Huge news about the Petit Crouton/New TCSS Soundboard

[Zook]

Grackle - go read the first post. that has the sales pitch. if you want specific features, research the Petit Crouton and read up on it, or wait for the manual to come out for the locked version.

Zook/MH - i have another question that i should have probably asked earlier, and i hope it doesn't make me look too dim... is it safe to assume that the PC-L supports all the main LED output amperages that the CF and PC-U do? AKA, can i drive something at 800 or 1500mA just fine? thanks.

It will drive up to 1500mA. The manual will tell how to figure out the current output.

[Azmaria Dei]

It will drive up to 1500mA. The manual will tell how to figure out the current output.

excellent and beautiful! thanks! ^_^

[Sidd]

I agree there will be many epic sabers in the future

[Invisas1979]

I actually can NOT believe that anyone has moaned about the introduction of a new soundboard in our hobby. There is such a massive need for these boards. The US 2.5 is not a bad board in reality, but they are hard to come by and when you do see them on ebay they go for far more than they're worth. And the start up is glitchy.

The real point is we have a new board which IS better than the MR board and the US 2.5.

Yes you can buy and gut a old MR or a hasbro or a cheapie and if you don't have the money to get a PC-L, then do so. No one is stopping you.

In regards to the sound choices; the most unique thing about the CF (other than build quality and general awesomeness) is having multiple sound fonts. Please understand Erv designed the CF, PC-U and L. We are lucky he loves this hobby enough to give us his work/design. Yes he's not giving us the CF but surely he has a right to have something for himself. I'm glad this board is locked otherwise the CF would not be the special item that it is, and lets face it we all need something to strive for, it's what pushes this hobby forward.

Erv. Thank you mate, you have done a great thing. Tim, you need no thanks, your dedication is second to none, thanks should come as standard. To the PCMG you've done wonders in getting us this board, thank you also.

I think we need to look at this board for what it is. It's a stand alone board, no other is like it. It's not a CF or even an PC-U. It's the next generaltion board which takes our hobby to another level.

Lets get ready for the TCSS comp, it's gonna be interesting with the Introduction of PC-L

[Borax]

Ok, I am getting tired of this.

Guys come on- It is a freaking new Soundboard!!!! No, it is not the crystal focus, nothing else ever will be. This board is a far superior replacement to the Ultrasound (a crappy board to begin with for the price IMO)

NO- you won't be able to choose your font. But you have two AWESOME fonts to choose from.

Yes- the board costs $125. Who cares?!?! That is a great price for all the people we are supporting through this purchase. Plus, we paid just that amount for the US, which didn't have a warranty, didn't have alternative soundfonts, and sometimes didn't even work. Each of these board will be hand tested. Hello?!? HAND TESTED!!! If that doesn't say something about the quality I don't know what will.

Bottom line;
- If you don't want it, or think it is to expensive- don't buy it. More for the rest of us.
- If you wish it was something better; make your own or try to get a CF. Stop griping about how you wish this board was better.

This can be a great day (and still is) in Saberbuiling history. Stop ruining it by complaining about things you can't change.

I agree all the way. This is good thing guys. Enough complaining. Be happy! Do it !!

[Lord Dottore Matto]

So a few thoughts and questions:

It's my understanding that the CF and derivatives have no support for string-type blades and scrolling ignition/retraction effects, is that correct?
With a lack of that, and no ability to change the sound fonts (which I thought was the entire point of spending the extra money and effort to get a CF-style board in the first place, especially with them costing more $$$ than a MR board -or even a complete MR saber- off ebay does), I'm having a hard time understanding exactly what the point of these boards is? The integrated LED driver for luxeons? What are the selling points of these boards (i.e. why would I want to buy one, as opposed to, say a 2010 Hasbro toy board and a TCSS constant current driver board - I'm asking for the sales pitch here!)

I think part of the contention over the fixed font choice is that it's a deliberate crippling of the design - code had to be *added* to the vanilla CF code to restrict it; I would presume this is so they do not eat into Erv's market/margins/profit, which is understandable (after all, computer CPU and video card makers do the same thing all the time)... but it does beg the question: If Erv is licensing one of his designs for outsourced mass production to increase the supply, why not license the CF board itself, instead of a cut down version? They could still sell the license-built CF boards for the same price as Erv sells his, with part of the cost going directly to Erv as a license fee for each unit sold - that way he still makes his profit (and without the hard work of him having to hand-make every CF board - more time for the bakery!), it cuts out the stupid reselling on ebay for ridiculous prices, and everyone who wants one can have a real CF board... (and there's even still a place for the PC in that scheme, since many sabersmiths would still get them as a cheaper alternative to the CF for sabers that don't require all the features of the full model...)

In regards to the contention over whether the LM/DM fonts are better/worse than the stock FX fonts, I think a less contentious path would have been to just use cleaned up and expanded remakes of the stock MR light/dark fonts (with the extra clash/swing/blaster sounds added, of course), rather than forging entirely new territory. At the least, people wouldn't be complaining it "sucks more than the FX" sounds because it would essentially be as close to them as possible, just cleaned up

(and not that the hard work in making them isn't appreciated, either)

Just some thoughts I've had about it, since I recently had a discussion over which card to use in my 'extra-fancy, cost-is-no-object' high end saber commission someone's making for me, and we both finally decided that, given the wide open option of using any of the currently available sound cards (at the time of a few weeks ago, at least), including CF and PCU, for what he's building, the only option that does what we need is the same old MR boards we've been tearing out of sabers for years now... depressing

I think I am about to lose my mind. This is NOT Erv's product. This is the PCMG's product and Erv is our EE on the project. He is only part of the equation. This should have been made clear in the first post. What Zook and I are telling you is the LAW as far as this product goes. The board is not crippled, but consider that those of us who developed it may just know a little about what the heck we are doing. This thread is an announcement for a new product. A product designed for a purpose. Not a place to complain about how you would have done it better. Many of us have given a huge amount of time, effort and resources to make it a reality. Anyone who is disappointed should feel free to use economy boards in their projects. Thank you to those of you who have been civilized about this. I simply do not get all of the bellyaching. Those of you who don't like them, feel free to exercise your rite to not post. I will not address another "I am so sad that this is not exactly what i wanted" post.

[iamdrake]

So it won't run Windows 7 or make me coffee??? But it will be a board that I can reliably purchase, that will be inspected and work. I won't have to wait up till 3am everyday refreshing a page to pray that I can order one. I will have the option of two different sound fonts that were made by hard working individuals. I will have a board that took more R&D than I could have every hoped to embark on by myself. And it will only cost me $124.99. Can I order 3? Oh that is right... I can. I for one am looking forward to this release.

[Jedi Ranger]

With this sweet ready-available board available soon, I wonder what the percentage split will be for these boards, between new sabers and saber upgrades? I probably won't upgrade any of my MR-powered hilts, but I will upgrade a few that don't have any sound (over the course of the next year or so, or as $ becomes available).

[Knighthammer]

Thank you to all the members of PCMG for making this happen. I think the vast majority of us who have posted are excited and grateful for this sound card. Many of us have a thousand questions (rightly so, this is a game changer!). Its unfortunate that a few ney-sayers are somehow the "louder" voice in this thread. This sounds exactly like what 99% of us have wanted for some time.

[beggarsoutpost]

Grackle - go read the first post. that has the sales pitch. if you want specific features, research the Petit Crouton and read up on it, or wait for the manual to come out for the locked version.

Zook/MH - i have another question that i should have probably asked earlier, and i hope it doesn't make me look too dim... is it safe to assume that the PC-L supports all the main LED output amperages that the CF and PC-U do? AKA, can i drive something at 800 or 1500mA just fine? thanks.

Yes you can... I've been running P4 reds greens and Blues on 70.... Super bright...