PlanetZ forums - scopeusers.com

I am considering to buy a secondhand Pulsar 1 to add DSP power to my excisting Luna 2 card. Do I have to interconnect the two cards
or do they communicate via the PCI bus? If required, what cable can I use?

Regards

Neb

The cable is called STDM. Ask your dealer for it. Use of same IRQ is recommended. Use the Luna for I/O. Traffic for DSPs is by STDM.
Happy pulsaring
Micha

You need an STDM cable, for the connection you see opposite of the one on the PCI bus. It's about 1 inch wide.

I think this CW page shows how a Scope connects to a Pulsar2 SRB, with STDM cables. while a Scope card has 5, a Pulsar1 has only one STDM connection. So you'll only need one STDM cable.

I'd request it from a dealer or CW shop, maybe they're standard cables I don't know.

Anyone got more specs on the cable itself?

[edit] Micha didn't see your post

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: at0mic on 2002-10-09 08:58 ]</font>

Hi atom,
these DSP Jeans will fit, bet that!
Micha

Why on earth there are 5 connectors on SCOPE card? I thought only 3 CW cards can be linked.

It will have less to do with the max amount of cards in a compu, than with necessity for STDM pipes. I remember when I had a Pulsar2 + 2 Pulsar1. One STDM on the Pulsar1 often gave STDM overload or 'no more connections available' errors.

I think they wanted to be failsafe on the Scope boards Imagine running 3 Scope boards, how much traffic could possibly go from the top to the bottom card. One STDM is only 128 connections. I can imagine the STDM they're welcome on a tripple Scope machine.

I obtained a STDM cable at my local dealer for free and added a Pusar 1 card in addition to my Luna 2. The Pulsar 1 was immediately reckognised and driver installation was simple. The only issue was that I installed the old drivers that were bundled with the Pulsar 1 (from 1999). On startup SFP 3.1 returned an error indicating that it required a newer driver (1.5 vs 1.0) for the Pulsar card to run SFP 3.1. After a few adjustments it worked fine. Now I have 7 DSPs, but I have to admit that the improvement in operformance is not that overwhelming. The Creamware synths drain the boards for power.

Neb

Improvement in performance not overwhelming? Man you just more than doubled your DSP power. Guess we all would sign for that

True, the improvement is more than doubled, however the the Creamware system does not allow for running several synths at the same time with a lot of polyphony. The amazing Vectron does increase the strain on the DSPs quite significantly by increasing the polyphony from 1 to 8. If you in addition wish to run a drum machine, the SB404 and some Reverbs, you are likely to hit the ceiling.

Sure, my first thought after the installation of Pulsar 1, was to test how much more power was available. It is purely a technical issue.

I am not saying that the system limits the possibilities for creating music.

Neb

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nebukadneser on 2002-10-11 09:35 ]</font>

at0mic,
so if I have multiple SCOPE boards, I can link them using many STDM cables for better benchmark?

Of course. I use 2 STDM to interconnect PulsarII and Scope.

Each STDM is an extra 150something busses.

One problem has occurred as a result of my inclusion of a Pulsar I board. I have lost my MIDI input, I can no longer record an external midisignal. I have uninstalled and reinstalled everything, but without any success. I have right clicked the MIDI source at the patchboard to try to switch from Luna Souurce to Pulsar Source and vice versa, but it still fails to work.

Any suggestions?

Neb

Load the relevant midi hardware drivers from the Hardware Devices menu. Load both if you want

All IO's of both cards should be listed there.

I have tried to load the Midi drivers at the patch board. The Luna MIDI A is activated by default on starting the SFP platform. But it does not work anymore. I will be trying different solutions.

Neb

I have just discovered that when i launch a synthdevice: <br>MIDI A LUNA --> INFERNO -->MIXER -->Luna Analog Out, <br>the MIDI signal does not go to the Inferno but to my MIDI DESTINATION! I can tell because of the chorused effect from my synth when striking a key. I have double notes on my synth! What is going on? Is it possible that I have connected the STDM cable upside down, and thus experience this kind of device confusion?

Neb


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Nebukadneser on 2002-10-15 03:49 ]</font>