Today's Top Stories:

  7th Annual Surround Conference and Expo
Music technology's big events are NAMM and AES. Meanwhile, surround sound, which is a relative newcomer, has its annual conference and expo, dubbed Surround 2005, which will take place on December 15th and 16th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in (where else?) Beverly Hills. The goal of this two-day event is to demonstrate techniques, as well as share opinion and prognostication by industry luminaries. The 4th Annual Surround Music Awards, presented by DTS, will also take place at the conference. The surround market has solidified over the last year, and Surround 2005 will examine the current state of the market, share the most recent techniques for accurately capturing surround, as well as mixing and dissemination and look to the future of surround sound. Attendees to this year's event will have the opportunity to experience first hand the latest in surround capable hardware and software. In addition to the various panels and presentations, the Technology Expo will be overflowing with new toys - err, tools that is. There will also be plenty of opportunities to interface with the designers and distributors of the hottest surround hardware and software. The 4th annual Surround Music Awards, a ceremony that recognizes the finest surround releases of the past year, will take place during Surround 2005. This year, Jackson Browne has been named 2005 Surround Artist of the Year, while producer Phil Ramone will receive the 2005 Surround Pioneer Award.

  Focusrite Saffire Control 2.0 software update
The Focusrite Saffire FireWire Audio Interface has been a hot seller for us here at Sweetwater. With two Focusrite preamps, 24-Bit/192kHz capability, Control Software and Plug-Ins, this Mac and PC compatible "front end" for any digital workstation has all the features you need at a surprisingly affordable price. Now the company has announced the availability of V2.0 SaffireControl software, an update that includes new versions of both firmware and software - users simply click the Mac or PC file they need. The best part? The upgrade is absolutely free! Features include: 192kHz sample rate has been added; Graphics contrast for the SaffireControl GUI are now much easier to read; 'Rollover help' has been added; 2.0 offers improved legibility of mute, solo etc.; Multiple minor bugs have been removed, including improved FireWire bus connection and robustness of sample rate changes.

  Last Chance for Big Savings on Waves APA
The Waves APA Rebate and the Solid Gold Special will be ending on December 31, 2005. Both specials offer customers big savings toward a purchase of one of the Waves Audio Processing Accelerator units, the popular hardware processors that give Waves plug-ins all the CPU power they need without bogging down the host computer. It's perfect for Pro Tools TDM systems and is stackable in multiples. Here's how it works: Customers fill out an online form, which is then passed along to us here at Sweetwater, where they can participate in one of the two "last chance" holiday special offers. The Massive APA Rebate: For every dollar a customer spends on Waves software, they get 50 cents credit towards an APA unit! (Up to $1,000 toward an APA32, up to $1,500 toward an APA44-M) The Solid Gold special: This is a custom bundle of some of our most essential Waves processors, along with the new APA units: Solid Gold Special #1 includes: Gold Native Bundle, IR-1 Parametric Convolution Reverb and the APA32 hardware accelerator. Solid Gold Special #2 includes: Gold Native Bundle, IR-1 Parametric Convolution Reverb and the APA44-M hardware accelerator. The fine print (there is always fine print): The qualifying Waves software and APA unit(s) must be purchased at the same time in one transaction in order to receive the APA Rebate. The maximum Rebate per APA 32 is $1,000 or $1,500 for the APA44-M. Multiple APA units can be purchased under the APA Rebate, subject to the restrictions above. All sales are final and no returns are available for Hardware or software purchased under this program. The Waves Solid Gold Specials cannot be combined with any other Waves promotion (no rebate dollars; no free Q-Clone, etc.). Solid Gold Special promotion requires a special order. Customers must send a separate purchase order for each Special. There is no overlap between the Massive APA Rebate promotion and the Waves Solid Gold Special promotion. Confused? Just call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer. They can explain it in English.

  TASCAM CDD17HD
TASCAM has started shipping its new line of high-speed CD duplicators, all of which come standard with time-tested 52x-speed TEAC drives for dependable performance in critical professional settings.The CD-D17HD 1x7 duplicator includes an onboard hard drive for use as the source master, which allows for ultra-fast copies compared to using a CD drive. The hard drive can also act as an archive for projects that are burned again and again. It's the perfect choice for record labels, churches, software duplication and other applications that demand fast and reliable duplication.

  Radial ProDI
Every studio needs a direct box or two. The Radial ProDI is a full-range, passive direct box that's equipped with custom-made audio transformers for exceptional signal handling without saturation and extremely low phase distortion, particularly in the critical bass and mid regions. The result is exceptional clarity and definition at what has to be considered a bargain price. Made of 14-gauge steel, the rugged ProDI is durable enough for even the most demanding environments.

  Guitar Of The Day
With its Western red cedar top and tropical American mahogany back and sides, the Taylor 514 brings extra warmth and rich detail to the company's popular Grand Auditorium cutaway body, which is hugely popular with fingerstyle pickers, singers and songwriters. In the 500 Series, elegance meets clean, dynamic response. Rosewood borders the body, while Hawaiian koa is hand-inlaid into the rosette. While Engelmann or Sitka spruce tops produce a warm, mature tone, Taylor substitutes a Western Red cedar top on the 514ce to make it even more responsive for fingerstyle playing. Less dense than a spruce top, cedar's distinctive sound resonates with sweet overtones. Coupled with the mahogany body, it responds well to the subtle nuances of each player. The Grand Auditorium design is one of Taylor's most popular, combining the width and depth of a Dreadnought with a narrower waist. This design yields a strong set of upper frequency harmonics, sharpening the definition of each individual note. Designed to faithfully reproduce this guitar's native tone, the Taylor Expression System utilizes patented Dynamic Sensors to accurately capture top and string vibration. Created in partnership with renowned audio pioneer, Rupert Neve (a man who knows a thing or two about sound quality), the Taylor ES is seamlessly integrated into the design of the guitar. Onboard tone controls allow each guitarist to dial in the perfect sound for their individual style. The gloss finish used to create this guitar's top, back, and sides was developed for maximum durability and resistance to cold-checking. It's ultra violet-cured, so it's more environmentally friendly than traditional lacquer finishes. As you'd expect, the 514ce comes with a custom fitted hardshell case.