Technically, the dead bit is a Capybara 320:

Kyma is a language that is technically hardware-accelerated; it could probably run on other shit but it doesn't because Symbolic Sound exists mostly to sell hardware. Backintheday (back when Carla and Kurt were at UI, where HAL grew up) it ran on a 66mHz breadboarded monster called the Platypus. The first iteration of commercial hardware was called a Capybara 90, I think, and it ran two Motorola 68k processors with four unbalanced outputs. They stopped selling them in like '96 and started selling the Capybara 320, which is cardframe-based. The mobo has 4 68ks and each additional card (up to 10) had 2 more. Additionally, it had balanced analog and digital I/O (up to 8 channels) as well as VTC, MTC and all sorts of other stuff that 99% of mortals don't need... or more specifically, 99% of the 1% of mortals that even know what sound design is, so in other words, a vanishingly small percentage.

That VTC port was on a board-mounted BNC with no chassis nut, and it stuck out about 3/4 of an inch. Somewhere in the move it got bonked, which shorted at the board, which let out some smoke, and made me stop caring. I'd been about to offload the thing anyway; it's worth maybe $500, maybe a little more, in full working trim. I might be able to get $200 for each of my two cards, though, and maybe $300 for the I/O board.

The Capybara 320 ran the same proprietary ISA card architecture as the Capybara 90, except they came up with this wonky firewire adapter gadget. You still couldn't stream audio to or from the thing, but you could cross-load files. Which is kind of acceptable in 1997, but reaches the limits of credibility in 2009.

In 2009, fully 15 years later, Symbolic Sound introduced the Paca and Pacarana. The 68k processors were gone in exchange for one or two Motorola SHARCs. The audio I/O was straight-up gone. And the beasties were "as fast as base" and "as fast as fully-loaded" Capybara 320s. But now you need to buy a dedicated audio interface to talk to them... and you need to talk to them over Firewire. Yep. Firewire. And, by the way, if you bought your Capybara used, they extend you no deals on upgrading. And the price is fucking breathtaking - $3k for the baby, $6k for the useful one.

So. 7 year old hardware that speaks Firewire using a language that hasn't much evolved in 20 years. RIP Capybara.

More than you asked, but it was therapeutic to write out. Sometimes my resolve wavers.