Thanks for your reply Bill. Thanks also for clarifying the differences. So you're saying that the Creative card could theoretically "access" up to (in the case of the Sound Blaster Live!) 1024 different 'sounds' but yet not be able to playback all of those sounds i.e. "tones" - {where a "tone" is the basic structure that makes up the 'sound'(s)} all at once.

I would still like to make the point that you can buy a relatively "inexpensive" piece of equipment like a computer sound card for a $100 or so that has 128 notes of polyphony. We're paying, in some cases, over 4 Grand and more for our sound producing keyboards and the manufacturers seem stuck in a HUGE rut - one in which they don't want to get out of apparently either of a measly 128 notes of polyphony.

I know, I know, Chas will say a person only has 10 fingers, but if that is the rule of thumb the manufacturers go by, all we would ever need would be 10 notes of polyphony - which thankfully the manufacturers have obviously ignored by the way. Sorry Chas. With ALL thes new CPU and Polyphony intensive features being added to workstations and even more polyphony intensive arrangers, 128 notes of polyphony CAN NOT cut the mustard in my opinion. But it always seems to fall on deaf ears except in a RARE few occasions like Ketron's forthcoming Audya and Korg's now obsolete Oasys, etc. If Ensnareyou is right about the SHARC chips or an FPGA then I still think theoretically polyphony need not be solely based and hardwired to hardware as far as increasing the amount goes. But on the other hand I could indeed be wrong about that assumption.

Thanks again Bill for your explanation on the Creative product.

Best,
Mike