Got this from Brian T concerning the comparison betwwen Paris and PT. -- Arvid Solvang http://www.viagram.no/privat/arvid/ ICQ: 13008461 -----Original Message----- From: Brian Tankersley <gbtank@...> To: Arvid Solvang <arvid@...> Date: 1. desember 1999 19:41 Subject: Re: Fw: [LUG] Kryotech Athlon Review - Brian Tankersley >Hi Arvid, > >Mike's comments are the result of trying to do an apples to oranges >comparison. The two systems, PT and Paris, are totally different in >their approaches to DSP. Both have their advantages. It is interesting >that Digi now intends to allow PT users to use Native DSP as well as >TDM. That's a concession to the inevitable. CPUs are getting vastly more >powerful with the Kryotech currently sitting at the top of the heap. I >have two 1Ghz units heading this way now. > >Anyway, a direct comparison of PT and Paris is a bit tricky. Mike states >I needed 5 PCI slots, but I was testing with "only" 64 tracks so 4 PCI >cards were all that were necessary. At 5 PCI slots, I exceed a PT >systems's track count at any price. However, 4 PCI slots on a PT system >would not get you as much horsepower as 4 PCI slots on Paris using the >Kryotech. Here's why. 1 Mix Plus core, 2 Mix Plus farms and a SCSI card >would not get the DSP power of the 4 PCI slots I'm using from the >Paris/Kryotech system. (Keep in mind some TDM plugs still don't like the >Mix Plus cards so you would really want an old Farm card or two as >well). > >First, each Paris PCI card gives me 16 hi-fi 4 band EQs from onboard >DSP. Any band is 20-20K, hi or lo pass, shelving or paramatric with >variable Q. I would put the quality below the REN EQ but above the Waves >Q series. Well above the Digi factory stuff. Each card also gives me 16 >dynamics sections that I find very useable overall and even prefer to >the REN Comp for some things. > >So in a 4 PCI card Paris system, I already have 64 4 band EQs and 64 >dynamics sections *before* I touch any of the numbers I posted about the >Kryotech Native DSP, which ranges between 1 and 2.5 Mix Plus farm cards >depending on HD track count. A 4 PCI slot PT system (1 being a SCSI >card) does not have that much power. > >As far as cost, Mike's figures are off. A Paris Bundle 3 with 16 analog >24 bit ins and outs, 4 20 bit analog ins and outs and an ADAT lightpipe >I/O would cost about $4800 on a mediocre deal. Add 3 more EDS-1000 cards >for about $3600 and you get $8400. To get to $12000, I could add another >2 MECs and 32 of the 24 bit inputs for 60 analog ins and 1 or 2 more >ADAT lightpipes. So the cost for 60 analog ins, 28 analog outs and 16 >lightpipe I/Os on a 64 track PT rig would be how much? Trust me, cost >isn't even close here. > >A new G4 at 450 will cost about the same as the now 1Ghz Kryotech, but >you'll need a PCI expansion chassis on the PT system as well as SCSI 10K >RPM drives vs the 40GB ATA-66 drives I'm now using on Paris. Those 40GBs >cost about $350 US. No SCSI needed. No comparison in drive cost. > >Just wanted to make those clarifications. > > >Regards, >Brian T