Watch out! A number of people have pointed out that if you type 'DspCtrl' into a search engine you'll likely find links to supposed 'cracks' of DspCtrl. These apparently are all bogus, the sites being complete scams. Don't get caught! - search for information on the site itself - like this.



DspCtrl is software for controlling Yamaha's DSP-Factory range of cards and interfaces. It runs under Microsoft Windows 2000/XP (see below for note about Vista).

Yamaha DSP-Factory
The core-component of the DSP-Factory range is the DS2416. This card contains a full 24-track 8-bus digital mixer complete with EQ and dynamics on all channels and two effects units. In addition it provides for 8 audio inputs and 16 outputs from the PC (although you need additional interfaces to realise this fully). You can install up to two DS2416 cards in one PC. The other card in the range is the SW1000 which adds two multi-timbral MIDI (XG) sample-based synthesizers (32 channels in all), and allows addition of one of a range of daughter cards.

DspCtrl
There are two versions of DspCtrl available (v2 & v3) both of which control up to two DS2416 cards. In addition, v3 adds support for an SW1000, control of external MIDI devices, and allows control of the application from incoming MIDI commands (+ a number of other enhancements). Both versions have full in-built automation facilities.

DspCtrl is designed to free the user from the fixed layout of a traditional hardware mixer. In a software environment there is considerable scope for flexibility. For example there is no need for mixer channels which are not being used to be visible. DspCtrl allows the user to arrange any combinations of channels in any order. It also allows channels to be grouped as stereo pairs which can then be controlled as easily as ordinary mono channels. These and other facilities greatly simplify the control of a large and complex digital mixer via a computer monitor.

Demos of both versions of DspCtrl are available from the downloads section. These have a per-session time-limit but otherwise function exactly as the full versions.

DS2416 forum
Following the apparent demise of other boards for the DS2416 I've set one up myself. You can find it at www.ds2416.org. I felt that there should be at least one place on the web to ask for and dispense DSPF advice.


My time is very limited just now!
It's very difficult for me to find time to work on DspCtrl just now and so I'd ask that you test the relevant demo thoroughly on your system before deciding to buy. I'm going to double the per-session time-out on the demos to help with this. I will try to attend to any problems arising but can't guarantee it will be terribly quick.

Microsoft Windows Vista (and 98)
Yamaha stopped driver development for their DSP-Factory range of cards some time ago, well before the advent of Vista. The Win 2K/XP drivers appear to work in Vista, although I don't know of anyone who has tested them thoroughly.

Something similar applies to DspCtrl. It appears to work with Vista in a basic fashion but remains untested. I will post up any limitations to using DspCtrl with Vista on the support page as and when they become apparent. If you are thinking of using DspCtrl with the new OS please test the demo thoroughly before deciding to buy.

DspCtrl v2 was developed to work on both Win98 and WinXP. Most of the extra features of v3 should work with Win98 but latterly I only tested new builds with XP. So, once again, please put the demo through its paces before deciding to buy if you're using Win98.