Chameleon is coming....

[Bobro]

Quite some time ago Dave mentioned the idea of a "blank slate" hardware synth, a DSP box for software synthesizers. Well these guys:

 

http://www.soundart-hot.com/

 

have made one! Right now they're selling mostly to software developers (so if you can code synthesis get on it dammit ). Unfortunately I missed it at the Messe, hard to believe with that funky green color scheme they've got going.

 

Really excited about this, and the price is right- between 700 and 900 dollars depending on where you are and if you're a developer.

 

24/48, 0.6 ms latency.

 

The hardcore developers should be all over it, hopefully the guys who do Pulsar and OASYS synths will be making synths for it.

 

Now let us imagine for the future a Reaktor-type high-level modular program that compiles into code that's loadable into this device. I believe something like this is available for the OASYS on Mac, isn't it?

 

Very cool.

 

-Bobro

[Dan O]

Very cool info Bobro ! off to the link ! dano

[BP3]

From the link......

 

"We resurrected the MIDI engine from the Atari ST to give you the tightest timing."

[burningbusch]

Interesting, but I think an issue will be processing power. From what I've read about it, this thing has a single 100Mhz Motorola 56303 DSP. The OASYS board (which many users feel is somewhat underpowered) has four 100Mhz 56303s. The Creamware SHARC solution with either 3, 6 or 15 DSPs is significantly more powerful. Also, the Digidesign HD cards come with nine of 56303s.

 

I think the Creamware Noah might still be the best hardware solution, at least in the near future.

 

Busch.

[Bobro]

Originally posted by burningbusch:

Interesting, but I think an issue will be processing power. From what I've read about it, this thing has a single 100Mhz Motorola 56303 DSP. The OASYS board (which many users feel is somewhat underpowered) has four 100Mhz 56303s. The Creamware SHARC solution with either 3, 6 or 15 DSPs is significantly more powerful. Also, the Digidesign HD cards come with nine of 56303s.

 

I think the Creamware Noah might still be the best hardware solution, at least in the near future.

 

Busch.

You have the OASYS if I remember correctly? That's a fine machine, still bummed that it went out of production and I missed the blowout sale- could of had someone in the US buy one and mail it to me.

 

About the processor power- I was just thinking that. The TC Powercore has 4 of the same chips, IIRC, for example.

 

OTOH, I'm holding the dismembered remains of the S/PDIF connection from my Audiophile at the moment and feeling a great fondness for real hardware units with real solid connections.

 

-Bobro

[Synthmatic]

This is like the Tauron:

 

http://www.dsparts.com/

 

I like the concept of both. If they deliver what they promise, we might have to relabel VA as Virtually Anything.

[Bobro]

Originally posted by Synthmatic:

This is like the Tauron:

 

http://www.dsparts.com/

 

I like the concept of both. If they deliver what they promise, we might have to relabel VA as Virtually Anything.

Wow, thanks- that looks even more interesting to me, looks like it already has a modular softsynth

with compiler for Windows. Looks kind of like a poor-man's Kyma, wonder how much it costs?

 

-Bobro

[Umbra]

I think the main thing that will differentiate softsynths and hardsynths in the future is the control surface. A softsyth is just software, a hardware synth running the same software with a control surface matched to the software is an instrument.

 

They didn't really accomplish much with this new box, it's really a step in the wrong direction.

[Bobro]

Originally posted by Umbra:

I think the main thing that will differentiate softsynths and hardsynths in the future is the control surface. A softsyth is just software, a hardware synth running the same software with a control surface matched to the software is an instrument.

 

They didn't really accomplish much with this new box, it's really a step in the wrong direction.

With ever more external controls available, the control surface, whether for softsynth or DAW, is continually becoming less of the difference between hardware and software- we're already in a hybrid age.

 

In an ideal world, I'd agree that these kinds of boxes are a step in the wrong direction- the laptop, with an excellent external controller, is where it's at for the future, for many things. But in the real world of today, these devices, like the Pulsar, UAD, Powercore, and OASYS cards, are to a great extent simply dongles. At least two of the great designers have stated their reluctance to work on native softs for the simple reason that they'll be cracked and stolen.

 

-Bobro