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SOUND 4 PCI AUDIO PROCESSOR

Looks interesting but for €2800 (+ a computer) I'd probably opt for a DSP-X or Omnia One instead.
 
What's the USD conversion on that right now? If it's what I think it is, there's no way I'd even considering demo'ing it.
 
That's the IDT kids from France. They failed before, and looks like they're trying again under a new disguise.

Another processing wanna-bee.
 
Yes and the Orban card is about 1/4 as much (and I'm sure it sounds better), I think 2800 is basically double that in US money so it's like $5,600, GET REAL! You can buy a used Orban for that much or 5 orban cards!

Who are these people kidding?
 
Hello Guys...

I confirm the Sound4 PCI card is inside the Audemat Digiplexer 214 (1U) and 246 (3U).
Digiplexer is a Radio All in One concept with additional features such as RDS encoder, Audio Backup, Audio over IP, even a 20 or 100 FM exciter as an option

Price is between $5500 and $13,000 depending options.

If you need more info, just contact Audemat Inc, we'll send you a loaner if you want...then you'll get the complete picture :)

Bye
 
gunterm said:
Yes and the Orban card is about 1/4 as much (and I'm sure it sounds better), I think 2800 is basically double that in US money so it's like $5,600, GET REAL! You can buy a used Orban for that much or 5 orban cards!

Who are these people kidding?
Click to expand...

Perhaps I shouldn't really be clarifying other manufacturer's products, but for the sake of correct information, you are not comparing apples with apples... The Orban and Omnia you're talking about are streaming/digital radio solutions. The Sound4 is an FM (plus HD) processor. PC-1100 and A/X don't have pre-emphasis (or it's not broadcast quality managed) and they don't have clippers or stereo generators...

But I like the DSPX suggestion ;) And the new DSPXmini SE, in my extremely biased opinion, sounds just as good and (dare I say) even better than some of the more expensive boxes...


Regards,
Goran Tomas
 
digiplexer won cool stuff awards at NAB and i hear folks that took it for a test drive were very impressed.GT,kudos on the mini-SE got that baby sounding RIGHT.
 
I'm curious about the sound. Having family in France and visiting them frequently I often listen to the French radio. And I always found that they have their own signature sound. Not comparable to the rest of Europe. Heavy freaky sound with lots of bass hitting the limiters and clippers hard pumping all over the place. If this new product is tailored around this I wonder...... Their approach is new, just build the board where it all happens and let the rest around it up to you. We've seen the pc1100 but as Goran pointed out it's not ready for FM broadcast, this is.
Wonder if it runs with just a few volts on the right pins without a pc. They claim that it runs separately from the OS and if the OS crashes it doesn't interrupt audio throughput and the operation of the card. Why running a OS than? It isn't cheap though, and if you need to put together a pc with A class stuff to run 24/7 you'll need to add quite a few bucks. And the great thing about conventional processors is that besides cooling fans there aren't other moving parts to go bad. Hard drives often do. You can solve this with raid set etc etc but this only rises the price even hi-er.
 
Hi folks, hi voixoffline,

I'm the one who tested this board and who made this little mp3 file a few months ago. Actually it was recorded from a basic preset without any tweaking. In between time I have bought two Sound4 units. A 2 band version for an FM radio station and a 4 band version for my web streaming.
And I must say this card is very impressing ! Even the 2 band version is quite powerful !!! You may give a try to it, it's simply great. It has a very particular sound, not comparable with Omnia, Orban or DSPX, and it processes a lot more than the PC1100 for example...

But that's my point of view...

Mike
 
To the posters who find it hard to accept a PCI card can cost this amount of money...

What you are actually paying for is the high cost of development and support, not hardware. If a $200 metal box was wrapped around the pci card would the same comments have been made? I'm sure the processing capability on the card rivals or exceeds many of the rack mount processors out there.

A large part of any product's cost goes towards the infrastructure that allows that development and support to exist including business premises, heating, lighting, phones, internet, the list goes on. It's just a lot harder for consumers to justify paying big bucks for something that doesn't look physically expensive. Software in its purest form (think windows apps) is a classic example. I still can't get my head around going into one of the software stores in the UK and picking up a cardboard box with a cd inside and paying a good part of $2000 for a graphics suite, but I feel a lot happier paying the same amount of money for a heavy box of electronics. The difference may be that the empty box of software may have 200 coders working full time on it, refining it and supporting it together with the large associated costs, while the electronics hardware box may have only had a handful of designers who designed it and one of two to support it. I am aware that economies of scale plays a big part but you I am sure you get my point.

More and more these days IP (intellectual property) is playing a bigger role, especially with soft cores. Just take a look at ARM and fraunhoffer as classic examples. You are not paying for a shiny box but for the countless individuals spending countless hours using facebook, err sorry, I meant coding and developing binary blocks of virtual nothingness that somehow makes our daily lives that touch easier, that's the plan anyway.

More and more products in our industry are based on single board computers and cut down pc's running Linux. Sound4's strategy seems to be that of placing an audio processing component into a unit that offers the broadcaster more than just the processing alone. We wish them luck.

Time will tell if Sound 4's commercial strategy pays off. Competitors make us all up our game and there will always be new kids of the block, hey that was us a few years back. Change is inevitable and you have to embrace it to survive.

"4", now that is interesting ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
 
I've had a couple of manugfacturers tell me the box cost more than the circuits inside it. So it isnt surprising the software is a huge piece of the equation.
Look at it this way - Micro$oft will write off the development cost of xp against how many million copies? For broadcast gear, 50 thousand units would be an unbelieveable run, would it not?
 
voixoffonline said:
If u want to hear a (off air) sample of the sound 4 it is here :
http://www.voixoffonline.net/TDS/test_sound4.mp3
And i agree , It is better to test and listen an audio processor on the airwave chain !
( I don't work for SOUND 4 ;))
Click to expand...

Not a very confortable preset
Michael said:
Hi folks, hi voixoffline,

I'm the one who tested this board and who made this little mp3 file a few months ago. Actually it was recorded from a basic preset without any tweaking. In between time I have bought two Sound4 units. A 2 band version for an FM radio station and a 4 band version for my web streaming.
And I must say this card is very impressing ! Even the 2 band version is quite powerful !!! You may give a try to it, it's simply great. It has a very particular sound, not comparable with Omnia, Orban or DSPX, and it processes a lot more than the PC1100 for example...

But that's my point of view...

Mike
Click to expand...

My ears felt a bit discomfort on that preset. Perhaps there are better ones.
Just for curiosity: why does a web station use a 4 band and an on air station uses a 2 band one? ??? Budget issues?
 
Goran Tomas said:
PC-1100 and A/X don't have pre-emphasis (or it's not broadcast quality managed) and they don't have clippers or stereo generators...
Click to expand...

Actually the 1100 does have pre-emphasis, but no one really needs that anymore. The last few transmitters I've seen have their own plus a stereo generator built in. Granted though Bob Orban has said you don't want to use the 1100 to drive a transmitter without another safety limiter in there.
 
dspxscott said:
To the posters who find it hard to accept a PCI card can cost this amount of money...

What you are actually paying for is the high cost of development and support, not hardware. If a $200 metal box was wrapped around the pci card would the same comments have been made? I'm sure the processing capability on the card rivals or exceeds many of the rack mount processors out there.

A large part of any product's cost goes towards the infrastructure that allows that development and support to exist including business premises, heating, lighting, phones, internet, the list goes on. It's just a lot harder for consumers to justify paying big bucks for something that doesn't look physically expensive. Software in its purest form (think windows apps) is a classic example. I still can't get my head around going into one of the software stores in the UK and picking up a cardboard box with a cd inside and paying a good part of $2000 for a graphics suite, but I feel a lot happier paying the same amount of money for a heavy box of electronics. The difference may be that the empty box of software may have 200 coders working full time on it, refining it and supporting it together with the large associated costs, while the electronics hardware box may have only had a handful of designers who designed it and one of two to support it. I am aware that economies of scale plays a big part but you I am sure you get my point.

More and more these days IP (intellectual property) is playing a bigger role, especially with soft cores. Just take a look at ARM and fraunhoffer as classic examples. You are not paying for a shiny box but for the countless individuals spending countless hours using facebook, err sorry, I meant coding and developing binary blocks of virtual nothingness that somehow makes our daily lives that touch easier, that's the plan anyway.

More and more products in our industry are based on single board computers and cut down pc's running Linux. Sound4's strategy seems to be that of placing an audio processing component into a unit that offers the broadcaster more than just the processing alone. We wish them luck.

Time will tell if Sound 4's commercial strategy pays off. Competitors make us all up our game and there will always be new kids of the block, hey that was us a few years back. Change is inevitable and you have to embrace it to survive.

"4", now that is interesting ;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
Click to expand...

But I rather pay those 200 bucks extra and have the whole unit under one warranty and support. But I do get your point and it's nice to see others are thinking out of the box..... literally! ;)
 
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