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Along with the sound card, the PowerSampler bundle contains an installation CD; an Akai-format sample CD with various synth, acoustic instrument, and drum samples; two MIDI adapter cables (to convert the card’s mini-DIN MIDI jacks to standard MIDI connectors); and an installation booklet.
The PowerSampler board itself is compact and cleanly laid out. To double the polyphony, connect two PowerSampler cards using their internal S/TDM bus connectors. CreamWare’s SCOPE and Pulsar systems can use a connected PowerSampler card in a similar way, but PowerSampler software won’t recognize those systems.
PDF-format manuals for the hardware and software load onto your system during the software installation, ready for online perusal or printing.
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FIG.
1: The PowerSampler toolbar gives quick access to all areas of the
system, including the Environment and Ultra Low Latency settings
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PowerSampler’s overall configuration, which includes the enabled drivers, selected sample rates, audio I/O and MIDI options, mixer settings, and voice presets, is called an Environment. You can save and restore Environments, and a default Environment loads when PowerSampler starts. You can change the default to the currently loaded Environment through a menu option.
Audio-driver options in a PowerSampler Environment are vast. You can choose from ASIO (16- or 24-bit, but not both), EASI, TripleDAT, NemeSys GigaSampler, 16-bit stereo WAV, and three versions of multiple WAV. Multiple WAV lets you configure up to eight pairs of stereo WAV drivers for routing audio to an internal hard disk recording program or for sending multiple audio applications to PowerSampler simultaneously. The Mac version supports Sound Manager, ASIO, and EASI, and uses Open Music System for MIDI. Under Windows, DirectSound is supported but only as an input. If you enable the ASIO or EASI drivers, keep in mind that these use DSP power, resulting in a loss of three to six notes of polyphony each.
You can route MIDI internally (for triggering the sampler from a sequencer) or externally (to send MIDI data out the MIDI ports), but not both. Get around this limitation by using the MIDI ports on a sound card or standalone MIDI interface in conjunction with PowerSampler’s MIDI options.
The Sample Rate Setting dialog box is where you configure the S/PDIF port as a word-clock master or slave and set the sample rate and resolution. The Ultra Low Latency Interface dialog box lets you select from five latency options. At 44.1 kHz, these are 3, 4, 7, 13, and 25 ms. Different latency rates are available at different sample rates. Low latency isn’t free, however: the cost is system CPU cycles. If you find things run sluggishly, increase the latency time to free up some CPU muscle.
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Reprinted with permission from
Magazine, March, 2001© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved
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