Yamaha DS2416 DSP Factory Card. What's going on??

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DigitalDon

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Anyone know what's going on with the Yamaha DS2416 card? I know it's been out for awhile but AMS has it with the AX44 or ADAT expander on sale for $299. I was seriously looking at purchasing this card within the next 2 weeks but the clearance has me concerned.

Also appreciate any input from people using this card with or without the AX44. Already did a search on this BBS but turned up nothing substantial. FYI it would be installed in a 700MHz PIII, 128Meg RAM, ABIT BE6 II MB, etc. -- Thanks in advance --
 
I saw it for 599.00.....Ifit really is299.00 let me know, ill jump on it myself...ive read a few reviews at other sites and its a powerful card....on that system, this card would smoke....the only downside was that you needed certain software to take full advantage of the card...
 
Gidge,
Not sure what "certain software" you're talking about. From what I read, all the bigboy software developers (Cakewalk, Sonic Foundry, Steinberg, Sek'd, Emagic, etc) jumped into support for this board when it first hit the street in 1998.

I wanted it really bad last summer but couldn't afford the $899 price tag. I just really can't think of any reason not to buy it. I know AMS has it backordered at this time but I'll let you know what develops.
 
Yeah, many top of the line software manufacturers jumped on it making "spacialized" software for it or writing code into their existing software to use its features....of course that means that if u are a N-Track user you are SOL....like I said, thats the only bad side....look at all the good sides....
 
If I recall, the thing about it was that it supported something called audioX, developed by Cakewalk, and introduced in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. It allows you to control the hardware DSP on a card equipped with audioX drivers.

Details at http://www.cakewalk.com/audiox/axhome.htm

I haven't heard much about it since Pro Audio 9 came out so I wonder if Yamaha was the only hardware vendor to adopt it. It only makes sense for high-end cards that have DSP on board like the DSP Factory, the Mixtreme, the Pulsar...

I would suspect that the (drastically) lowered price signals that it's going to be replaced soon with something better. I would worry that they won't be developing drivers any more for it. It would not be good to have a killer card like that but without WDM drivers to get the improvements that would offer. Check this out before you spring for it.
 
I was just about to post something when I saw all of this. It looks like a sweet deal!
 
Ok...I've ordered the DS2416. It was actually the 1st the catch my eye a mo. ago. Yamaha's site is very informative w/ software updates & stated it is compatable w/ Steinburg & others. It probadly is being phased out w/ smthng new but my needs are simple. This is my 1st 'real' sound card. Wish me luck.
 
SteveAustin,
Who did you order yours from? Did you get the AX44 with it for $299? I really think it'll do all I need it to do for the near future.
 
Ordered the DSP w/ the AX44 from American Musical Supply. A flat $299.97. Free shipping & handling & no tax. It's on back order though.
 
Hey guys,

Any idea if the Yamaha DSP factory card could record a dry track while outputting the same track with effects applied for real-time monitoring? I really want a card that can do this. I believe the Aardvark Direct Pro system can and possibly the Lexicon Core2 with effects card as well.

Thanks
 
Check out the yamaha site & search under product locator. There's an online manual.
 
I Got It

I just happened to walk into B&H audio (photo/video/dry goods/tchatchkes) on Monday 3/26, casually asked the price of the DSP factory (which I've been eyeing for like a year). They told me $299, I asked about the AX44 (which adds 4 analog inputs/outputs and headphone monitoring), and they told me it was included. I whipped out my checkbook and got them before they could change their minds.

I'm sure that Yamaha is blowing them out for a reason (like they are being replaced with something bigger and better), but an O2R in my computer for 299 is a good deal from my point of view (that was what a 6,000 machine?). Two top o' the line hardware stereo effects processors?

A couple of caveats...There is no Gigasampler driver so far, and given the fact that the thing is being discontinued, I'd say that there probably won't be. The DSP factory does support ASIO 2.0 but not the direct monitor feature.

The best software support in the mainline digital audio/sequencers seems to be Cubase, which has a whole separate mixer, routing, etc setup for the DSP Factory.

No point in getting it without the AX44, since it comes bundled for the same bread. But the specs show significantly lower S/N and higher dynamic range with the AX44 than without. The AX44 has a headphone output with volume control, as well as additional analog inputs/outputs.

I think I read somewhere that you can monitor wet and record dry.

I am just assembling my DAW, so I can't yet report on the functionality of the machine. Give me a month or so...In the mean time, I *love* a bargain.


Eric
 
Mine is on the way. Appreciate the tip on software. I've read that certain software must be used to take advantage of the DSP. This is all new to me so anything would help.
 
Got it today. Had to DL drivers from yamaha to run. Haven't dived in yet. Please post & keep in touch w. any info. Versa/vice.
 
I think it's kinda funny how all this started up. When I saw the DSP Factory special at American Music Supply it showed $299 on their homepage (notice it now says "we will email the price.") As soon as I saw the price I called them because it said backordered on their site. At first they said it would be about 3 weeks. When I asked "why the low price" she checked the item again. This time she said they (AMS) were discontinuing this item and that they wouldn't be ordering any more. Huh. Kinda let the air out of my sails.

Well I immediately sent emails to every on-line distributor I could think of. BH Photo/Video, 8th Street, MarsMusic, and others responded they would match it. Musicians Friend (who I have bought quite a bit of gear from) flatly refused saying they only match advertised "print" (newspaper, mags, etc) sale prices and would match internet prices on a case-by-case basis. They went further in saying the sites offering the special price were either not authorized distributors or were violating the manufacturers pricing policies. Wake up Musicians Friend! The market drives the price and you are about to get stuck with however many DSP Factory's you have in stock. This major price drop has a lot of people buying who had only dreamed about being able to afford this card. Still, this is a finite number of buyers so someone is gonna get stuck. Enough ranting.

Anyhow, the day after I sent the emails all the distributors (except MF) started advertising the new low price. In my own little world I will pretend that I had something to do with this sudden availability of the DSP Factory for us little guys.

Sad to say I still haven't bought the card. I have one last remaining question (ok - 2 questions). I read somewhere latency can be as much as 620 milliseconds. This is very unsat. Does anyone know about this? I don't remember if it applied to movement of the software faders and the delay before anything happened or if it pertained to monitoring pre-recorded tracks while laying down additional tracks. Also, what seems to be the best software and price available for use with this card? Those are the only 2 things preventing me from buying this card so far. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

DD
 
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Microseconds not Milliseconds

Just found the answer to one of my questions at the Yamaha site. The signal delay is 620 microseconds (usec) for A/D and 310 microseconds (usec) for D/A, not milliseconds. Very, very big difference. I really don't think anyone could hear a delay of less than 1 millisecond. Nuff said.

Any answers to my second question?
 
Ordered It!!!

Samash dropped the price yesterday to $229 but they are out of stock and not reordering. Called American Music Supply for a price match - they honored it!!! This is the DS2416 and AX44 Expansion unit. Total with shipping was $242!! Those guys just got my business away from Musicians Friend.
 
I was seriously considering getting the card and was about to order it when the salesperson told me it was (in his words) "crap" he said it was no where near worth the high price and only somewhat acceptible with the new blowout deal. (he particularly mentioned the A/D converters being bad. He strongly reccomended the SeaSound Soloist. What do you guys think about this?
 
i just picked up the dsp factory at mars music in the kansas city area for 249.oo with the axxt thing and will soon be installing this in my machine , the product support for this product seems ok and it works with cwpro9 and im impressed with the 7 big chips on this puppy the yamaha site says that that the sound card cant support my output from my cd burner for cd listening. thats a bummer.
i think if we could fake a moon landing and fool everybody for thirty years we should be able to make an impressive animal like this do the whole sound card thing. is there a forum that has complaints on this unit. i would dig seeing if my system can operate with this thing without crashing. although my prosser speed is more than three times the reccomendded and my ram is also way more as well. i could use some more pci slots though. i may have to switch to an agp sound card for listening to my cds.
 
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