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Author Topic: Ivie IE-33 Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 10-31-2003 07:54 AM                     Thats enough from the peanut gallery. I managed to reduce the latency/polling interval to 130 ms+/- by overclocking the CPU to 472. 500mhz was too much for it, and Latency/polling interval increased to 150ms. Still not enough data. Didn't any of this occur to you as being problematic?  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 10-31-2003 11:39 AM                     In case anyone is interested, I spoke with Ivie today about this. They openly admit that the polling frequency is the main drawback to the unit. They have been experimenting with different FFT algorithms that are WAY faster but have somewhat poorer s/n. They don't seem to work on all pocket PC Bios versions, though, and until they can iron that out, they will not implement it. They plan to make this a priority after the release of the RT-60 module, and promised their commitment to the product. I will gamble on them and see what happens. I managed to further increase the polling frequency by overclocking to 500mhz with a different CPU scaler. It is usable for a-chains, but battery consumption is a bit more of an issue now...  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2003 12:09 PM                     With the USL mux it is best to set the scan rate as fast as it can go  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-01-2003 12:37 PM                     10hz is about as fast as mine will go. I would want to pick up at least 1 sample per mic pulsed, so the RTA would have to poll at approximately twice the scan rate of the mux to guarantee that each pulse is averaged in. That would require a polling interval of 50 ms. Can't even get close to that. I think you would be better off using a scan rate that more closely matches with the RTA's polling interval of 130 ms. - 2.5 HZ or so...not optimal at all. That's my point.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2003 04:23 PM                     Yet again I think this is a prime example of a piece of digital equipment that will have evolve through many software generations before its a really top notch piece of gear. IVIE should also come out with their own mic multiplexer for this unit and forget the USL unit. I'd love to see a mux with better mics than the Countryman mics used with the USL and R-2. Although there are a few other analyzers the same size as the IE-33 that I'd consider buying today, they cost upwards of 20K. So I'll most likely stick with my PC-40 and R-2 for several years to come. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-01-2003 06:14 PM                        I can see the point from the point of view of scanning rate in relation to the sample rate of the analyzer. But what speaks against scanning at a lower rate? You would average over 30 or so seconds anyway. I don't quite understand why you are so surprised. A certain degree of latency is to be expect from a device such as this anyway. I was "warned" about this before, BTW. How do did you measure the polling speed of the analyzer? Mark - you will absolutely love this: There seems to be a problem with the battery of my Compaq pocket PC. Sometimes after I charged it for a couple of hours, it doesn't come on at all, I have to plug it back into the power outlet to switch it on. Of course, I will contact Ivie about this and see if they will exchange the Compaq.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 11-01-2003 07:33 PM                     Sorry you're having trouble with the charger part. As I said I am skeptical about anything this new thats digitally based. Past experience as both a technician in this industry and past lives in the broadcast industry have bestowed this cautious optimism upon me. I have no doubt though that eventually it will be a really good product as nothing IVIE sells is bad. My PC-40 and experience with many other IVIE products has been very positive. Mark  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-02-2003 12:19 AM                     quote: How do did you measure the polling speed of the analyzer? Go to file>preferences>diagnostics. under the SPL readout window, a number will appear. That is the polling rate in ms. I bet you will get 165-170. X-scale ctrl (available for $5 online) will allow you to overclock your ppc 20 to 472MHZ and improve your results by 30-50 ms. There is a $20 overclock utility that will get you to 500mhz, but its real tricky and unless you are comfortable with running the risk of burning up your processor (I'mm willing to take the chance...) I wouldn't recommend it. Of course latency is going to be an issue with any digital audio device. I have a $30 soundcard that is capable of running at 200 samples (at 44.1khz) of latency,tho, and runs perfectly well on my pentium 166 with Smart Pro. I'm not worried about the latency as much as I am worried about the excessive polling interval. I would have thought that they would be using an external DSP to perform the FFT (since the lit. does espouse the presence of both A/D AND DSP (which it doesn't have). I don't think that the hardware architecture of the PPC can handle the multitasking required to allow true real time analysis without sacrificing S/N. I think that Ivie should implement a "fast mode" whereby the GUI gets stripped to just monochrome, no extra buttons, and utilizes a faster FFT algorithm with a lower S/N ratio - mainly for equalizing low-frequency components and A-chains. When overclocked, the unit seems to perform quite well - 100+/- ms polling interval = 10 hz. (twice the speed that Ivie claims it will do...) Would be nice if Ivie did make a mux that could be synced with the RTA so that you would be guaranteed multiple samples per pulse of the mux... They are paying close attention to what we, the end-user of this gadget, have to say, so the more people that are willing to take the gamble and try it out and critique, the faster this unit will become a replacement for the IE-30. As of now, it is handy and is good enough for most things, but is NOT a replacement. The first software re-write will be available in the next few weeks.  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-06-2003 12:21 PM                     Ivie just released the new software update - faster FFT (30-60ms polling interval overclocked), plus a whole bunch of bugs removed. I get 50 ms with a landscaped display (horizontal)! Works like a dream now. BIG improvement. Michael - update available on the Ivie website. Goes to show what flapping at the manufacturer can get done....  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-06-2003 05:28 PM                        I just installed the update. It gives me *80ms, not overclocked. I am a bit hesitant to use X-scale ctrl. I read on the net that it could result in memory loss or other problems. What does landscaped display mean? You don`t need to flap at Ivie - they are very friendly and cooperative. I also talked to them about improvement and small bugs. For instance, when you edit your X-curve, it only edits the 4 lowest bands in pairs of 2 and it doesn`t remember the offset for them after you switch it off. That`s not a big problem since you can offset the levels right then when you need the curve, but they also explained why this happens and promised to improve it.  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-06-2003 06:49 PM                     I have not had any problems running any app with X-scale. Extremely solid and the processor is more than robust enough to handle it without issue. I have performed all sorts of memory functions (trying out tons of apps, etc, tons of MP-3's on memory card, etc), and not had any sort of issue. Plus, It is handy to have because you can not only overclock the processor, you can underclock it too - you don't need to run the processor at 472mhz for everything. Most apps run very well at 200mhz - save A LOT of battery power that way. Besides, just BACK the damned thing up and don't worry about it. Very worthwhile increase in speed (you should get about half what you are getting now in terms of polling rate). I am running Nyditot Virtual Display to allow me to orient the Ivie screen horizontally - more real estate between the bands...easier on the eyes. Works for all apps - I have a 256 mb card now that is devoted entirely to .pdfs - schematics, manuals (thanks Film-tech..) they look great horizontally - you can almost read across a whole page. Seems pretty stable. And yes, you really should flap at the manufacturer - those guys aren't out in the field using the stuff - they write code and Design DSPs......and in general (not Ivie per se - they were, as you said, very nice and eager to get feedback), engineers tend to be pretty proud of their babies.....  |  IP: Logged Daryl C. W. O'Shea Film God Posts: 3977 From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from) Registered: Jun 2002 posted 11-06-2003 06:57 PM                        Repeatedly overclocking and underclocking (or even just repeatedly adjusting the clock speed and/or voltage, regardless of it being under or over the rated settings) is one of the worst things you could do to a processor. While solely adjusting clock speed won't affect much, the often related voltage adjustment will weaken the processors transistors and lower their critical voltage. If you want to overclock a processor that's fine, but choose your settings and leave it alone.  |  IP: Logged Phil Hill I love my cootie bug Posts: 7595 From: Hollywood, CA USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 11-06-2003 07:11 PM                  I want to overclock Daryl... >>> Phil  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 11-06-2003 07:23 PM                        The display tool sounds interesting but wouldn`t you have to pay a penalty in processing speed for using it? If the mux scans at 10Hz, that`s 300 samples over a 30 second averaged reading. At 80ms, the analyzer polls 375 times. Of course, it might miss the odd sample from one of the microphones, but over a 30 second period that should not fall to much into weight.  |  IP: Logged Matt Zeiner Expert Film Handler Posts: 146 From: Windsor, CT USA Registered: Sep 2003 posted 11-06-2003 07:38 PM                     penalty is about 10 ms. Darryl may have a point - I don't know for sure how repeatedly changing the clock speeds will affect the processor long term. Do you know for a fact that the core voltage is adjusted to overclock in this case?  |  IP: Logged

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