Sweet Notes • Late Fall 1998
Contents
1. BULK RATE U S POSTAGE Address PAID Service SWEETWATER Requested SOUND e TASCAM S NEW TM D1000 DIGITAL MIXER and DA 45HR 24 BIT DAT RECORDER e G amp L GUITARS and BASSES e NEW DIGIDESIGN PRODUCTS i e AES SHOW REPORT and more Where Do You Want to Take Your Career Are you tired of a job with an income ceiling Do you want the opportunity to grow your income to the six figure level Can You Run the Marathon We don t hide it Everyone at Sweetwater works hard every day to provide the very best value to our customers Have you got what it takes Do you have the commitment energy and enthusiasm to be the very best in today s music business What Are You Waiting For If you genuinely love music technology and the entire music scene and want to earn an exceptional salary we want to hear from you Want to be a leader rather than a follower Take the next step in building the great career you ve always wanted All applications taken in strictest confidence Great people Great jobs Great pay Call and ask for the Career Center or send us e mail at careers sweetwater com2. How often should back up my hard drives AXE Every single chance you get Murphy s Law will always come into play sooner rather than later If you go for long periods of time working on a file with out saving it the potential for a total crash and the loss of all your information increases exponentially Backups are your friend You might find that constantly Saving and backing up is time consuming but ask your Self this How many hours of work on a project can you afford to lose Fortunately we ve moved way past the point where backups were done onto 3 5 disks So get in there and back up now Q recently installed a SCSI 3 Ultrawide host adaptor into my PC and m experiencing communica tion problems while configuring it to work with my SCSI 2 CD burners What are the possible issues when combining SCSI 3 and 2 devices in a chain My un derstanding is that SCSI is backwards compatible and wasn t anticipating any configuration issues A When using an Ultrawide host adaptor and connecting to a SCSI 2 device you ll need to use a spe cial pass thru adaptor terminator between the host adaptor and the SCSI 2 devices While there are other cables available that tie the extra pins to ground at the SCSI 2 end using one of these will not allow you to selectively assign which devices in the chain are SCSI 2 or SCSI 3 and at this point everything on the buss will be running at SCSI 2 speeds not what you want Once yo
3. name in any fashion to any competitive prod uct from 1965 to well into the 1970s many important events took place during this time including the birth of the super group You had a A the British invasion Woodstock Eric Clapton i and Cream Jimi Hendrix Led Zeppelin The Who and on and on In about 1980 however Leo decided to get back into the guitar business and formed a partnership with his long time friend and co designer of the legendary Stratocaster George Fullerton They decided to call the com pany George amp Leo or G amp L for short They knew the competition Leo s former company was a giant in the industry So they decided to specialize in high quality guitars They decided that there would be no manufacturing com promises and no imported guitars at all They i also decided that there would be no cheap ve Fe neers or fake flame finishes In fact every one of their guitars would be hand built in the USA at Leo s facility located on believe it or not Fender Avenue in Fullerton California a place where legends truly were born Fact is G amp L had no choice but to make a better guitar than their main competitors If they didn t there would probably be no way to sell them given the market dominance and reputation of Leo s former company Today 18 years later every single G amp L guitar is still con structed of solid real wood with top quality parts all built by hand by real people not mach
4. typically a solo voice or instrument and instantly and seamlessly change it to a desired pitch which is defined by user programmable scales What s more the ATR 1 includes a number of new features that make it particularly powerful in live performance situations These include a new Song Mode that lets the ATR 1 follow even the most complex harmonic song structures foot switch control of Scale selection and a Bypass Mode as well as full MIDI control of every parameter By anyone s standard that is an impressive achievement Sounds cool you say but how does this work In order for the ATR 1 to automatically correct pitch it must first detect the pitch of the input sound Calculating the pitch of a periodic waveform is a straightforward process The ATR 1 looks for a periodically repeating waveform and calculates the time interval between repetitions The pitch detection algorithm in the ATR 1 is virtually instantaneous It can recognize the repetition in a periodic sound within a few cycles usually before the sound has sufficient amplitude to be heard by any listener Combined with a slight processing delay about 1 to 10 milliseconds the output pitch can be detected and corrected in a totally seamless fashion The ATR 1 was designed to detect and correct Sweet Notes Everyone with a Mac should pitches as low as AO 55Hz up to the pitch C6 This range allows correction to be performed on all vocals and almost all in
5. MIDI You can also choose the shape of the pitch variation in the vibrato sine ramp or square By combining a fast Speed setting with the ATR 1 Vibrato settings you can even remove a performer s own vibrato and replace it with the ATR 1 s programmed vibrato At its top level the ATR 1 operates in one of two modes Program Mode or Song Mode Which mode you use depends upon your application and just how radical the required corrections might be Unfortunately space prevents me from going into detail on this but it s all fairly simple and straightforward and you don t need some specialized degree from a four year university to understand it Heck I can figure this thing out and as those who know me can attest I m no rocket scientist Our own David Stewart just sent back a report from the AES Show where he put the ATR 1 through its paces and confirmed that the unit actually made his vocals sound good Antares ATR 1 module is a terrific piece of equipment that no serious studio should be without What s more it carries a list price of just 1199 Considering what this module can do that s a small investment for a very big return Want to know more Just pick up the phone and talk to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer They can fill you in on all the details we don t have room for here and get you a great low Sweetwater price on your own ATR 1 L af P T Pitch re TEC LICN k AF a nF a SOX
6. and you can even use your mouse to control every feature of the board on screen This means that nearly all onboard functions can move in realtime simulta neously You can t do that on many other digital mixers and certainly none anywhere near the Mackie board s price range There are a number of other things that you re going to love about the Continued on Page 10 Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 By Daniel Fisher Director of Soundware Engineering Longtime Sweetwater customers know that weve _ been major fans of Kurzweil Music Systems synths and samplers from Day One Seems like every time one of their instruments has reached its full poten tial along comes another Operating System or Hardware Option that once again gives the instrument new and exciting areas to explore Since the release of the K2000 back in 1991 the bar has been raised many times to once again set the standard for synthesis power a full blown arpeggiator 8 Zone Set ups the DMTi Digital Multitrack interface Note Starts from Controllers KB3 realtime organ drawbar system and even a Live Mode that allows external audio to be pro cessed by VAST But the single most inno vative and revolutionary option is the new KDFX Kurzweil Digital Effects for the K2500 Its sonic power and flexibility rivals most outboard effects and its retail price of 795 is far below other serious professional studio devices There are a number of advantages in having a KDFX unit
7. can have your very own copy of the video sim ply by picking up the phone and giving us a call We ll have a copy on its way to you in almost no time On another sub ject entirely we re ex tremely pleased that so many of you have already received your Mackie Digital 8 Bus mixers Alesis M20s MOTU 2408s and so on Manufacturers have really been knocking themselves out to get us product and our shipping department has been working long hours setting this equipment out the door and into your hands We do sincerely appreciate your patience we know it s tough waiting for items that have been in such short sup ply or delayed for a variety of reasons We understand that you want to be making music right away But these products are all so incredible so truly revolutionary that they re actu ally worth the wait Hey anyone remember how hard it was to get your hands on the original ADAT Of course there s a whole bunch of amazing new prod ucts headed our way things that we could barely have imagined even a few short years ago Just look through this issue of Sweet Notes and check out our exclusive AES Show Report on Page 6 then start putting together your own per sonal studio wish list 1998 is coming to a close with a real bang and 1999 promises to be another year of startling developments and unexpected surprises Hang on it s going to be fun Page 5 Q just purchased a new computer based DAW
8. create a digital console that is as intuitive and easy to use as Mackie s rightly famous analog con soles Create a console that doesn t compromise headroom noise floor bandwidth or color the sound in any way And then make sure it s like all other Mackie products an incredibly good value Actually Greg hired the best digital audio mixer engineers he could find headed up by two British designers who helped design those massive oceanliner sized digital consoles that pro Studios build 300 an hour A rooms around According to Greg What our hardware engineers ultimately came up with was more than a digital mixer they constructed a console with the guts and torque of a dedicated computer workstation but with the Page 7 precise feel of a great analog console Built with 25 integrated DSP chips the Mackie D8B has tremendous processing horsepower In fact coordi nating those DSP chips is a powerful Pentium compatible host computer Needless to say accomplishing all that took just a little longer than anyone thought it would But when you look at this monster mixer s fea ture set well you can t help but be incredibly impressed So let s take a closer look at the D8B First of all one of the nicest features of the DSB is its familiar analog like interface And yet it has unquestionably far more processing power than other affordable digital mixers which typically use less sophisti
9. in your K2500 as opposed to using an outboard processor You can easily design and store individual KDFX Studios and Effects Presets for every Program in your K2500 meaning you don t have to create MIDI Patch Maps to link Programs to Effects like you would with an outboard processor This allows you to save all your Programs Songs Samples and Effects as a single file An outboard digital effects unit would need to save its files as a SysEx dump somewhere else Another area where the KDFX is superior to out board effects processors is its tremendous controller assignment capability Kurzweil s Variable Architecture Synthesis Technology is recognized as having the most power ful control signal processing and now all of these controls and more are available for every single KDFX parameter This allows you to create powerful digital multieffects that precisely follow your performance For those of you with studio applications the KDFX is a god send and god return Not only does the KDFX allow 4 stereo busses of digital output which can be sent to ADAT Lightpipe or TASCAM TOS Link via the DMTi Digital Multitrack interface it also can send a stereo 16 or 20 bit digital signal Page 8 directly from the K2500 itself You can even bring live external digital or analog audio signals into the K2500 via Sampling Op tion and process them with both VAST and KDEX The result can be sent back out of the K2500 as either an ana
10. power 48V eight channels of TDIF 1 digital 1 0 dual XLR AES EBU digital outputs and two RCA S PDIF digital outputs The unit Gi B also comes standard with a digital external input analog TRS balanced and RCA unbalanced stereo outs and up to 128 scenes which are combinations of EQ Aux Pan Mute and Effects setups Ba which can be 7 memorized Sy and instantly J recalled from the front panel or via f MIDI control Ay Combined with the y ability to run your y recorders directly from the I mixer via MIDI Machine I Control MMC messages this F new mixer will make recording in your studio faster and simpler Ly tpt PFs ai kS Continued on Page 2 jr ProControl for Pro Tools 24 Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 Page 2 TASCAM UNVEILS 24 817 DA 4onR DAT RECORDER When we get to talking about the ultimate in audio quality we automatically think 24 bit right TASCAM a company who truly understands the professional s need for ultra high resolution audio introduced the world s very first 24 bit DAT recorder at this past Summer NAMM Show The crowd s reaction When can get one The answer is now The incredible new DA 45HR 1999 list is able to record true 24 bit audio data on a standard DAT tape Setting what is clearly a new standard in mastering technology the 3U rackmountable DA 45HR features XLR balanced and RCA unbalanced analog 1 0 AES EBU and S PDIF digital 0 Word Sync I O and a pa
11. this exciting new upgrade We ve even provided an on line form where you can create the Return Authorization document and the FedEx Airbill which will expedite sending us your instrument You can even down load the entire KDFX User Manual and Algorithm Reference to read at your leisure But don t say we didn t warn you Once you go through the manual and flip through the Algorithm Reference you won t be happy until your K2500 has KDFX For more expert information and your best KDFX value simply call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer and we ll get you up and running in the shortest time possible It s going to be a great century to create music CADI Controller Autolocator Desktop Interface for Alesis M20 After designing what is certainly one of the world s finest stand alone multitrack recorders the 20 bit Alesis M20 the company had to address the way such a great recorder would be integrated into the modern studio Obviously engineers need in stant access to all their controls in one place but sometimes that place might be hundreds of feet or yards away from the recorder they re using Top studios with big name clients can hardly say Hang on a minute I ll just walk down the hall and arm those two tracks for you Be back in a jiffy Well they could say that but they wouldn t end up keeping many clients Enter the Alesis CADI 1499 list a new remote control and we mean remote and autolocator specifically design
12. 5 looks ready to ship The 32 channel 128 voice unit has some real nice sounding built in effects and looks like it will be a great new platform for their future Their big news was the Mantis Modular Digital Mixing System 2500 9000 The central unit is the mainframe which houses 1 0 cards for interfacing to all sorts of equipment Sweet Notes 1 SFO 1998 Page 6 ETEK gets my award for niftiest product at the show with their 14 channel NoteMix a notebook style powered mixer mean it literally looks like a notebook computer It opens with the inside lid having all of the mixer controls It also comes with a gig bag All of this for around 899 EVENT showed a new powered 999 subwoofer for their monitor range with 250 watts driving a down firing 15 speaker They also announced DSPFX version 5 0 which will include more plug ins than the previous version while maintaining the 249 price But the really big news was unquestionably that their Layla system is now totally com patible with the Macintosh Editor s Note We have them in stock and the drivers are downloadable right from our Web site FOSTEX debuted their new FD 8 multi tracker 899 This big brother to the FD 4 adds not only an extra four tracks but has 16 virtual tracks an ADAT and S PDIF digital 1 0 and disk to disk transfer ability for archiving GEFEN SYSTEMS had a new PC Mac 241 CPU switcher which allows you to shift effortlessly between Mac and PC us
13. DIGIDESIGN NEW PRODUCTS Page LATE FALL 1998 ISSUE Let s say it right up front After all there s nothing to be ashamed of Everyone wants one of the hot new digital ein mixers Problem is not everyone has the big bucks required to own one of these amazing new units Fortunately pais TASCAM one of the most widely recognized names in professional audio introduced its all new TM D1000 Digital pe Recording Mixer at this year s NAB show in Las Vegas With an unbelievable list price of just 1199 that s not a l iir misprint the TM D1000 offers musicians just about every important feature except one The high price tag Uen E Designed to integrate with all DTRS format recorders the TM D1000 re defines studio functionality and can Eai easily claim its position as the most versatile and affordable compact digital mixer available Designed for home i recording enthusiasts project studios and off line editing suites the TM D1000 is a 16 channel full digital a A mixer that will soon be revolutionizing small studio operations everywhere The best news The TM D1000 is available right now we have them in stock here at Sweetwater in our giant be Bs Ba warehouse ready to ship right to your door Get set to change the way you work And be kon for great sound quality and that incomparable TASCAM reliability So what can you expect from your new TM D1000 Well start off with four XLR microphone inputs with phantom
14. RCA unbalanced analog inputs and outputs it will easily connect to any TASCAM s hot new DA 45HR the world s first 24 bit DAT Recorder mixer or other analog device This outstanding recorder also features the ability to manually adjust both the input and balanced output levels for optimum settings a very cool feature in our book For communicating digitally both the AES EBU and S PDIF digital protocols are fully supported enabling the DA 45HR to communicate with mixers DAWs and other record ers As you would expect the recorder also provides Word Sync In and Thru for easy connec tion to the latest generation of digital recording consoles There s even a 15 pin parallel interface for added control via fader starts or General Purpose Interface GPI For convenient search ing through program mate rial the DA 45HR provides a shuttle wheel and a con venient 2 point memory locate function These fea tures enable you to quickly and easily find a specific audio segment mark it and later locate back to that position with a single but ton push Navigating the DA 45HR s operating system couldn t be more intuitive The unit s menu layout makes it easy to access and edit the numerous system parameters The DA 45HR even provides alphanumeric character entry for naming program selections Auto ID level can be set at 48 54 60 or 66dB Copy ID select provisions give you the ability to protect tapes from further dupli
15. RERER RE l Fa producers of outboard digital ef fects devices Plus Mackie also created an open architecture that accepts additional name brand DSP software plug ins making this the only mixer on earth that accepts the hottest new 3rd party plug ins how s that for the ultimate in versatility Mackie also added a 30 day free trial of a full blown vocal doubling harmony and pitch correction system from IVL the world leader in vocal processing technology The D8B s optional Vocal Studio interfaces seamlessly with the mixer s automation and features an elegant gives your 16 bit masters near 24 bit resolution when and mastering engineers swear by it It s a Mackie AES SHOW SPECIAL REPORT Continued from Page 6 for a base machine which is built on an engine many times more powerful than anything Sony has ever done Data and algorithms are loaded in through a built in CD ROM drive The unit is specifi cally designed to produce the most stunning digital reverbs possible and in full surround STUDER had many amazing things in their booth like the new V 8 machines and V 24 system This S VHS machine is based on the Alesis M20 ADAT but has a different look and slightly different feature set The V 24 system is comprised of three V 8 machines and a really sexy looking controller on a roll around stand SUMMIT showed one of the most attractive new products at the show the MPE 200 under 5000 mic preamp This Rupert N
16. aphragm integrated with an Elliptical Oblate Spheroidal EOS Waveguide with 60 x 100 degree dispersion which is critical to the smooth spatial response required in today s working environments The Mid and High devices are mounted within millimeters of each other on a cast aluminum sub battle that can be rotated for horizontal or vertical placement giving maximum flexibility in placement to reduce console and ceiling splash that destabilizes imaging and depth The LSR12P 1099 list is a multiformat powered subwoofer for Dolby Pro Logic AC 3 DTS and other surround formats It features a 250 Watt continuous power amplifier with multi voltage capability and employs Differential Drive Technology with dynamic braking for extended low frequency response and low power compression The cabinet features a carbon fiber composite baffle for ultra low cabinet resonance and stable inertial ground and the Linear Dynamics Aperture Port design eliminates port noise and reduces port compression Separate Left Center and Right crossover functions are included as well as a discrete Continued on Page 10 i i Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 Page 10 MACKIE DIGITAL 8 BUS MIXER Continued from Page 7 DB8 the bold futuristic shape the innovative card cage the nearly effortless ease of use There are no button sequences to remember or silly ritualistic dance moves to access the D8B s many features In fact all button sequences are kept t
17. ares introduced a remarkable plug in for Pro Tools users It was called Auto Tune and it did exactly what the name implied Here was a tool that could actually correct the pitch of vocals and even other solo instru ments in real time without weird distor tion or other annoying artifacts yet still preserved all of the expressiveness of the original performance Not surprisingly industry publications like Recording maga zine called the Auto Tune plug in a Holy Grail of recording They went on to say Bottom line Auto Tune is amazing have this program This was amazing Here was a tool so powerful that it could in effect guarantee a perfect performance No wonder that tons of people went out and bought big buck Pro Tools systems just so they could have access to Auto Tune Not surprisingly when word got around on just how well this plug in did its job and how many hundreds of hours of studio time it was saving musicians the Antares folks were inundated with requests for a self contained Auto Tune in a box Well you don t just get a metal case and throw in some software so it took a little while but darned if they didn t actually succeed The result is the ATR 1 a rack mountable hardware implementation of Antares Auto Tune pitch correcting software Like Auto Tune the ATR l employs state of the art digital signal processing algorithms to continuously detect the pitch of a periodic input signal
18. ass that you feel as much as hear By the way if you re considering a 5 1 surround home theater system you need to carefully consider the incredibly accurate LSR monitors rather than the artificial hyped up speakers typical of consumer electronics stores Some of these home theater systems look good but deliver sonics that most of us will find unacceptable Want to know more Want to audition a set in your own studio or living room It s easy Just pick up the phone and call us here at Sweetwater You can get full detailed information and your special low Sweetwater pricing on an LSR System all your own What are you waiting for Call now Late Fall 1998 By Michael Rief EDITOR S NOTE Jim Miller is off on a brief though well deserved vacation and will return next issue or so he says Some people just should not sing Me for example I guess I just never quite got the hang of it or maybe there s some missing chromosome Whatever the case I admit that vocals are not my thing Some people have beautiful voices and can sing for hours without ever hitting a bad note Then there s those other people I won t name names but you know who you are Some are very talented and often they write great songs And most of the time given enough tracks takes and punch ins they can put down a pretty fine vocal track But that can take hours or sometimes even days Knowing that not everyone has perfect pitch a company called Ant
19. ay before it started the floor was filled with giant shipping crates booth pieces and occasionally you d see a technician hovering over some new thing with a scope and soldering iron One never knows if the problem was shipping related the product had a failure or if it just wasn t quite finished yet You would be amazed if you really knew the time energy money and effort these people have to spend to make a product successful At 12 00 the doors opened and the crowd rushed in as if they were trying to get that front seat at a festival seating concert It was an almost civilized stampede Here is a smat tering of what they saw This is by no means a complete report Those seeking greater depth of information need only check out our Web site for the full unedited report at http www sweetwater com reports 105th aes ALLEN AND HEATH had the new GS3000 32 x 8 mixer street price around 6500 up and running This board fea tures faders on both input and tape signal paths as well as two patchable tube microphone preamps built in ALESIS essentially hired the brains behind the success ful Groove Tube microphone line and then assimilated them as their own Nice if you can do it Prices range from 549 for the AM51 to 1299 for the AM62 AMEK had Rupert Neve in the house showing off his 9098i console If any of you have about a million dollars you d like to throw at one of the most amazing desks ever developed this is the board for yo
20. cated micro controllers to direct their audio and a few basic system functions You often end up spending more money than you Originally budgeted because you have to buy an outboard PC or Macintosh to get much done The Digital 8 Bus on the other hand uses a true work Station class 32 bit Pentium compatible CPU Processor with a full 16MB of RAM Besides keeping track of 48 channels of audio it can perform true computer operations like reading and writing to built in floppy and hard drives and driving full color monitors via a built in SVGA Video Port The built in Ethernet connection allows you to dial into to Mackie s own cen Just looking at it makes you want one doesn t it jaj It has all EE the features daia you want today and everything you will probably need in the future E e tral computer system and upload upgrades You can even add a PC compatible keyboard and PS 2 mouse All told the D8B boasts over a GigaFlop don t bother looking that one up in your dictionary it s not there yet or three billion instructions per second of DSP Mixers ten times the cost of the D8B don t have this kind of brutish digital muscle This massive power lets you run digital functions such as EQ and full dynamics processing on all 48 channels simultaneously And wait un til you check out the D8B s luxurious display There s no squinting at a tiny monochrome display that s not good for your eyes after all
21. cation a thought ful feature Reference levels can be defined at 20 18 or 16dB and Record Mute time is variable from 1 to 8 seconds in 0 5 second increments The recorder s Repeat function ranges from 2 to 15 times with added support for free or unlimited repeat capability The DA 45HR also provides Single Skip and Program play modes for added flexibility when working with multiple audio tracks For added control the RC D45 Remote is available as an option With outstanding audio quality a wealth of features and the ability to integrate into any audio production environment the new DA 45HR clearly reinforces TASCAM s commitment to being the world leader in DAT recording Want one We thought so Just pick up the phone and give us a call here at Sweetwater Your Sales Engineer can fill you in on all the details and provide you with availability information the DA 45HR may be in short supply for a while due to the huge demand so don t wait on this one plus your very special low Sweetwater price on a DA 45HR for your studio TASCAM S TM D1000 VERSATILITY AND VALUE Continued from Page 1 meaning you spend less time hassling with equipment and more time creating music That s the point of having a project studio isn t it The mixer can also be expanded by adding two optional cards The IF TD1000 interface card adds eight channels of TDIF and four channels of AES EBU or S PDIF while the FX 1000 Effects Board adds four additional channe
22. cisco for the AES Show For the uninitiated the AES Show differs from NAMM in two fundamental ways 1 It is open to the general public and 2 the equipment is almost entirely high tech studio equipment At AES there are no drums flutes banjos saxophones or bongos being sold Instead you will find 96 input Euphonix desks ProControl editing systems Studer tape machines and mixers all manner of hard disk recording technology and a variety of other high tech products Of course because AES is an Engineering Society there is a whole wing devoted to papers seminars and standards This is where the engineers come together to de cide standards and disseminate information on just how the equipment we re going to see in the next few years is going to work together There are a few trends that could easily be observed at the show One of the most obvious is the shift towards 24 bit 96kHz recording and converters and 5 1 and 7 1 Surround sound technologies are also big news Much of this is a symptom of the final DVD standard which was announced at this show and created a big buzz Most prolific of all are the digital audio workstations You couldn t walk 15 feet without running into a company selling their idea of how to record and edit audio on a tapeless system One of the most entertaining parts of the show takes place before the show starts Since Sweetwater was an ex hibitor we were able to get in before any public or press were allowed The d
23. e it happen every day and we re still impressed Gone are the days when a company could afford to let an order sit on someone s desk for a few days before getting it processed Those companies are either out of business already or headed in that direction very rapidly When our customers pick up the phone and call us we know they re serious about getting the items they need which means we re serious about getting it to them fast Still when any company grows as rapidly as Sweetwa ter has and we re talking about true record breaking growth that this in dustry has never seen before there are always ques tions Are we doing everything we can to satisfy our custom ers Is there anything we could be doing to make the entire process faster Are there products that our customers want that we re not offering Along with this phenomenal growth we also know that there have been a few times where everything hasn t gone perfectly Mistakes do happen we re not perfect yet Of course when mistakes happen we do whatever it takes to fix the situation not in a matter of days but in a matter of hours Thinking about all these growing pains issues we always want to remind each and every one of you that noth ing is more important to us than our customers Every single person that works here knows that keeping our customers happy is our most important goal Over and over again in ads or here in Sweet N
24. ed for use with the M20 Connecting to the M20 via an Ethernet style RJ 45 connector the CADI can be op erated at huge distances from the recorder and still offer flawless control of the unit s transport and track arming functions Even the 20 s jog shuttle wheel can be operated from a re mote location using the CADI A bright clear vacuum fluorescent display shows machine status and alphanumeric information such as the names of location points What s more the CADI can directly control up to eight M20s right from its front panel for a total of 64 tracks plus time code and eight Aux tracks Individual M20s may be taken offline from the remote and individual indicators show when all machines in a system are in sample accurate sync For commercial studios that keep recorders in a separate area from the control room and that s the logical way to set up a major studio right the CADI is the solution for integrating M20s into any professional environment Specs and features Plenty The CADI sports full front panel controls and indica tors a numeric keypad illuminated record enable buttons and indicators 64 of them Aux TC track enable 8 track status machine status editing buttons a gorgeous vacuum fluorescent display a jog shuttle wheel and a bunch of other stuff we don t have room to tell you about It weighs in at just 10 6 pounds and is remarkably compact Top studios are already ordering M20s
25. ents a Substantial advance in affordable digital technology for the small studio operator With its low list price this Outstanding digital recording console has to be considered a great investment for any studio No it doesn t have every single bell and whistle but it has what you need to get the job done and the ability to grow as a system What more can you ask for To learn more about this mixer its capabilities and all the options just pick up the phone and dial up your friendly knowledgeable Sweetwater Sales Engineer They ll be more than happy to give you a complete rundown of all the TM D1000 s many features They can also give you your special Sweetwater pricing which by the way is so low that it makes adding this great TASCAM mixer to your setup a real no brainer Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 There are a lot of com panies out there these days touting their computer based hard disk recording Digidest them are pretty great But entire concept of using a computer to do audio re Control cording only one name comes to mind and that s Surface clearly Digidesign Year after year innovation after innovation Digidesign just keeps on finding new ways to make recording with your personal computer faster and easier and sound ing better than ever Here at Sweetwater we re shipping Pro Toolsi24 systems in record numbers and we have a feeling that more and more musicians engineers and studio ow
26. ere was a processor powerful enough to efficiently run the algorithms before they could build this box Also the Finalizer Express is their budget entry into the final stage limiting EQ market With a street price of under 1400 it will be a great addition to any project studio looking to make pro sounding masters Well unfortunately that s all we have room for here Keep watching these pages and log onto our Web site often for updates on these hot new products On screen interface They even tossed in full MIDI Machine Control for popular digital multitrack record ers right down to a Record Enable button on every channel strip Greg Mackie sums it up this way We think we did our first digital mixer right We listened to users got the best engineers and hammered away at a de Sign that was never compromised With the Digital deBus we think Mackie has created the most power ful digital mixer made period If you want to know more about the DB8 and who wouldn t we suggest you call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer right now for a complete overview of this impressive product and your special low price on what has to rate as one of the most significant technological advances of the last few years JBLLSR MONITORS Continued from Page 9 subwoofer input This unique arrangement provides excellent bass management for a wide variety of formats The subwoofer signals can be derived from the front channels or from the di
27. eve designed unit offers discrete solid state components running Class A with transformer inputs and outputs It is under digital control and has MIDI with SysEx capability TANNOY showed an active version of their successful Reveal monitors The Active Reveals 449 each are bi amped with 50 watts on both low and high frequency transducers Also shown were the new 800 dual concentric active monitors 1999 with 90 watts on both the low and high end A new smaller active subwoofer called PS 110 499 is designed to go with the Reveals and brings up the bottom with a 100 watt driven 10 inch woofer TASCAM showed a variety of new products The CD RW5000 1299 is their new CD burner It supports all types of media including rewritable and has all of the common digital 1 0 connections They also have imported a SCSI CD burning package based on a drive from their parent Teac line The CD Burner 4 x 12 is available in Mac and PC versions with appropriate software for each for 630 Still in early development is the TM D4000 digital mixer 4299 This unit is currently positioned as a slightly scaled down TM D8000 but will have 24 bit 1 0 throughout built in effects and all moving fader automation TC ELECTRONIC blew us away with the new M3000 2495 reverb unit This one represents years of intensive research on the properties of sound in acoustic spaces The results of this research have been known for a while but they actually had to wait until th
28. ficial things So if you want to know more we suggest a simple call to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for all the inside information and of course your special pricing on a ProControl unit or even an entire Pro Tools System The fine print Digidesign products are not avail able in all areas so consult your Sales Engineer before ordering when you look at which com d y d p pany literally pioneered the A vance aa aoe for Page 3 ProControl Pro Tools Systems m Ioas A KEL ARR RAL EY Phas teil a Se ee The Best Hardware for Your Software Late Fall 1998 When the final history of electric guitars is ultimately written one of the most important chapters will be on de velopments that occurred in Southern California in the 1950s and 60s and the instruments being designed by Leo Fender From Country amp Western to Surf music and beyond the guitars being built in Fullerton California had an enor mous impact that no one could possi bly have predicted at the time Yet even when Mr Fender sold the original company that bore his name in 1965 which was believe it or not just the second year the Beatles were together it s possible that even he didn t recognize the significance of his achievements By 1968 electric guitars were selling like crazy It seemed that everyone either played guitar or wanted to play guitar Though con tracts prevented Leo from being involved in making guitars or amplifiers or lend his
29. full ASIO support for their Lexicon Studio recording system This will make them fully compatible with all of the popular digital audio MIDI pro grams around MARK OF THE UNICORN was present with their Digital Performer software run ning on Digidesign s Project hardware The new version of the MAS driver is online for free download at www motu com downloads DigiPertMac mas 131 It gives us ers the option of using MAS or DAE for playback each having its own advantages NEUMANN displayed the new gold U87 Special Edition and the incredible new M147 After winning their second TEC Award in a row this time for the TLM103 they stand a legitimate chance with the M147 of getting the hat trick next year OPCODE showed DATport a new USB interface that provides the easiest possible way to get digital audio into a computer The interface is brain dead simple a USB port On one side and a pair of S PDIF ports on the other Simply plug it into your USB port you can plug it in while the system is hot on your PC and it s ready to go No messing with drivers it doesn t even come with a disk or DMAs IRQs or anything ORAM caught the attention of many of the big console manufacturers with the series 48 desk The board employs John Oram s legendary analog designs but puts them completely under digital control There is a microprocessor on every single channel module which gives him tons of headroom for future enhancements as well as the abili
30. in record numbers After all this is a ma chine that was specifically created for heavy duty use in com mercial audio recording facilities and high end video and post production facilities Its sophisticated full servo direct drive transport and flawless 20 bit audio capability guarantees sound that unquestion ably surpasses even the biggest baddest most expensive analog mastering re corders It was engineered for de manding around the clock use and low maintenance It has quick response and built in SMPTE EBU time code synchroniza tion as well as sample accurate multiunit sync Yet it still uses the same inexpensive readily available S VHS tape stock as the original ADAT recorders well there are just some things you can t improve on Yes we could go on and on about the built in high resolution oversampling A D and D A converters the ADAT optical ports and sync jacks and the stunning audio qual ity of the 20 bit format which can record an astounding 16 times more audio data than a 16 bit machine but we ll leave that to your friendly extremely knowledgeable Sweetwater Sales Engineer Oh and he or she will also be glad to give you a special Sweetwater price on an M20 and CADI system that s exactly right for your high end Studio So pick up the phone and make that call right now Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 JBL a ee aaa ri k ie epee The JBL marketing people have come up with a pretty nifty slogan for the c
31. ines Every single guitar and bass is hand cut and shaped from the finest woods care fully sanded by hand and flawlessly finished Even the pickups are hand wound Where the average production line gui tar today is built in less than four hours G amp L guitars take more than a day so you have to figure these are people who actually take pride in how archaic their opera tion actually is there s not a robot in sight But a G amp L guitar isn t just carefully built to exacting standards it s also meticulously set up for proper string height action and intonation And this isn t done by consulting a set of specs it s done by musicians who actually use their ears to tell them when the intonation is dead on and the action is so perfect that a player s fingers will literally fly over the fingerboard While G amp L guitars are designed and built to the same high standards as those that were crafted in the 50s and 60s they also have some features that are unmistak ably 90s like the improved performance of the pickups Yes you still get the silky smooth highs and velvety lows of those vintage pickups but you also get remarkably lower noise and lightning fast transient response thanks to the many subtle but important changes Leo and his team made over the years There s also the improved Sweet Notes et Guitars amp Basses Top photo left to right Legacy Special George Fullerton Sig nature Legacy and S 500 Bott
32. ing for an instrument with that special Leo Fender magic combined with excep tional playability incredible tone and the industry s only ten year warranty may we suggest that you take a serious look at the fine guitars from G amp L Your Sweetwater Sales Engineer will be happy to work with you to find exactly the right instrument in our extensive inventory that has the features color and finish you re looking for at a special price that won t have you playing the blues oe al FACTORY AUTHORIZED WE FIX YOUR GEAR RIGHT AND ON TIME WITH NO EXCUSES Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 By Chuck and Brenda Surack Owners Sweetwater Sound Sometimes it seems like only yester day that we shipped our very first order out to our first customer and that cus tomer is still buying from us today by the way Yet when we look around and see all the activity that takes place on a daily basis it s pretty obvious that a tremendous amount of time and effort has gone into building Sweetwater into the acknowl edged industry leader in music technol ogy over the last decade That doesn t happen overnight We never cease to be amazed at the dedication of all the members of the Sweetwater team and how well they all work together If you were to see what happens to your order once you place it see how quickly and efficiently it moves right through all the departments and finally out into shipping you d be amazed We se
33. ing the same keyboard and monitor Units were widely used around the show by companies showing cross platform products GENELEC showed the 1038AC a tri amplified center channel monitor designed Specifically to go with their 1038 monitors It has two 10 speakers a 5 speaker and a 1 metal dome tweeter with two 200 watt and two 120 watt amplifiers HHB showed the Circle 5 passive 749 and active 1399 studio monitors which are designed for 5 1 and 7 1 applications The active ones are bi amped with 120 watt and 70 watt amps The 8 inch woofer has that distinctive HHB purple color JBL had one of the most spectacular audio demos of the show Their LSR series monitors were set up ina 5 1 configuration with some very well crafted mixes being played These monitors really need to be heard to be fully appreciated See Page 9 for more KURZWEIL showed a nearly finished version of their long awaited Expression Mate controller system and the K2500 AES keyboard KDFX for the K2500 was working impressively See Page 8 of this issue for more on this as well as Live Mode We were also shown the undocu mented procedure for using Live Mode to turn the K2500 into a full featured vocoder Stay tuned for details LEXICON surprised us by awarding us their Dealer of the Year award It s always nice to be recognized in this way but just between you and me it s easy to sell products that are this great Their big announcement was that they will have
34. log or digital signal So it s almost like getting a full blown external pro cessor for free But convenience controllability and external pro cessing would all be of little importance if the KDFX didn t have stellar sound quality Soundware designers and audio experts have already favorably compared the KDFX s reverbs and effects to many of the world s most expensive proces sors The Reverbs over 100 in particular were singled out as being among the best in the industry But besides reverbs there are also Com plex Echoes 4 and 8 Tap Delays that can sync to MIDI Clock Spectral Delays Stereo Choruses Flangers and Phasers Lazer Verbs Pitchers Shapers Bit Quantizers Distortions with EQs and Cabinet Simulators PolyDistortions with up to 8 distortion stages Leslie Rotary simulators with separate Horn and Rotor control and the list goes on And the list will keep getting longer as new FX Algorithms ware made available via software from Kurzweil in the future If you re convinced that the Kurzweil Digital Effects Option is just the ticket to take you into the 21st Century of audio production please visit our KDFX Install Party which can be found on our Sweetwater Web site at http www sweetwater com products kurzweil kdfx There you ll learn why Sweetwater Sound is by far the best place to have your KDFX professionally installed There s also instructions on how to safely prepare and ship your K2500 to Sweetwater for
35. ls of dynamics processing and one stereo pair of reverb chorus delay flange etc Along with the four XLR microphone inputs and eight 1 4 inch TRS inputs the TM D1000 provides the flexibility to accommodate a substantial number of analog inputs The mixer communicates digitally with DIRS format recorders via the integral TDIF 1 port and can easily be expanded to a 16 track system just by adding the optional IF TD1000 interface card ADAT owners can easily interface via converters from Apogee and TASCAM Okay we have great sound and all the connections but what about some of the very cool extras you expect from a top digital mixer The TM D1000 has onboard dynamics processing and 10 Stereo effects enabling the engineer to tailor the audio program to his or her liking without the need to patch in external processors When needed adding outboard effects is easy In Mix mode the mixer s 4 bus architecture doubles as 4 effect sends For rapid recall of mixer settings the TM D1000 will respond to incoming MIDI messages to recreate up to 128 mixer scenes This capability makes changing from one project to another an effortless task and adds greater consistency to the mixing process For controlling transport and track arming features of connected recorders the TM D1000 also incorporates the ability to transmit MMC messages Used in tandem the external control Capabilities of this new mixer are exceptional TASCAM s new TM D1000 repres
36. ners will be in stalling a system of their own soon particularly with the introduction of Digi s new ProControl Advanced Control Surface prices start at 11 995 not cheap but as we all know the best rarely is ProControl is a modular hardware control surface that adds tactile mixing and editing capability to Pro Tools systems meaning you can touch it grab knobs and faders push buttons etc It interacts with Pro Tools software via the DigiFader moving faders and 25 high resolution 8 character scribble strips plus dedicated Switch and encoder controls including control room monitoring and talkback In essence ProControl serves as a comprehensive front end for Pro Tools TDM mixing editing and DSP processing and serves as the only mix controller in the user s uh that s you work environment Its modular design allows you to configure a system that perfectly suits your needs and budget In fact recording editing and mixing with ProControl will totally change your concept of what to expect when working with a fully integrated pro Digital Audio Workstation The Pro Tools TDM system contains some of the most powerful mix automa tion available on any digital system regardless of price This includes Write Touch Latch and Read modes for fader levels pans sends mutes plug in parameters and more ProControl provides access to this mixing power through Digi s Patent Pending DigiFader moving faders and dedicated func
37. o a bare mini mum and every impor tant channel strip control such as pan mute solo and EQ is avail able via a dedicated but ton or rotary control But even the best hardware isn t useful without user friendly software This is where Mackie really went to work on blowing away the competition The Mackie Design Team felt that conventional com puter operating systems were just too slow to meet their ambitious stan dards so they created the invisible proprietary Mackie Real Time OS It runs all computer functions supervises all 25 DSP pro cessors plus dynamic and scene automation with out breaking a sweat But aside from assembling an impressive group of engineers and product designers to make the DB8 a reality Mackie also partnered with other cutting edge companies like Apogee Electronics which means that inside every DB8 is Apogee s much ac claimed UV22 Super CD encoding algorithm UV22 exclusive that s previously only been available as a very expensive Apogee outboard processor and Pro Tools plug in Apogee is also engineering Mackie s digital 1 0 cards For the DB8 s reverb sound Mackie went to Euphonics the software think tank that has developed algorithms for the world s most respected a bp ee T oe 8 rr F P tae Wu b Ei n i ie i i L E D jomm m l e m i pr iJ PEJ D ee en zai E E FOOU Linc pA ees a Seieeiseecitessc stiri Be PRRERREEEERRERREE
38. om left to right Two ASAT Classics and an ASAT Deluxe At right The G amp L L 2500 Bass Page 4 truss rod stability of Leo Fender s Bi Cut neck construction and the simple yet elegant Dual Fulcrum Tremolo System As if all this weren t enough each and every G amp L instrument comes with a 10 Year Limited Warranty for the origi nal owner Obviously this says an aw ful lot about the confidence the com pany has in their instruments As usual we don t have an awful lot of space but let s get a quick over view of all the G amp L models starting with their popular ASAT line prices start at 1100 list One look at the distinctive shape of this instrument and you know you re getting all the vintage vibe you can possibly handle along with a variety of modern upgrades that include Magnetic Field Z Coil pickups on the ASAT Z 3 and the G amp L patented Saddle Lock fixed bridge standard on most models There are even semi hollow versions available as well as two mod els with dual humbuckers According to George Fullerton 40 years ago my partner and created the world s most famous guitar Then we set out to make the world s best The result is the standard Legacy 1099 list Legacy Special with dual blade humbuckers 1300 list the 500 with G amp L Magnetic Field single coil pickups 1300 list and the Comanche which sports those distinctive Z Coil pickups At the top of the line is the Geo
39. ompany s new LSR Series Monitors Hear Every Thing Catchy isn t it And quite accurate as a matter of fact since these new speakers apply the very latest technology to produce a sound that really does let you hear every single thing in your mix Of course while plenty of us are still working in stereo the JBL product designers are looking into the future More and more four five or more channels are being monitored in modern production environments As the AC 3 and DTS surround formats evolve and others no doubt spring up you d better believe that everyone is going to be using them for film video and of course album production But how are you going to monitor all those additional speakers Will your present speakers work or will you have to rethink how you listen in your studio Luckily the JBL engineers have done the thinking EERE for us which is good since my math is awful a Their Linear Spatial Reference LSR philosophy is based on a set of design goals that carefully control the overall performance of the system in a variety of acoustic spaces Instead of focusing on a simple measurement such as on axis frequency response LSR designs require much better control over dispersion via transducer selection and crossover frequency design Critical decisions of image placement EQ balance and timbre are typically made within 15 vertically and 30 horizontally This workspace is where the engineer producer and artis
40. otes or on our Web site you see the phrase If you re not happy we re not happy Those seven words really sum up our attitude because nothing makes us more upset than knowing a customer is unhappy As Sweetwater continues to grow we want each and ev ery one of you to know that our basic philosophy will always inside Sp It makes these people smile to ship you stuff no kidding be the same After all when the very foundation of our company s unprecedented success is built upon taking care of you the customer it sure doesn t make sense to change that If you love what we re doing and are ecstatic about the way you re being taken care of by all means let us know But if you have a problem or a concern or even think there s a better way for us to serve your needs we absolutely want to hear from you Now there are probably more than a few of you out there who are brand new customers or who may have been given this issue of Sweet Notes by a friend If so we invite you to give us a call and request a copy of our brand new and absolutely free Welcome to Sweetwater video It takes you step by step through our facility and explains ex actly what is behind the Sweetwater Difference that you hear so much about You ll also meet many of the people who make up what is unquestionably the music industry s best sales and service team But even if you ve been a customer for years you
41. rallel interface all of which ensures easy inte gration into the most demanding production environments The new DA 45HR s_ f interface is both new yet familiar taking advan tage of proven hardware design but with an en tirely new software ar chitecture The unit s menu driven environ ment features an easy to read comprehensive fluorescent display that promotes intuitive operation with easy access to its numerous system parameters including AUTO ID COPY ID Select Reference Level setting Record Mute and Repeat functions The DA 45HR has two recording modes enabling you to take advantage of the recorder s 24 bit capability or maintain backward compatibility with first generation 16 bit decks When operating in 24 bit mode a standard 120 DAT tape yields 60 minutes of recording time If the machine is functioning in 16 bit standard mode the tape will yield a full 2 hours recording time Supported sampling frequencies include 44 1 and 48kHz When it comes to A D and D A converters the new DA 45HR absolutely defines the current state of the art Featuring 24 bit analog to digital converters and 20 bit digital to analog converters with dither this outstanding master recorder as expected sounds terrific With its 24 bit A D capability the DA 45HR is capable of recording 24 bit audio via either its analog or digital inputs The DA 45HR will integrate into virtually any audio production environment With XLR balanced and
42. rge Ful lerton Signature Model with three sweet G amp L vintage style Alnico V single coils and George s signature right on the upper bout 1450 list If electric bass is your instrument G amp L has no less than eight superb mod els to choose from with list prices start ing at 990 for the LB 100 a modern take on a tried and true bass design There s even an ASAT Bass with optional metal flake fin ish At the very top of the line is the amazing L 2500 Cus tom 5 String with dual humbucking pickups and the G amp L active passive TriTone electronics that let you dial in just about any bass sound imaginable Inci dentally fretless necks with or without ghost lines are available at no ex tra charge on G amp L basses We think that from the first moment you pick up a G amp L guitar or bass you ll feel the magic that comes from only the very finest instruments Musicians who have played every kind of guitar over the years are feeling again the long forgotten excitement and thrills as they play a G amp L And players who are picking out their first high quality guitar are in awe of the quality and playability of these fine instruments And by the way if gorgeous wood is your thing we should mention here that many G amp L models come with optional Curly Maple tops and Bird s Eye Maple necks you know just in case you re into such things Yes there are a lot of very fine guitars to choose from these days But if you re look
43. screte input with a simple remote switch contact The LSR28P Bi Amplitied Linear Spatial Reference Studio Monitor 999 list was carefully designed to provide precision imaging in near field monitoring applications The LSR28P combines two high power amplifiers with an active crossover system which includes over 200 watts of low frequency power and 70 watts for the high frequency drivers Active circuitry is included for level calibration and frequency response adjustment of both the bass and treble XLR and 1 4 input connections can be accommodated as well as balanced and unbalanced signals The LSR28P s 8 low frequency transducer has dual drive coils which reduce spectral shift as power levels increase An added third coil between the drive coils acts as a dynamic brake to limit excess excursion and reduces audible distortion at the high levels The cone is made of a graphite polypropylene composite forming a rigid piston and is supported by a soft butyl rubber surround The 053ti High Frequency Transducer is a 1 composite diaphragm integrated with an Elliptical Oblate Spheroidal EOS Waveguide with 60 x 100 degree dispersion Now that s a lot of technical talk Some of us dig such details Others just want to know what these things sound like Well those of us who heard them at the NAMM and AES Shows in a spectacular multichannel demonstration were awestruck by the clarity and imaging even at high SPLs The subwoofer delivers a b
44. struments The ATR 1 works by continuously tracking the pitch of an input sound and comparing it to a user defined scale The scale tone closest to the input is continuously identified If the input pitch exactly matches the scale tone no correction is applied If the input pitch varies from the desired scale pitch an output pitch is generated which is closer to the scale tone than the input pitch The ATR 1 allows you to program 50 different Scales For each you can define which notes will sound and which won t And for each note that will sound you can decide whether the ATR 1 will apply pitch correction to input pitches near that note or leave those pitches uncorrected You also have control over how rapidly the pitch adjustment is made toward the scale tone via the SPEED control Fast Speed settings are more appropriate for short duration notes and for mechanical instruments like an oboe or clarinet whose pitch typically changes almost instantly Slow Speed settings are better for longer notes where you want expressive pitch gestures like vibrato to come through at the output and for vocal and instrumental styles that are typified by gradual slides between pitches A slow setting can leave a Jnana y vibrato unmodified 0 A ea i while the average a pitch is accurately adjusted to be in tune The ATR 1 can even apply a vibrato to the input sound You can program the depth rate and delay or even control it in realtime via
45. t make mixing decisions and this is the area in which the LSR speakers are optimized for superb in room response By incorporating LSR into the system design requirements placement rules are relaxed a more stable image is maintained and off axis coloration is minimized Let s take a quick look at all three LSR speakers First up is the LSR32 Linear Spatial Reference Studio Monitor 999 list which combines the latest in JBL transducer and system technology with recent breakthroughs in psychoacoustic research to provide a more accurate studio reference even in multi speaker configurations Differential Drive Technology with dynamic braking is employed for extended low frequency response and low power compression The company states that the LSR32 is by design a mid field monitor The LSR32 s 12 252G Low Frequency Transducer is based on JBL s patented DCD technology With the Neodymium structure and dual drive coils power compression is kept to a minimum to reduce the fatigue of spectral shift as power levels increase The cone is made of a graphite polypropylene composite forming a rigid piston supported by a soft butyl rubber surround The C500G Midrange Transducer is a 2 neodymium magnet structure with a woven 2 Kevlar cone In order to achieve the goal of accurate spatial response the crossover points between low and high frequency drivers are located at 250 Hz and 2 2 kHz Finally the 053ti High Frequency Transducer is a 1 composite di
46. t to be caught up with the back order situ ation by the time you read this though we still recommend you place your order now because even as the supply has increased So has the demand Naturally the industry press has been raving about the D8B Frank Wells of Audio Media Magazine May 1998 wrote The desk will find an instant home not only in recording facilities but in video post and broadcast as well Whereas the D8B can be effectively controlled by the work surface alone few end users will want to pass up the stunning display SVGA and powerful virtual control surface Meanwhile George Petersen in a Mix Magazine Field Test remarked The Digital 8 Bus is a great sounding flexible and ergonomically sensible digital board that s affordable and ready to meet the needs of the 1990s and beyond Thumbs up on this one If you haven t been reading Sweet Notes or Mix or Key board or EQ or every other industry journal you might be won dering what the big deal is Why are those in the know calling the Mackie Digital 8eBus the most powerful digital con J E sole made today Part of it is the basic philosophy af a behind the units cre a ation When Wiz r Am TT Mackie put fan cs coe together a Pbk ii Te z Tiit i 7 L k E A u ri PER WAL tl i li F i i i i EE D8B de sign team he gave them z a deceptively simple goal Do digital right In other words
47. tion switches and encoders Literally every parameter capable of automation in Pro Tools TDM systems can be controlled right from the ProControl surface Fader and send levels pan position scrub shuttle and transport control edit tools modes and plug in access and editing are all available from the ProControl Surface Control room and studio monitoring of stereo or surround sound Pro Tools mixes is also provided ProControl even includes an integrated Trackpad for those rare times when you need to access an item on the Pro Tools graphic inter face Located in the Main Section of ProControl the Channel Matrix contains 32 dedicated illuminated channel buttons 4 bank switches the Channel Group LED Display and other function buttons which allows you to quickly navigate through large Pro Tools sessions Using the matrix you can view the status of functions like solo mute and record readys on channels which are not currently displayed in the Fader Section In addition you can quickly scan a large console configura tion in order to locate a specific channel s and immediately re configure the Fader section to display the desired group of channels There s a lot more you ll want to know about ProControl if you re a Pro Tools user or even if you ve been considering the purchase of a Pro Tools system And please try to disregard the fact that the ProControl unit will look so totally cool in your studio we know you re beyond such super
48. ty to recall every parameter on the desk in a mere 8 micro seconds There s lots more to tell you about this so look for a full report probably in our next issue PANASONIC upgraded their DA7 software to version 1 1 which adds comprehen sive MIDI communication enhanced EQ and surround sound capabilities and several other improvements The upgrade is free to all users RODE debuted a new tube microphone called the NTV 1199 It has an edge connected diaphragm like the legendary AKG C12 It seemed to have a very warm and punchy sound while being very low noise for a tube SONIC SOLUTIONS is leading the way in developing mastering tools for DVD Their Continued on Page 10 NEED IT TOMORROW We can ship via FedEx for next day delivery 219 432 8176 Sweet Notes Late Fall 1998 lt was and probably still is the biggest news of 1998 On June 30th Mackie Designs shipped the very first of its much anticipated 56 input 72 channel fully automated Digital 8e Bus Mixers 9999 list and reaction from the music world has been as you might expect phenomenal Always super quality con scious Mackie put every one of its first production units through a thorough real world mix test before sending them out the door and this led to some delays in getting enough consoles into the hands of all those people who wanted one Here at Sweetwater units have been arriving just about ev ery day and we expec
49. u ANTARES new ATR 1 pitch correction hardware box was being put to the test sang through it and it even made me sound on key Wow It really works can think of some country singers I d like to give one of these to See Page 11 for more APOGEE gave us a nice demo of their newest stuff The Rosetta A D 1295 is their new budget converter system It is a two channel unit with built in ADAT Lightpipe and TDIF connections It will do 24 bit conversion or lower bit depths with UV 22 process They also announced plans to release an improved version of UV 22 called UV 22HR Existing AD 8000 units will be able to be upgraded ART debuted a sexy looking new processor called DMU Pro 499 which is based on a dual processor architecture They also have a new Tube mic preamp and a new dual tube EQ both priced at 499 list BEYERDYNAMIC had a pair of their MCD 100 digital microphones hooked up and they sounded beautiful There is only so much one can hear at a trade show but heard enough to make me want to hear more under more controlled circumstances DIGIDESIGN as usual had the largest most crowded booth at the show and and shook everyone up with their announcement and working demos of Pro Tools on Windows NT machines EARTHWORKS had the new SR71 399 live cardioid microphone on display It is housed in a much more rugged case than their precision studio mics EMUeENSONIQ Get used to seeing those names together The Proteus 2000 149
50. u ve inserted the adaptor terminator you need to go into the SCSI Bios for your host adaptor on bootup and disable Ultrawide support for all SCSI 2 devices in the chain While in the Bios you also need to disable the SCAMS At this point there should be no communication issues Another viable option is to add a second host adaptor and in some instances this may be desirable Q just bought a new Zip drive from Sam s Club and it s not working with my Kurzweil Help What s the problem here AXE Zip and Jaz drives are available in SCSI and Parallel port models As it turns out Sam s sells the parallel port model Unfortunately your Kurzweil re quires a SCSI model Hope you saved that receipt Q2 Do need a CADI if want SMPTE MIDI or Video sync signals for my Alesis M20 digital multitrack AXE No Unlike the BRC a CADI is actually a dupli cate of the front panel controls of the M20 and does not have the sync functions inside it The M20 itself generates all these sync signals and can be used alone if you want to be very frugal However the CADI is very handy when using more than one M20 you do have more than one don t you and it also has a few more locate tricks up its sleeve NO DELAYS ORDERS PROCESSED SAME DAY In most cases orders ship the same day we receive them Late Fall 1998 By David Stewart Just when we recovered from the Summer NAMM Show it s time to jump back on a jet and go to San Fran
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