Should I buy a Scope system?

funkysam · Post by **funkysam** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 1:03 pm

Hi all,

it's been a while since I don't visit this website...

well, I used to be a pulsar 1 user (2 years ago) but I sold the card 'cause it didn't have enough power to suit my needs (and I didn't have money to upgrade...) but this is another story...

I consider buying a Scope professional system and I have a few questions.

What I want to do with the card: mainly mixing, say, 24 to 32 tracks, 16 coming from the sequencer, and the others for pulsar synths&samplers.

So, my questions:

- how good is that 2448 mixer? comp? EQ? is it better to use other plugs for comp&eq?

- how much dsp takes this 2448 fully loaded with its eq and comps (I hardly remember this was 4, but can someone double-check it?

- my actual config is:
* ABIT KG7
* 512 Mo DDR SDRAM
* 2x 120 Go + 60 Go IDE HD
* Matrox G550 AGP
* Geforce PCI video card (I guess this one might not be that good for a scope system)

Is this setup sufficient for 24 24 or 32 bits tracks coming from the sequencer + a bunch of reverbs as the PCI bus is concerned?

well, I hardly hesitate o buy a scope system 'cause I wasn't that happy with the slow GUI... but, I remember the sound, and what a sound...
I've made great things with my pulsar 1 but this wasn't enough dsp power, but with a scope pro 14 dsp system...

last question: why 14 dsp and not 15?
what are the differences between the new hardware and the older one?
is the new one less powerful (only 14 dsp's)?

thanks a lot for your time...
Sam.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: funkysam on 2004-06-09 14:06 ]</font>

borg · Post by **borg** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 1:37 pm

On 2004-06-09 14:03, funkysam wrote:
last question: why 14 dsp and not 15?
what are the differences between the new hardware and the older one?
is the new one less powerful (only 14 dsp's)?

there are still 15 dsps on the card. the 15th is not used for devices, but for dsp management.
you know you get the vinco when you buy a scope pro?

the eq and comps are good enough, but some plugs are... well, eh, very nice.
can't really tell the dsp usage of the mixer in full effect. but i think a scope pro will do really well for mixing. doing so many tracks and scope synths (8 more channels, in your example) is another question, depending on number of voices, which synth,...

welcome (again)

wayne · Post by **wayne** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:35 pm

i use the 2448 all the time - 4 inserts per channel, steep filters if you want 'em - but I never used it when i only had 4 dsp...

blazesboylan · Post by **blazesboylan** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 9:16 pm

...pulsar synths & samplers... 2448 fully loaded with its eq and comps... a bunch of reverbs...

Sounds like a pretty massive setup to me. The 2448 + dynamics shouldn't be a problem, but samplers, synths and reverbs eat a lot of DSP. I would guess you'd need 2 boards for all that...?

Why do you need a bunch of reverbs anyway? Just use 1 reverb with the 2448 aux sends / returns. That's what they're there for.

Also since you have 8 buses to work with you probably don't need dynamics, EQ, and so on, on every single channel. Just straddle the buses with compressors and EQ, and then add individual channel inserts wherever needed.

My only complaint about the CW effects sound-wise is WRT the PEQ4: the Q is too wide. I'd like 0.5 or even less, but it only goes down to 0.7. You can get around this limitation with other filters though.

Otherwise the dynamics + EQ and so on are fantastic, IMO.

Incidentally I really like Vinco (so far -- I'm a newbie to Vinco

).

In a nutshell: come back!

Cheers,

Johann

funkysam · Post by **funkysam** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 2:45 am

Hi all, and thanks for your answers...

When i say a bunch of reverbs, that's no more than 3 in fact, in the biggest projects.
In the long term, I plan on buying external effects and using them in conjonction with the scope system (that's something we can't do with other platforms), as if it were a real mixing desk.

As far as synths and samplers are concerned, I don't need too much of them, maybe 1 or 2 per project, and i don't mind recording them to my sequencer when it's mix time ;o) (or add another board later...)

My only fear is about PCI transfers.
For some projects, I will really need to send 24 tracks to mix into scope system and not to be too much limited for reverbs.

Sam.

Post by **garyb** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 3:48 am

with a good computer 24 tracks should be no problem...

Plato · Post by **Plato** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 5:34 am

'Should I buy a Scope system'.........
Most defintely yes, sir - you know it makes sense

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 6:59 am

My startup project is 32 trks so no problems there. Usually only run 2 reverbs max though. Don't seem to need any more (one plate for drums and one for the rest). Never had any probs. Running intel though.

bassdude · Post by **bassdude** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 7:12 am

....
well, I hardly hesitate o buy a scope system 'cause I wasn't that happy with the slow GUI... but, I remember the sound, and what a sound...

Yep, getting a nice "warm" (whatever that means) sound has always been easier when mixing in scope for me. Monitoring shows up percieved harshness that I compensate for (PMC monitors) then when I listen on a half decent Hifi system it suddenly becomes ultra megga "warm"! Love it.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: bassdude on 2004-06-10 08:13 ]</font>