iTRAM explained by you!

Doug W · Mar 4, 2006, 06:46 PM

Can someone please give a good definition of iTRAM and bring me out of ignorance? I know that you have X amount of it and if you put plugins in the DSP, you run out.

Thanks

Russ · Mar 4, 2006, 07:15 PM

iTRAM is internal (i.e. in the cards hardware) TRAM (Tank Memory).
xTRAM is external (i.e. in the host computers memory) TRAM.
It is used mainly for creating delay lines. Because it (iTRAM) is on the card itself, it is faster than having to communicate with the host (like is done with xTRAM), and thus can be updated/changed every cycle (48000 times per second without the delays associated with communicating with host memory), so it is most useful to be able to create modulated delay lines.
There is only so much of it, and only so many hardware registers to store pointers into the TRAM, thus it is a limited resource.
From the above, the limits are:
How much total iTRAM is available (shown as iTramSize at the top of the DSP window).
How many pointers you can have to access it (i.e. how many registers there are for storing the read/write addresses (taps, etc)... shown as iTram at the top of the DSP window).
The info at the top of the DSP window shows how much of it is currently being used by any loaded plugins, as well as the total amount.

If you choose Edit, for any of the plugins, the window that opens will tell you how much iTRAM that plugin uses (at the top of the window), thus you can figure out which plugins use a lot of iTRAM, and thus know which ones you need to unload when you need to free some up for another plugin.

Doug W · Mar 4, 2006, 07:50 PM

Russ,

I searched that topic several times on the Internet and mostly ended up in circles so I thought it was time to ask after using these drivers for 2 1/2 years or so.

Thanks for the explanation,

Doug

Russ · Mar 4, 2006, 07:53 PM

Your welcome. It is kind of hard to explain without going too much into programming stuff, but I hope I did OK, and you got the info you were looking for.

Doug W · Mar 4, 2006, 09:13 PM

It was a very understandable explanation, Thanks

Tril · Mar 5, 2006, 12:41 AM

If you know some programming : It's like a circular buffer and you read and write to it with pointers.

Mar 4, 2006, 06:46 PM	#1
Doug W HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Montevideo, MN USA Posts: 973 Rep Power: 0	iTRAM explained by you! Can someone please give a good definition of iTRAM and bring me out of ignorance? I know that you have X amount of it and if you put plugins in the DSP, you run out. Thanks

Mar 4, 2006, 07:15 PM	#2
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	iTRAM is internal (i.e. in the cards hardware) TRAM (Tank Memory). xTRAM is external (i.e. in the host computers memory) TRAM. It is used mainly for creating delay lines. Because it (iTRAM) is on the card itself, it is faster than having to communicate with the host (like is done with xTRAM), and thus can be updated/changed every cycle (48000 times per second without the delays associated with communicating with host memory), so it is most useful to be able to create modulated delay lines. There is only so much of it, and only so many hardware registers to store pointers into the TRAM, thus it is a limited resource. From the above, the limits are: How much total iTRAM is available (shown as iTramSize at the top of the DSP window). How many pointers you can have to access it (i.e. how many registers there are for storing the read/write addresses (taps, etc)... shown as iTram at the top of the DSP window). The info at the top of the DSP window shows how much of it is currently being used by any loaded plugins, as well as the total amount. If you choose Edit, for any of the plugins, the window that opens will tell you how much iTRAM that plugin uses (at the top of the window), thus you can figure out which plugins use a lot of iTRAM, and thus know which ones you need to unload when you need to free some up for another plugin. Last edited by Russ; Mar 4, 2006 at 09:00 PM. Reason: correction

Mar 4, 2006, 07:50 PM	Thread Starter #3
Doug W HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Montevideo, MN USA Posts: 973 Rep Power: 0	Russ, I searched that topic several times on the Internet and mostly ended up in circles so I thought it was time to ask after using these drivers for 2 1/2 years or so. Thanks for the explanation, Doug

Mar 4, 2006, 07:53 PM	#4
Russ HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 5,563 Rep Power: 62	Your welcome. It is kind of hard to explain without going too much into programming stuff, but I hope I did OK, and you got the info you were looking for.

Mar 4, 2006, 09:13 PM	Thread Starter #5
Doug W HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Montevideo, MN USA Posts: 973 Rep Power: 0	It was a very understandable explanation, Thanks

Mar 5, 2006, 12:41 AM	#6
Tril S-3D enthusiast Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 1,676 Rep Power: 64 System Specs	If you know some programming : It's like a circular buffer and you read and write to it with pointers.