The ultimate hardware solution for Steinberg software
As a Cubase or Nuendo user, you rely on an advanced software package for audio recording and editing, and for MIDI sequencing. Your PC hardware provides the basic processing power for mixing in the Cubase/Nuendo environment.
In order to get the best out of your software, you need audio hardware that can:
1: Provide as many simultaneous inputs and outputs as may be necessary, depending on the nature of your operation.
2: Allow you to work with latency values as low as possible in the PC native environment, using Cubase/Nuendo compatible ASIO drivers.
3: Deliver outstanding sonic performance for all your projects, with uncompromising AD/DA conversion solutions.
4: Allow you to take advantage of some of your Cubase/Nuendo software's unique features: ASIO Direct monitoring and ASIO-2 hardware synchronization capabilities.
5: In some cases, take some of the mixing and/or processing load off the processor of your PC, with DSP-powered plug-in support.
Soundscape offers hardware solutions for PC-native systems that can fulfill all of these criteria, and that also provide additional features that are unmatched by any other system.
1: Simultaneous inputs and outputs
The Soundscape range of PCI audio cards includes the Mixtreme 192, Madixtreme and Mixpander Bundle.
The Mixtreme 192 represents the entry level of the range with up to sixteen simultaneous inputs and outputs at up to 48kHz (8 I/O at up to 96kHz, 4 I/O at up to 192kHz). The card is equipped with two TDIF ports (the Soundscape iBox range of converter units provides numerous format conversion possibilities for the Mixtreme 192). A 192kHz compatible stereo S/PDIF I/O is also provided. The Mixtreme 192 also features one on-board DSP.
The Madixtreme provides 64 inputs and outputs at up to 48kHz (32 I/O at up to 96kHz, 16 I/O at up to 192kHz). The inputs and outputs are in the MADI format. The Soundscape iBox range of converter units provides several conversion possibilities for the Madixtreme (MADI/analog, MADI/TDIF and MADI/ADAT - some iBoxes combine several formats besides MADI). The Madixtreme features three on-board DSPs.
The Mixpander Bundle is an audio card + I/O unit system that combines one Mixpander/9 (nine DSP) or Mixpander/5 (five DSP) card with a Soundscape iBox multichannel converter unit (models available with a mixture of TDIF, ADAT, AES, MADI and/or analog I/O) connected to its proprietary "Soundscape Expansion Bus" port. The Mixpander was originally available only to Soundscape DAW users (users of the SSHDR1-Plus, R.Ed or Soundscape 32/Soundscape 16 workstations). It has been designed as a mixing and processing powerhouse capable of running dozens of instances of power-hungry effects in real-time, with absolutely no load on the processor of the host PC, which is only used as a graphical user interface for the Soundscape DAW. It also allows audio streaming between the Soundscape DAW unit and the PC. In the case of the Mixpander Bundle, connecting an iBox to its Expansion Bus port allows the Mixpander to be used as an I/O system for any PC-native audio software package, with up to 64 simultaneous inputs and outputs, while retaining the full Soundscape Mixer functionality and DSP-powered plug-in support enjoyed by Soundscape DAW users.
With up to 64 simultaneous inputs and outputs using a single PCI slot of your PC and a wider range of audio formats to choose from (balanced/unbalanced analog, analog mic pre, TDIF, ADAT, MADI, AES/EBU), there is a probably a "one card one slot" Soundscape solution that fits your I/O requirements. However, the flexibility of a Soundscape system does not end there because multiple Soundscape audio cards (of any type) can also be combined as a single system running from a single instance of the Soundscape Mixer, with all the inputs and outputs of each card available to the Cubase/Nuendo mixer, up to a total of 254 simultaneous input and output channels under ASIO!
2: Low latency
The buffer size can be set to 64 samples in the Cubase/Nuendo ASIO Control Panel:
3: Sonic performance
The Soundscape product line has a pedigree of outstanding sonic quality. From the original SSHDR1 launched in 1993 to the current Soundscape 32 DAW and iBox range of I/O and format conversion units, Soundscape products have won prestigious awards and have been highly praised by reviewers and, even more importantly, by their users, most of whom are professionals in the fields of post-production or music recording.
This is the result of uncompromising hardware design, rugged construction, and exacting standards of programming where signals are handled in the software domain.
While sonic excellence is a design prerequisite throughout the Soundscape range, it is not quantifiable and cannot be demonstrated on a webpage. We believe our users are best placed to comment on this aspect, and we invite you to read their comments in the In Focus section of this website (full length interviews), or in some of the Public User Profiles.
Of course, we are aware that, as an audio professional, you ultimately trust you ears above any testimonial or magazine review. Therefore, We want you to try a Soundscape system in the comfort of your own studio, in the acoustic environment you are used to, playing your own material and making comparisons with any other equipment you are considering or currently using. In order to make this possible, we offer a money back guarantee with all new Soundscape systems. So there is absolutely no risk to you when ordering a system. If for any reason you conclude that it does not meet your expectations, simply return it within thirty days and you will get a full refund.
4: ASIO Direct monitoring and ASIO-2 hardware synchronization
All Soundscape audio cards are controlled via the Soundscape Mixer software, and support ASIO Direct Monitoring. This means that the track inserts in the Soundscape Mixer, which connect the audio streaming channels recongnized as inputs and outputs by Cubase and Nuendo to the Soundscape Mixer, can be controlled from Cubase/Nuendo to switch monitoring between the input (for recording) and output (for playback).
In addition, the Mixtreme 192 supports ASIO-2 hardware synchronization: the Sample Rate is allowed to vary according to changes in a MIDI Time Code (MTC) signal received via the MIDI input or a Video Sync signal received via the RCA input connector. This is useful for instance when the Cubase/Nuendo workstation system is synchronized to an analogue video playback device.
While this feature is only available for the Mixtreme 192, any Soundscape multiple card configuration (combining a Mixtreme 192 with one or more Mixpander Bundle(s) or Madixtreme(s)) can also be used in this way, as long as the Mixtreme 192 supplies the clock reference for the whole system.
5: DSP-powered plug-in support
As a Cubase or Nuendo user, you have access to a seemingly infinite range of VST and DX plug-ins. The increasing power of modern PCs should allow you to run as many of these plug-ins as you may need. While this is sometimes the case, it really depends on the proper configuration of your PC, the number of audio tracks you are running, the plug-ins you choose, and the other tasks your computer has to perform (such as playing back video). Because just as PC processing power and memory increase, plug-in developers demand more of this power to run newer, more powerful plug-ins.
In practice, any PC-native workstation can benefit from some help by dedicated audio processing devices. Hence the success of PCI cards that support DSP-powered plug-ins... something we developed long before it reached the mainstream!
Sydec Audio Engineering is a pioneer of DSP-based systems since the launch of the SSHDR1-Plus in 1993. The Soundscape 32 and compatible DAWs can run entirely on DSPs, with the host PC only being used to remote control the system and offer audio editing on a large screen (although these days, Soundscape systems can also use the power of the host PC). To this day, the Mixpander/9, originally designed as a coprocessor for the SSHDR1-Plus and R.Ed DAWs, remains one of the most powerful processing solutions on the market, capable of running dozens of high-quality plug-ins simultaneously on its multiple DSPs. The Mixpander/5, Madixtreme and Mixtreme 192 offer the same flexibility, though with less DSPs, and therefore less power (5 DSPs on Mixpander/5, 3 DSPs on Madixtreme, 1 DSP on Mixtreme 192).
The Soundscape audio cards are supplied with the Sydec's own Soundscape Audio Toolbox selection of plug-ins (chorus/flanger, delay, dither, compression/gate/expansion) and support a range of third party plug-ins from top companies including Drawmer, Cedar Audio, TC Electronic and more. Please note that these effects are not in the VST format. They are in the proprietary Soundscape plug-in format, as will be explained in the next section…
Other features
The Soundscape range of PCI audio cards offers a unique hardware solution to get the best from your Steinberg software. There is simply no other way you could get the same number of simultaneous inputs and outputs, with comparable audio quality, low latency, ASIO Direct Monitoring and DSP-powered effects without combining several cards from different manufacturers. Yet these features are only a part of the whole picture: the Soundscape Mixer software is where everything comes together.
Let's face it, the software utilities supplied with most "soundcards" can do little else than route audio in and out of the computer. The Soundscape Mixer software offers you much more. The Soundscape Mixer is essentially a standalone version of the mixer section of our Soundscape Editor software (the audio editing program that controls the Soundscape DAWs). The Soundscape Mixer runs on the DSPs of the Mixpander, Madixtreme of Mixtreme 192 and brings you features that are unmatched by any other hardware or software product.
You could think of it as a hardware digital console inside your PC, except that the Soundscape Mixer is much more flexible than a hardware digital console: these consoles may be extremely practical with their total recall capabilities, but they have a fixed architecture. In fact, even software mixers generally have a fixed architecture (e.g., structure of the channel strips). The Soundscape Mixer on the other hand, can be configured exactly as you want it. In fact, while we supply some configurations for basic routing tasks to get you started immediately, you can design your own console exactly as you need it for a particular task. You can then save this configuration for later use and create a totally different one for another project. (You can also use the same configuration all the time if you prefer consistency, of course - or change the configuration during a project if you need to).
One of the biggest issues affecting PC-native audio systems is latency. Direct monitoring has been developed as a solution to latency when monitoring during recording. However, real-time monitoring is provided at the cost of bypassing the effects you have carefully set up in the Nuendo or Cubase mixer. The Soundscape Mixer operates without latency. We have mentioned earlier that it offers low latency operation to Nuendo or Cubase, but the fact is that the Soundscape Mixer itself operates in real time. Like an external hardware digital console, it does not require buffering. This means that you can use high quality DSP-powered plug-ins during record monitoring. And since the Soundscape Mixer is so flexible, it's extremely easy to record the dry signal while monitoring through DSP effects, or to record wet signals, or to record wet and dry signals simultaneously!
The Soundscape Mixer also allows you to assign any hardware input and output to any audio stream in the computer extremely easily. Setting up send/return loops to/from external effects units has never been easier.
The flexibility of the Soundscape Mixer and the extent to which it can be customized often come as a surprise to engineers who have not yet worked with Soundscape. It is described in more detail in Part 3, "The software: Infinite possibilities" of an article entitled "Soundscape solutions for native PC systems", published in the Users and Applications section of our website.
The Soundscape hardware is also supported by true multiclient, ASIO-2, GSIF (Gigastudio), WDM and Multimedia compatible drivers. This means that the Soundscape Mixer is truly a mixing console inside your PC, where you can centralize all the audio from all your Windows applications (e.g., Nuendo or Cubase and Gigastudio), as well as from any external sound sources, whatever driver protocol the various Windows applications may require. In fact, the Soundscape Mixer may even be used via a hardware controller using the Soundscape Console Manager utility. All this with a totally flexible architecture and the capacity to run more exclusive DSP-powered effects than any hardware digital console!
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