csl said:
a PCIE card with a couple (or more? heh) of UAD-1 processors on it with a quiet Arctic Cooling style cooler would be nice though, as we know how hot they get.
From a cost and engineering standpoint, that seems the easiest route to take, for a next generation UAD-1. I would be extremely surprised if we don't see something like that in the next 6-12 months. Just a few important enahncements/improvements would keep the UAD-1 relevant and give us the most bang for the buck, for another 5 years:
UAD-2 features
2-4 Mpact chips on a single card instead of the current one to double and even quadruple the processing power
New PCI-E connecter instead of the current PCI for the latest generation of motherboards.
64-bit drivers for use in the latest Win OS's (WinXP 64 & the forthcoming Vista)
64-bit versions of all the existing plugin algorithms.
This would not require UA to re-invent the wheel or create some new breakthrough technology, creating a UAD-2, from the exisitng UAD-1 would probably be the cost efficient way to go.
*Of course, current UAD-1 owners would have a hardware/software upgrade path. I am thinking that maybe UA could provide an inexpensive PCI->PCI-E adapter for current UAD-1 users, so we could continue to use our old cards and just have the need of a software upgrade to use in the latest PCI-E MB's and 64bit OS's.
That way, UA can continue to sell us more and more great plugins :lol: