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More Pulsar Observations [message #77423] Mon, 25 December 2006 09:00 Go to previous message
Nil is currently offline  Nil
Messages: 245
Registered: March 2007
Senior Member
OK, after twiddling around with this beast quite a bit more
yesterday, I have a few more observations, FWIW, in case any
others of you were still thinking of going this route:

1.) The overall sound, is, IMO, really good... in the
configuration in which I am able to use it, I can only get a
total of 8 inputs (4 stereo submixes in my case, running
through 2 lightpipe in's), but even with just that (i.e.: not
being able to sum like all 40 channels of a given project or
whatnot) I am definitely hearing a bit more well-defined or
clearer sound.

2.) I'm not all that impressed with the plugins...
the "Optimaster" one is very useful, and the MasterVerbPro &
Vinco are also pretty cool, but since I'm using this as a
summing tool, I'm not about to slap a reverb across the 2-buss
or one of the submixes - same goes for the Vinco (it's a
pretty much dead-on 1176 emulation; sunds great, but there's not
much of a chance I'm going to use that particular comp across
an entire mix or submix). While some of the other plugins
are "cool" in concept (like the PsyQ, which is a spatial
manipulator, of sorts), IME they're not very useful - the
PsyQ, for instance, has about two degrees of manipulation
available before it starts sounding like crap LOL now
that's kind of a waste of code, if you ask me! There are quite
a few plugs like that one in the bunch, trust me, but again,
there are also a few useful ones... I'm just not all that
impressed with a lot of them. Maybe I was expecting more from a
whole crop of DSP-based plugs, I dunno.

3.)The Mixer, is not much of a mixer... if you're expecting
something like you'll find in Paris or Cubase/Nuendo in terms
of versatility, automation, etc, forget it. It sure LOOKS
pretty, though! :) it doesn't have built-in EQ, you have to
select an EQ plugin (of which there are a couple), and there
are only a couple of plugin slots per channel (depending on
which Mixer you select).

4.) The software is not very intuitive, but it's also not
overly cumbersome, either - once you learn how to speak German,
you'll be fine LOL j/k... serisouly, though, once you learn
how "they" do things (certain click/drops & "is it a right or a
left click?" - stuff like that), you'll find that those
patterns pretty much repeat themselves across all the windows &
menus/submenus. It's very much like Paris in the sense that
it's got a routing window (virtual patchbay-style), a main
project window, a separate mixer window, etc. It does NOT have
an editor of any kind (that I have come across, anyway), or a
tracking feature similar in any way shape or form to any DAW
wherein you have a window that shows what audio tracks you
have, where they start & stop, etc, etc. You CAN track a number
of of tracks to disk through this gear alone, but then you'd
have to reimport those into some DAW app to do anything really
useful with them... so in case there was any confusion, the
Creamware stuff in & of itself, is NOT really useable as a
standalone DAW application - you'd have to have some other ASIO-
compliant DAW partnered with it to be able to work in any
manner even remotely close to what you're currently used to.

5.) Finally, DSP: DO NOT be fooled by your brain telling
you: "Wow that card has THREE whole DSP chips! That should be
PLENTY of power for what I want to do, since I have exactly
ZERO DSP chips now!!!" Lemme tellya something... I have the
Project Card - six DSP chips - and if I insert one big plugin
like the Optimaster, I can insert exactly ONE more plugin
before it gives me the white flag of DSP surrender. If I don't
have a "big" plugin like the Optimaster inserted, I can insert,
for example - exactly FIVE Vinco compressors before the DSP
resources are exceeded. There's a thing called SBC (Spectral
Balance Controller), and even if NO OTHER PLUGINS are inserted,
if I insert that at 88.2k, all DSP resources become maxed-out.
Now I can also kinda see why Deej opted for a couple of
the "Home" (3-DSP) cards & one of the Project (6-DSP) cards,
because there's also an i/o & routing issue, and so Deej ended
up with a dozen total DSP chips across the three cards he's
got, plus a bit better i/o flexibility as compared to if he'd
gotten just one of the Pro (14-DSP) Cards. Now also, keep in
mind I'm running at 88.2k, so that indeed is going to take more
DSP horsepower to process in three different Pulsar stages
(Mixer channels/any plugins/and Mixer bus) than those of you
running at 44.1 or 48, but if I can only insert TWO big plugins
or five normal less-DSP-intensive ones on this card, how many
instances could you get at 44.1k? Far from what we're used to
in Paris or Native, methinks.

So if you're looking to get into this stuff, I'd say do your
homework here first, asking the guys who have it already,
and don't trust what tyhe Creamware reps tell you, because in
my own personal experience, they don't know their product very
well, and they certaily they don't stand behind it (I mean, when
a guy whines to me that he's going to lose money if he takes
the product back, even after he told me it WOULD do something
that it DOESN'T, then THAT is a guy that ought not to be running
any kind of business in the first place).

Anyway, the stuff doens't suck, and I'm sure some of you could
find it useful; just pick your cards and i/o options carefully
is what I'm trying to say, because it's very unlikely that if
you need to swap something out, these guys will be willing to
make it happen. Or they'll bitch & whine if they do - who needs
that when you're forking over hundreds or perhaps thousands of
$$$? Not me, baby! lol

Merry Creamwaresmas!

Neil

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