I was a little surprised that the new Mac Pro didn't get more slots but on the other end why bother when computers have enough juice to do most plugins without the need for extra cards.

Now I'm not saying that PCI-e cards are just dongles but I do think all those plugins could work great without the cards if they're developed differently and are sold with the right minimum computer requirements so those on slower computers no what they're up for. (I'm not a developer so shoot me if I'm totally wrong on this)
For older computers I think PCI-e cards have still a nice value and great to have around but if you own a 8/12core Mac Pro it makes you wonder.

Personally I would love to see some companies go in 3 directions.
- 1. support for those on older computers with the PCI-e cards.

- 2. make it native for those working on the faster computers.
I'm a strong believer that those who make a living with producing music would still buy and not kill companies by only downloading cracked versions.
But I can also understand if companies hold back because they are a little scared for the consequences. If they go native and things don't go the way they should it would be hard for them to go back. Time will tell...

- 3. external boxes for those on laptops and other portable computers and maybe switch to a ethernet connection if possible.

V3 coming sounds like music to the ears since updates are always nice.

I have to say that I love Solid State Logic from the first day and the way this company is working towards the future looks pretty colorful. (not saying perfect, no company is.)
Duende, X-rack, X-desk etc. are all amazing stuff for those on lower budgets and/or those who want to expand on there already huge gear collection.

If I could make one suggestion to the people at SSL:

Now users can hook up many X-desks together but that ends up with a talkback function on every unit meaning unnecessary space and costs etc. so some sort expansions without the talkback functions etc. would be absolutely wonderful.
That way new people that go into the magical world of SSL can talk themselves more easily into buying an X-desk and expand along the way to a perfect larger desk.
I think it will sell more units and result with more SSL gear in every small studio around the world.

Right, I didn't mean to imply that they were going native with ilok... just an example of "hardware required."

This... anyway, I hope to see Duende plug-ins with a smaller piece of hardware connected, but I'd want RTAS without a wrapper, too.

Actually, it implies exactly what it says, that Duende plugs won't run native - YOU have implied that it's merely a dongle. This is the fuel of rumors which got the other thread deleted.

Agreed

No, I inferred [edit] and merely asked a simple question.

There is nothing in Jim's statement that leaves out the native scenario. With the problems they've had trying to get the hardware to share jobs with the CPU I wouldn't be surprised if it's become a dongle so as to make coding easier all up.

I can't speak to the 'the other thread' (as I never saw it) but I would think that rumors are an interesting by-product of a forum and can be quite useful to a company in assessing the way their 'market' thinks. Not that this thread is in any way meant to be servile to a manufacturer.

The bones felt nicely this morning, Got a feeling something might happen very soon.

I think most companies, certainly those the size of SSL, have come to realize that online forums don't even come close to representing the full spectrum of opinions. They're populated largely by the negative. People who are happy with a product are much less likely to post their opinion. People on these threads are typically looking for, a) answers to fix their problem, b) support by hearing from a group of people in the same boat.

It's not exactly the same when talking about speculation about a NEW product - even content users would have an opinion about something new independent from their feelings about past products - but it's still a tilted scale.

In this case, it's still divided. Many people bought a Duende to get DSP processing off the computer. But that was years ago and CPUs are much faster now. Other people don't want the hassle of external hardware and welcome Native with open arms.

I have a foot in both camps. I'd like the "option" to use Duende plugins with the hardware OR natively, depending on my session.

I have a foot in both camps. I'd like the "option" to use Duende plugins with the hardware OR natively, depending on my session.[/QUOTE]

+ 1111

I hope there will be an option in v3.5 to have all calculations back on the DSP´s. It is an horrible idea to sell a DSP card and then move the work to the native CPU´s. It´s a punch in the customers face, a very hard punch.
It must be the most stupid idea I have heard of, as a matter of fact. Make it DSP or native, not a Hybrid...VERY bad strategy. It only shows that it IS a dongle and it cripples my system very hard, I´d rather go Native and get rid of that irritating PCIe card to replace it with another Pro Tools Accel card or UAD-2 or whatever but a dongle in a PCIe slot is so stupid I can´t believe I own such a thing. SSL Native or DSP, not hybrid,get it?

I love dongles :-) and the ssl dongle is not so easy to crack and thats good!
And I love SSL Duende, it´s not only a plug, it´s a system. And when it need a pci slot I can live with.
There are 3 pci slots.
One for Duende, one for Poco and one for a UA Quad. Don´t need more

man you're loaded !! (dsp talking !)

I do think this hybrid is really a good idea in person , let's say we have a uad duo , you want more power , you go quad (buy new harwdare , sell the old ect ...) with duende same harwdare way more power and option :

deude mini from 16 to 128 man !!

So i might re sayin it again and again , but we just need satble driver (witch i have now a V2) and please the ability to switch from full dsp to semi dsp !!

Amen to that!

Lots of people are out there still happily running V2.....
For those with a faster machine, go Hybrid with V3.

I know...but after buying a a PT HD2 system I had to get rid of either the Duende or the UAD-2 card and the most valuable plugin I couldn´t live without was the SSL Duende Channel strip, so UAD-2 went out, some cash in.
But, I also had to move the Duende to another PCIe slot and for some reason I had some crackles and noise there with V2.6, so I updated to 3.1.1 and the crackles were gone but also 30 percent of my Native CPU when running 32 Duende instances...running 8 core at 3.2 Ghz...

I guess that answers the dongle question then.

So when is the update coming?

I think there's some mileage in this Fleetwood Mac idea Jim - there are large chunks of lyrics that could be used on this thread:

"I've been waiting...and i'm through waiting for you
...
Sometimes i think i must have....i must have been crazy
crazy to wait on you baby"

FLEETWOOD MAC • THAT'S ALRIGHT

...or - for the other side of the argument:

"Well I've tried my best, but it may not be enough
And times have been so tough, that I can't tell you
What can you say to accuse me
When you know I'm not to blame"

FLEETWOOD MAC • BELIEVE ME


In jest...

Marcus

The song Oh Well comes to mind reading all of this...

Excellent! I guess you mean:

"I might not give the answer that you want me to"

thumbsup

Marcus

Just as long as you guys don't screw around with new drivers for us DSP users, I'm good. The product is flawless as a DSP machine! I do not see the light in the end of the 3.0 tunnel...

I was thinking more of the title and gtr but yeah... the lyrics also come to mind..

Duende - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

V.3.5.2 available now

Solid State Logic | Music

Stability thumbsup

Other then the minor issues I pointed out during beta, this is a great release. FYI - Running win 7 64 / Sonar 32/64 Duende mini.
Not sure how much "DSP" is active, But i'm able to run all 64 channels fully active on my old Athlon 64 X2 dual Core glitch free. Cpu hooving around 30/40%. X-verb won me over as well. I can squeeze 15 stereo verbs on my rig, can't complain at all.

Duende 3.5.2 works great for me. 10.6.4, Logic 9.1.1, Mac Pro 8 x 2.8ghz

Much less CPU, the GUI's feel snappier and generally everything is solid for me.

No mention of a specific fix for the X-Comp settings issue (V2 sessions opened in V3 lose all X-Comp settings) - the general settings fix doesn't cover it. Can anyone verify that this has been fixed? I can't update without it.

([email protected] is currently viewing - can you please address this Tom)

Those numbers suggest that the Duende DSPs are helping. Could it be entirely Native CPU?

Yes I can...;-) It wasn't just X-Comp, hence we mentioned it as a global fix. But yes, X-Comp Settings in Projects created with 2.x Duende Versions now load correctly when using V3.52...


Tom

This is a big deal for me -- thanks for the response Tom!

It should do.

Now, can we stop this thread and get all the pertinent info in this one instead to stop us all having to trawl through it all? https://gearspace.com/board/new-prod...-download.html

There is a newer thread on this topic.