ALESIS Hammerfall DSP System - Manual (Page 23)

User's Guide HDSP MADI © RME
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14. Operation under GSIF (Gigasampler Interface)
Windows 2000/XP
The GSIF interface of the HDSP MADI allows direct operation with Gigastudio, with up to 32*
channels, 96 kHz and 24 bit. The new GSIF 2.0 is also supported with both audio and MIDI.
Gigastudio requires a lot of the computer’s calculation power. An optimum performance is
achieved with a stand-alone GSIF PC. However, when using the Hammerfall DSP, the latency
is always the same as the one selected for ASIO operation. This can cause performance prob-
lems on slower machines when using GSIF and ASIO at the same time.
Please note that the W2k/XP driver fully supports multi-client operation, including the combina-
tion MME/ASIO. So for example Cubase, Gigastudio and Sonar can be used simultaneously,
provided each of these programs uses its own audio channels exclusively. For example ASIO
could use channels 1/2 and Gigastudio (with GSIF) channels 3/4 simultaneously, and so on.
Simultaneous operation of GSIF and ASIO requires to use different channels. For example,
if Cubase uses tracks 1/2 these tracks can not be used by Gigastudio.
Common Problems
Please note that Gigastudio is running unexpectedly in the background (thus blocking its as-
signed audio channels), as soon as the Gigastudio MIDI ports are used – even when Gigastu-
dio itself hasn't been started. This causes a lot of confusion, as the driver seems to behave
completely buggy, and the user does not recognize the simple reason for it – for example simul-
taneous operation of ASIO and GSIF on the same channels.
If Gigastudio starts up properly, loads gig files too, but won't play at all even when using the
virtual keyboard: Go to Hardware/Routing and select a valid MIDI input port. Note that blank is
not valid, but <none> is.
*The limitation of 32 channels is caused by Gigastudio 2.54. According to Tascam, Gigastudio 3
will support 64 channels.