Creamware Scope Home:

A soundcard is one of the most important tools that a computer musician needs. Over the past few years the sound quality of the soundcards has gone up quite a lot, with 24 bit 96kHZ recordings being fairly standard nowadays. The Scope Home card (previously known as Luna 2/Elektra/Powersampler) offers 24/96 recording, but on top of that includes 3 DSP chips to take some strain off your computer.

Looking at the Creamware product range, Scope Home card is a entry card in to the Scope Platform DSPs system. It provides 3 DSPs, 24/96 recording, Low latency ASIO drivers and a suite of software with effects, synths, mixers and samplers. 

Setup and stability problems

I had many problems in setting the card up to work. There were a few problems setting up the software, but mostly it was just the lack of figuring how the system works. For example it took me some time to figure out that the system signals that my Yamaha DJX keyboard send were causing my computer to crash after about 10 minutes. Also I had some stability issues, but upgrading to SP2 seemed to get rid of them. Since then I have only had a couple of crashes (in just over a month), although sometimes I do get crackles in audio in Reason - these are fixed by reloading the song. 

Routing - The gift and the curse

One of the unique points that the Scope platform has is the routing possibilities which are almost limitless. Think of it as turning all your software drivers into hardware which you can connect in many different ways. This has both advantages and drawbacks.

The disadvantage is that routing means some extra effort which also means a steeper learning curve. When I got the card, I was frustrated that I had to setup and play with it just to get some sound sources to work. I had to route things just to get sound to come out of computer - at first it seemed such a hassle as on a 'ordinary' soundcard you don't have to do this. That said, some template setups are included to give you a idea of how you could setup your routings, but didn't prove that useful in my case.

The advantage of routing is that it gives you lots of possibilities. You can for example use one driver to play your music and an other one to record your microphone. It is hard to describe what you can do with the routing settings, but as an example you can route your microphone signal through one of the included DSP effects (Compression, delay, etc.) and then record it. There are many applications for this such as routing your guitar through the 3rd party software guitar amp available (Amp IR) or applying compression to input before recording. All the signals can also be routed through the included software mixers.   

What comes with it?

As you might know a DSP system cannot use normal (native) plug-ins and this is why it is important to know what you get with the system and what you can get to expand the system.

But before we go into plug-ins I want to tell you that there are two modes plug-ins can work in. The first one is the Scope Platform which I have already described a little as this is the program that allows you to do all the routings. All of the plug-ins except for one work in this mode. The Scope Platform mode is just a mode where you can add in the plug-ins to your routings or in the mixer in case of effect plug-ins.

The second mode is XTC mode. You loose the routing functions with this mode as the routing is pre-defined by you ,but the advantage of this mode is that it integrates with the VST platform. This means that you can use the power of the DSPs in your VST compatible sequencer. Not all plug-ins are supported although the basic effects and many of the optional effects do work or can be made to work under XTC mode.

Also XTC mode can be a bit of a pain to setup, that is why I have made a special guide to setting up XTC mode for all Scope owners, it will be available for download later.

Now lets go on to what is included with Scope 4:

Effects:

35 effects are included. All of them are good quality and the best thing is that most of them can be used in XTC mode. These effects range from choruses to auto wahs to reverbs. These are good quality basic effects that will do the job ,but won't stand against some of the new

The multiple effects can be used in the SFP mode through the mixer or standalone. (click image to get a bigger picture)

Synths:

The modular 2 synth is included, it is very flexible modular synth that allows you to create your own sound. This is a very powerful modular synth with lots of patches included. This is a very good modular synth, but the downside is that the biggest patches will only work with very limited polyphony or not at all on the 3 DSP home system. Also it cannot be used in XTC mode.

Samplers:

The STS-2000P, STS-3000, STS- 4000 and Volkzämpler are included for sampling. These cover most of your sampling needs. The STS system uses a old Akai style format and the samplers are similar to hardware samplers. The STS series is for use in Scope Platform while Volkzämpler is for XTC mode.

Overall the sampling possiblities are good with the included software, but the STS format feels old and doesn't really measure up against the newest software samplers. The sampling possibilities are good, but I feel constrained by having to use the STS or Soundfont formats.

3 DSPs - Enough?

You fire up the Scope Platform (or a VST sequencer in the case of XTC mode) , try to add a few chorus and compression settings - it works like a charm. The problem comes from more power intensive modules such as most of the additional synths and effects that drain the juice out of your Scope home card and leave you with the need for more.

Scope Home is the introductory card and it really shows since you gets you drooling about the thought of having a Scope Proffesional, 15 DSP card. Also Creamware have hit a good spot with the ability to combine different DSP boards. This means that you can get another Creamware card to add DSP power to your setup. Upto 3 cards can be connected.

Optional Extensions:

Other than what is included the system can be extended with optional plug-ins. These usually work both in the Scope Platform software and in XTC mode. For this review we had a few different optional plug-ins in use.

Interpole

A stereo analog filterbank that just sounds awesome. One of the best effects that I have come across that has many different musical uses.

Interpole is one of the best effects that I have ever heard and is definitely a good way to extend your Scope system.

Price : €98

B-2003

A breathtaking emulation of B3 with two banks of great presets for use. This is a awesome sounding plug-in that emulates the sound of the B3 very well. The sounds are very usable in many types of music.

B-2003 is a sweet Hammond B3 emulation that emulates the original organ with extreme precision. 

Price: €198

STS-5000:

A advanced sampler that has 25 filter types and comes with pitch- and time stretching abilities. Plus a robot mode is included and of course everything happens using the DSP power of the Scope card.

STS- 5000 is the top of the line Creamware sampler that provides real time pitch- and time stretching plus a lot of sampling power.

Price: €198 , €169 as a upgrade from STS-4000

DSP power - worth it?

Although back a few years people didn't doubt that DSP power was a good add, but is it really necessary with today's fast computers? The question doesn't have a definite answer, but I would like to say that the power of the DSP card means that your processor won't have to work so much. Not only that being the advantage, but also that Creamware offers a whole range of excellent synths and effects that can be bought in the online shop that you will like to spend your money on.

So what is the verdict?

I think that the Scope Home is a great introduction to the Scope family of cards that have a lot to offer in terms of routing possibilities and great sounding plug-ins that are available to buy. At the price the card is a very good buy as you are not only getting 24/96 capability, but also 3 DSPs plus a plug-in collection that is worth the price of the card itself and also the ability to buy some of the best emulations of the likes of B3 Hammond. I have to respect Creamware for trying to do something different and with version 4 of Scope Platform where a lot more plug-ins are included, it's never been a better time to get yourself hooked on Scope. 

8.75 - Creamware have fused the best of two worlds into one DSP/soundcard hybrid that has impressed not just with its routing possibilities, but with its good range of faithful emulations of some of the most popular synths, that are available to buy from the internet shop. At the current price, the Home card stands to be of very good value of money and a great introduction to the Scope Platform.

-Problems with setup
-XTC mode has to be setup

Resources:

www.planetz.com/forums

Reviewed by Aleksi Haapajoki