On 2005-07-04 15:09, geoffd99 wrote:
So don't expect computer things to be the same in 5, 10 years time.
Maybe, but your ears will probably be the same, or a little less efficient, hence this hardware will still be fine for producing sounds and music in 5-10 years =P
As for the rest of what you say, I'd kind of agree, but there is already plenty of stuff that exists on the native platform. You can do full C development with Max/MSP, which has tons of already-built audio modules and tons more you can get from random sites. It runs on Mac and PC, and even has stuff to process video. If you are more the programming type, there is SuperCollider (Mac only, haven't been able to run the PC alpha) and CSound and probably a few others. There's plenty of other stuff, which will run natively on your hyper-duper-super-souped-up-CPU. Want grid-like stuff? Just run VST and VSTi in any normal sequencer? You can do pretty modular-y stuff in Reaktor, etc.
This is probably why you feel some defensiveness/aggressivity directed toward you, despite the existence of tons of alternative, you keep saying Creamware cards should stop being cards and that Creamware should just re-invent the wheel and re-code everything (which is usually, industry-wise, a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot and destroy your company.)
Obviously, these cards are not for everyone. I got mine for 2 reasons: dedicated and garanteed audio processing, and sound quality. Audio processing on a modern CPU simply cannot be garanteed, and will face all sorts of spikes and variations during operation, while something running on a DSP will be pretty constant in it's usage, since it's dedicated. This is what I find interesting, and this hardware is awesome because I can still use native processing as much as I want and send them thru ASIO, or hardware synths or whatever else I can dream of.
This rather pointless Faster CPU vs DSP has been going on for years, I remember people in 1999-2000 saying exactly what you are saying now, that with faster processors DSPs are useless, in 5 years no one will ever be using hardware anymore, etc etc. And I still simply do not feel compelled to ditch my cards for a purely native solution. Dedicated GFLOPS simply aren't the same as General Processing GFLOPS.
Also, the only reason a modern CPU can get anywhere near as much processing as it does, is because *there are DSP cores embedded with the CPU*. While I think this is great, I prefer to have my DSPs outside the CPU, for 2 reasons: there's a limit to how much of them you can put in a CPU (while if they're outside you can just add however much you want,) and because by putting them outside, they get closer to the sound interfaces/converters, instead of having to go thru cache, memory, dma controller, PCI bus, sound card, alien starship, etc (ie latency.) This last point is pretty important to me as I still plan to use hardware synths and instruments for a while, and really haven't been convinced that a MIDI + VSTi synth is equivalent (with the added bonus of dedicated hardware synths being much more stable - I've seen computers crash during a live show, I've never seen a hardware synth crash during a show (this being said, I've also seen some succesful laptop/computer based show, but they're still just a whole lot less reliable.))
You really don't have to use these cards as an all-in-one solution, they are just wonderful for both software and hardware. My Virus Indigo and Prisma are making babies, and I'm surely not the one who is going to stop them. I really don't see how you are stuck with anything, you are still entirely free to use whatever else you want with native software or hardware or fluffyware.
And the mixers are so good that I simply ditched my hardware mixer, which clears alot of space for synths and goblins, with absolutely no compromise in mixing quality. You can still use all-VST plugins and mix with the mixers if you want, you can use as many VSTi's as you can on your CPU, and shove them straight to SFP thru ASIO, with or without VST plugins in between, etc etc.
That's a few reasons why I think rewriting the whole thing natively would be a complete waste of time. You say everything is moving towards native, but the *exact opposite* is happening with graphics hardware. Processing is moving mostly out of the CPU, with boards now supporting multiple graphics cards. And there are Physics Processing Units that should be coming out pretty soon, to, yes, you guessed it, take the physics processing *out* of the native CPU. Why you, or anyone else, would consider this to not happen with audio is completely beyond me, as the last 20 years and more of computing has been going exactly the opposite way of trying to cram everything in the CPU. The Amiga proved this was the preferable architecture more than 20 years ago (well roughly 20 years ago =P.)
Creamware have always been pioneers in the digital audio field. In 1995, there were exactly (at least according to this copy of March 1995 Sound on Sound, which also featured a preview of a keyboard-version of the Oasys =P - it would have lasted longer this way too) 2 (sorry I guess this is getting to be a bit repetitive) sound cards in the world with a proper digital interface: the CardD from DAL, and "the mysterious TripleDat from Germany."
As a final note (hopefully, I swear I try my best to make it short!) I have friends who really weren't impressed with the firewire PowerCore. They kept the PCI PoCo, but ditched the firewire one. Also, a firewire solution would end up costing alot more than a simple PCI card. Would you pay 3000 euros for a Pulsar2-level card that would run less reverbs than what you have now? Somehow I doubt it. The only thing I can think of that vaguely would approach a Scope-in-a-box thing is the Symbolic Sound Kyma, and it's just a tiny bit more expensive for the same amount of processing than, say, a Scope Pro (admittedly, it has memory which is pretty cool, but maybe not 3000-euros-coool.) A PCI card solution is simply much cheaper, which is, I think an advantage for everyone.
As for "the real world" (I knew it wasn't the last paragraph damnit,) you are probably a bit tired of hearing this, but some pretty expensive consoles use these cards (Fairlight Constellation (anyone can get um at cost? pm me! =P)), so they're definitely seeing some use in the "real world", where people actually produce records and soundtracks, and don't just send some MP3s to their friends or have them play on 128kbps streaming radios.
So that's my take on it, my personal opinions and views on the subject. Don't take it too personal, as I think it's great that you are here to raise the debate and I prefer having you around to share your perspective and ideas, than not.
(except the last ones