Is the 16-bit audio format just not good enough for you any more? Too "Lo-Fi" for your ears? Truth is, most musicians and recording engineers would prefer all the bits they can get their hands (and rotary tape heads) on, which is why Alesis (a company noted for giving musicians what they need) introduced the ADAT Type II Systems.
The brand new Alesis ADAT-XT20 20-Bit Digital Audio Recorder ($2999 list) sets a lofty new standard in audio quality for affordable professional The XT20 uses the same ADAT Optical Digital Interface and ADAT Synchronization Interface as other ADATs, so it may be easily integrated into an existing system. For advanced production work, the XT20 provides the same built-in digital editing features (Track Copy, Tape Offset and Track Delay) and 10-point autolocator/10-key numerical input system as the ADAT-XT. It also offers a solid, six-pound, die-cast aluminum chassis that's designed for heavy-duty applications. To get your signal to and from tape, the XT20 provides both a servo-balanced 56-pin ELCO connector and unbalanced -10dBV inputs and outputs on phono (RCA) connectors. For direct digital connection, the ADAT Optical Digital Interface carries up to eight tracks at once completely in the digital domain. You're going to want to know more about this great-sounding machine (no surprise there), so we suggest that you call your friendly, knowledgeable Sweetwater Sales Engineer immediately. And yes, XT20s are in stock right now! For musicians, home studio owners, or users of other ADAT models wishing to supplement (or upgrade!) an existing system, the Alesis ADAT-LX20 20-Bit Digital Audio Recorder ($2249 list) provides an economical solution for capturing the power of the award-winning ADAT recording format. Even though the LX20 is less expensive than all other types of ADAT, past or present, it offers the same 20-bit ADAT Type II digital recording format as the Alesis XT20 and M20 recorders. The LX20 is compatible with all ADAT recorders and peripheral devices. Using the same ADAT Optical Digital Interface and ADAT Synchronization Interface as other ADATs, the LX20 may be used to add another eight tracks to an existing system. The unit also offers five specialized locate points (used with its Auto Play, Auto Return, Auto Record and Auto Loop functions) that are designed to help you record quickly and easily. For standard analog interfacing, like connecting to a mixer, the LX20 includes sixteen unbalanced -10dBV ins and outs on RCA connectors. The LX20 also offers the ADAT Optical Digital Interface, which carries up to eight tracks at once completely in the digital domain and allows you to connect to other ADATs in a system or any other device that uses this innovative transfer protocol. As the first PCI-format computer interface card to carry the Alesis name, the ADAT-PCR ($499 list) is designed to be the nonlinear recording and editing solution for ADAT users. The ADAT-PCR integrates the world of computer-based hard disk recording with the huge base of ADAT-format multitrack recorders, allowing you to have the best of both worlds at a very affordable cost. Using the PCR, you can send eight tracks of audio into your computer with up to 24-bit resolution and sample-accurate synchronization to ADAT, then use the software-based editing interface (which is included) for intricate audio manipulation, then transfer the edited tracks back into your ADAT system. You can also use the PCR to add another eight tracks to a recording system that will record and play back in perfect sync with ADAT digital tape recorders. The reason that the ADAT-PCR can do this is that it's the only PCI card currently made that offers both inputs and outputs for the ADAT Optical Digital Interface and inputs and outputs for the ADAT Synchronization Interface on one device, allowing for digital audio transfer as well as sample-accurate synchronization between ADATs and computers. The synchronization control allows the computer to act as a "virtual ADAT," either commanding or receiving commands from an ADAT or controller (such as the BRC, allowing SMPTE time code synchronization of the hard disk), and adding another eight recording tracks to any ADAT system. Of course, the PCR is also compatible with any of the hundreds of products by Alesis and third-party companies that use the ADAT Optical and Sync interfaces on their gear. To let you take advantage of the strengths of computer-based audio and music projects, the PCR includes powerful software for sequencing, digital recording and editing. Combined with ADATs, the PCR offers everything you expect from both nonlinear and linear digital recording in one seamlessly integrated system. The ADAT-PCR is compatible with both Windows and Power Macintosh platforms. Call us here at Sweetwater for more information and your special pricing on all these powerful new products from Alesis. Master Index | Sweet Notes Index | Home | Back Page | Next Page |
recorders while remaining completely compatible with the huge foundation of over 110,000 ADATs in use world wide. Using ADAT Type II — which is the only modular digital multitrack recording format that writes 20 bits to tape — the XT20 raises the measure of sonic excellence that ADAT recorders have established since their introduction in 1991. The XT20 improves upon the capabilities of earlier models of ADAT and other digital recording formats by recording eight tracks of true, linear 20-bit digital audio onto tape, without using external converters or multiplexers. Rather than just the 25% increase you might expect, the jump from 16-bit to 20-bit recording provides audio quality that's an astounding sixteen times more detailed than the 16-bit sound of compact discs, resulting in a wider dynamic range and lower quantization distortion. To complement its 20-bits-to-tape capabilities, the XT20 uses the latest ultra-high fidelity 20-bit oversampling digital converters.