Luckily, for us musicians on the real planet Earth, the question is a rhetorical one. Many of the digital sequencers available today give you far more than simply great sequencing. Just one of the latest and greatest is the new Pro Audio|8 for Windows from Cakewalk ($429 list). Anyone who has used previous versions of 
Cakewalk's award-winning software can testify to this product’s superior performance. The audio professional’s choice for applications ranging from pop music to film soundtracks to video game sound, this latest version of Pro Audio offers some incredible new features you really need to check out.
Pro Audio|8 can record up to 128 tracks of audio along with MIDI, with up to 256 real-time effects. It also supports 24-bit audio with up to 96 kHz sampling rate - the highest rate available in software. Another exciting new feature of the Pro Audio|8 is that it lets you apply real-time FX plug-ins like Delay/Echo, Quantize and others to your MIDI tracks in the console view, making it possible for you to non-destructively edit your MIDI tracks and change settings “on the fly.” You also get a new vector-based automation feature (so you can actually draw volume and panning changes directly onto audio events); audio anchor points for easy access; and solid digital video to audio synchronization. And these are just the newest of its many features!
Mark of the Unicorn has another powerful sequencer, Digital Performer 2.5 for the Mac ($795 list). This one is just out, and we mean just out - it’s so new we can still catch the aroma of the Charles River from MOTU's home in Cambridge, MA. This new version has a ton of cool new features, including what might be the most sophisticated, built-in waveform editing software you've ever encountered. You can edit waveforms with a pencil tool - fix clicks and pops, normalize, fade in and out, and more - all with precision you have to see to believe. Digital Performer 2.5 also features what's called a surgical equalizer. Surgical EQ allows you to cut or boost a frequency in specific areas without affecting the rest of your sound. Just slip in there like a brain surgeon and take out that 800Hz peak. MasterWorks Multiband Compressor gives you three adjustable frequency bands for precise control and includes 64-bit processing, while MasterWorks Limiter Plug-in provides great look-ahead limiting and maximum impact.
In addition, Digital Performer 2.5 gives you full support for ProTools|24 MIX and MIX plus; StudI/O, DSP Factory and Layla; and Digidesign Direct I/O support. There are other fantastic features, and with its excellent mastering capabilities, Digital Performer might be the mythical “full-fledged-studio-in-your-computer” recording pros have been stalking for years.
Next up is the three-times-cool Vision DSP from Opcode ($495 list). You may have known it in its previous incarnation as Vision Deluxe, but the Vision DSP for Macintosh and PC gives you a brand new audio engine, full support for Steinberg's popular VST architecture and full ASIO hardware compliance. This means more tracks (up to 256), realtime plug-ins, and increased hardware compatibility. What else can Vision DSP do for you? What can't it do for you might be the better question! The answer would certainly be shorter.
Vision DSP is practically unrivalled as a tool for creating great music and audio, with first-rate editing features and signal routing capabilities that you won't believe. With its multitrack digital audio recording, MIDI sequencing and real-time effects, Vision DSP makes it easy to conjure up a groove so deep you could feel it in another time zone. Throw in a selection of incredible effects, 4 bands of EQ on every channel (with graphic display of EQ curves) and you have a realtime digital audio recording studio like no other! With Vision DSP you can edit, arrange and create music with a precision you've only dreamed about!
Logic Audio from Emagic gives MIDI users a flawless union of digital audio recording and editing, MIDI sequencing and professional scoring, all in one elegant music composition and production system. With Emagic's Logic Audio series, it’s entirely possible for you to design your own interface combination to suit your individual working style. Whether you're a long-time software user, someone looking for an upgrade, or just dipping your foot into the computer workstation pool, the Logic Audio series has something for you.
The first in the series, Logic Audio Silver ($299 list), makes it easy for newcomers to enter into the world of computer-based workstations. But this is no “beginner's package.” Features include 24 audio tracks, 4 effects busses, and stereo sample editor with Time Machine and Energizer, allowing for pro-quality music production and plenty of power to realize your musical vision. Need the power and functions of a complete project workstation but still want to keep a little money in the bank? Who doesn't? Check out Logic Audio Gold ($499 list). You get 48 audio tracks and an astounding selection of editing options like Event, Hyper, Score, Matrix, Arrange and Environment. And that's just the beginning of Logic Audio Gold's features. It also includes HyperDraw for all event types, 8 Effect Busses and realtime effects. Logic Audio Platinum ($799 list) is the jewel in the Logic Audio crown. It's Emagic's top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art, whatever-you-need-it's-got-it system. Logic Audio Platinum gives you the entire combined features of the Logic Audio series. It also supports 16- and 24-bit audio, is perfectly compatible with all leading hardware systems and gives you up to 96 audio tracks. Whether you're trying to get your computer-based workstation started or kick it into overdrive, the Logic Audio Series gives you a huge range of options to choose from.
All these sequencers here are the current state-of-the-art and easily your best bet for getting your MIDI gear movin’ along smoothly. Call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for a great deal on the best sequencers around!
With all this red hot software, you might want some hardware to go along with it, you know, to serve as a mixer and a recorder. One terrific option is the new Yamaha DSP Factory Digital Mixing and Recording Card ($999 list). What you get with DSP Factory is the full processing power of Yamaha's much-revered 02R digital mixer and a fully packed 32-bit 16-track recorder. That's 24 channels and 10 buses, 104 bands of parametric EQ, 26 dynamics processors, two 32-bit effects processors with the same quality as the REV500, plus full mix and snapshot automation, digital I/O and more!
And that's just the mixer! Add the 32-bit, 16-track digital recorder and you've got yourself one mighty DAW powerhouse! Because the core of the DSP Factory is the Digital Mixing/Recording Card, you don't have some of the processing problems you might have with other systems; the card is the engine that drives all the different processing of the DSP Factory, so your computer's internal processing suffers absolutely no stress.
Imagine: It’s the full power of Yamaha's legendary 02R plus an incredible 32-bit, 16-track recorder, all at a special Sweetwater price that you cannot afford to miss.
M. S.