Silly Newbie Q...

SD · Post by SD » Mon May 09, 2005 10:28 pm

Hi All

This is going to sound abit silly... I wanted the Powercore PCI to run with my Delta 2496, but I see the Scope Home does DSP & Sound together... Would I never need another sound card again or is the Scope only really for DSP use?

Also, in Version 4.0 are the plug-ins as good or better then the Waves & TC sets?

Thanks for your time

Post by **garyb** » Tue May 10, 2005 12:51 am

well no, you wouldn't need another card, but with only 3 dsps you'll want another one(another scope card to add for more dsps..)...

i suggest starting with a scope project. the extra software and flexibility make it a much better buy, almost stupidly cheap...

as to quality, the scope plugins are stock here: http://www.fairlightau.com/ (check out the plugins manager-the 6 and 15 chip dsp cards and the picture of the reverb is stock scope) if you do a search for "fairlight D.R.E.A.M." you will find that the top studios are using them for TV and video post production.
they are very high quality. the plugins you mentioned are also good and with your sequencer or a vst host, they can be integrated with the scope environment.

i have never regretted my scope cards, as you can see, i'm happy to recommend them. for the money, you'll not have a more productive and useful tool in your studio if you take a moment to understand what is going on and set things up right from the start. for a very modest investment you can have a very powerful studio, there is no competing product. just my opinion......

[ This Message was edited by: garyb on 2005-05-10 01:52 ]

firubbi · Post by **firubbi** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:00 am

Welcome to Planetz. im running Pulsar2+sfp 4.0 and might not need more dsp. but in future if i need there any plenty option there. we can run upto 3 pci card (all creamware) at a time. so if you can hook 1 Scope+ 2 SRB which is huge.
and if you are looking for quality sound or looking for the word Pro sound... this is the place.... don't miss creamware.. take your time before bye other pci cards.
thanks

firubbi · Post by **firubbi** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:08 am

i have never regretted my scope cards, as you can see, i'm happy to recommend them.

Regretted my pulsr2.. No way.. never. yes i regret why didn't i put more money and buy the scope professional which has 15 dsp.

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 1:26 am

Thanks garyb

The Project Card cost's £750 in the UK...

I looked up the Project Card on the Creamware site, it say's it now includes a large plug-in pack (Synth'n'Sampler OR Mix'n'Master Pack) So you have to choose?

Also, I see theres three Project Cards - Classic, Plus and Z-Link and they cost the same price, I see they have different I/Os to suit your needs...

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 1:34 am

On 2005-05-10 02:00, firubbi wrote:
Welcome to Planetz. im running Pulsar2+sfp 4.0 and might not need more dsp. but in future if i need there any plenty option there. we can run upto 3 pci card (all creamware) at a time. so if you can hook 1 Scope+ 2 SRB which is huge.
and if you are looking for quality sound or looking for the word Pro sound... this is the place.... don't miss creamware.. take your time before bye other pci cards.
thanks

Why Thank you

Post by **garyb** » Tue May 10, 2005 1:54 am

yes, you can choose.
both packs are great. i suggest the synth and sampler. the minimax is really a direct replacement for a hardware minimoog and that plugin alone makes the card worth the money(a real vintage minimoog with no midi is $1500 used). the packs are like 600euro seperately, so that makes the card almost free

.....

the plus and classic versions are compatible with the most external i/o hardware. both have 2(for 16 channels) adat lightpipe digital optical i/o. as to plus or classic, it just depends on whether you prefer +4db balanced connectors(pro) or -20db rca unbalaced connectors(home). the z-link is a great choice if you want to use the cwa a16 16 channel interface. the plus and classic can use the a16(REALLY good quality) or a number of others including the very inexpensive but good sounding behriger ada8000(8i/o plus 8 mic pres for about $230us shipped) or the fostex vc8(8 channels i/o) if you want to have extra ins and outs(you will).

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 2:47 am

I like the look of the (balanced) Plus model, but the thing is it comes with 2 AES/EBU (XLR balanced) What's that mean?

Are the Modular III synthesizer and STS-4000 sampler any good? Silly Q Again

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue May 10, 2005 3:02 am

On 2005-05-10 01:51, garyb wrote:
...as to quality, the scope plugins are stock here: http://www.fairlightau.com/ (check out the plugins manager-the 6 and 15 chip dsp cards and the picture of the reverb is stock scope) if you do a search for "fairlight D.R.E.A.M." you will find that the top studios are using them for TV and video post production...

I suspect the main reason for failing to achieve a satisfying sound result right out of the box is simply monitoring and not the lack of this or that special plugin.
One easily underestimates the effect of the output stage and the room(!) influence.

I've had this experience on the weekend while trying out a piece of vintage hifi gear (not finished analysing yet). To make a long story short, the same sound source turned out to be 2 different records with few but the same note pitch in common. Really stunning.

Needless to mention the vintage gear did sound much more balanced, open and detailed... yet it was definetely lower speced, in particular the vinyl preamp

It was easy to route the stuff into SFP as there was a high impedance headphone out, but then it got me thinking...
The effect was caused by a very nice loundness correction filter (to 'adjust' frequency response to ear sensitivity) and it was tempting to simply record that result.

It would be perfect - but only at THAT particular listening level !
If someone played it over a club PA it probably would blow the membranes from the woofers

But finally I've never heard some of my (personal reference) vinyls and even CDs in such a quality. And I'd never be able to achieve that sound from my monitors or headphones alone - I simply wouldn't have known where to stop tweaking

and there really was a certain soundprint I'd much appreciate.

So SFP has never been the limiting factor. I'm pretty sure many try to achieve 'such a' sound by plugins (to make it warm, open spaced etc) alone, and totally underestimate the stock stuff. It's a regular note in almost all reviews, even those who consider themselves 'pro', that CWA's stock plugs aren't that exiting. They probably bash the wrong guy...

cheers, Tom

astroman · Post by **astroman** » Tue May 10, 2005 3:17 am

AES/EBU describes the signal level of the digital IO, afaik the data format of the bits is identical to S/PDIF, but the level is higher and balanced to make it more error-safe.
It's designed with professional studios in mind, where a lot of gear often has to be connected over fairly long distances. If you don't already own gear with that connector it's not necessary for home studios. Under regular conditions there's no difference in sound.

The Modular is a very good Modular, if you're into modular synth tweaking, and gets an even better one with the Adern Flexor addition.
It is also an extremely great FX unit for unusual stuff you design on your own, as you can route anything from anywhere of the SFP setup into and outof it.
The STS samplers are for you if you're a fan of the Akai way of doing things. If that's not your cup of tea, then they are very good for loading readymade programs from CDs, but not much more.

Have a look at the demos of CWA 3rd party developers (see devices forum) like Zarg, Wavelength, SpaceF, Celmo, Wolf, Warp69 and DeVice - some GREAT stuff there

cheers, Tom

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 4:51 am

Cheers Tom

Thanks for the info... AKAI way of doing things, I like the sound of that

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Tue May 10, 2005 5:00 am

Just as an AES post script, the actual data bits are the same, except for a bit which says, "Hi, i'm AES" or "Hi, i'm SPDIF" and some subcode differences which may cause problems with older (ie. less tolerant) equipment. You can have some interfacing problems if trying to use AES with 'domestic' SPDIF, explained here.

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 5:26 am

On 2005-05-10 06:00, Mr Arkadin wrote:
Just as an AES post script, the actual data bits are the same, except for a bit which says, "Hi, i'm AES" or "Hi, i'm SPDIF" and some subcode differences which may cause problems with older (ie. less tolerant) equipment. You can have some interfacing problems if trying to use AES with 'domestic' SPDIF, explained here.

I think I won't be needing the so called professional conections... SP/DIF (coaxial and optical) amd unbalanced Analoge I/Os are fine for me.

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 5:37 am

I'm thinking the Project is alittle too much for me to buy. The Project is VERY cool, but I'd have to buy it on HP over afew years!!

£750 is alot of cash to spend on one thing, for me anyway... I'll just have to wait and see.

Another thing, how much can you run on one DSP?

Mr Arkadin · Post by **Mr Arkadin** » Tue May 10, 2005 6:08 am

I'm thinking the Project is alittle too much for me to buy. The Project is VERY cool, but I'd have to buy it on HP over afew years!!

Do it - i did (and that's when they cost just over £1000 and you didn't get all the nice synths free). Honestly, for what you're getting it's cheap and you may find you'll never need to buy anything ever again (except more SCOPE devices of course!): synths, effects, mixing, mastering - it's all here. Check the SCOPE Purchasing on Planet Z for some deals.

Mr A

[ This Message was edited by: Mr Arkadin on 2005-05-10 07:39 ]

SD · Post by SD » Tue May 10, 2005 2:06 pm

I'll check it out, cheers

hesnotthemessiah · Post by **hesnotthemessiah** » Wed May 11, 2005 12:08 am

I would definately recommend purchasing from America rather than the UK. I have had my first Creamware products - two Scope Pro Z link cards - for a couple of days now and have been blown away by how amazing they are. Try "Infinite Vortex" - Shawn there was very helpful (http://www.infinitevortex.com/ ). Prices in America seem to be about half that of UK prices. I did get stung by Customs/the courier for VAT though but it still worked out that I saved about £1000.00 on my cards - almost half the advertised UK price. My credit card is a bit sore though!

[ This Message was edited by: hesnotthemessiah on 2005-05-11 01:08 ]

SD · Post by SD » Wed May 11, 2005 12:58 am

On 2005-05-11 01:08, hesnotthemessiah wrote:
I would definately recommend purchasing from America rather than the UK. I have had my first Creamware products - two Scope Pro Z link cards - for a couple of days now and have been blown away by how amazing they are. Try "Infinite Vortex" - Shawn there was very helpful (http://www.infinitevortex.com/ ). Prices in America seem to be about half that of UK prices. I did get stung by Customs/the courier for VAT though but it still worked out that I saved about £1000.00 on my cards - almost half the advertised UK price. My credit card is a bit sore though!

[ This Message was edited by: hesnotthemessiah on 2005-05-11 01:08 ]

I bet your card hurts, lol

Nah, I have to buy it in the UK becouse I want it by HP, which I have to use my friends card for.