guhlenn
Oh REALLY????
could you please elaborate on the mixtreme? I never saw such a good deal on such a short distance from my home...
G
G
I wish I could afford apogee or lucid. I really do. Now then...
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tedluk
New member
guhlenn said:
Not sure what you want us to say. It's a card with on board DSP that's been out for a number of years. The concept being that you can use the onboard DSP to free up your host CPU for other tasks. When the cards first came out, CPUs were much slower so this was a very powerful concept. The cards ship with a number of included plug-ins and there are more available from Soundscape and third party developers. The plugs are pricey though. Their Mixpander cards offer increased DSP power (either 5 or 9 Motorola chips). While offloading processing to the DSP chips is still a good idea, it's less of an issue with the faster CPUs we now have. They also offer a line of imbedded systems meant to compete with ProTools with much greater connectivity at much lower prices. The reason I love my Mixtremes, and continue to support Soundscape, is the high quality of the products. They're simple and elegant. Great drivers. A totally configurable mixer. Rock solid reliability. Top-drawer support.
They're a small company who, at one time, had distribution here in the states (Sam Ash stocked them for one). They were bought out by Mackie several years ago and lots of us hoped it would lead to some new products. I think Mackie was not interested in advancing Soundscape at all. Not only did the company not flourish, but most of us believed it was dead. Sydec, the company who actually designed and manufactured the hardware, somehow, managed to purchase the company back from Mackie about a year and a half ago. Since then, they've been working hard to produce a new line of products to update their offerings. In recent months we've seen a number of new items finally begin to ship and they're really exciting! The new I-boxes, the Apogee I/O 896, the Mixtreme 192 are all worthy of consideration for both home and professional studios.
Sydec has limited distribution set up but you should be able to purchase them in most places. I know at one time some distributors were offering to allow you to demo them. I don't know if that's the case anymore.
Check out their line and specs. Read their forums. While I won't say that the products have NO problems, almost all difficulties are the result of some other problem unrelated to the cards themselves. Overall, you'll see the overwhelming majority of users are not only satisfied but extremely happy and don't want to give up their systems.
www.sydec.be
Ted
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tedluk
New member
photoresistor said:
You're right about the SS8IO-3, it tops out at 48K. There are other ways, of course. You aren't locked into their boxes. Anything with TDIF will interface will work with it although the new I-box 48-TA looks sweet!
What is your budget? Generally speaking, the Soundscape products are quite competitive. I do feel there is a bit of a gap in their low-end line right now. The SS8IO-3 needs to be updated. They also need to bring back a simple 8 channel mic-pre.
Ted
guhlenn
Oh REALLY????
thanks, my main issue with cards these days is stability. The powerpack looks great, and I can practically WALK to their factory so I will definately check em out. However i did notice that the powerpack not only does 48 max, but is 20 bit also. Now i don';t care as much about specs as i do about sound, but there are no listings of things like SNR and stuff lie that, and somehow that worries me. But on the other hand 16 i/o WITH DSP for 400 euros... that is a damn sweet deal...
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tedluk
New member
guhlenn said:
Stability is one of Soundscape's greatest strengths.
I searched in vain for specs on the Mixtreme. I did find these rather limited test results in a Garry Simmons review on Prorec.com from 1999:
The SS8IO-3 is Soundscape's affordable analog-to-TDIF interface solution. The SS8IO-3 is a half rack unit featuring 20 bit converters. It has eight analog inputs and eight analog outputs on the back (RCA, -10dBV). The front panel of the SS8IO-3 has two LEDs per input channel plus buttons/LEDs for changing the clock settings. The SS8IO-3 is powered by a wall wart. The SS8IO-3 is connected to the Mixtreme via the supplied two meter ribbon cable. You might get away with longer ribbon cables if you are careful about routing. If you need a longer cable, you can buy them from Tascam (Warning! They're not cheap!).
I measured the RMS Power level of recorded silence (nothing plugged into an analog input) using WaveLab 2.02. The Mixtreme/8IO-3 combo came in with a -99.6dB reading. That puts it in the same ballpark as similar I/O units. Not as quiet as the pricey gear, but still a bit quieter than 16 bit (which usually measures between -90 and -93dB). Test scores beyond a certain point don't mean a whole to me. To my ears, the converters in the 8IO-3 sound fine and are plenty quiet. Things like mic choice, mic position, and ambient noise in the room make more of a difference (to me) than the differences between converters in this price range.
I also found an old post in a Northern Sound Source forum thread from a Soundscape rep stating a S/N ratio of "approx. 100db".
I'm no expert on these matters, but I know the converters, though 20 bit, are excellent and those with better ears than me think the Mixtreme sounds VERY good.
If you're near them, then I have a feeling that once you check them out, you'll be sold!
Ted
T
tedluk
New member
guhlenn said:
Stability is one of Soundscape's greatest strengths.
I searched in vain for specs on the Mixtreme. I did find these rather limited test results in a Garry Simmons review on Prorec.com from 1999:
The SS8IO-3 is Soundscape's affordable analog-to-TDIF interface solution. The SS8IO-3 is a half rack unit featuring 20 bit converters. It has eight analog inputs and eight analog outputs on the back (RCA, -10dBV). The front panel of the SS8IO-3 has two LEDs per input channel plus buttons/LEDs for changing the clock settings. The SS8IO-3 is powered by a wall wart. The SS8IO-3 is connected to the Mixtreme via the supplied two meter ribbon cable. You might get away with longer ribbon cables if you are careful about routing. If you need a longer cable, you can buy them from Tascam (Warning! They're not cheap!).
I measured the RMS Power level of recorded silence (nothing plugged into an analog input) using WaveLab 2.02. The Mixtreme/8IO-3 combo came in with a -99.6dB reading. That puts it in the same ballpark as similar I/O units. Not as quiet as the pricey gear, but still a bit quieter than 16 bit (which usually measures between -90 and -93dB). Test scores beyond a certain point don't mean a whole to me. To my ears, the converters in the 8IO-3 sound fine and are plenty quiet. Things like mic choice, mic position, and ambient noise in the room make more of a difference (to me) than the differences between converters in this price range.
I also found an old post in a Northern Sound Source forum thread from a Soundscape rep stating a S/N ratio of "approx. 100db".
I'm no expert on these matters, but I know the converters, though 20 bit, are excellent and those with better ears than me think the Mixtreme sounds VERY good.
If you're near them, then I have a feeling that once you check them out, you'll be sold!
Ted
guhlenn
Oh REALLY????
I'll check em out and will post something here. Thanks for pointing me in the direction!
Glenn
ps. That would raise up the dilemma of an affordable good mixer... recommendations? (along the lines of spirit studio... say 500-1000..)
Glenn
ps. That would raise up the dilemma of an affordable good mixer... recommendations? (along the lines of spirit studio... say 500-1000..)
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photoresistor
New member
look at the soundcraft M series... they are very highly recommended on this forum. there is a guy on this forum that is a dealer for the company and can give you a great price.