Dsp, dsp, dsp!

S2400
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here’s a list from KXStudio’s site. You can see which plugins have ARM64 downloads

You might be able to find more info at individual plugin websites.

I’m looking into HISE right now, too. And apparently something called Plugin Doctor can analyze plugins and how they work?

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Thanks for that, I’ve been combing over it and AirWindows this past week trying to learn more about all of this. That Dr. Plugin thing looks interesting.

I noticed that TAL offers a Linux clap format for all their plugins. I wonder if those will work. There Juno and SH101 emulations are amazing and it would be pretty wild to have them in the S2400. Not to mention their effect offerings.

https://tal-software.com/products

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I think the DSP card is intended for fx plugins, not for synth plugins.

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I know it is, but I recall in one of the videos regarding the DSP board that it could in theory also run synths as long as they were the proper format and didn’t have a complex UI. Either way I ordered it for effects and TAL has good ones albeit a limited selection. Being able to run synths on it would just be a nice bonus.

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Purchased a dsp card the other day.
Do we know roughly when they will start shipping?

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it was supposed to have been July. Brad did a video the other day from a month ago explaining that the DAC chip they used went EoL so they had to make a board revision using the S2400’s DAC chip. He said that shouldn’t take more than a month but possibly only a couple weeks. We don’t really know.

They need to be compiled for ARM, x86/x64 won’t work on the DSP card’s ARM CPU.

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Here’s a question for all those who are looking for plugin that will run on the card.
Is your focus really on that aspect or the aspect of what the card will add in it’s own right?
For the price of the card just what it will offer directly will greatly expand the workflow of the S2400.
In the little bit of time I have had the S2400 he has been extremely dependent on the various members of the Boss/Roland SP family.
The overall workflow and sound of the unit is great but the filters etc need certain little nudges to get them where you want them to be (thus the use of the Roland units).
I see the DSP card really helping with this but when it comes to plugins I tend to be a real snob meaning I prefer a GUI that doesn’t distract what I am doing and functionality that makes it do something special.
Seems that a lot of people have really high expectations for third party plugins which to me seems pretty bold without having had their hands on them yet.

Can’t wait until cards start arriving a when can get some real world feedback on the overall usefulness the cards.

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Just a timing update: I asked in an unrelated support ticket about timing on the DSP cards just yesterday (July 29), and they said they’re currently looking at late August/September to ship them out.

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As far as I can tell Isla Instruments isn’t developing plugins themselves for the DSP card, and the ones it ships with will be third party ones that they got approval for to include. So unless I’m misunderstanding something regarding the card, there isn’t really anything else to discuss besides third party plugins. By that I mean the DSP card relies solely on compatible third party plugins, hence why people (Linux illiterate people like myself included) are trying to figure out which ones will run on it.

So I guess what I’m getting at is the heavy discussion of third party plugins isn’t really about high expectations but more so which ones will potentially work and sound best on the unit.

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Sweet. This is the exact info I came here for.

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This is the way I understand it as well, there will be no plugins on the card when it’s shipped, just a curated list of 3rd party plugins which work well.

If I understand correctly they will actually make and include one plugin themselves, which is a plugin which can do performance fx (like stutters etc. I guess) on the master out.

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Hey folks,

with the information from the videos and as a developer myself, this is how it will be from my understanding:

  1. It’s a dsp card with arm processor architecture. It runs their an adapted linux distribution for arm. You role your own linux distribution to get rid of any unnecessary linux functionality for performance and size reasons. You also want to tune linux settings for realtime audio and even adapt drivers / the linux kernel to achieve better realtime performance. Like https://www.elk.audio/ did with their linux distro to achieve sub 1ms latency performance with their own developed hardware. I’m still very curious how they want to deal with plugin latency compensation. You face the same issues like in any daw as each plugin introduces their own latency and you have to make sure that everything stays in sync afterall.
  2. To integrate 3rd party software, one relies on a contract how your own software / hardware communicates with this piece of 3rd party software. This is what the VST / CLAP / LV2 each define in their format. The plugins will tell the isla via this contract: here are the parameters you can tweak, the isla can use this information to show in the interface. The standard also defines how the isla and plugin exchange sound and how to push parameter changes back to the plugin
  3. Let’s talk about what plugins will run on it. Any plugin that can be compiled for arm processor architecture running arm linux and doesn’t eat tons of processing time such that the device has noticable latency. The plugin format is not the determining factor. This means, you rely that companies offer this. Look at TAL Software and you see that they offer windows (x64) / mac (x64 / arm) and linux (x64). As arm linux is usually used on embedded devices like a music instrument, there are no incentives to make sure that plugins run on linux (arm) because there exists no plugin economy. This is why Brad talks to these plugin developers. They need to deliver their software for linux (arm). The likelihood that a company is able to compile for arm linux increased in the last years. Companies had to adapt their software for the arm architecture anyway because of apple’s move to arm architecture. Still, it’s more maintenance for the company to support another linux version and they need an incentive to do this. What we’re left with are open source plugins which can be compiled for arm linux or if necessary can be adapted to be compiled for arm linux by the open source community. Brad searches for these plugins and puts together a list. Anyone can compile these on their own computer and if you’re lucky, the open source project offers ready compiled versions for download. Then you just need to drop the plugin file into isla’s plugin folder on the sd card. Isla could offer compiled versions of these plugins for download too. But honestly, this is just a tiny step in the full picture and convenient for people who don’t know how to compile code to a plugin file themselves (any non developer :slight_smile: )

I’m still a little bit hesitate to buy the dsp card because it heavily depends on the eco system around it. On the flipside, I would like to develop plugins for it myself :slight_smile:. Also, I want to have more information how they deal with plugin latency and plugin compensation.

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Does anyone know if you will be able to use the DSP card functionality and the individual outputs simultaneously? I rewatched both videos and didn’t see any mention of the individual outputs. In the initial video Brad said that it is all done in the digital domain before it hits the analog circuitry, so that makes me think that the individual outputs will carry the effects on the corresponding bus in the DSP mixer. But I couldn’t quite figure out where the two sends and the main bus would factor into that if that is indeed the case. Also wonder how/if USB audio will work with it.

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New guy here with an S2400 on the way.

Considering ordering the DSP card and wanted to find out some more info before submitting my order.

The site notes “AVAILABLE ON BACKORDER”. If I submit my order now, what kind of timeframe/ETA can I expect?

I saw @alisynthesis mentioned August/September. Would that be accurate if I submitted an order today, or are all of the available units for that batch (the “preorders”) spoken for?

Thanks in advance!

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I don’t know for sure, but I think if they were out of stock on the preorder batch they probably wouldn’t let you put in an order for one. That being said, they were pretty fast building the s2400s when those were on back order. Seemed like they were shipping out a couple hundred a week so I’m sure there won’t be much of a wait after the DSP boards get to HQ. Not much to build there. Probably just a little setup and testing.

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I asked via a ticket to confirm, and @roborr was like lightning with a reply. I’ve purchased the DSP and am now on the queue, albeit the end, but still there. Looking forward to it. :grinning:

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From what I understand, the DSP is completely separate on the signal path, so I’m going to assume the individual outs will work just fine and also be able to use the DSP as well, not in conjunction with the other tracks.

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Does anyone know if the “Bounce Pattern” feature will incorporate the DSP effects and allow you to “bake in” effects when you resample? Don’t remember seeing anything that discussed that in the videos, and I’m not sure I understand the signal path well enough, but since everything will be in the digital realm, it should be possible to do, right?

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I wouldn’t doubt it

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Anyone seen any updates on shipping these bad boys?

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