Pulsar II is the newest incarnation of the extremely successful Pulsar DSP system. Today, Pulsar systems are established in thousands of studios all around the world. Thanks to the flexibility and diverse features they provide, you'll find them everywhere - from home-recording setups to the biggest Hollywood film studios.

Pulsar II provides even more power, more flexibility and more functions than its predecessor.

Extended information

Pulsar is an open DSP platform for synthesis, sampling, effect processing, mixing and routing. The system combines hundreds of audio software components with immensely powerful DSP hardware. Its modular structure makes Pulsar II probably the most versatile music tool available. You determine the systemÆs functionality by simply combining and connecting the elements you need. Pulsar allows totally free signal routing between all software components, the drivers and even your external gear.

A product like Pulsar would not be possible without the use of multiple DSPs that add significant horsepower to your computer. Pulsar II features a generous six of the fastest floating-point DSPs available û the Analog Devices SHARC. This massive DSP power lets you process your audio in realtime û with the precision and stability of a fine Swiss watch.

A professional system should be expandable, so that it can adapt to your future needs. Pulsar can be custom-tailored with a range of optional DSP expansion boards, I/O options and more than one hundred additional software plug-ins.

Welcome to Pulsar II. ItÆs designed to put you a giant leap ahead.



Total integration
Pulsar is ideally suited to function as the nerve-center of your studio. It integrates effortlessly with your audio/MIDI sequencer as well as with external gear. With Pulsar you can combine all of your signals within one integrated DSP environment for all mixing and processing tasks - in realtime!

For your external equipment, Pulsar functions like a hardware mixer and effect processor. Connect your external effects and your sampling / synthesis hardware to Pulsar's I/Os and use them as inserts within the Pulsar environment. This means you can, for example, apply your external effects within the Pulsar mixer - via one simple drag-and-drop operation. Note that, thanks to DSP-based architecture, no signal latency is introduced and no additional host processor performance is required - similar to an external digital mixer, but with far more flexibility.



Endless routing possibilities
Pulsar's Project Window is where you set up your virtual studio in a very intuitive and powerful way. Every driver, every physical I/O and every device (i.e. synths, effects etc.) is represented as a module that has audio and/or MIDI connections ("pads"). You can connect theses pads as simply as in the "real" analog world - using virtual cables. Every audio pad can connect to any other audio pad, bringing together the different pieces of gear you use in your studio setup. This is how you connect your audio and MIDI sequencer as well as the library of Pulsar devices with your outboard gear. After you have configured all of your software (via the Pulsar drivers) and connected your external gear (via inputs and outputs) with the Pulsar mixer, you can then store the complete configuration - no matter how complex - for a later "total recall" within seconds.



Full compatibility
Pulsar was designed for and tested with all the widely-used audio / MIDI sequencers currently on the market. The extensive driver set for Windows PC and Macintosh comprises drivers for ASIO 2.0, EASI, DirectSound, MME, tripleDAT, GigaSampler, OMS and Sound Manager. Furthermore, the Pulsar II board is equipped with the Ultra Low Latency Interface (ULLI), which also features hardware-based ASIO/EASI support. The driver latency can be adjusted down to as low as 1 ms (!), thus enabling the configuration to be fully optimized for the host computer - including the more-powerful computers which the future will surely bring.

Technical specifications

Classic 20 24ADAT PLUS Z-Link
Number of channels 20 In / 20 Out
24 In / 24 Out
20 In / 20 Out
28 In / 28 Out*

Analoge I/Os

Unbalanced
2
-
-
2 / 18*

Balanced
-
-
2
-

Digital I/Os

ADAT (EIAJ connector)
16
24
16
8

S/PDIF (RCA unbalanced)
2
-
-
2

AES/EBU (XLR balanced)
-
-
2
-

Z-Link
-
-
-
16**

MIDI

In, Out, Thru
1
2 (via Bracket)
1
1

AD/DA converter resolution
24 Bit
24 Bit
24 Bit
24 Bit

Sample rates
Master

96, 48, 44.1, 32 kHz
+
+
+
+

Slave

ADAT 38 û 50 kHz
+
+
+
+

AES/EBU / S/PDIF, Wordclock
38 û 50 kHz
+
+
+
+

Z-Link 32 û 96 kHz
-
-
-
+

Audio performance
Digital > Analog (20Hz-20kHz)

Frequency response
+/-0.15
-
+/-0.15 dB
+/-0.15 dB

Dynamic range
110 dB***
-
110 dB***
110 dB***

THD+N (typical)
> 100 dBa
-
> 100 dBa
> 100 dBa

Channel separation @ 1 kHz (997Hz) (typical)
105 dB
-
105 dB
105 dB

Analog > Digital (20Hz-20kHz)

Frequency response
+/- 0.05 dB
-
+/- 0.05 dB
+/- 0.05 dB

Dynamic range
100 dB***
-
100 dB***
100 dB***

THD+N (typical)
> 95 dBa
-
> 95 dBa
> 95 dBa

Channel separation @ 1 kHz (997Hz) (typical)
> 102 dBa
-
> 102 dBa
> 102 dBa


* Including 16 channels via two optional Luna 2496 I/O Box units

** One Z-Link interface transfers eight digital channels at 24 bits / 96 kHz

*** These specifications are based upon technical data provided by the converter manufacturer