Turbosynth Diffuser - what hardware is needed?

[LDS]

Hey everyone,

I currently have Turbosynth 2.21 running on a 'Sunflower' G4 iMac under OSX 9.22. It seems to work pretty ok, and is a really interesting and fun program to use.

The diffuser module is disabled and I also read that closer to realtime processing is possible is the system is supplemented with DSP power. There is mixed comments going back through the history of the DUC and the greater internet about exactly what hardware is needed though.

I would hazard a guess that a Disk I/O + Farm card system (either PCI or Nubus) will do the trick. I have also seen mention of sound accelerator I or II cards, but the chances of coming across those is remote.

What about Audiomedia II cards? Do they contain any DSP to run the diffuser module? Or is it simply an I/O card?

Protools 24 & Mix systems contain DSP, but I think they are a bit too modern to run Turbosynth.

[John_Toolbox]

Audiomedia cards do not have any DSP, they are strictly for IO.

The disk IO (PCI version) and d24 systems both use the same DSP farm cards, and a Mix system is also capable of using the older PCI DSP farm... but TurboSynth is quite a bit older, it might require older software, or perhaps only works with the nubus version of PTIII hardware. I've never seen a working example of Turbosynth, so I'm just guessing. The only experience I have with it is seeing it in a box of old PT3.x floppies.

[LDS]

Hey John! That is what I thought, but I have seen comments on the internet that suggest Audiomedia II cards will work. I actually found a manual for Turbosynth 2.0 a few weeks ago and had a look through the hardware/system requirements without any luck... I looked at it last night again and the last 5 pages of the manual contain an addendum for Turbosynth 2.2.

It seems to lump the Audiomedia II card in under DSP card. Perhaps it is simply a difference in terminology 20 years ago? The manual itself is dated from 1993! I definitely can't find any reference to mix systems.

[John_Toolbox]

There is a chip on all core cards of that era that had something to do with making the mixer work. I'm assuming it exists on audiomedia cards too, so it must be what they are referring to as DSP, despite the fact that most people think of DSP as a reference to a dedicated chip for processing plugins. I guess the only question at this point is if it requires nubus hardware or if the newer PCI AMIII cards will work. The reference to original samplecell cards and OS 7.x leads me to think you need an old Nubus rig to run it. I do have an old iixc somewhere, it has OS 7.5 on it and I set it up a long time ago to run a program for editing patches on my roland guitar synth... this program would not run on OS9.

[wirefall]

Seems to be the same as with Sounddesigner 2, plugins needs a DSP card like Audiomedia II. With an Audiomedia III you could run Sounddesigner, but without any plugins. To accomplish such a setting with a more modern G4 (PCI) you can search after a SecondWave Nubus Expansion chassis to run an Audiomedia II (which is Nubus of course), but this are quite rare birds and therefor expensive. Or just go back for a Nubus System, like a Quadra 950. Could be upgraded with a 601, runs very well here (with Sounddesigner and even Turwbosynth).

[John_Toolbox]

Interesting history lesson wirefall, I had no idea anything was ever made that allowed Nubus to work with a PCI machine.

[LDS]

Thanks for the info wirefall! I take it the AMIII card won't run the diffuser module in Tubrosynth then?