STS5000 noob questions...

[fuztec25]

First of all, a big HIYA THERE to all CW/SC users out there. I'm Fuzz(ed) and i write from Italy. Now i am an happy user of 2 Luna II cards (total 6 DSP) and S/TDM cables.

Now, i have to admit that i am a total n00b about Scope and SHARCs and all the stuff but, as far as i noticed, nothing comes closer to CW/SC quality (at least to my ears).

Anyway the reason of buying is simple: i would like to use the STS-5000 as a live/standalone player for gigging along with my computer. I'm an ex E4 user and all my hardware samplers need to be serviced right now, that's why i decided to go "computer".

Apart from that, i would like to use STS-5000 "multitimbrally": on my hardware samplers i was used to have MIDI backing tracks (running on the internal E4's sequencer) that involved 30+ tracks and 40 to 80 audio channels playing, spanned on 11 different MIDI channels (the E-mu E4 is 48 track capable and 128 voices of polyphony, on 128MB of RAM).

Now i would try to swap all this for a dedicated machine (not new stuff but nothing bad either: a Pentium 4 3.2 GHz, Intel Chipset, 3 GB RAM, 3 HD for OS, Audio recording/playback and archiving, nVidia video card), along with Windows XP Professional. Clean install, nothing but the pure essential software.

My question is: will be the STS-5000 capable of handling the task? I know dedicated hardware (like a pro sampler) can do it with ease but what about on a PC?

Thank You all SO VERY MUCH in advance for your kind replies, i will greatly appreciate.

David (fuztec25)

[fuztec25]

Can someone please help me with this topic?

Thank You all so very much in advance .

Fuz!

[w_ellis]

I used to use the STS-3000 in the olden days, when it was part of the Powersampler bundle and I quite liked it. However, I probably wouldn't use it now for anything more complex than a few parts, as the usability isn't great. Admittedly, if you're from the hardware sampler world you might find it easier than I did to navigate, but I'd suggest looking at alternatives.

Bear in mind that the sample playback of the STS-es isn't really running on the DSPs (apart from a few elements in the STS5000 I believe), so the performance you get out of them will only be as good as any other software sampler, unless you're running them through loads of effects in the sampler. It seems that Kontakt is starting to become the front runner of alternatives and there are plenty of users of that on this forum that might be able to advise on what it's capable of.

[dante]

I'm installing Kontakt 4 as I write this. Its just that the STS range hasn't really been developed in the last few years, whereas Native sampling (from Gigastudio onwards) has gone ahead in leaps and bounds in terms of library content, streaming, polyphony etc.

[fuztec25]

Guys,
thank You so much for your kind replies.

Now i understand a bit more about STS-5000 capabilities. I was totally misunderstanding, thinking that the STS relied only on DSP power, rather than using the computer's CPU.

I was just thinking of upgrading to Scope v5, as the promo is still on and i just slapped another Pulsar card along with my 2 Luna II's (a total of 10 DSPs).

Anyway, now i understand a bit better.

Thank You so very much,
Fuz (from Italy).