Re: Damon, Why CF ?

[Kim Flint <kflint@loopers-delight.com>]

At 10:58 AM -0700 8/6/00, Mark Pulver wrote:
>PERILLE (05:27 AM 08.06.2000) wrote:
>
> >Example : 8 playback + 1 recording stereo channels @ 48khz/16bit
> >
> >SmartMedia :
> >- 32 READ bytes*70nsec + 4 RECORD bytes*660nsec = 4.9µsec*48khz = 24% =>
> >PASS
> >
> >CompactFlash :
> >- 36 bytes*660nsec = 23.8µsec*48khz = 114% => CRASH !
>
>Am I correct in seeing you outline a total of 9 stereo tracks here?
>
>Repeater is obviously laid out as a 4 track machine which we're _assuming_
>to be 4 stereo tracks. I don't think that Damon has said anything about
>sample rate, but I would be more likely to assume 44.1khz over 48khz.

remember that a looper needs to be able to read and write simultaneusly for
all of its channels. You need to be able to playback while you
record/overdub new stuff. That doubles the bandwidth...



>Chris Muir (01:14 PM 08.06.2000) wrote:
>
> >At 12:58 PM -0500 8/6/00, Mark Pulver wrote:
> >>Repeater is obviously laid out as a 4 track machine which we're 
>_assuming_
> >>to be 4 stereo tracks. I don't think that Damon has said anything about
> >>sample rate, but I would be more likely to assume 44.1khz over 48khz.
> >
> >Actually, it looks to me like four mono tracks, or two stereo tracks. 
>It's
> >a little hard to tell in the sort of blurry front panel rendering, but
>it >looks to me like pressing track buttons 1 & 2 together links them as a
> >stereo pair (the same with tracks 3 & 4).
>
>Good point... Especially with the back panel showing direct out's for 1-4,
>unless they're stereo jacks. :)
>
>I was doing some hopeful thinking, then factoring in that the unit
>obviously sees L&R in and then pondering as to why in this day and age of
>inexpensive DSP power would someone make a 4 track mono/2 track stereo
>recorder? :)

it is more than DSP power. (most loop functions do not really use dsp at
all.)  For every track you need in and out jacks, panel space, buffer amps,
ADC's and DAC's, i/o channels to the convertors, etc. You need knobs and
buttons and displays to allow the user to control each channel in
performance. All of that costs money.

Beyond that is the question of how to design a useable and intuitive
interface for multitrack looping. That can be quite complicated if you want
any interesting featues for interacting between loops, and the problem
multiplies as you add channels. You can easily end up with an
incomprehensible array of knobs and switches on your 12 rack space front
panel. It can do anything but nobody can remember how to use it...

kim

______________________________________________________________________
Kim Flint                     | Looper's Delight
kflint@loopers-delight.com    | http://www.loopers-delight.com