PORTABLE DIGITAL STUDIO UPDATE

Oct 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Marty Cutler

YAMAHA

Yamaha's AW2816 ($2,399) gives you 16 mono tracks and a stereo track of hard-disk recording. The unit can record 8 tracks or play 16 tracks simultaneously. The AW2816 supports 16- and 24-bit resolution and 44.1 and 48 kHz sampling rates. Internal processing is 32-bit with 44-bit EQ.

The unit offers almost four times the audio-processing power of Yamaha's AW4416 recorder. The two multi-effects processors include reverb, delay, distortion, filters, and dynamics processing. The mixer has nine motorized 60 mm faders (eight mono track faders and one master fader). Each channel provides 4-band parametric EQ and dynamics processing.

The AW2816 lets you store 96 scenes. It records all fader movement and parameter changes and transmits them as MIDI Control Change messages. The unit has bays for a 2.5-inch IDE hard drive (64 GB maximum) and a CD-RW drive.

For analog signals, the AW2816 has two combo jacks that accept XLR or balanced ¼-inch inputs, six balanced ¼-inch inputs, and one unbalanced ¼-inch high-impedance input. Analog outputs are two unbalanced RCA jacks for main outputs, two balanced ¼-inch monitor outs, four assignable unbalanced ¼-inch outs, and a ¼-inch stereo headphone jack. Two S/PDIF coaxial connectors handle digital I/O. Other connections include MIDI In, Out, and Thru and a ¼-inch footswitch jack. The AW2816 has a YGDAI card slot for expanding digital and analog I/O or for a Waves Y56K card. Yamaha Corporation of America; tel. (714) 522-9011; e-mail info@yamaha.com; Web www.yamaha.com or www.yamahasynth.com.

KORG

Korg's pocket-size Pandora PXR4 ($500) is a 4-track portable digital studio. Each track has eight virtual tracks, and there are three modes of digital-audio compression: High Quality, Standard, and Economy. The PXR4 uses SmartMedia cards from 4 to 128 MB in size. With a SmartMedia Card reader, the PXR4 can off-load stereo MPEG files to your computer.

You get four track faders and a master fader. The faders can also be used for editing. The four-way cursor and rotary encoder let you navigate the backlit LCD and change values. Editing functions include Bounce, Copy, Insert, Erase, Delete, and Time Compression and Expansion, with 99 marker points per song and one level of undo.

The PXR4's 100 preset effects programs include cabinet modeling, mic simulation, reverb, delay, and modulation. It has a built-in mic, 55 PCM rhythm patterns, and 32 metronome patterns.

Analog inputs are an unbalanced ¼-inch jack with a switch accommodating high- and low-impedance signals, and a stereo ⅛-inch minijack that accepts line or mic input. Outputs are an ⅛-inch stereo minijack, an ⅛-inch stereo headphone jack, and a USB port. The PXR4 runs on two AA batteries or the supplied AC power adapter. Korg USA, Inc.; tel. (516) 333-9100; Web www.korg.com.

ROLAND

Roland's CDX-1 DiscLab ($1,495) combines a CD burner and phrase sampler with an 8-track recorder. Two tracks can be recorded simultaneously to CD-R or CD-RW directly from the analog inputs. The CDX-1 supports 44.1 kHz, 24-bit recording.

The unit's eight pads trigger sampled phrases. Users get as many as 512 phrases divided into 64 banks. Samples can be loaded from WAV-format or audio sample CDs or recorded on the fly and then edited with tools such as time compression, bpm syncing, and trimming. Its 15 MB of sample RAM can be expanded to 128 MB.

Stereo effects include reverb, delay, and modulation as well as algorithms from Roland's Grooveboxes. The CDX-1's mastering toolkit gives you multiband dynamics processing and 4-band EQ.

Analog inputs are two XLR jacks, two balanced ¼-inch mic inputs, a high-impedance ¼-inch jack, and two RCA jacks. Analog outputs are two RCA jacks and a ¼-inch stereo headphone jack. Digital I/O is S/PDIF on coaxial connectors. Additional connectors are MIDI In, Out, and Thru ports and a ¼-inch footswitch jack. Roland Corporation U.S.; tel. (323) 890-3700; Web www.rolandus.com.