Support
Looper's Delight
|
Support |
|
|
Try This and see what happens! "Damon Langlois (Electrix)" wrote: > http://www.simpletech.com/wtb/wtb_irt.htm > > Respect, > > Damon Langlois > Creative Director > Electrix > Tel (250) 544-4091 Fax (250) 544-4100 > http://www.electrixpro.com > > -----Original Message----- > From: hutton [mailto:hutton@pathcom.com] > Sent: Monday, August 27, 2001 4:54 PM > To: Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com > Subject: Re: Repeater and the CFC > > Want a laugh? ........ ask this man where you can purchase a 128mb > SimpleTech > CFC in Canada ....... Listen to his company's "Answer" ...... Note >,,,,, it > is > a Canadian company! > > "Damon Langlois (Electrix)" wrote: > > > >I saw your list of recommended CFC cards, included the SanDisk brand, >but > > >didn't include the 64mb card. Would you recommend that card? I ask > because > > >there is a pretty good deal on these at my local Costco. > > > > It depends... The Sandisk cards work, they will record in stereo, and >is > are > > very reliable cards. However the ones we tested did seem to have some > minor > > speed limitations with Repeater. With the cards tested, I was only >able to > > record in stereo for about 3.5 minutes before repeater reports "CFC >Slow" > > and it stops recording (mono went for the entire 8 minutes with no > > problems). This only comes up when you have a 64 MB card or higher, OR >if > > you are making extreeeeeeeeeeeemly long loops, OR if you are using > Repeater > > as a digital hard disk recorder because you went out and bought a 512 >MB > CFC > > card. Considering most loops are only seconds long it's probably only a > > minor limitation. The newer DaneElec and Simple tech cards seem to >have no > > speed limitations with Repeater. Full stereo recording up to 8 minutes > etc. > > If you don't mind the minor speed limitations then you are probably >o.k. > and > > will be very happy with the Sandisk card you are eyeballing. See if you > can > > arrange to try before you buy or get a return grantee and then you >won't > > have to worry. > > > > The following was written to the list earlier by Don, one of the >brainiacs > > at Electrix who sweated blood to bring Repeater to life. > > > > Disclaimers: > > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > 1. The following is based on my experience and is my personal > > opinion. It should not be taken to represent the official views > > or position of Electrix/IVL Technologies. (even though the > > conclusion is pretty much exactly the same). > > > > 2. The following only relates to CFC cards in the context of > > their use with Repeater, and implies nothing about their > > suitability or performance with ANY OTHER PRODUCT. > > > > 3. If you think I am being paranoid, I have been flamed badly > > in the past. All this having been said, flame proof underpants > > on and here goes... > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > I noticed the discussion starting around CFC buys. There is some > > stuff on the Electrix website, and also on a flyer shipped with the > > unit. However you do need to be aware of card specs - the only > > real way to know things are going to be cool is to test Repeater > > with the card you wish to use. Until specifications become a > > perfect art, rather than a marketting tool, that is just the way it > > is. > > > > Electrix has been doing a lot of testing with different CFC cards, > > and our recommendations are based on the results of those > > tests. > > > > Technobabble follows > > --- > > CFC card specs that are published from different manufacturers > > seem to cover the following: > > > > Burst-mode rate (quoted ~6-10MB/sec). Ignore this. Unfortunately > > everyone who designs a CFC interface needs to design for the > > lowest common denominator anyway, making this spec worse than > > useless IMHO. > > > > Read rate. Typically 800KB/sec -> 2MB/sec. Read rate is not > > really the issue. Reading flash memory is pretty damn quick and > > in Repeater accounts for a fairly small proportion of the time > > consumed at the CFC interface. > > > > Write rate. Quoted (ahem!) 500KB/sec -> 1.5MB/sec. However > > this is the long-term sustained rate, and depending on the card > > manufacturer, the data caching algorithms they use, and a whole > > load of other variables the short-term variance in write operation > > latency can be huge. I know - I have pored over the logic analyser > > and scope traces looking into this phenomenon until I went bug > > eyed [still in recovery...]. > > > > CFC cards do some pretty nifty footwork under the hood to manage > > the storage medium - including error recovery, bad sector > > remapping, wear levelling etc... Also, writing is a cached > > mechanism and there are additional time effects due to the caching > > scheme used, the pattern of writes to the card and the amount of > > cache available. > > > > The result of all of this is that an apparently fast card may > > occasionally (or in the case of one card we tested, very often...) > > take a long time to complete a write operation. Hit a few of these > > long write operations in a row and all of a sudden Repeater will > > have run out of write buffer space and will inform you that there is > > an issue here... > > > > Most cards will handle the 'sequential' writing of mono operation > > with no problems. Stereo operation is where most problems lie. > > The pattern of writes to two .wav files can fight with the CFC > > caching scheme and cause the card performance to be somewhat > > less than desirable. > > > > So - that is the low down. > > --- > > > > My advice is to read the specs (the faster card manufacturers will > > quote them with pride. The slower card manufacturers will quote > > them under a subtle disguise to make you think they are better > > than they are...). Take all specs with a healthy dose of reserve. > > > > Then, if you can test a card before you buy, do. We are providing > > information on cards we have thoroughly tested and are happy with > > to help with purchase decisions. > > > > The Simple Technologies cards deliver. DaneElec also are just > > dandy. This does not imply that other cards out there will not > > also do just fine, but it provides a starting point. I hope that with > > experience that this forum will provide more information about > > good card choices for use with Repeater. We will also update > > the information on the web site as more experience and test > > results become available. > > > > Please consult the website and feel free to post questions > > for us folks about CFC cards. We will be happy to occasionally > > break the lurking mode and provide what information we can. > > > > Cheers, and I hope you folks have a *lot* of fun... > > > > Don Goodeve > > > > (of Rik Elswit's 'Don and the Maniacs' fame... I kind of like that > > one...) > > > > ps. CFC technology is moving *damn* quick these days, and the > > speed of cards will become less of an issue as time goes on. With > > Repeater we had to design towards where we expected CFC > > technology to be, and fortunately our Crystal Ball did a pretty good > > job. > > > > Respect, > > > > Damon Langlois > > Creative Director > > Electrix > > Tel (250) 544-4091 Fax (250) 544-4100 > > http://www.electrixpro.com