Re: Real-time DSP?

["Adam Davidson (from HiTSPACE)" <ad@absolute.hu>]

At 05:12 PM 8/6/99 -0500, you wrote:
>> so, my suggestion is: get a slower pc (or rather buy a PC for a task 
>instead
>> of buy the fastest pc, and then figure out what you can do with it), 
>save
>> money, and buy hardware instead
>
>I disagree:  *always* buy the fastest and best computer you can; it's not 
>that
>much more money and you get a more time out of it before Moore's law 
>renders
>it obsolete and you have to upgrade/replace it.  Besides, figuring out 
>what
>you can do with good equipment is half the fun of owning it!  I discovered
>that fact while going through puberty, by the way...

well, depends. check this example.
im running here a p100 with 80 MB memory. how much it is compared to a 
piii?
i bet you know. i run here a sequencer, internet, and ms word.
everything is seamless, and i  dont even plan to upgrade. WHY should i? 
i have 10 midi ports, two paris cards running in the computer capable 
of producing a full of 2000 virtual or 256 real tracks, 4 realtime eqs on 
each 
channel, 14 different realtime effects on 16 (!!!) aux busses.

all i can say: try to beat it with a piii.

but really, a piii yet costs about 2-3 times MORE than pii systems,
and this means big bucks at the moment. from this money you can get a
decend hard disk recording system or an effect like a TC G-Force.
after 4-5 months, piii's will cost less than half, buy a piii then.
but then that technology will be oh so yesterday...

the next thing: i actually could afford myself hitech computer, still
i decided to go back. recently i've purchased an c-lab falcon, because
i was completely unhappy with the pc. i was not happy with any pc 
sequencers.
they just cant play back tight!
(dont say it's because the slow pc. the pc has nothing to do with it. i run
a 8port se interface (two actually), and i have a 300mhz pentium too and
that's suffering from exactly the same thing).

anyhow, the falcon does the job. and it's also a very interesting machine,
i strongly recommend to check it out!

so, i am fine if someone decides to get the best computer instead
getting the best instrument, but at this moment i can find cons than pros.

by the way, probably you've noticed: i just hate computers.... :(

a/d