Edirol Posts Beta 64-Bit Drivers
March 4, 2005
Edirol announced beta
64-bit drivers for several devices in support of the latest hardware and
software for Windows-based computers. Audio devices now offering direct
support of 64-bit processing include the world's first and most powerful
Hi-Speed USB Audio Interface, the UA-1000 and the UA-25 USB Audio Interface.
Edirol has also updated several MIDI device drivers to support 64-bit
processing including the UM-880 8x8 MIDI Patchbay/Interface, the UM-1 series
MIDI interfaces, and several PCR Series keyboards - PCR-30, PCR-50, PCR-80,
PCR-M30, PCR-M50, PCR-M80.
These driver updates arrive as Microsoft's Windows XP 64-bit Edition goes
into prerelease trials.
In addition, software companies such as Cakewalk are also offering beta
versions of their audio recording applications in 64-bit. This will allow
Edirol users to use their devices for beta testing as well and ensures that
Edirol hardware can take full advantage of the next generation of recording
applications and operating system.
About 64-bit Processing and Audio
64-bit processing allows applications to extend the amount of RAM available
for music production on the PC to 1 terabyte (1024 GB), well beyond the
current 2 GB limit offered by today's 32-bit applications. This provides
users with nearly unlimited potential for working with RAM intensive
projects that make extensive use of samplers and numerous audio loops and
tracks. Applications such as Cakewalk's SONAR x64 Technology Preview
provides users with the ability to load entire, large sample banks,
libraries, and audio clips into RAM, thereby eliminating the latency
introduced by disk streaming. In addition, 64-bit processing provides
better CPU performance by offering more and wider registers - a part of RAM
that offers instant access to the CPU - and an improved floating point unit
(FPU). When data is not stored in a register, the computer must retrieve
the data from RAM, causing the processor to chew up several CPU cycles
waiting for information to be retrieved. More and larger registers allows
the CPU to run much more efficiently resulting in the ability for the PC to
handle more processor-intensive tasks quickly.
For more information, visit their web site at www.edirol.com. |
