, bad pollution

btw I emailed Greg Cato, the Australian Creamware dealer and asked why Pulsar II cards cost $2600 here, and why in the US they were less than $1600 (converted to Aus $). He didn't have an answer to that but said he was "just about" to change the price to $2100.... but his website still hasn't been updated.

He's a nice guy but his outdated website (still trumpeting v2.04

) and high prices make it no surprise that CW is still in the bachground here...

Here's his site:
http://www.majormusic.com.au/pricelist/priceplus.html

I got my card at Sound devices in Sydney about a year ago. They wanted to charge me $2700 but we negotiated to $2200 which I thought was pretty good.

cheers,
Spirit

[ This Message was edited by: Spirit on 2002-02-05 05:46 ]

ontik · Post by **ontik** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 5:46 am

I once stayed at the Hyde Park Plaza up near Oxford street. Yeah nice area and your bang on about the pollution.

Email me if you're ever in town

northcore · Post by **northcore** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 4:35 pm

hey ontik,

i'm in armadale, VIC @ the moment... easy enough for me to drive out to wherever... especially eastern subs.

the quote for pulsarII plus a16 ultra was well over 4k... but under 5k...

i've also been considering whether a pulsarII plus Luna would be a better/perhaps cheaper starting option for me. i kind of need the DSP more than the inputs now as i'm planning to sell the 01V and the E-MU ESI2000 sampler to finance the upgrade... meaning STS3000 will be working pretty hard in my environment most of the time. the pulsar II dsp's might have a job of it, by the sound of it, esp. if i want some dsp headroom for pulsarmixer and random signal path jiggerypokery.

carl

[ This Message was edited by: northcore on 2002-02-05 16:56 ]

[ This Message was edited by: northcore on 2002-02-05 16:57 ]

ontik · Post by **ontik** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 5:31 pm

Yeah I'm not to far different about $4.5K for a PulsarII/A16 combo.

Also I have the PII/LII combo you're thinking of and I use a handful of verbs and the sts5000 for sampling and I do all of my mixing in pulsars bigmixer with no problems, even a DSP heavy mastering compressor and I've not overloaded it Having said that I might want extra DSP's or have to be more eficient when I start getting heavy into Mod2 Add $800 to the price for and LII as well.

AND better make sure your PC is in shape for this gear. My theory is that your pro soundcards are going to cost more than your PC so you build the PC around the cards.

So what do you currently have PC wise?

And another thing, wait until any card you buy is shipped with ScopeFusion. The new OS that will have a whole bundle of goodies included. Due March.

[ This Message was edited by: ontik on 2002-02-05 17:34 ]

northcore · Post by **northcore** » Tue Feb 05, 2002 8:20 pm

thanx for the advice ontik

though it kind of makes me despair of getting my CW upgrade out of the way quickly

if i sell my 01V and ESI2000 i'll barely have the cash to pay for a PulsarII+A16...

...and even if the above sale does afford me a PulsarII+A16, it sounds like the PII+A16 would fail to match the capabilities of the gear i was trying to retire!

:(

oh well, guess i'll keep the sampler for now.

carl

caleb · Post by **caleb** » Wed Feb 06, 2002 3:05 am

Thought I'd add especially as this is an Australian post.

Just purchased a new system around a Pulsar II. Hope it's as fantastic as people say it is.

If I do want to expand in the future, what's currently the best option?

Luna is there for adding Multi I/O isn't it? Don't know if I'll need that one. Then there's the PowerPulsar II and the Scope etc.

It might all change by the time I actually decide to upgrade - but hell, let's pretend I'm upgrading next week.

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Wed Feb 06, 2002 6:44 pm

Hello there Caleb,

Yes, it is a fantastic system and there are plenty people here to give you a hand to get things up and running if needed

Once you're up and running though, I reckon you'll want to expand the DSP. But it does depend on what you are trying to run. I was always hitting the limit with 8 dsp's (Pulsar 1 + Pulsar srb) just doing mixdowns, 24trks, 1xreverb, eq's, compressors. So I ended up getting a Pulsar 2 just for dsp expansion and that has given me the headroom I needed.

If you do find yourself running out of DSP's and,if you can afford it (especially $AUS), then get a scope or power pulsar board. But even a second pulsar 2 or xtc will get you 12 dsp's and a lot more room to breathe.

Good luck

You've already got 20 i/o's on the pulsar 2.
If you plan to record multiple tracks at once then the next purchase might be a analog to digital converter to connect to the optical adat ports on the pulsar 2 card. There are two pairs and each pair gives you 8 ins/outs.

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Thu Feb 07, 2002 7:34 pm

I've recently moved to Perth - my partner got a job here- but I'm from Penola, S.A., Adelaide, Newtown, Bondi and North Fitzroy. When in Sydney (usually theatre work) I play the tuba with Jacky Orszascky and Toni Nation. In Sydney on Monday 4 6 weeks 'The Dreamers' by Jack Davis, Belvoir, opens Mar. 27. Maybe catch up with Eastern Pulsarfreaks 4 a beer & a yarn? rock on regardless