WHAT'S NEW

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

MACKIE MDR24/96

Mackie's MDR24/96 ($1,995), the lower-priced sibling of the HDR24/96, has 24-track recording at a 48 kHz sampling rate. (The 96 kHz sampling rate requires third-party converters.) The MDR24/96 has a 20 GB hard disk that gives you 100 minutes of recording, a bay for removable hard drives or Mackie's Project cartridges, and a 3.5-inch drive bay for loading tempo maps or for upgrading system software.

The 4U MDR24/96 has random-access, nondestructive editing capabilities, but it's missing the HDR24/96's sophisticated graphical editing features. The front panel offers tape-machine-style transport controls, 24 LED monitoring-level meters, recording-status indicators, and track-arming buttons.

The MDR24/96 ships with three analog I/O cards that use DB25 connectors for inputs and outputs. The unit has a 100Base-T Ethernet port and MIDI In and Out jacks. Expansion options are available for digital I/O. Mackie Designs; tel. (800) 898-3211 or (425) 487-4333; e-mail sales@mackie.com; Web www.mackie.com.

AARDVARK DIRECT PRO Q10

The Direct Pro Q10 system ($999) from Aardvark combines a PCI card and 1U digital-audio interface, allowing you to simultaneously record ten channels of audio to your Windows computer. (Mac OS drivers are in development.) Recording resolution is 24-bit, and sampling rates of 32, 44.1, and 48 kHz are supported. Aardvark promises 96 kHz recording capabilities in a future software revision.

The interface includes eight combo jacks that accept XLR or balanced ¼-inch line inputs. Two inputs can be switched to accept high-impedance signals. The XLR inputs feature discrete, high-quality preamps and phantom power.

The front panel has a phantom-power button with an LED indicator, trim pots for the high-impedance inputs, a ¼-inch stereo headphone jack, and separate volume knobs for the monitor and headphone outputs.

The Q10's back panel has four unbalanced ¼-inch inserts, eight balanced ¼-inch outputs, and two balanced ¼-inch monitor outputs. The Q10 offers 24-bit digital I/O with coaxial S/PDIF connectors. To keep audio in sync, the Q10 sends and receives word clock through BNC in and out ports. You can install a maximum of four Q10 systems in your computer and run them in sync.

Aardvark bundles Cakewalk's Pro Audio 9 with the hardware. A software mixer with a drag-and-drop patch bay is also included. Aardvark; tel. (734) 665-8899; e-mail lovell@aardvark-pro.com; Web www.aardvark-pro.com.

NOVATION A-STATION

Novation's A-Station ($699) is a 1U, 8-note polyphonic analog modeling synth. Although it's a direct descendent of Novation's BassStation monophonic synth, the A-Station has technology used in the Nova and Supernova ll.

The A-Station has 25 knobs for real-time control of voicing parameters, and each knob sends MIDI Control Change messages. You can process external audio signals using the 12-band vocoder or use the signals as an oscillator waveform source.

The A-station's three oscillators provide square, sawtooth, triangle, sine, and pulse waves. The Unison setting lets you double up waveforms to thicken the sound. Oscillator Sync, FM, and a noise source are also available. You can select a 12 dB or a 24 dB lowpass filter.

The A-Station has two ADSR envelope generators (EGs). The depth of Envelope 2 ranges from -100 to 100 percent. External audio can be used to trigger the EGs.

You can modulate pulse width using Envelope 2, LFO 2, or manually. LFO 1 and 2 offer sample-and-hold, triangle, sawtooth, and square wave shapes.

Onboard effects include distortion, chorus, reverb, and delay. Panning, delay, and the onboard arpeggiator can be synced to MIDI Clock, and LFOs can sync at different time signatures for polyrhythmic tempo-based effects.

Back-panel I/O includes MIDI In, Out, and Thru; two unbalanced ¼-inch audio outputs; and two unbalanced ¼-inch inputs for external signals. Novation USA; tel. (888) 782-3166 or 44-162-882-8880; e-mail salesusa@novationusa.com; Web www.novationusa.com.