confused

[Sharpshooter]

Regarding multiclient cards.... since gigasampler requires exclusive use of an audio output and if one wishes to run...say...gigasampler and cakewalk sequencer at the sametime, this would require you to either have two soundcards or a multiclient card. Now that much I understand but here is what I do not understand. If you have to use more than one output does that mean you have to run multiple sets of cables and merge them into one pair to connect to a single pair of speakers?? Or does this mean you can just select multiple outputs within software and still run just one pair of cables to speakers? Or do I need some kind of outboard mixer to do this? I have posted this question on a few other forums and the answers I keep getting are just confusing me more.

[Chadwick]

Some of this depends on your card. My Pulsar card is multiclient and lets you mix different channels with together to either a single analog stereo pair, an AES/EBU output, or an adat output (or you can keep them separate.

If you had a card where the channels were hard wired to separate physical outputs, then you\'d need some kind of mixer, then amp, then speakers.

[midiboy]

Hi !

Usually you would find this kind of information by reading the documentation, user reports, test reports or directly asking the vendor.

As an example I can tell you that the Mixtreme card by Soundscape is truly multiclient meaning you can mix audio streams by different applications ( Asio, Gsif, Wdm, MME ). With the newest driver you can even do this onto 1 channel so GSIF does not fight VST for the first 2 channels anymore.

I really like this card and the great support they offer. I also like the mixing capabilities. You can route audio between apps without patching cables. I guess the only other card that can replace your mixer is the Pulsar.

Hope this helps!

[Sharpshooter]

I think I follow you....forgive me for all the questions but I just want to make sure I have this down before I go out and spend some hi dollars on a card. As I understand it the mixtreme by soundscape will allow you to assign one output to...say cubase or cakewalk....and the other output to gigasampler/studio. Ok I\'ve got that so far but here is where I\'m stuck still. you now have two outputs in use....we\'ll call them 1/2 and 3/4. Cubase or cakewalk is using 1/2 and giga is using 3/4. Now does this mean you need one pair of cables coming out of the 1/2 output and another pair of cables coming out of the 3/4 output? If this is so then you would need to route all 4 of those cables to an outboard mixer in able to merge them into one output to a single pair of speakers....am I right so far? But you seem to be saying the the mixtreme negates the need for an outboard mixer. So does this mean that you can just go into the mixtreme\'s control panel and assign the outputs the way you need them....and just use one set of cables to go to speakers from a single physical output on the back of the card?? (I apologize for you having to put up with what probably sounds like dumb questions from me but I am really serious about recording and want to do everything right the first time)

[Chadwick]

Basically, I think you\'re right in what you hope for.

The Pulsar lets you mix all the outputs from its own \'plugin\' synths, Cubase audio tracks, GSIF (Gigastudio), and external inputs together into a stereo pair which can then be routed to an external amp and speakers.

[This message has been edited by Chadwick (edited 02-03-2001).]

[Sharpshooter]

how do I tell what soundcards are hardwired and which have onboard mixers before I buy one online?

[midiboy]

Hi !

I think the Pulsar and the Mixtreme are quite similar in this particular area. With the mixtreme, you get a mixer application which, among other routing options and slots for realtime effect plugins, contains 16 in and outputs ( the the real physical ports ) 16 virtual busses ( which can be used like busses on a mixer ) and 16 stream in/outports.

This is the real bonus because now you can decide to route the audio output of f.i. Gigastudio into either any of the physical outputs of the card or you can route it into one of the virtual busses of the card ( to mix it with the output of any other external or internal audio ) or you can decide to route the GS output to the Cubase input.

Do you get what I mean ? You can build your mixer, route everything to anywhere and then save this file as a mix file. You can then build other mixerfiles and switch between them.

You can also record mixer movements or you can save snapshots like in a digital outboard mixer.

Any other questions ?
Alex

[midiboy]

To make this clearer: If I say, you can route audio you do NOT need any external patch cables for this. Think of the mixtreme as being an external mixer inside the card. The card has a DSP onboard that does all this so the routing and mixing is totally independant from the Processor in your computer.

You just mix or route audio within the card, no need to patch audio cables except if the audio leaves the card or is fed into it for monitoring, recording or input from external sources.

Alex

[midiboy]

Hi !

Ok, I guess we have a problem here. According to musicians gear ( a German online shop ) the mixtreme costs $520.-

The SSIO-3 which gives you 8 analog in/out and wordclock costs $400.-

You can also get a the mixtreme/SPDIF combo for $654.- but then you don´t have any analog I/O, just one digital.

Mhh, I guess this probably will set you back more than what you expected. I cannot comment on this for you, but I certainly know that the card is worth it.

Maybe you can get the Mixtreme with SPDIf and a \"semicheap\" external AD/DA converter for the moment. This depends on the kind of work you want to do. If you need lots of I/O channels this won´t be for you. But if you mostly work within the PC ( with GS and sequencer on 1 PC for instance ) and just need one I/O for monitoring then this might work for you, at least until you can afford the 8 channel converter box.

All in all, since I am not working for Soundscape I don´t want to imply that you need this card. :-)) I just like it and I am very satisfied with the support.

The midi input of the card is just for MTC input and clocking of the card to external timecode. Its not a real midi port so you will need an additional midi interface if you want to play GS instruments with a keyboard.

Alex

[Sharpshooter]

Well I do all of my recording work with just my pc and my yamaha synth.....so I don\'t need a lot of I/O\'s....just a good multiclient setup that will allow me to use cakewalk and giga simultaneously....and some kind of midi interface so I can play giga samples using my external synth.

[Sharpshooter]

ok I understand that part now...thankyou for the responses...now I have another dumb question. I see on soundscape\'s webpage that the mixtreme has TDIF outputs. So there\'s no way I can just plug the card itself directly into a pair of speakers unless I had one of the tdif/analog interfaces right?? Those things are upwards of $600.00 and I don\'t have the cash to do that. I have $700.00 that I have alloted to purchase either a soundcard itself or a card/breakoutbox combo. There is an spdif interface for 149.00 on soundscape\'s site but I\'m not sure if that will work or not. So my problem now is that I\'m financially limited on hardware. I plan on buying an abit bx133 motherboard and an intel PIII 933 and 256 megs of ram....and gigastudio, cakewalk pro audio, and cool edit pro. And 2 western digital ATA/100 40 gig harddrives. And after all that I\'ll have $700.00 left to purchase a soundcard. Will the mixtreme do it or should I look elsewhere?

[Sharpshooter]

Oh I forgot to ask about MIDI. Do I also need to purchase some kind of MIDI interface?? Or can I just use gigastudio for my midi sounds?

[Sharpshooter]

Well I think I found the card I\'m looking for....the echo mia. It has 8 virtual outputs that can be mixed down in any combination to the 4 physical outputs. And it\'s only $200.00