Pulsar 1 vs Luna 2

sion3 · Post by **sion3** » Mon Jun 03, 2002 9:06 pm

I've just upgraded to an AMD +1700 w/DMA100 RAID 0+1. I sold my Digidesign card. I'm looking at Pulsar 1s & Luna 2s, cause those
are what fit my budget. I also looked at Terratec EWS-88Mts but the Creamware stuff looks like a lot more bang for the buck.
Does the Pulsar 1 have any deadends that would keep it from expanding w/other newer
Creamware products? Would it be more useful to buy one than get a Luna 2? What is a Pro Pack? I'm more interested in recording digital audio than synths but I have written several titles using synths for instruments I can't play or get a hold of to record with. I play guitar synth as well. Do any of these synth modules support Mono Mode where you can bend all the synth voices at once with pitch bend (in my case w/guitar?)
I know these are basic questions to most of you, but any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[ This Message was edited by: sion3 on 2002-06-03 22:07 ]

[ This Message was edited by: sion3 on 2002-06-03 22:10 ]

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 7:54 am

It is a bit complex entering the CW stage buying used gear. (as far as I remember) The Pulsar1 will not include:

mixer package1
effects package2
synthesizer package2
modular2
sts3000

If you have no propack. Except for this the software will be identical to the current Pulsar2 software. If you buy a Luna card, and you do not get it with version3 software, you will miss out some features too, compared with a new Luna. But I do not know wich. A Pulsar1 is a first generation board and will not work with latencies lower than 13ms (unless pared with a generation2 board).

Immanuel

AndreD · Post by **AndreD** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 8:45 am

Hi,
P1 und Luna2 have different pci-achitectures..
The PCI-Limit will be reached faster than using only boards of the 2nd gerenation!

Best wishes,
andre

[ This Message was edited by: Andre Dupke on 2002-06-04 09:51 ]

AndreD · Post by **AndreD** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 8:49 am

>> That means:
less reverbs for the same time!

Immanuel · Post by **Immanuel** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 9:01 am

Luna2 is a second generation board.

Immanuel

algorhythm · Post by **algorhythm** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 12:42 pm

You will run out of DSP on a Pulsar I before you can max out the bandwidth of PCI. I have a Luna II and Pulsar I combo. The big difference is that the Luna has hardware ULLI, which means lower latencies. In practice, though, the lower ULLI latencies don't work for most people anyways. The big difference is the software and the i/o which is more on Pulsar than Luna.

email at0mic here - he has 2 pulsar I's for sale and is very trustworthy.

sion3 · Post by **sion3** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 3:40 pm

I appreciate the feedback. If I went with a Luna, and later added another, would that work better than getting a Pulsar 1 and later trying to use it with second generation boards? The price of 2 brand new Luna 2s w/ver 3.01 is only a little more than a used pulsar 1 and would give me 6 DSPs. Is there anything a Pulsar 1 w/a Propack will do that a Luna won't (besides the extra DSP, of course.)

[ This Message was edited by: sion3 on 2002-06-04 17:56 ]

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 7:48 pm

imho it's mostly a software/license issue.
The Luna is somewhat treated as a budget pack, opposed to even old Pulsar 1.
But you'd rather add a cheap 6 DSP board like the XTC (used) if you get the hang on the system.
Possibly a 2nd hand Pulsar 2 fits to the budget with some sqeeze. Maybe the overall cheaper solution.

cheers, Tom

ps: is there a VIA chipset on your mobo ?
then check the (numerous) threads first

[ This Message was edited by: astroman on 2002-06-04 20:50 ]

sion3 · Post by **sion3** » Tue Jun 04, 2002 8:32 pm

I've got an AMD 761 Northbridge chipset with a VIA VT82C686B Southbridge. The HPT370A RAID
0+1 runs off the Northbridge, according to the System Block Diagram, as does the Mushkin 256 DDR2100. The PS/2 Keyboard, the
BUSLINK 16/10/40 CD-RW, and the USB Mouse run off the VIA Southbridge. The threads I've looked at mention possible problems with VIA, but say that AMD 761 isn't a problem. Since the memory and UDMA/100 RAID array don't run through the Southbridge I'm wondering if it would be a problem. I'm used to burning CDs from files on the Hard Drive so I don't see how if I can do that now I couldn't do that then. Are there cases where I would need to go straight to 44.1 on CD? (That's not rhetorical, there might be some circumstances I'm not aware of.) The motherboard was less than $100.00, so if it just wouldn't work (Epox 8k7A+) replacing it wouldn't be the end of the world. The only other card in the computer is a Linksys Ethernet Card. I can put the Cable modem to sleep or disable the card while working if need be. Unfortunately I'm not rich enough to have another computer for the internet, but I certainly wouldn't try to be online while working. Tell me if you know of any problems with my board, and I'll check the site as well.
Thanks for your input.

sion3 · Post by **sion3** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 7:35 am

Well, after looking around some more and Reading Subhuman's input, it seems I've got as good an Athlon System as one could hope.
I guess it will work to get started, and when I'm ready for more processing power, I'll have to upgrade again to a more stable platform that allows more PCI Bandwidth. Still not sure wether to get a Pulsar 1 or a
Luna 2, the Pulsar 2s are a little steep for me now, but the Pulsars do seem to come with more software. It looks like the Luna doesn't come with much in the way of Synth software.

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Wed Jun 05, 2002 8:47 am

a second hand Pulsar 1 with propack is a very good bang for the buck.
Whatever you extend your system later, there's always use for it.
You could plug it in (nearly) whatever box as an instrument/effects unit with adat connectors. The propack is a sampler, lots of synths, decents effects, even one mega- effect unit (Mod-2 abused).
Adat converters are getting cheaper, so you don't loose much without Z-Link.
My setup is similiar and I'm as happy as can be with it

a real budget buy, too.
Recently supplied an adat mixer for analog IO, which makes it really smooth to operate.
Btw you (prolly) don't need 24-bit high end conversion on each channel so there's a lot of 'outdated' but well-working stuff on ebay.

cheers, Tom

sion3 · Post by **sion3** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 7:46 am

That sounds like a good system. I looked at some Pulsar 1s, but with additional software they seem to go for around $500. I just bought a Luna 2 and I'll be able to see if it works for a smaller investment. Then I'll add a Luna I/O and eventually an XTC. Sure apreciate everyone's input. Now I'll be using some of the advice in the Tech topics to optimize my system. I'm a little nervous about the fact they might come out with faster DSPs, as I hate to buy a product just before its updated, but that's life, and I can't wait another couple months to finish up certain projects.

_________________
Space and time are relative

[ This Message was edited by: sion3 on 2002-06-06 08:47 ]

[ This Message was edited by: sion3 on 2002-06-06 21:04 ]

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Thu Jun 06, 2002 3:07 pm

On 2002-06-06 08:46, sion3 wrote:
... as I hate to buy a product just before its updated, but that's life, ...

that was the reason I got my Pulsar 1 that cheap. Previous owner bought a week before Pulsar 2 release. Was somewhat upset and convinced the guy in the shop to take it back. I was around looking for a good card, shop wanted to get rid of the oldie, so we made the deal, finally all happy

good luck with your new stuff, Tom