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Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!wuarchive!mit-eddie!media-lab!sracer
From: sracer@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Andy Hong )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.sys.mac.wanted
Subject: Re: Audio Digitizing.
Keywords: audio, digitizing, MacRecorder, Sound, CD, audio-peripheral
Message-ID: <3663@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Date: 11 Oct 90 04:50:19 GMT
References: <2331@wroach.cactus.org>
Reply-To: sracer@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Andy Hong (Hey Dude))
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA
Lines: 54

In article <2331@wroach.cactus.org> mk@wroach.cactus.org (M. Khan) writes:

>  *********************************************************
>  *  What audio digitizing hardware is available for the  *
>  *  Mac II__ or SE?                                      *
>  *                                                       *
>  *  Is a CD quality digitizer possible? Available?       *
>  *********************************************************
>

Check out the products from Digidesign, Inc.  1360 Willow Rd Suite 101,
Menlo Park, CA 95066.  (415) 327-8811.

Digidesign has by far the largest installed base of CD-quality hard-disk
recording systems in the world.  Two products of particular interest are:

AudioMedia - For about $1000, you get a plug-in card for the Mac II that can
record two tracks of audio at various sampling rates up to 48 kHz.  With the
accompanying software, you can record and play back stereo sound files to
lengths limited only by your hard-disk size.  You can also perform real-time
digital equalization, non-destructive editing/splicing, and a host of other
neat operations.  And with a software package called "Deck" (about $350), you
can operate the audio-media card as a 4-track simul-sync recorder/reproducer
with built-in digital effects and equalization--not to mention perfect track
ping-pongs and track-collapsing with *no* degradation in sound.

Sound Tools - For about $3000, you can get a full-blown system with a plug-in
card (Sound Accelerator) for the Mac II or SE30, a high-quality outboard A-to-D
converter (AD IN), and an AES-EBU interface (DAT-IO) (for digital dubbing of
CD's and DAT's).  The latest version of the souped-up software allows editing
and playback with full-lockup to SMPTE timecode (for y'all audio/video dudes)
and digital transfer to most digital samplers and sampling keyboards, as well
as all the features of AudioMedia's software.

Both systems are CD-quality and operate in real-time on a Mac II or better.
Both plug-in cards are equipped with a Motorola 56001 DSP, the same chip that's
in the NeXT machine.

Other music-technology companies are supporting the Digidesign hardware as an
industry standard.  Alchemy and Opcode's Studio Vision both support the
AudioMedia and Sound Tools.  And Mark of the Unicorn's Performer sequencer,
like Opcode's Studio Vision, will soon offer real-time sound playback in
conjunction with MIDI-sequencing.

I've owned a Sound Tools system for almost two years now.  (In fact, one of my
two AD IN's is serial number 1.)  Not only do I use it for my work at MIT's
Media Lab, but I've found the system is invaluable for editing promos and
interviews for the radio station I moon-light.

If you need a another recommendation, ask Philip Glass.  He recorded his latest
CD entirely on a Sound Tools system.

--andy-- 
skate safe.  andy.