CreamWare Presents Pulsar II

April 15, 2000 -- At Musikmesse 2000 in Frankfurt, CreamWare introduced the newest incarnation of the successful Pulsar DSP system.

Pulsar II was developed with the objective of making a good thing even better. Therefore, the system is based on a new, even more powerful DSP board and it comes with the completely revised software version 2.0 for Windows and Mac.

The new Pulsar II PCI card features a generous six Analog Devices SHARC DSPs. Compared to its predecessor, this is a 50% plus in DSP power. This permits the simultaneous use of more synths, more effects and more mixer functions, or higher polyphony for the sound generators. Furthermore, Pulsar II now features a second independent S/TDM bus for seamless integration with other DSP cards from the SCOPE family. Thus, the bus capacity was accommodated to fit the increased power of Pulsar II.

In terms of connectivity, Pulsar II is very flexible. The inputs and outputs are situated on a daughterboard, which can easily be connected to the DSP card. This allows the user to choose from various interface units. In its basic configuration, the system features 20 I/Os (stereo analog, stereo S/PDIF and 2 x ADAT). Thanks to the 24 bit/96 kHz AD/DA converters, the utmost in professional sound quality is guaranteed. Alternatively, a 24-I/O daughterboard with three ADAT interfaces can be used. Additional I/O-boards are scheduled for future release.

In version 2.0, the software has acquired a new look. The ergonomic design was borrowed from the high-end SCOPE system. A new surface handling mechanism was developed especially for use on slower computer systems. If desired, features such as partially-transparent windows can be switched off, greatly speeding up overall operation.

Pulsar II also includes additional new devices. As one example, the effects lineup has been outfitted with shelving EQs, new compressors and new limiters. Pulsar II users who register their product via the Internet within a specific period of time will also get the new Modular Synthesizer V2 as a free registration bonus. This includes not only a large collection of new modules (e.g. step sequencer, drum and morphing oscillators and various effects, including a vocal-format filter), but also a new menu structure and a completely revised design – all of which combine to make creating new modular synths even more productive and enjoyable than before.

In addition to the drivers for ASIO, EASI, MME, DirectSound, tripleDAT, OMS and Sound Manager, version 2.0 also includes an ASIO 2.0 driver.Furthermore, the Pulsar II board is equipped with the newly-developed Ultra Low Latency Interface (ULLI), which also features hardware-based ASIO support. The ASIO driver latency can be adjusted to a minimum of 2 ms (!), thus enabling the configuration to be fully optimized for the host computer - including the more-powerful computers which the future will bring.

Pulsar II is fully compatible to its predecessor. Thus, a Pulsar II can also be used for expansion of existing Pulsar systems. Furthermore the Pulsar II user can immediately benefit from the large library of around one hundred optional software modules, which were developed by CreamWare, by third party developers such as SPL and Sonic Timeworks, and by SCOPE users.

Version 2.0 will also be made available to users of existing Pulsar systems as a free update.

Pulsar II is scheduled for release in May 2000 with software for Windows and Mac, at an anticipated suggested retail price of US$ 1398,-.

For more information, visit CreamWare at www.creamware.com.