Cuabase SX System link using Creamware + RME - its wicked!

orbita · Post by **orbita** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 11:43 am

I thought Id just let you lot know I have managed to get System link working and it is very cool!
Here is the setup..

Main music PC with Scope/ScopeSRB(with Zlink plate)/Luna

Secondary PC with RME 9636(paid £135 second hand)

I have the coax SPDIF running from the ScopeSRB to the RME. This carries all midi/sync data.
Then, I have 2 ADAT I/O running from the RME card to my ScopeSP.

I created an ASIO1-24 Source and ASIO1-24 Dest in my project and hooked them up to the SPDIF coax modules.

Unfortunately it doesnt appear to work with the ASIO2 modules. But I can't notice any difference between ASIO1 and ASIO2 anway.

I setup Cubase SX on one pc and VStack on the other. Configured the Systemlink settings and after some fiddling got them synced.

The latency is the summed latencies of all the systems in the chain (you can sync lots of computers if you want). Both my RME card and Creamware card run at 3ms which gives me a total latency of 6ms. How cool is that!

My main pc is a 2ghz PIV but much of that cpu gets gobbled up by the SFP interface and Cubase itself. My second PC is an athlon XP1700 which I will probably upgrade to a XP2400 now that they are dirt cheap (£35 upgrade from CEX)! Plenty of extra CPU for those new tasty VSTs.

I just sold my AStation and bought the VStation

I now run a multitude of the little blighters and via the 16 ADAT connections apply separate SFP effects to them all!

I think it sucks that steinberg wont let you run a second copy of cubase sx on another pc though. They could use systemlink to handle the protection process.

On another note, I tried putting my Luna Card in the second PC before I bought the RME to see if I could connect the 2 computers using ZLink but this doesnt appear to work or at least I couldnt get it to.

The RME card is really nice by the way - I'd definately recommend it for this use and they can be picked up real cheap second hand now since there are newer models on the way.

Anyway, the whole point of this? If you have a Intel machine for your Creamware setup but dont have enough juice to run VSTs as well, before you upgrade to the latest Pentium IV (which costs a shit load Motherboard/CPU/Ram etc) You might want to consider using a second PC (which you might already have). If you dont, putting together a Fast Athlon XP Box costs next to nothing now. It wont need a keyboard, mouse or even a monitor. You can use VNC to control it! see my post in the hints/tips section for more on VNC.

Feel free to ask Qs
tom

[ This Message was edited by: orbita on 2003-06-07 13:02 ]

BlackSun · Post by **BlackSun** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 12:39 pm

Who cares about system link if cubase sx eats up projects like candys???

C U back after first "unknown exeption"...

[ This Message was edited by: BlackSun on 2003-06-07 13:50 ]

braincell · Post by **braincell** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 1:15 pm

System Link is a great idea. I wonder if people are going to actually pay for another copy of Cubase. That is kind of ridculous. I bet a lot of registered users will turn to the cracked version now.

orbita · Post by **orbita** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 1:34 pm

yeah it sucks that cubase poofs, is unreliable and needs serious work done to the interface but hey, its the best we got atm.
ive complained on the cubase forums for ages about the fact that they are implementing new features like midi plugins and system link before getting the basics right but no one pays much attention. Still system link is pretty neat, although sometimes the sync goes a bit mental.
I also feel that shelling out another £450 for a second copy of cubase sx is appalling so after buying my Cubase SX I paid for the VStack and use a hacked copy of cubase sx on my my second machine. Seemed fair to me. Maybe they can find some way to sell a second dongle at a cheaper price that only works in a system link configuration.
Hopefully the long promised 1.06 will cure many of the existing problems, they have been testing for long enough. I really hope they implement a way to edit notes etc in the arrange window or have a single edit window like you can do in Logic. That would be a real benefit!

BlackSun · Post by **BlackSun** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 4:48 pm

...sorry to be a little off topic but I´m broken hearted because I lost a wonderful mix yersterday by "unknown exeption"

(For shure I´m saving every 10 min with new name but did´nt help in this case.. 12 version with the SAME bug)

Whatever, thanx for your helpful and detailed report about your system link setup!

[ This Message was edited by: BlackSun on 2003-06-07 18:03 ]

orbita · Post by **orbita** » Sat Jun 07, 2003 5:36 pm

even more off topic..
I just spend the last 5 hours fixing my Oberheim Xpander. Not for the feint hearted I can tell you. That will teach me to knock it off my rack! when it fell, the cables got pushed into the case, snapping the jack sockets off the board. Oh how I swore.
I phoned up several places asking about parts and the typical response was. American? 20 years old? err i think not sonny.
Well low and behold i managed to find some through Farnells who kindly ordered my some from the states. All I had to do now was take the thing apart and solder them on. Well it all unscrews easily enough and im not the steadiest of hand but the soldering wasnt too tricky. However, getting the knobs of the front panel was. I had to prise them off with screwdrivers and then bash them with a hammer to get them back on. Imagine, bashing a £1500 vintage synth with a hammer. I was so scared of damaging it. Anyway, its back in one piece now and thankfully still working.

Learn from my mistake