AES Report – Part 3
DIGIDESIGN
Boy, where do you start with Digidesign? They have so much going on it’s impossible to cover it all. Fortunately we’ve stayed on top of their developments in our inSync column. The Digi 001 probably shocked the most people. The 18 simultaneous inputs and outputs combined with two mic preamps and the Pro Tools 5.0 LE environment with Real Time Audio Suite plug-ins for only $999 just blew everyone away. Of course Pro Tools 5.0 has everyone’s head spinning with all the new MIDI and post production functionality. They’ve really borrowed some great features from their Avid counterpart in terms of one key functions (including colored stickers for your computer keys). Then there is the 1622 I/O with it’s 16 simultaneous inputs, tons of new and updated plug-ins including things like Bomb Factory, a LA-2/1176 emulator, a TDM version of the Access Virus synthesizer that can also communicate with its hardware counterpart, BitHeadz ability to directly connect to the environment, and just tons and tons of other stuff. We could never possibly cover it all. It’s now a full time job just keeping up with Pro Tools add-ons. Want a few more teasers? Metric Halo has a very cool new channel strip. Waves has some awesome new processing exclusively for TDM, the first of which is the new C4 compressor. Kind of Loud has their new RealVerb 5.1 and Smart Pan pro surround processor. The list just goes on and on. Almost lost in all of this was their new USB MIDI interface that handles 128 MIDI channels. We’ll get into more details on their products in the coming weeks of inSync.
EARTHWORKS
Earthworks showed what looks to be a killer new preamp called the 104. The performance is excellent; flat, wide band, time accurate, high headroom, quiet and clean. Thanks to the 104’s ZDT (Zero Distortion Technology), noise and distortion are so low that you’d have to be possessed of super-human hearing abilities to notice any. . . and even then you’d just be being picky.
SOUNDCRAFT/SPIRIT
Exciting new consoles were running amuck at the Soundcraft/Spirit booth. Their Series TWO consoles are live sound consoles developed primarily for small tour sound companies, theaters, churches and other fixed installations. These consoles come in 24, 32, and 40 channel configurations. Another new console, the RM1D, is a digital console designed for on-air radio studios. It offers an all-digital signal path and the clear ergonomic control that have made Soundcraft’s analog console so desirable. The RM1D can be configured in a variety of layouts for maximum efficiency.
Z-SYSTEMS
Our friend Glen Zelniker was showing off his new Z-3SRC 24/96 sample rate converter, the first sample rate converter to be based on the new CS8420 sample rate converter chip from Crystal Semiconductor. It sports a phenomenal range of inputs, outputs, and synchronization options, plus it will do 24-bits at 96 kHz input or output. It can handle conversion between almost any sample rates, formats, and word lengths. In these days of numerous digital delivery schemes it looks like sample rate conversion is going to be a fact of life. Glen really knows his stuff in this field.
ART
Their new HPFX system is basically an enhanced “more me” headphone monitor. The “more me” function allows the user to mix his or her mic directly into the monitor signal to the desired volume (a very handy feature). They’ve enhanced this popular process by adding reverb and delay to the mix as well. It also can serve as a great low cost mic preamp (actually it has two preamps in it). With a retail price of $359 this is a great tool to add to almost any studio.
AUDIO TECHNICA
They’ve deployed a new technology called Delta Beam to make shotgun microphones work better. Their new mic, the AT895 has several mic elements in it under processor control. By working with the phase and amplitude relationships of the various elements it is possible to produce a signal that stays extremely directional even at very low frequencies. They say it will change the face of shotgun microphone technology forever. Price = $3000.
LEXICON
Lexicon rolled out the new MPX-500 24-bit dual processor. For $599 retail you get tons of great Lexicon presets with true stereo algorithms plus S/PDIF, TRS AND XLR I/O. In a day when it seems like good reverbs are almost a dime a dozen, don’t forget what the Lexicon name means. They are still the kings of the idealized reverb.
dbx
They are bringing down the cost of high quality preamps with the 386. The 386 is a two-channel tube based preamp that sports a digital output (AES and S/PDIF) as standard equipment. The $569 retail unit is supposed to be shipping within two months.
TUBE TECH
After picking up this line of equipment about a year ago we’ve been amazed at how much we’ve sold. There really is a demand for this old school brute force audio gear. “Tubes and Transformers” they say. “It’s all tubes and transformers.” And the stuff does sound fantastic. They don’t run the biggest ads, but when it comes to sound quality we stay impressed. Their newest entry is the SMC2A stereo all tube multi-band compressor. You have to hear it on a mix to fully appreciate the sound it brings to the table. It’s warm like a cup of coffee in the morning. Beautiful.
DENON
The law of opposites was very much in evidence at the Denon booth. There were two new products. The first was the DN-M991R, a minidisc recorder/player in a compact, solid-looking square box. For all its size, there are a lot of nifty features, like keyboard character entry, keyboard operation, and control terminals such as RS-232C, RS422A, D-Sub 25 pin and Mini Din. The DN-M99R provides broadcast, theater, theme parks and other PA-like applications a flexible alternative to the usual tape and CD cart machines.
The second product seemed to come from the other end of the spectrum: a 100-disc CD changer called the DCM-5000. Two independent CD drives give you seamless transition from one musical selection to the next, or give you simultaneous playback for two different zones. But it gets bigger! The DCM-5000 can be used as the master controller for a daisy chain of five DCM-5001 slave units. In case you’re not good at math, that’s as many as 600 discs!
MICROBOARDS
The exciting news at the Microboards booth was the very versatile AudioWritePro, their first recordable CD system with both audio and data functions. You can record from your analog sources – like tape deck, LP player, Radio, Television, etc – right on to CD without using a computer. But it can also connect to a PC or Mac for burning audio, video, or data CDs. When connected to a PC, you can create your own compilation audio CDs by downloading MP3 files from the Internet, converting them via PlayWrite MP3 software and then recording the CD on the AudioWritePro. It uses the standard 74-minute CD-R media and requires a standard SCSI interface for connection to your computer or an RCA interface for an analog audio source. It’s incredibly compact, lightweight, and easy-to-use.
They also generated a ton of excitement over their Start Rec product. Basically it’s a CD mastering station in a box. You mix to its hard drive (or transfer from DAT or whatever) and then use front panel controls to edit and manipulate your songs. Finally you high speed burn them to multiple CDR drives making as many passes as needed to produce the quantity of CD’s you need. It’s all very easy and totally self-contained. The best news is your computer can stay free for creating music while you burn your CD.
Had enough yet? There’s much more to come. Stay tuned.