waves- powercore, other DSP devices...

[toader]

I am not familiar with the whole world of plugins, but I'm preparing to take the plunge into the world of the DAW. My question is this:

I've heard good things about the Waves products. How does the whole upgrade process work with Waves? I want to get the Gold Bundle. If I buy the Native Gold Bundle (direct X), but later on, a version is written for a specific DSP card, will I be able to upgrade to the DSP compatible version from the direct X, or or will I have to buy the product again? Also, I've been thinking-
eventually, the following example system could be a reality:

Dual P4- 3Ghz chips, 1 Ghz DDR SDRAM, Windows XP, etc. With those kind of systems available- will DSP cards make a huge difference?

Lastly, any thoughts on whether plugins are as good, or will eventually be as good- or even better than outboard gear?

peace...
toader

[This message has been edited by toader (edited 03-03-2001).]

[toader]

I hear rumor that waves might be working on a DSP card of their own... Anyone else have any information?

[malcolm]

dsp cards are more like hardware units DX plug-in are ok, eq's comps work good. verbs are a nother story i have waves gold bundle but still use most of my out board units. lex's eventide summit ect they sound better know a few pro tool studio's that do the same thing. DX has a future but it is in the cost saveing field for right now. DSP cards are a better opp. verbs sound better on pro tools then DX check out some tasty verbs in a store they try some DX stuff and make up your own mind.

[lwilliam]

I read somewhere that a TC M3000 has about the same DSP power as a G4/500Mhz - but dedicated to reverb/effects. I can't see that native (host) plugins will be able to use that much power and still be able to run disk i/o, automation, edits, etc. Of course in a year or so, 2000Mhz chips will be out for PCs and Macs so the 1/4 power necessary for equivalent processing might be doable at that time.

However, by then, TC (and others) will probably come out with something equivalent to a 2000Mhz-level of power requirement for the next wave of digital reverbs. So I think host-based plugins (especially reverb and other CPU-intensive plugins) will NEVER catch up to dedicated units. At the same time, even now, many plugins are at a quality point that makes them VERY usable and you just have to decide when that quality is good enough compared to outboard gear.

I have the Native Gold bundle, McDSP, DUY, some Digi plugins, and RealVerb. I'm saving up for a PCM91 because no plugin I've heard so far sounds as good. The Renaissance Reverb and Realverb are about the best I've heard - and they're pretty good, just not in the same league as a PCM91 (or an M3000).

Also, the next generation of reverbs is beginning to use real acoustic impulse samples (Sony 777, Altiverb) which require an order of magnitude more power - and supposedly gives an order of magnitude better sound. It will be interesting to see how much power the Altiverb takes when it ships.

I also think the dedicated DSP cards which will be coming out later this year hold a lot of promise - THEY may actually be able to replace outboard gear - as long as you don't need something analog.




[This message has been edited by lwilliam (edited 03-06-2001).]