Sweetwater’s AES 2000convention and show report!
page 3
DBX
Once again, dbx has risen to the challenge to produce a product well suited for the digital workstation environment. This year the offer the 376 Tube Channel Strip with Digital Out. This 1U rack design features a tube preamp section, 3-band parametric EQ section, compressor, de-esser and AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital outputs. This piece boasts the warmth of the tube with the proprietary dbx Type IV conversion system. It has a 1/4" high-impedance jack on the front panel for instrument input, with a mic/line switch, LED metering, phase-invert switch and 48v phantom power. The rear panel has both mic (XLR) and line (TRS) inputs and outputs, insert jack, wordclock sync I/O and digital outputs. Additionally, the 376 offers selectable sample rates of 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz, selectable dithering and noise shaping, and separate analog and digital output controls. This new Tube Channel Strip has a real "bang for the buck!"
DIGIDESIGN
Digidesign has many new products and upgrades to announce. I will cover only the biggest announcement today and come back to cover the rest in more detail later. Their greatest announcement is the release of Pro Tools 5.1 software. Pro Tools 5.1 is the biggest release ever of Pro Tools -- it will greatly expand the power of current Pro Tools TDM core system hardware, and will offer many new productivity tools to both the Music and Post Production customers. S Color ome of the highlights of the new software release include fully integrated Surround mixing on Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus systems, Host-Based Processing on TDM Systems with support for TDM and RTAS Plug-Ins (WOW!) along with the ability to have multiple plug-in windows open at the same time. They have greatly expanded their MIDI support with a MIDI Event List, and a new "Beat Detective" editing feature for tempo detection and conforming (TDM only.) By popular demand, they added Multiple Levels of Undo, unique new flexible I/O assignment capability and seriously improved interchange of sessions between Pro Tools systems. Added flexibility will be achieved with the ability to deactivate tracks, plug-ins and I/O assignments without losing settings and automation, too! Pro Tools will now have the ability to slave Pro Tools to 9-pin devices (TDM only) and AVoption customers gain the ability to use multiple video clips and cuts-only editing with both AVoption and AVoption|XL. Digidesign also announced a limited-time bundle promotion for Surround metering and management. Home Studio customers running Pro Tools LE systems will benefit from many of the same features, including the ability to create stereo tracks, the new MIDI features, flexible I/O assignments, and more. Digidesign always has one of the very best looking and most informative displays!
Digidesign is also showing the newly announced ProControl Edit Pack. The new Edit Pack will allows users to quickly access all of the major editing functions of Pro Tools, including Surround panning, directly from ProControl. Highlights of Edit Pack include 2 touch-sensitive, motorized joysticks, a QWERTY keyboard and trackball and high-resolution metering.
Digidesign has also announced that their ADATBridge interface for ProTools is now 24-bit compatible. Now, any device supporting the ADAT optical standard and supporting 24-bit digital audio can interface directly with ProTools|24, ProTools|24 Mix and MixPlus systems. The newly improved ADATBridge allows 16 channels of digital input and output, via 2 ADAT lightpipe ports, plus independent AES/EBU and S/PDIF I/O for direct connection to 2-track digital devices.
Topping the list of new software releases is ProTools FREE. This software application is a fully functioning version of ProTools 5.0.1 LE that does not require any hardware to run. ProTools FREE will provide 8 tracks of audio and 48 tracks of MIDI on either MacOS or Windows98. While ProTools FREE is hardware independent, drivers are included for Windows98 Wave and Apple Sound Manager hardware. ProTools FREE will come with Digidesign’s DigiRack Plug-ins and will support RTAS and AudioSuite plug-ins. The best part of this story is that ProTools FREE is just that…FREE on Digidesign’s website!
Digidesign has also updated MasterList CD, its popular CD mastering software program, to version 2.3. MasterList CD, which produces Red Book standard CD-DA masters, adds support for two new CD recorders, the Yamaha, CRW8424SZ, and Plextor PlexWriter 12/4/32. MasterList CD version 2.3 implements 12x write speed with the Plextor PlexWriter, allowing a full 650 MB CD-ROM to be written in just over six minutes. The 74-minute record limit has now been removed and support for popular 80-minute media has now been added. Professional quality discs with up to 74-minutes of data per CD-R will be supported.
Digidesign and many of their development partners are showing many new plug-ins for their entire ProTools TDM and RTAS product line. Line 6 is announcing the release of Echo Farm, the new vintage echo effects processing plug-in for Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus systems. The revolutionary patented modeling technology used for Line 6’s Amp Farm is once again used to capture the sound of vintage hardware. The Echo Farm brings to life the stunning sound quality of timeless echo effects units. Combined with Pro Tools TDM processing, Line 6’s Echo Farm delivers the flexibility and automation that's difficult or impossible to achieve with hardware. Classic tape echo, old school analog delays or filter swept echo-phonic modulations are available with Echo Farm. These vintage effects have all the advantages of modern TDM processing, including extended delay time, BPM/note value delay time setting, tap tempo, and complete automation. As fun and easy to use as a classic stomp box, Echo Farm allows for control of tape wow and flutter, bit resolution and more. Used in front of Line 6’s Amp Farm for guitars or to process any other type of audio signal, Echo Farm adds the classic sound of vintage echo to your mix.
Prosoniq is announcing their new release for ProTools RTAS, Orange Vocoder. Orange Vocoder offers an all-digital simulation of a realistic analog vocoder with effects that are fully customizable within the ProTools environment. Orange Vocoder uses either the source/audio track or the built-in oscillator as carrier signal, and any audio track as modulator. Other features include integrated 8-voice virtual analog synthesizer with 2 oscillators per voice including 10 basic waveforms and 7 sampled sounds, voice detune, pitch LFO, 4-pole Lowpass filter with cutoff and resonance, oscillator hard sync and ring modulator. It has fully customizable Graphical Breakpoint EQ with maximum 12 nodes, ranging from 20Hz to 20kHz and resolving from +30 to -30 dB. Input Channel flip to instantly exchange carrier and modulator signals without re-routing tracks. Post-Vocoder Filterbank Reverb Effect with Mix, Decay and Density. Support for sidechain routing and Pro Tools automation. Integrated preset program switch for easy parameter adjustment, and lots of great, included presets! Orange Vocoder requires a Mac-based ProTools or ProToolsLE system and lists at $245.
Finally, Digidesign is announcing the release of their new world-class reverb, Reverb One for ProTools TDM. Reverb One is the first reverb plug-in to match the sonic qualities of today's most expensive hardware units. Making use of ProTools MIX DSP power and the familiar controls found on reverb hardware units, this new plug-in allows users to create a wide and rich range of new reverb sounds. Reverb One is dedicated to a single MIX chip and makes full use of the DSP processing cycles of ProTools. With fully automated real-time processing of all parameters, multiple use on ProTools|24 MIX systems, and inexpensive pricing, Reverb One elevates beyond the limitations of traditional hardware reverb units. Reverb One requires ProTools 5.0 or higher and is listed at $995.
EARTHWORKS
Earthworks is showing a great addition to their wonderful line of precision microphones. It’s called the M30BX, and it delivers the same calibrated 30kHz performance as their M30 reference mic without the need for phantom power. It is powered by a single AA battery, which will last 1,500 hours of time plugged in. An internal switch allows 14dB of gain. It is a wonderfully practical addition to either a field recording rig or a precision measurement or calibration package. Earthworks has built enough gain into the M30BX that if your recording device has any gain at all, and the sound level is even moderately loud, the output of the M30BX will be enough that you don't need an external preamp. The M30BX, like all of the Earthworks mics, is equally at home as an accurate measurement tool for the laboratory, or as a fine mic that sounds great for recording.
Earthworks also has a great new preamp to add to their line. The 1024 doesn’t have any bells and whistles, but it has no hum or distortion either. The 1024 utilizes Earthworks Zero Distortion Technology and provides exceptionally accurate gain. The frequency response is flatter and more wideband than most of us dream of. In the real world, with what you can hear with your ears, the 1024 is perceptually perfect. The primary gain path (XLR input- stepped gain- XLR output) is entirely differential. It also has a TRS output with continuously variable output gain. The total distortion is immeasurable by normal measurement equipment, and the noise level in nearly nil. The 1024 offers a signal path cleaner than most wire, but it has plenty of gain as well.
EMU
Emu is showing their newest sampler in the Ultra Series, the E4 Platinum Sampling Synthesizer. This new E4 is easily called a "fully loaded" E4 Ultra, with all the bells and whistles available. Beyond the already well known quality and functionality of the E4 Ultra products, the E4 Platinum includes the new RFX-32 Effects Processor (see below), version 4.5 of the EOS system, a 20 gigabyte internal IDE hard drive, 128 Mb of RAM, 128 voices of polyphony, 16 analog outputs, 6 analog inputs, 16 digital outputs on ADAT lightpipe, 8 ADAT digital inputs, 2 SCSI ports and a collection of 20 CD-ROMs from EMU’s newest soundware library. This looks like a real winner for those requiring one of the most advanced samplers on the market today! Retail price is $4995.
The RFX-32 Effects Processor/Mixer card is an upgrade card for any of the EMU Ultra Series samplers. It offers the user 16 simultaneous 32-bit studio-grade stereo effects and a functional digital mixer and router all in one. The flexible routing offers 2 global sends, and 12 stereo sends. Each bus has 6 effects slots that can be set in any order. Each has it’s own wet/dry mix as well. It allows processing of internal sounds and, with it’s own analog inputs, allows processing of external signals through the RFX-32 effects. It also provides for MIDI control over dozens of parameters for real-time performance control. MSRP is set at $795.
Emu is also showing their newest addition to the Proteus family of sound modules, called the Planet Earth. This nice looking blue 1U rack module is a 64-voice expandable sound source featuring an all-new 32 MB World/Ethnic sound set. Samples include Asian, South American, Celtic and African sounds. It offers a Super Beats Mode and 16 simultaneous arpeggiators. This module, in the spirit of the new Proteus 2000 family, has 1 open slot for expansion from the other family sound modules, and reads Flash Chips burned on an Ultra family sampler as well. The Planet Earth lists for $995.
Finally, EMU has taken over the former Ensoniq Paris system and has improved and re-released it as the Paris Pro. There is a new operating system 3.0, which features OMF import and export, a dedicated waveform editor, integrated MIDI sequencing; native (host-based) tracks and support for third party automated control surfaces. The base system provides for 256 audio tracks of playback and 16 tracks of simultaneous record. It has 64 bands of hardware-based parametric EQ per 16-track submix, and a collection of various studio-grade hardware-based effects. The system can be expanded to meet user’s needs. Paris Pro also supports VST and DirectX plug-ins, host-based. The supplied C-16 control surface has been improved and the supplied Modular Expansion Chassis supports a full 24-bit signal path with add-on analog and digital I/O as well as synchronization options. Paris Pro retails at $4995.
Once again, dbx has risen to the challenge to produce a product well suited for the digital workstation environment. This year the offer the 376 Tube Channel Strip with Digital Out. This 1U rack design features a tube preamp section, 3-band parametric EQ section, compressor, de-esser and AES/EBU and S/PDIF digital outputs. This piece boasts the warmth of the tube with the proprietary dbx Type IV conversion system. It has a 1/4" high-impedance jack on the front panel for instrument input, with a mic/line switch, LED metering, phase-invert switch and 48v phantom power. The rear panel has both mic (XLR) and line (TRS) inputs and outputs, insert jack, wordclock sync I/O and digital outputs. Additionally, the 376 offers selectable sample rates of 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 88.2kHz and 96kHz, selectable dithering and noise shaping, and separate analog and digital output controls. This new Tube Channel Strip has a real "bang for the buck!"DIGIDESIGN
Digidesign has many new products and upgrades to announce. I will cover only the biggest announcement today and come back to cover the rest in more detail later. Their greatest announcement is the release of Pro Tools 5.1 software. Pro Tools 5.1 is the biggest release ever of Pro Tools -- it will greatly expand the power of current Pro Tools TDM core system hardware, and will offer many new productivity tools to both the Music and Post Production customers. S Color ome of the highlights of the new software release include fully integrated Surround mixing on Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus systems, Host-Based Processing on TDM Systems with support for TDM and RTAS Plug-Ins (WOW!) along with the ability to have multiple plug-in windows open at the same time. They have greatly expanded their MIDI support with a MIDI Event List, and a new "Beat Detective" editing feature for tempo detection and conforming (TDM only.) By popular demand, they added Multiple Levels of Undo, unique new flexible I/O assignment capability and seriously improved interchange of sessions between Pro Tools systems. Added flexibility will be achieved with the ability to deactivate tracks, plug-ins and I/O assignments without losing settings and automation, too! Pro Tools will now have the ability to slave Pro Tools to 9-pin devices (TDM only) and AVoption customers gain the ability to use multiple video clips and cuts-only editing with both AVoption and AVoption|XL. Digidesign also announced a limited-time bundle promotion for Surround metering and management. Home Studio customers running Pro Tools LE systems will benefit from many of the same features, including the ability to create stereo tracks, the new MIDI features, flexible I/O assignments, and more. Digidesign always has one of the very best looking and most informative displays!Digidesign is also showing the newly announced ProControl Edit Pack. The new Edit Pack will allows users to quickly access all of the major editing functions of Pro Tools, including Surround panning, directly from ProControl. Highlights of Edit Pack include 2 touch-sensitive, motorized joysticks, a QWERTY keyboard and trackball and high-resolution metering.
Digidesign has also announced that their ADATBridge interface for ProTools is now 24-bit compatible. Now, any device supporting the ADAT optical standard and supporting 24-bit digital audio can interface directly with ProTools|24, ProTools|24 Mix and MixPlus systems. The newly improved ADATBridge allows 16 channels of digital input and output, via 2 ADAT lightpipe ports, plus independent AES/EBU and S/PDIF I/O for direct connection to 2-track digital devices.
Topping the list of new software releases is ProTools FREE. This software application is a fully functioning version of ProTools 5.0.1 LE that does not require any hardware to run. ProTools FREE will provide 8 tracks of audio and 48 tracks of MIDI on either MacOS or Windows98. While ProTools FREE is hardware independent, drivers are included for Windows98 Wave and Apple Sound Manager hardware. ProTools FREE will come with Digidesign’s DigiRack Plug-ins and will support RTAS and AudioSuite plug-ins. The best part of this story is that ProTools FREE is just that…FREE on Digidesign’s website!
Digidesign has also updated MasterList CD, its popular CD mastering software program, to version 2.3. MasterList CD, which produces Red Book standard CD-DA masters, adds support for two new CD recorders, the Yamaha, CRW8424SZ, and Plextor PlexWriter 12/4/32. MasterList CD version 2.3 implements 12x write speed with the Plextor PlexWriter, allowing a full 650 MB CD-ROM to be written in just over six minutes. The 74-minute record limit has now been removed and support for popular 80-minute media has now been added. Professional quality discs with up to 74-minutes of data per CD-R will be supported.
Digidesign and many of their development partners are showing many new plug-ins for their entire ProTools TDM and RTAS product line. Line 6 is announcing the release of Echo Farm, the new vintage echo effects processing plug-in for Pro Tools|24 MIX and MIXplus systems. The revolutionary patented modeling technology used for Line 6’s Amp Farm is once again used to capture the sound of vintage hardware. The Echo Farm brings to life the stunning sound quality of timeless echo effects units. Combined with Pro Tools TDM processing, Line 6’s Echo Farm delivers the flexibility and automation that's difficult or impossible to achieve with hardware. Classic tape echo, old school analog delays or filter swept echo-phonic modulations are available with Echo Farm. These vintage effects have all the advantages of modern TDM processing, including extended delay time, BPM/note value delay time setting, tap tempo, and complete automation. As fun and easy to use as a classic stomp box, Echo Farm allows for control of tape wow and flutter, bit resolution and more. Used in front of Line 6’s Amp Farm for guitars or to process any other type of audio signal, Echo Farm adds the classic sound of vintage echo to your mix.
Prosoniq is announcing their new release for ProTools RTAS, Orange Vocoder. Orange Vocoder offers an all-digital simulation of a realistic analog vocoder with effects that are fully customizable within the ProTools environment. Orange Vocoder uses either the source/audio track or the built-in oscillator as carrier signal, and any audio track as modulator. Other features include integrated 8-voice virtual analog synthesizer with 2 oscillators per voice including 10 basic waveforms and 7 sampled sounds, voice detune, pitch LFO, 4-pole Lowpass filter with cutoff and resonance, oscillator hard sync and ring modulator. It has fully customizable Graphical Breakpoint EQ with maximum 12 nodes, ranging from 20Hz to 20kHz and resolving from +30 to -30 dB. Input Channel flip to instantly exchange carrier and modulator signals without re-routing tracks. Post-Vocoder Filterbank Reverb Effect with Mix, Decay and Density. Support for sidechain routing and Pro Tools automation. Integrated preset program switch for easy parameter adjustment, and lots of great, included presets! Orange Vocoder requires a Mac-based ProTools or ProToolsLE system and lists at $245.
Finally, Digidesign is announcing the release of their new world-class reverb, Reverb One for ProTools TDM. Reverb One is the first reverb plug-in to match the sonic qualities of today's most expensive hardware units. Making use of ProTools MIX DSP power and the familiar controls found on reverb hardware units, this new plug-in allows users to create a wide and rich range of new reverb sounds. Reverb One is dedicated to a single MIX chip and makes full use of the DSP processing cycles of ProTools. With fully automated real-time processing of all parameters, multiple use on ProTools|24 MIX systems, and inexpensive pricing, Reverb One elevates beyond the limitations of traditional hardware reverb units. Reverb One requires ProTools 5.0 or higher and is listed at $995.
EARTHWORKS
Earthworks is showing a great addition to their wonderful line of precision microphones. It’s called the M30BX, and it delivers the same calibrated 30kHz performance as their M30 reference mic without the need for phantom power. It is powered by a single AA battery, which will last 1,500 hours of time plugged in. An internal switch allows 14dB of gain. It is a wonderfully practical addition to either a field recording rig or a precision measurement or calibration package. Earthworks has built enough gain into the M30BX that if your recording device has any gain at all, and the sound level is even moderately loud, the output of the M30BX will be enough that you don't need an external preamp. The M30BX, like all of the Earthworks mics, is equally at home as an accurate measurement tool for the laboratory, or as a fine mic that sounds great for recording.
Earthworks also has a great new preamp to add to their line. The 1024 doesn’t have any bells and whistles, but it has no hum or distortion either. The 1024 utilizes Earthworks Zero Distortion Technology and provides exceptionally accurate gain. The frequency response is flatter and more wideband than most of us dream of. In the real world, with what you can hear with your ears, the 1024 is perceptually perfect. The primary gain path (XLR input- stepped gain- XLR output) is entirely differential. It also has a TRS output with continuously variable output gain. The total distortion is immeasurable by normal measurement equipment, and the noise level in nearly nil. The 1024 offers a signal path cleaner than most wire, but it has plenty of gain as well.
EMU
Emu is showing their newest sampler in the Ultra Series, the E4 Platinum Sampling Synthesizer. This new E4 is easily called a "fully loaded" E4 Ultra, with all the bells and whistles available. Beyond the already well known quality and functionality of the E4 Ultra products, the E4 Platinum includes the new RFX-32 Effects Processor (see below), version 4.5 of the EOS system, a 20 gigabyte internal IDE hard drive, 128 Mb of RAM, 128 voices of polyphony, 16 analog outputs, 6 analog inputs, 16 digital outputs on ADAT lightpipe, 8 ADAT digital inputs, 2 SCSI ports and a collection of 20 CD-ROMs from EMU’s newest soundware library. This looks like a real winner for those requiring one of the most advanced samplers on the market today! Retail price is $4995.
The RFX-32 Effects Processor/Mixer card is an upgrade card for any of the EMU Ultra Series samplers. It offers the user 16 simultaneous 32-bit studio-grade stereo effects and a functional digital mixer and router all in one. The flexible routing offers 2 global sends, and 12 stereo sends. Each bus has 6 effects slots that can be set in any order. Each has it’s own wet/dry mix as well. It allows processing of internal sounds and, with it’s own analog inputs, allows processing of external signals through the RFX-32 effects. It also provides for MIDI control over dozens of parameters for real-time performance control. MSRP is set at $795.
Emu is also showing their newest addition to the Proteus family of sound modules, called the Planet Earth. This nice looking blue 1U rack module is a 64-voice expandable sound source featuring an all-new 32 MB World/Ethnic sound set. Samples include Asian, South American, Celtic and African sounds. It offers a Super Beats Mode and 16 simultaneous arpeggiators. This module, in the spirit of the new Proteus 2000 family, has 1 open slot for expansion from the other family sound modules, and reads Flash Chips burned on an Ultra family sampler as well. The Planet Earth lists for $995.
Finally, EMU has taken over the former Ensoniq Paris system and has improved and re-released it as the Paris Pro. There is a new operating system 3.0, which features OMF import and export, a dedicated waveform editor, integrated MIDI sequencing; native (host-based) tracks and support for third party automated control surfaces. The base system provides for 256 audio tracks of playback and 16 tracks of simultaneous record. It has 64 bands of hardware-based parametric EQ per 16-track submix, and a collection of various studio-grade hardware-based effects. The system can be expanded to meet user’s needs. Paris Pro also supports VST and DirectX plug-ins, host-based. The supplied C-16 control surface has been improved and the supplied Modular Expansion Chassis supports a full 24-bit signal path with add-on analog and digital I/O as well as synchronization options. Paris Pro retails at $4995.