I figure the best way I can personally introduce Scope to potential users is to recall my own introduction to it.

In the late 90's I was no stranger to DSP as I had been running the Yamaha SW1000XG which combined 16 MIDI channels and 6 Audio channels with effects.  It allowed me to mix all these signals back into Cubase for a final stereo mixdown 'in-the-box' due to its 'loopback' input.  The SW1000XG was a brilliant home musicians card, however, the routing was fixed. No way to insert missing effects, or add other external input without purchasing the more expensive 'DSP Factory' add-on, which was also very limited.

I had also seen the 'Environment Setup' in Logic Audio, and since then envisaged the graphical studio hook-up as the future of computer music.  However, the Logic Environment page only did MIDI (no Audio), so it was not enough to sway me from Cubase.

In June 2000, I walked into Troy Music Ringwood and I saw Scope (or SFP as it was known then) running on a Pulsar 2.  I was instantly intrigued.  The salesman showed me the project window and it was like a dream come true. Here now, was the full deal; hook up all your gear to the computer and it would become the 'hub of the star network' which made up the studio.

With the addition of an ADAT interface and a Luna 2, I was up and running with the freedom to route and mix internal and external MIDI and Audio signals at the drag and drop of a mouse.  Scope simply added the power of my 2 cards together as though they were one single big card.

Now I was master of my own studio domain.

  • No more having to change physical cabling if I wanted to hook up external devices in a different way.
  • No more separate bouncedown of MIDI to Audio prior to final mixdown
  • No more external mixer on input to sound card in order to provide foldback to vocalists
  • No more restrictions on inserts and routing
  • Free up of Host CPU to run more Audio channels / VST effects etc.

Since those days host systems have come a long way.  But so has Scope, and my 3 cards will still be there for as many more years as I can run a PCI based computer.  My previous computer lasted 6 years due to Scope being in it.  I see no reason why I won't be able to get 5 more out of my new computer (purchased last year).

Hence the catch-phrase for this publication - "SCOPE : making obsolescence obsolete".

Dante July 2010