KAT PERCUSSION CONTROLLERS ARE BACK!
WE ACCEPT ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS! Or charge it to your Sweetwater Technology Card! Call for details: (219) 432-8176

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LEXICON MPX1: NO COMPROMISE REVERB & EFFECTS
Heres a reasonable benchmark for any multi effects processor: Can it run separate reverb, chorus and delay effects each in true stereo (that is, with independent left/right processing), in any order and without any compromise in the overall sound quality all at the same time? Surprisingly, many other multi effects units just cant meet this basic requirement. Enter the Lexicon MPX1, an effects processor that not only meets this benchmark, but has power left over to run additional effects. Yeah, you think, but at what price? Be prepared to be amazed, the MPX1 carries a suggested retail price of just $1299. Do we have your interest now? See, the MPX1 employs dual complementary processing architecture that is, it has two completely independent DSP processors. And Lexicons propriThe Lexicon MPX1 literally redefines the state-of-the-art in digital multi effects processors etary Lexichip is dedicated to delivering world class stereo reverb and ambience algorithms. A separate, fast-math DSP processor is used to create all the other studio is in lush, true stereo (no summing!). The ordering and routing of the six effects blocks is quality effects. Meaning the very best stereo reverberation and ambience algorithms are also completely independent within each program. It seems a little silly to talk about sound quality when you cant actually hear anyavailable all the time, and theres plenty of horsepower left for true, no compromise thing (at least until the interactive version of Sweet Notes goes online), but everyone pitch shifting, EQ or modulation effects. Actually, the basic effects blocks in the MPX1 are accessible at all times via dedi- knows that the product designers at Lexicon arent about to let something out the door cated, back-lit buttons on the front panel. The individual effects in the MPX1 have all of that doesnt meet their lofty standards for sonic excellence, and the MPX1 is no excepthe features youd expect from a dedicated processor: Each effect block is totally inde- tion. What you hear in programs with hip names as MPX Blue, 480PrimeFlange, pendent with its own mix, level and bypass controls. The audio path through each effect Continued on page 7
SONY PCM 2600 DAT RECORDER FEATURES SUPER BIT MAPPING
Okay. Super Bit Mapping.What the heck is it and why should you want it? Super Bit Mapping (SBM) is a process designed to get the equivalent of 20-bit performance from a 16-bit format like DAT or CD. How does it work? Well, SBM is an intelligent filter process that takes advantage of the human ears non-linear frequency response. Since our ears are less sensitive to higher and lower frequencies, the process uses noise-shaping to distribute digital quantization noise in the areas of frequency response where the ear is much less likely to perceive it.

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Page 4
When the editor announced that there would be an failed to deliver flawless performance. magazine to review some new mics. One was the AKG article in this issue of Sweet Notes on AKG microFast forward a few years. A customer (who shall re414B/TLII ($1675 list). This mic was specifically dephones, I immediately volunteered to write it. Why? Bemain nameless, but he knows who he is) called to say signed to faithfully capture the legendary sound of the cause Ive been using AKG mics for quite a while now, how impressed he was with my samples and asked that I original AKG C12 (which, if you can find one, will set you day in, day out, year after year. Yes, you can learn a lot do some custom work for him. Offhandedly, he asked back more than a few about a product by reading the which mics I was using, and when I told bucks). Frankly, being an specs and looking at frequency him C1000s, he was amazed and asked AKG fan already, I had response graphs or polar pathow much better my samples might be if I nothing but praise for this tern graphics, but when it were using, say, an AKG 414. My answer mic. Its transformerless, comes right down to it, tiny was something like, probably better. The so you get super powerful variations in specs often amount next day a FedEx delivery arrived at my distortion-free low end reto big differences in sound qualdoor with a brand new AKG 414B-ULS production, plus that ity. And in my experience, getinside ($1249 list in case youre wondermuch sought-after vintage ting first-hand information has ing). Naturally, I was floored. Even more sound. To my ears it may always proven valuable. So Ill importantly, I was ecstatic when I began not be quite as accurate as share mine with you. using it. The frequency response is near the 414B-ULS (theres an Let me start at the beginruler flat from 20Hz-20kHz, it has four acoustically-induced freAKG C1000S ning. Back in the 1970s, when I polar patterns, a two-position bass rolloff quency response rise bewas composing music onto my switch and built-in -10 and -20dB pads. tween 3kHz and about C414 TLII four track Teac 3340, I had two This meant I had to buy a second 414 5kHz), but it sure has a mics, a Shure SM58 (left over hey, everyone should have this probbeautiful open sound that from my days in my old band) I immediately found to be lem from Sweetwater, of course and and a Sony electret condenser mic that the dealer threw pleasing to my ears. they were thorough enough to look through their entire in along with the Teac recorder. Back then I seemed to One day I hope to own stock and find the one 414 that have a lot of time and I darn near wore those mics out an AKG C12VR Tube mimost closely matched mine so that recording day after day, mostly with fairly acceptable crophone (dont we all?), though admittedly, givem its Id effectively have a matched pair. results (I eventually did wear the Teac out and it was $4540 list price, Ill have to sell a lot of samples first. But About a year later, my studio retired in the early 1980s). Ive heard this mic on some recordings done in the Sweetload increased and I had to buy an water studios and all I can say is. spectacular! additional mic. Unable to afford yet When I began my career as a sound designer at about Most recently, some friends of mine that Id helped another 414, my Sweetwater sales the same time, I traded another musician my Sony conwith an album project needed some dependable mics for engineer suggested an AKG denser for an AKG D1200, simply for the reason that I club work. I immediately suggested the new AKG EmoC3000, a model which had just knew AKG was a pretion series (prices start at $120 list for the model D770), been released. At $749 (retail, of mium mic. That and and I'm happy to report that theyre absolutely thrilled at course) it was reasonably priced the SM58 did most of AKG C3000 the sound they get from these mics (they purchased the and had features and performance my early work with model D880s). More importantly, they dont have to treat that came quite close to that of the 12-bit samplers, but them with kid gloves. Theyve taken a fair beating the last 414. In fact, I never once made a when I was ready to few months or so and keep coming back for more. recording with this mic where I move up to 16-bit So before you choose any mic, take a close look at wished Id had one more 414 machines, I knew I yes, the mic is that good, plus its D880 Emotion AKGs full line. Call your Sweetwater sales engineer and needed a higher qualinternal elastic suspension pretty much eliminates the together the two of you can decide if one of these fine ity mic, and considerneed for an external shock mount. microphones will meet your specific needs. ing the ruggedness Not too long ago, I got an assignment from an audio Jim Miller and performance of the D1200, I decided You hear a lot these days about leasing (you cant turn on another AKG prodon the TV without seeing ads for leasing cars), and you wonuct, in this case a set der if maybe thats the way to go to pick up the equipment of AKG C1000Ss. If you need for your studio. But you have questions. Its only you go and listen to natural, and in response to the many inquiries we get each samples in the Straday from customers regarding our leasing plans, we decided tus Sounds library (released by Sweetwater, among othto include some information in this issue that might help. ers), youll be hearing these particular AKG mics in the The first question is simple: how do I qualify? Accordmajority of the recordings. ing to Tony Strickler, Director of Finance here at Sweetwater, I still have a number of beautiful recordings in my there are just two basic criteria for qualification, A business DAT library waiting to be digitized that were made using checking account thats been open for two years or more only the C1000s. I also did some live location recordings and clean credit history. If you have both of these, qualification is usually a breeze, and in most cases we can get you qualified for musicians back in California, and the C1000s always in about 48 hours with just a little cooperation from your bank. We dont even need to see any tax returns. produced a finished product that pleased the performBut what are the benefits of leasing as opposed to getting a personal or business loan from the bank or putting your ers. At a list price of just $524, this is one great perpurchase on a credit card? Says Tony, Leasing frees up your cash flow because, in most cases, a lease does not count former. It features both cardioid and hypercardioid opagainst your personal credit. Only the monthly payment shows up on your credit report, not the entire amount of the lease. eration and an effective 50Hz-20kHz frequency range. Therefore you can use your cash or existing credit for other pressing items like advertising, overhead costs and inventory. Theres a compartment inside the mic that holds a nineOn a lease program, you get 100% financing with no down payment (though first and last months payment is usually volt battery, so you can take this mic out into the field required), plus youre also building up a new credit line. Tony continues by adding, There are typically some important tax and not worry about having access to phantom power via benefits available when you lease, though its up to your accountant or tax professional to determine whats right for you. a console. I cant even begin to tell you how much punish Continued on page 8 ment these mics took over the years, yet they never once

AKG MICS: A USERS PERSPECTIVE
IF ITS BROKEN AND YOU NEED IT FIXED. Our Service Department is Factory Authorized! (219) 432-8176
Sweet Notes Winter 1997 By Chuck and Brenda Surack Owners, Sweetwater Sound Seems like it was just a few months ago that we were getting used to the idea that it was 1996 already. and now look, here it is, another brand new year! Wow! Well, we certainly hope that each and every one of you had a most wonderful holiday season. And of course, if any of us here at Sweetwater was able to make the holiday even brighter by taking care of your needs during this busy time of the year, well, were sincerely honored that we had the opportunity to help. But as we all head into this bright new year, theres so much happening around here that it makes us a bit dizzy. Our brand new multi-level warehouse is well underway and will probably be ready to move into in the early spring barring any really bad weather, that is. But right now things are proceeding smoothly and well be showing you some pictures in our next issue, just to give you an idea as to the scope of this facility which will actually be bigger than our entire existing multi-story building as it now stands. Its pretty mind-boggling, but it will finally give us not only the storage space to stock thousands more products today, but it will also allow for plenty of future expansion. Since each year Sweetwater is growing at an unprecedented rate, we felt it was well worth the time and investment to be prepared for all the growth that lies ahead. Not only have we already added many new lines and dozens of new and exciting products, but we are constantly negotiating with all the major manufacturers to make sure that each and every one of you will have access to the very latest breakthrough technology at affordable prices. And theres the added bonus of having access to our superb technical support department to make sure all the equipment in your studio works perfectly with everything else. Theres a lot of really exciting news that we look forward to bringing you in the months to come, so be sure to keep your eyes on these pages! By the way, did you get your copy of our special Hot Picks Product Guide? Due to the overwhelming demand from thousands of customers over the last year or so, we put together this very special

Q: I just purchased a new Pro Tools III System and I am not quite sure how much memory I should allocate to Pro Tools and how much to DAE. I have heard that if the amount of allocated memory is not correctly set it can really affect system performance. What are your recommendations? A: Up to a point, more is always better. Digidesign recommends that for Pro Tools 3.2 you have a minimum of 16MB of RAM in your computer (and you will probably need more than this for real world situations). Pro Tools 4 will up this requirement to 32MB of RAM total. As far as the applications are concerned, a good starting point for the Pro Tools application is between 8 and 10 megs. This would work for commercial spots and short songs. If you are doing really long sessions you need to increase it to 12-15 megs. DAE (Digidesign Audio Engine) is a bit more difficult. The amount of RAM you need to allocate to DAE is directly related to the number of plug-ins you have installed. A core system with no additional plug-ins should be set between 7 and 9 megs. You should increase the memory allocation by 1 meg for every plug-in you have installed. Some complex plug-ins such as Focusrite's D2 and TC Electronics TC Tools actually recommend that you increase the DAE by 2 megs per plug-in. Here is an example of a real world system: Core Protools Application = 12 megs Core DAE = 8 megs TC Tools = 2 megs Dverb = 1 meg DPP1 = 1 meg D2 = 2 megs JVP = 1 meg L1 = 1 meg Total DAE allocation = 16 megs. Total RAM used for Digi = 28 megs, and this doesn't even count your system software! How to change the memory allocation of an application: 1) Locate the unopened application you wish to change and click on the application icon one time only. This will highlight the application (If the application opens, you have double clicked on it and you will now need to QUIT the application). 2) Go to the file menu and select GET INFO (You can also use the key combination of Command I for this as well). 3) Click on the box next to Preferred size. 4) Type in the value you wish to allocate to that application. 5) Close the info box. It's that simple. RAM is so much less expensive these days than it was just a few years ago that it makes sense to put a large amount in any computer. Most big applications will run faster if they have more RAM allocated to them. People who use Photoshop for a living often have over 300 megs of RAM in their machines! 64 meg is usually plenty to run all but the biggest Pro Tools systems. Q: I just bought a new Kurzweil K2500 from Sweetwater and I want to know how I determine what options I have installed in my machine. A: There are several options available for the K2500 and more are on the way. Here is a break Continued on page 10

NEW K2000 TRADE-IN PLAN UNVEILED
You own a K2000, but youve been looking long and hard at a new K2500 or a K2VX, right?
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Page 7

KURZWEILS PC88 CONTROLLER: THE BEST JUST GOT BETTER
Every serious keyboard player dreams of having a great-feeling 88-note controller at their fingertips (literally!). Those extra octaves allow your hands to race up and down the keyboard without ever having to stop and hit a transpose button (we all know what a pain that is). Then theres the smooth feel of a truly responsive, weighted action keyboard, something you cant get from a typical synth keyboard. For those players Kurzweil Music Systems designed the PC88 Performance Controller. But typical of a Kurzweil product, the engineering team wasnt content to make this another me-too MIDI controller, so they decided to build in a set of superb, Kurzweil-quality sounds. Check out the PC88's Performance section: Its 64 presets include Kurzweil's latest, critically-acclaimed Grand Piano samples, plus other classic sounds like Rhodes electric pianos, new Clavinet and harpsichord, rock and jazz organs, bass, acoustic guitar, vibes, orchestral strings and more. Thats 64 super factory preset sounds a working musician really can't do without (plus room for another 100 of your own),
NOW WITH SOME OF THE LONGEST HOURS IN THE BUSINESS
Now its not only the most powerful MIDI controller, but thanks to a special buy, Sweetwater is offering the PC88 at an unheard-of low price!
9 AM - 9 PM MON-THURS 9 AM - 8 PM FRIDAYS 9 AM - 7 PM SATURDAYS
FAX: (219) 432-1758 E-mail: "sales@sweetwater.com
and all with full 32-note polyphony. This is one killer controller! But theres more: the PC88s MIDI Controller section is designed for fast, intuitive access, with full MIDI functionality. It can transmit on four MIDI channels simultaneously, is 16-part multi-timbral, and offers four completely independent zones which can overlap. Each zone has access to all controllers: pitch and mod wheels, four pedal controllers, two footswitches, four sliders, three switches and keyboard mono pressure. There's even an arpeggiator that can be synced to MIDI. And we havent even mentioned the built-in multi-effects unit yet! We could go on and on. But heres the part youre going to really love: Sweetwater has made a special purchase of PC88s from the factory and is offering them to you at spectacularly low prices in fact, the prices are so low we cant even print them (thats not a cop-out folks, we do have to honor all our agreements with manufacturers). We need to mention that all these units have minor (in some cases almost unnoticeable) cosmetic blemishes, but every one comes with a full factory warranty, and once you get to playing the nicest weighted action in the business, you wont even notice. We also have the PC88mx available at similar incredibly low prices. This is basically a PC88 with a full General MIDI set added, 200 more programs and a full 64voices of polyphony. So what are you waiting for? Give us a call now you wont believe how little it will cost you to add a PC88 to your stage or studio setup. And oh yes, you should probably hurry at these prices, these units wont last long!

We accept VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS and DISCOVER cards, or you can charge your order directly to your SWEETWATER TECHNOLOGY CARD (if you dont have one, well be happy to mail or fax you an application). We also accept money orders, bank drafts, personal checks (must clear before shipping) and C.O.D. orders. You may even be PRE-APPROVED FOR AN INSTANT LINE OF CREDIT ACCOUNT UP TO $50,000! (Amount may vary depending upon individual credit history call us for complete details)

SWEETWATER HAS IT ALL:

The Biggest Selection of Products IN STOCK! The Best Prices! The Most Knowledgeable Sales Staff Anywhere! The Finest Technical Support Department on the Entire Planet! PLUS OUR FAMOUS NO HYPE/NO HASSLES BEST VALUE GUARANTEE See, if youre not happy, were not happy! So if you purchase a product from our huge in-stock inventory and it just doesnt do the job for you, call your Sweetwater sales engineer immediately! Well do whatever it takes to make it right! We can exchange it for another item, give you credit towards a future purchase or just issue you a refund hey, its your choice. What could be simpler? All we ask is that you evaluate equipment in a timely manner (and please dont put it in your rack or pile other stuff on top of it). If youre not completely satisfied, return the item in like-new condition with all manuals and blank warranty cards in the original packaging (save all those boxes, people!). Nobody else in the industry takes care of its customers like Sweetwater!
The fine print reads: Refunds, credit and exchanges are for product value only and do not include shipping costs. The item must exhibit no cosmetic damage or signs of wear. Equipment must be in manufacturers original carton with manuals, warranty cards, disks, etc. Ship items in a sturdy box and secure with heavy duty tape. Special orders are excluded.
LEXICON MPX1 EFFECTS PROCESSOR
Continued from page 3 Vintage Trem and AutoWahChorus is nothing short of fantastic! The reverbs are incredibly smooth with absolutely no graininess at the tail-end (a place where inferior 'verbs really show their true colors). The Chorus effect is fat and literally immerses you in lushness. Delay effects are crisp and detailed. The Flange effects sweep through the soundfield with a mind-blowingswoosh thats nothing short of spectacular. And this is just the start. Also available within the effects blocks are Phaser, Rotary Cabinet, Comb filter, Auto Wah, Overdrive, a seemingly infinite number of EQ options, plus other effects you just have to hear to appreciate (like Looper, Ducker, Orbits, Centrifuge and Aerosol). Sporting a pair of 1/4" TRS phone jacks plus balanced XLR connectors for inputs and outputs, switchable +4dB balanced/-10dB unbalanced operation, a 20-bit D/A and 18-bit A/D converter, frequency response of 20Hz to 20kHz plus/minus an insignificant 1dB, a dynamic range of 95dB (minimum) and a signal-to-noise ratio of 90dB (minimum), were talking serious sonic performance here. Hey, the bottom line is that its from Lexicon, it has the features and specs youre looking for and it sounds like. well, like a Lexicon should! So call your Sweetwater sales engineer immediately to find out your incredibly affordable price and other important information on the MPX1 right now! Or just order one now youre gonna love it!

NEED IT RIGHT AWAY? We can ship any product to you overnight! Call for details: (219) 432-8176

Page 8

If youre an educator in the field of music, all too often you keyboard labs. Well work with you, within your budget, to help hear that money is tight and that budgets are shrinking. You hate you achieve outstanding results almost immediately. hearing that, and so do we. Sweetwaters commitment to supportJust a few of our credits include the Merrillville Commuing music educators and teachers never ends, because we believe nity School District (Indiana), where we installed both a multistrongly that exposure to the arts is critical for todays young people. Thats why weve established our own in-house Education Task Force to make absolutely certain that you have access to valuable resources that can enhance and augment your efforts in music education, and we plan to take an active role wherever we can to help educators implement any and all music programs that involve current technology. Music is everywhere today, and its truly a universal language that transcends most cultural barriers, and more importantly, the newest technology is truly exciting to students, making it more likely that they will want to learn about music and then stick with it. We know from personal Students at Indiana University today have access to complete MIDI stations experience exactly how this exposure can enrich everyones lives. station MIDI keyboard and computer lab, as well as a complete So what does all this mean to you, a music educator with a digital audio recording studio for use by both high school and junmission to teach America's youth about the pleasures of playing ior high school students. and creating music? Educational instruction involving the use of At Indiana University (see photo above), we've completed current high-tech music hardware and software offers unique posPhase One of what will be a three year project to place 360 (yes, sibilities for music education. Adoption of this technology, along that's three hundred and sixty!) MIDI stations into the brand new with a clever and well-planned curriculum will give faculty mem- all-digital music library on the main IU campus in Bloomington. bers the tools to educate their students in almost all the musical Each station consists of a personal computer (either Mac or IBM/ disciplines: keyboard performance, electronic music synthesis, the PC) with a selection of Mark of the Unicorn and Coda software, as physics of sound, composition and many more. well as a Kurzweil K2000 or K2500 sampling synthesizer. Once Of course, the tools you need to achieve these goals are of completed, this will be the largest installation of its kind in utmost importance, so you want to be sure that you not only get the world and will help to define the direction of similar educathe right equipment, but that you have a support staff available to tional installations in the years to come. make sure it all runs perfectly together and answer all your quesOther institutions weve worked with include the University of tions. With the resources that we have at our disposal here at Colorado, New York University, Seattle Pacific, University of Texas Sweetwater, we are capable of designing a MIDI studio or keyin Austin and the University of Cincinnati to name a few. board lab from small, single station setups to huge, multi-station We believe Sweetwater Sound should be your first choice should

BEYERDYNAMIC CLASSIC MICS
The M 88 and M 500 microphones from Beyerdynamic are considered classics, and in more ways than just their names. Each has remained unrivaled for pure sound quality and accuracy. And now you can be one of the priveledged few to own one of these superb mics in their limited edition form. This collection has been limited to 999 pieces each worldwide. Their design, weight and materials have been reproduced exactly to match the originals. Each mic is packaged in a handsome mahogany case lined with black velveteen and inlaid with a silver plaque and solid clasp to safeguard your historic investment. Each mic features a chromium plated stainless steel basket with brass barrel specially coated in a combination of nickel and chrome, plus theres a unique engraved serial number on each with Classic Limited Edition logo. You also get a certificate of authenticity. The M 88 ($499 list) is a dynamic moving coil mic with performance that clearly defines its classic status with unrivalled off-axis rejection for live sound applications, extended low and high end and high SPL capability. Its frequency response of 30-20,000Hz is perfectly flat and uncolored. The M 500 ($699 list) is a dynamic ribbon mic with the warmth, depth and clarity only available from a ribbon design. Its crystal clear top end and frequency response curve of 40-18,000 Hz results in a brilliance and definition that provides incredible presence. Both mics feature hypercardioid polar patterns for extremely high gain before feedback in live situations. These mics may not be for everyone, but theres no denying their credentials. Call Sweetwater today for your special pricing on these classic mics and be one of the few to own a piece of audio history!

KAT PERCUSSION

Continued from page 2 to players requests for FSR technology in a size and configuration that rivals an acoustic drum kit. With 24 playing surfaces in one highly portable rig, youll wonder why the heck youve been hauling around all that acoustic stuff for so many years. The layout is totally drum kit-like and has a responsive surface thats easy to play on. And youll definitely feel like playing once you connect the trapKAT to a General MIDI system and play along with the built-in grooves. The malletKAT ($2299 list) and malletKAT PRO WS with integral sounds ($3199 list) is the favorite mallet-based controller among educators and performers alike. It can be used in a standard three octave size or expanded out to a full five octaves. With the built-in sounds on the PRO WS, you get piano, vibes, xylophone, tubular bells and over 100 other instruments to cover any gig. We have all these great KAT products available now. Call for additional information and your special pricing today!

SWEETWATER PROTECTS YOU WITH THE INDUSTRYS FIRST AND BEST NO HYPE/NO HASSLES 100% BEST VALUE GUARANTEE
IF YOURE NOT HAPPY, WERE NOT HAPPY! Call us for complete details: (219) 432-8176

Page 9

UPS: NOT JUST A SHIPPING METHOD
in voltage. Akin to the force of a tidal wave, a spike can enter electronic equipment and damage or completely destroy components. Typically spikes are caused by a nearby lightning strike, but can also occur when utility power comes back on line after having been knocked out by a storm. Effect: potentially catastrophic damage to hardware and loss of data! 3) A Surge is a short term increase in voltage, usually lasting no more than 1/120th of a second. The cause: high-powered electrical motors such as air conditioners, and household appliances in the vicinity. When this equipment switches off, the extra voltage is dissipated through the power line. Effect: Stress on delicate components and premature failure. 4) Noise, more technically referred to as ElectroMagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI). Electrical noise disrupts the smooth sine wave your gear expects from utility power. Many factors and phenomena, including lightning, load switching, generators, radio transmitters and industrial equipment can cause noise, either intermittent or chronic. Effect: Introduction of glitches and errors into audio and data paths. 5) Blackouts, a total loss of power. The cause is usually excessive demand on the power grid, lightning storms, ice on power lines, car accidents, backhoes, and on and on. Effect: Just randomly turn all your gear off at the same time while you are trying to record that next hit! Youll see. Okay, Ill admit I am paranoid, and possibly overly so, but I have learned the hard way that I must protect my studio devices. I have had everything from intermittent distortion to total failure (having to replace a motherboard) because of power problems. UPS devices from APC: A small investment for your peace of mind. When I finally learned of UPSs, I knew ity of providing clean and constant power to the tools that there was a crucial need for them in our industry! of our trade. It is a small investment to protect a much With the goal of being a complete solution for all larger one! We can no longer just slap a two-prong your studio needs, Sweetwater is proud to announce adapter on a unit and plug it into the wall. This is me that we are now stocking the American Power Contelling you that eventually (usually sooner than later) version (APC) line of UPS units. APC has won more you will find out that the power coming out of your awards for performance than all the other UPS manuwall is not what the unit really requires to perform facturers combined and are the clear leaders in UPS and continue performing for a long time. What UPS technology and power protection. The great thing is units do is provide a constant source of clean power. that the APC line protects against all the above probThere are many ways your local power company lems in one unit. But theres an added benefit thats can play havoc with your gear. Some examples: just as important: now you can even finish that Num1) A Sag, also know as a brownout, is a short term ber One hit during a complete power blackout since decrease in voltage levels. This is the most common the onboard battery can keep your gear running long power problem and is typically caused by the startup after the lights go out! Thats right APC modules power demands of many electrical devices in the vi- give you peace of mind plus an uninterruptable source cinity. Sags are also the utility companies means of of power when everyone else is looking for candles. coping with extraordinary power demands. In a pro- Its affordable peace of mind, considering there are cedure known as a rolling brownout, the utility will APC units starting at around $300 retail. Look on our Web Site for detailed APC info systematically lower voltage levels in certain areas for hours or even days at a time. Hot days, when air (www.sweetwater.com/apc/). There are several levconditioning usage is at its peak, will often prompt els of protection, depending on your needs, so call rolling brownouts. The final effect: a sag can starve your Sweetwater Sales Engineer now to determine a unit of the power it needs to function, causing unex- which is best to protect your gear, before you have to pected system crashes and reducing the life span of call our Service Department to fix it! Its not a quescomponents and electrical motors. tion of if your electricity service will cause you prob2) A Spike is an instantaneous, dramatic increase lems, its merely a question of when! By Kenny Bergle Sweetwater Sales Engineer UPS is an acronym for Uninterruptable Power Supply. This is a unit that provides clean, constant power to your very expensive, very sensitive electronic devices. If you knew how much the power supply fluctuates from your local utility service it would scare you into a possible solar energy generator frenzy! Seriously, ask any qualified electronics person what the single most common cause of electronic failure is. They would most likely reply that its inconsistent or dirty power. In fact, theoretically, if you had completely clean and constant level power, most of your electronic gear would never fail (at least not in your lifetime!). Computer people have known this for years, so most of the UPS units manufactured are sold in the computer arena. We musicians and studio owners need to wake up to the fact that most of the instruments we use, from keyboards to multitracks, are either full-fledged or at least mini-computers! We must bear the responsibilBy Daniel Fisher, Chief Soundware Engineer Happy New Year from the Soundware Development Facility! Im now starting my third year here and it seems like weve been exploding with new products lately. The recent release of our Ultimate Guitars CD-ROM for the K2000/K2500 has already generated a surprising amount of mail, e-mail and phone calls from professional musicians who have been completely knocked out by this amazing collection of new and vintage guitars. Ultimate Guitars contains over 100 files filled with more than 400 Megs of acoustic, electo-acoustic, clean electric and distorted guitars (plus basses, of course) all sampled to perfection by our own Jim Miller (Stratus Sounds). Jim not only writes our Tech Notes column, but he has also written tons of articles for Electronic Musician on the subject of sampling (theres one in the current issue, in fact). Jim personally played all the guitars on this CD ROM, and considering how long hes been playing the guitar (his band opened for Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s), you know hes come up with some absolutely killer sounds.

Here Dan carefully chooses his weapons: a K2500 or a Les Paul?
Most importantly, these incredibly well-recorded samples are not made from random guitars we just had lying around. Each guitar was selected for its reputation, rarity, tone quality and stylistic uses. These instruments would cost over $60,500 to own, not including the thousands you'd need for all the vintage and hi-tech amps and effects which were used in the sampling process. The professional quality instruments found on this library are set apart from the many other third party guitar CDs by their playability and musical response, not to mention their superb programming. Some companies big haired guitarist CDs and CD ROMs allow you to do little more than rearrange their guitar solos like a sliding-piece puzzle. Other CDs have nothing but strumming chords that may or may not be in your key and/or tempo. I personally spent many long nights in the Sweetwater Soundware studio putting the finishing touches on these guitars using the magic of V.A.S.T., adding amazingly play

Continued on page 10

WE STOCK THOUSANDS OF PRODUCTS FROM ALL MAJOR MANUFACTURERS! If you dont see it here, CALL US!

Page 10

SOUNDWARE SCENE
continued from page 9 able controllers to every file. Youll find slides, whammy effects, wah-wah, a unique key bend technique, brand new custom reverbs and other effects, plus a special fret slide which allows you to pitch bend up as if your fingers were actually sliding across several frets, just like a real guitarist would do when sliding up a whole step. At the last minute, just to make sure we had just about every sound youll ever need (and despite the fact we had over 300 megs worth of guitar and bass samples already), I flew down to Florida where Jim and I produced a set of classic, raw blues samples from a B.B. King Lucille and my personal favorite, the aptly named ZZ Lead on a Les Paul Signature model with four velocity levels of left hand fifths and five levels of right hand lead notes (including three full levels of harmonics!). Wow! Every time I play this one I get chills! Of course, theres more to life than guitars (or so Ive heard), so were also excited to announce the release of two very special low priced CD ROMs: Finger Juice and Pocket B-3 for the K2000/K2500. Finger Juice contains over 125 Megs of Hip Hop production tools like BreakBeats, Live Loops, 808 and 909 Kits and Loops, many vintage Drum Machines, plus lots of Synth Basses and Woofer Food along with Breaks, Tape Stops, Hits and Slurs. Theres even a bunch of funky Organs, Electric Pianos and Basses for your mix. Up until now theres been a shortage of truly grungy, grainy dance music samples for the K2000/K2500, but for only $99 you can now add that missing element to your own productions at a price that just cant be beat. We also have Finger Juice CDs available for E-mu samplers (ask your sales engineer). Now if B-3 Organs are your thing, get ready for the grooviest product you can actually fit in your pocket. Our Pocket B-3 CD-ROM for the K2000/K2500 has over 75 files of classic Hammond B-3 Drawbar settings which were recorded direct from the Leslie pre-amp. These files are an amazingly small 600K, yet they contain the straight B3 sound plus the luscious Chorus/Vibrato sound and can simulate your choice of one or two Leslie Rotors. These tiny sizes mean that you can have many of your own favorite Drawbar settings always loaded during your gig or studio session and still have plenty of RAM for your other samples (like some guitars from our Ultimate Guitars hint, hint). Weve also included a number of B-3s recorded with a real Leslie that allow you to morph between Slow and Fast speeds. And the best part about the Pocket B-3 CD ROM is that with a price of just $99, it wont take very much out of your pocket to own one. Finally, Id like to clue you into what has to be one of the hottest keyboard deals around: Sweetwater is offering an unbelievably low price on demo versions of the Kurzweil PC-88 Performance Controller. Before I started the Soundware Development Facility at Sweetwater, I was a Soundware Engineer at Kurzweil R&D. One of my projects was designing the GM set that ships with the PC-88mx, so I can tell you from an insiders point-of-view that this is one powerful, awesome-sounding keyboard that really feels great to the touch. Ask your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for your special price on this exceptional instrument or check out page 7 for more information. Thats it for this issue, but Ill be back next time with some important news about several very cool new projects that are in the works even as Im writing this!

Q&A

YOU CANT BEAT OUR BEST VALUE GUARANTEE! See page 7 for more details or call us at: (219) 432-8176
By Jim Miller If youve been reading this column for any length of time, you know that like many of you, I got my start as a musician by playing guitar. That was back in the 1960s when there was no such thing as a home studio or digital technology or computers or, well, pretty much anything that makes our lives so much better these days. You just bought a guitar you could afford, plugged it into an amp (usually a Fender) and played as loud as you possibly could mostly to irritate the old folks, but also because it was quite a rush! Today we have all sorts of tools to help us make music: CD quality digital multitracks, incredibly affordable studio quality reverbs, microphones with phenomenal specs and keyboards that can pretty much sound like any instrument, just to name a few innovations you read about every month in these pages. But with all this really amazing studio gear, some truly incredible advances in guitar technology may have gotten lost in the shuffle, so Im devoting this months column to reminding all you guitarists out there exactly what Sweetwater has available to make your personal musical adventure even more exciting. GUITARS. Probably nothing is more important than the axe you play, and the instruments being produced by companies all around the world are at an alltime high in terms of overall quality. Back in the 1980s, you stood just as good a chance of ending up with a real lemon as you did of getting a fine instrument, even from the big name guitar manufacturers. All that has changed of course, and though a really great guitar these days would never be considered cheap by any stretch of the imagination, you know that the instrument youre buying today will in all probability last you a lifetime. A few years ago, Sweetwater quietly began selling guitars from Godin, a small Canadian company that was making superb instruments the old fashioned way: one at a time. The first guitar that Sweetwater began stocking was the Multiac, which came in both steel and nylon string configurations. What set these guitars apart (aside from the awesome quality construction) was that these instruments were designed to produce lifelike acoustic tones via sophisticated piezo pickups and an on-board active EQ system. But there was more: they also came with a little 13-pin connector that gave Multiacs access to all the Roland GR-Series synthesizers, meaning that you could now have the best of both worlds: great acoustic tones without having to plug in a single microphone, and synth access via a guitar that was finally able to accurately trigger a synth without the delays and serious tracking inconsistencies of previous guitar synths. Guitarists, being a conservative group (this is not finger pointing I speak from experience), were slow to warm to these instruments, but once they actually got their hands on one, felt for themselves the quality of the craftsmanship and heard the sound these things produced, well, they knew they had to have one. I know I personally did after playing a nylon-string Multiac while visiting Sweetwater almost two years ago. On my last visit to Sweetwater this past October, my good buddy George Kabot (who is the resident Sweetwater Web Master and himself the proud owner of a Multiac steel string guitar) guided me into the labyrinthine depths of the huge Sweetwater warehouse to reveal the newest Godin guitars the company is now stocking, the magnificent LGXSA. Ill admit that I had seen ads in Guitar Player magazine for these particu-

convincing acoustic tones thanks to this boxs hollow body algorithm. Somebody says I need a Tom Petty vibe and I call up a Rickenbacker 12-string program. Allman Brothers sure, no problem, Les Paul and a Marshall coming up. In a pinch, Ive even used the VG-8 to lay down some pretty respectable bass tracks thanks to the units powerful pitch shifter. Every time I attend a guitar show, the biggest crowds are invariably gathered around the VG-8; often theres a line of people waiting to try it out for themselves. Hint: theres no waiting in line at Sweetwater, though theyve got a Roland VG-8 right there, waiting to get delivered right to your door! AMPS. Theres been somewhat of a renaissance of sorts lately in the amp world. Musicians have really begun to understand that the amp has as much to do with their overall tone as their guitar does. Unfortunately, this fascination with amps (particularly tube amps) has led to a huge rise in the price of vintage Fender, Vox and Marshall amps, as well as skyrocketing prices on newer high end amps (go ahead, just try PEAK to buy a Trainwreck amp today). Fortunately help is screen way in the form of digital technology. on the shot Now you might think that the word digital hardly belongs in the same paragraph with tube amps, but thanks to the latest cutting-edge digital technology, you can get incredibly close to the sound of a real tube amp in a modern, reliable amplifier that wont cost as much as a small condo in Maui. Case in point: If youre looking for the vintage look and feel (and sound) of a blonde '60s Bassman, but want the versatility of an amp that wont limit you to just one particular sound, take a look at the new Roland Blues Cube amps with Tube Logic. These babies sound great and use much the same breakthrough technology that allowed Roland engineers to develop the VG-8. Whats more, prices start at an incredibly low $479 (list) for the 30-watt BC30 with 12" speaker. Also new is the AxSys 212 from Line 6 with its proprietary TubeTone Processing. While in Ft. Wayne this past October, George Kabot and I spent a whole evening putting this monster through its paces and both agreed its potential was nearly limitless (oh, Sweetwater has more of these wonderful instruments George now owns one, by the way smart move on in stock in a variety of finishes (mahogany, amber and his part). Aside from its ability to sound like a Marshall a truly unique royal blue) with tightly flamed or highly stack, Fender Twin, Mesa/Boogie, Soldano and more, figured curly maple tops. At $1995 list, I strongly sugthis killer amp includes a full set of studio quality 24gest that before you buy any other guitar, you talk to bit digital effects. All for a list price just over a grand. your Sweetwater sales engineer about the LGX-SA. Of course Sweetwater also carries a full compleROLAND VG-8. From previous Tech Notes columns you know how impressed I am with this box. For ment of awesome guitar effects processors and other cool gear to help make your guitar sound even better. the last eight months or so Ive been doing session Ive personally been lobbying for Sweetwater to carry work on a few albums with some local musicians and the only thing I take with me on these gigs anymore is other guitars and amps (like Paul Reed Smiths, for example). If you have strong feelings on the subject yourthe VG-8 and an old beat-up Strat copy with a Roland self, send e-mail to sales@sweetwater.com and let GK-2A pickup mounted on it (but Ill now be using my new Godin LGX-SA, of course). them know youd like to be buying your guitar gear from the same dealer where you buy all your other This one unit gives me every classic guitar sound. stage, studio and MIDI equipment: Sweetwater Sound! I have yet to have someone suggest a sound at one of these sessions that I havent been able to call up within So until next issue, friends, heres hoping your 1997 is off to a great start and that we all get signed seconds with the VG-8, particularly since Ive installed to record for a major label real soon. the VG8S-1 Upgrade now you can even create very lar instruments and really wasnt all that impressed, and for good reason: these ads dont do the guitar justice. When George opened the case to reveal a shockingly beautiful, highly-figured maple top with stunning mahogany finish, I was floored. Holding it in my hands, feeling the tight construction, running my fingers over the ebony fingerboard. well, I had to have one! A top like this on a Gibson could run you over $5,000! Not only does this guitar offer great performance and beautiful woods, but it sounds incredible thanks to an innovative pickup system plus a built-in L.R. Baggs micro transducer in the bridge with active EQ for a truly convincing acoustic tone from a solid body guitar (its true). Then theres a 13-pin connector for hooking this beauty up to my Roland VG-8 (more about that in a minute). Ive included a photo of my new LGXSA and I think youll agree its a great-looking guitar.

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5335 BASS RD, FT. WAYNE, IN 46808
KORG 168RC DIGITAL MIXER LEXICON MPX1 SPL PROCESSORS LATEST E-MU SAMPLERS AKG MICS KAT PERCUSSION CONTROLLERS KURZWEIL PC88 CONTROLLER and much more
BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE SWEETWATER SOUND

GUITARS! SWEETWATER HAS THEM! Exclusive! See Page 3

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY DIRECT!

FALL 1997 ISSUE

KORG 168RC DIGITAL MIXER

INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCE FOR JUST $999!
Unfortunately the list price of $3200 may have been just a bit too steep for you. But now, for a limited time, and for about the same price as a typical high quality analog board, you can have this 16-channel mixer with 24 inputs, 8-bus architecture, four Aux buses, 24-bit internal signal path, two discrete stereo digital effects processors, 3-band EQ with parametric mid-band and much more. for just $999! Okay, how can we do that? Simple: We bought every single one of these mixers that Korg had in its inventory at a mindboggling price and were passing the savings on to you. How can you pass up a deal like this? Answers simple: You cant! Want automation in your studio? Of course you do. The 168RC features sophisticated internal snapshot automation along with full, realtime automation via any MIDI sequencer. It has 12 ultra-smooth faders, a dual 12-segment LED meter to augment the large 240x64 graphical display and a control room monitor section plus separate headphone control. The unit looks deceptively simple, with a clean functional design and easy-to-identify knobs, faders and buttons. On the back, the 168RC has a total of 24 inputs Continued on page 10

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

MACKIE MONITORS Equip your own studio with a pair of incredible Mackie HR824 Active Monitors speakers that one major industry magazine recently called accurate, awesome and affordable. SEE PAGE 2
Your first reaction when reading the headline is probably: Thats impossible! A digital mixer for under a grand? Its not a misprint, folks. Right now but only while supplies last Sweetwater can ship the Korg 168RC Digital Mixer right to your door at the absolutely astonishing price of only $999! You read about this incredible studio tool in the Winter 1997 issue of Sweet Notes, and like everyone else you thought, Hey, this is very cool! Imagine: full automation, pro quality internal effects processing and 16 channels of ADAT digital inputs included as standard equipment. Wow! Who the heck wouldnt want one of these incredible machines?
ENSONIQ KEYBOARDS Want a cutting-edge instrument with all the sonic muscle of todays hottest synths combined with the superior feel of a weighted keyboard? Take a close look at the Ensoniq E-Prime with 64-note polyphony and real piano feel. Or check out the cool ASR-10 Sampling Keyboard. SEE PAGE 2
DIGIDESIGN UNVEILS 24-BIT PRO TOOLS|24 SYSTEM
If youre in the market for a high end digital multitrack recording system, we invite you to compare the raw performance, superior fidelity and extraordinary user interface of the new Digidesign Pro Tools|24 System ($7995 list price for the Core System) to any other product on the market tape or disk-based at any price. None are quieter, more pristine and honest to the Continued on page 4
EVENT SHIPS NEW AUDIO CARDS Computer-based hard disk recording is gaining in popularity and power thanks to three superb new digital audio cards from our friends at Event Electronics. SEE PAGE 7 AES CONVENTION REPORT The Audio Engineering Society held its 103rd Convention and Exhibit Show in New York City and Sweetwater was there showing the latest and greatest in music technology. SEE PAGE 8 PLUS: Klark-Teknik Electronics, TASCAM DA-98, Guitars, Opcode Studio 64 XTC Sync Processor, Oram Octasonic, RPG Acoustics, Tech Notes, Soundware Scene. AND MUCH MORE!

Sweet Notes

Fall 1997

Page 2

SWEETWATER OFFERS THE BEST PRICES, SELECTION, TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND SERVICE! WHY SHOP ANYWHERE ELSE?
MACKIE HR824 ACTIVE MONITORS
Considering the phenomenal success of every product Mackie Designs has introduced, its a bit of a surprise that the company took so long before manufacturing other products besides mixers. Still, when the Mackie people build something, you can bet they want to get it absolutely perfect. So when the company announced it was going to produce a set of active monitors, everyone in the industry sat up and took notice. and for good reason. Like everyone else, you probably saw the double page spreads in all the major publications announcing these speakers. All the pre-release industry buzz was enough to guarantee that the initial production runs of Mackies HR824 Active Monitors ($749 list each) were in extremely short supply. Musicians around the world lined up to buy a set before ever hearing them they knew this was going to be a winner. and they werent wrong. Fact is, here at Sweetwater we had a huge waiting list for HR824s, which was frustrating for everyone. But the good news is that production is finally catching up with the overwhelming demand, and we are starting to get adequate supplies of this wonderful speaker. If youve never experienced the awesome audio that active monitors deliver, get set for a revelation. Because such systems are designed from the ground up, all the subtleties of cabinet design, equalization, power handling and crossover frequencies can be taken into account, meaning that every component works in harmony with every other component. The power amps match the drivers which match the exact size of the cabinets. Whats more, active systems like the HR824 allow you to adjust the speaker to exactly match your listening environment. Lets start with the amplifiers. The HR Series (which stands for High Resolution) monitors feature dual power amplifiers: 100 watts (with 150 watt bursts) for the high frequencies and 150 watts (with 200 watt bursts) for the lows. Both amplifiers make use of Mackies high speed, latchproof Fast Recovery design which features extremely low negative feedback. The bass amp is directly coupled in a servo loop to the 8.75 inch mineral-filled polypropylene low frequency driver. It constantly monitors the LF units motion parameters and applies appropriate control and damping. An oversized magnet structure and extra long voice coil lets the woofer achieve over 16 millimeters of cone excursion, so bass notes start and stop instantly without any overhang, distortion or tubbiness. Instead of relying on ports or slots, the woofer is acoustically coupled to two aluminum massloaded 6.5-inch passive drivers, meaning you get bass response that is the equal of 12-inch drivers with flat frequency response to a throbbing 42Hz! The high resolution metal alloy dome speaker handles the critical high frequencies above 2kHz. It has a flat response up to 20kHz, delivering pristine, uncolored treble output that reproduces exactly your source material. In addition, thanks to Mackies proprietary exponential high frequency wave guide, you get a gigantic sweet spot, meaning everyone in the control room hears the same incredible sound. The HR824s wave guide maximizes dispersion, time aligns the acoustic center of the HF driver to the LF transducers center and avoids enclosure diffraction. Since were talking about enclosures, this might be a good time to mention that the HR824s front board is one-inch

thick with radiused edges to further eliminate diffraction. Whats more, during final assembly, each and every HR824 is individually hand trimmed to plus/minus 1.5dB from 42Hz to 20kHz. And every monitor comes certified with its own serialized, guaranteed frequency response printout! Because every control room (and listening environment) is different they come in all sizes and shapes and cubic
volumes every HR824 has a three position Low Frequency Acoustic Space control. This maintains flat bass response, regardless of whether you place the monitors away from walls (whole space), against the wall (half space) or in room corners (quarter space). A low frequency roll-off switch at 80Hz allows you to emulate small home stereo speakers or popular studio monitors a nice touch. In the October 1997 Electronic Musician (Power Stations article), Stephen Webber wrote: The imaging and high frequency dispersion is brilliant: I was amazed at how far off axis I could scoot my chair and still hear what was going on in both channels. Who can argue with that? By now, youre probably wishing you had a pair of HR824s in your own studio. Hey, who wouldnt? And since we now have them in stock in our giant new warehouse, weve got a great price for you on these amazingly accurate monitors. All you have to do is pick up the phone and give us a call at (219) 432-8176. Just tell your Sweetwater Sales Engineer that youre ready to own a set of Mackie High Resolution monitors. Theyll understand heck, most of them are planning to add these speakers to their own studios. As they say on TV: Operators are standing by!
ENSONIQS E-PRIME AND ASR-SERIES KEYBOARDS
Go ahead. Sit down at an Ensoniq E-Prime and youll feel like youre in front of your favorite acoustic piano. The newly-designed flying-action key mechanism simulates the weight and throw of a real piano hammer for amazingly lifelike performance. This is a key ingredient missing from most sampled pianos: that special tactile sensation involved in actually coaxing a real piano to life. You can also customize the feel of E-Prime to match your own playing style, selecting from 14 velocity curves and 4 pressure settings. Its 76-key range is big enough for most piano pieces and provides larger zones for split keyboard setups. There are three sampled pianos onboard: a pop-oriented Bosendorfer, a rich 9-foot Baldwin grand and a warm, inviting Yamaha, all programmed to provide everything from a sparkling cut-through-the-mix piano to a lush grand thats ideal for any concert hall. If you need more than pianos, E-Prime ($1995 list) has 308 sounds for every style of music with a broad range of authentic instruments, as well as modern synthesized sounds. Also included are 128 General MIDI sounds and 10 GM/GS drum kits. Keyboard enthusiasts will appreciate the variety of organ, electric piano, synth and pad sounds. A full complement of string, reed, woodwind, and brass instruments will enhance any classical or pop arrangements. A wide variety of drum, bass, and guitar sounds provide high-energy dance or smoky jazz rhythm sections. For the wildly adventurous (raise your hands), there are exotic world/ethnic instruments and other unique sounds. E-Prime also has the same advanced yet easy-to-use sequencing features that have made all the Ensoniq keyboards famous, with user-friendly recording and editing tools that help you develop your musical ideas into fully orchestrated songs. Youll probably never run out of voices, either, since the E-Prime sports 64-note polyphony. All these features ensure a lifetime of music making pleasure, Continued on page 7

WE ACCEPT EVERY MAJOR CREDIT CARD! We make it easy to get the gear you need! Call us at (219) 432-8176
When I heard the earth-shaking announcement that Sweetwater Sound was going to be selling guitars, I volunteered immediately to write the article. After all, I'd been nagging Chuck (sort of constantly) to make guitars and basses available to the hundreds of thousands of guitar players who desperately needed a reliable source for their beloved axes. Knowing Chuck, he wasnt about to make that huge commitment until he was absolutely positive that he could not only get all the very best brands, but at prices that Sweetwater customers have grown to know and love. Now Im honored to let all my guitar playing friends around the world know that the wait is over! From flame-top Les Pauls to shred metal Jacksons to fat, funky G&L basses, Sweetwater has your next axe right here at unbelievable prices! Even as we go to press, the final details are being formalized, but I can tell you that Sweetwater will be carrying every desirable guitar, bass, amp and effects unit available. Were talking about the best instruments from the biggest names. If you need an acoustic guitar, you can choose an instrument from the C.F. Martin Company. This company has been crafting fine guitars for over 150 years, and produce some of the most in-demand acoustics on earth. Right up there in quality are the gorgeous acoustics built here in the USA by Gibson. If your needs (and budget) are slightly more modest (but your need for tone isnt), you might select an instrument built by Washburn or Epiphone or one of the cutting-edge acousticelectrics from Canadian guitar manufacturer, Godin. When youre ready to get electrified, the selection gets even greater. You might spring for one of the absolutely stunning instruments built in Nashville, Tennessee by industry legend, Gibson Guitars (makers of the classic Les Paul, ES-335, SG, Flying V and others). Or you might possibly consider an awesome
axe (like an ASAT or Legacy) hand-built in Fullerton, California from the company that Leo Fender co-founded in 1980, G&L. Beauty combines with performance in the new vintage instruments from Paul Reed Smith: Stunning handcarved maple 10-Tops and bird inlays wow! Then there are the killer electrics being built by Jackson Guitars, the company that introduced the world to the so-called Superstrat in the 1980s. From Godin come some great new electrics like the LG-X SA (synth access). Another company gaining a solid reputation for electric guitar quality and value is Washburn with several models to choose from, as well as the fine Epiphone products that look and sound like a Gibson, but at truly affordable prices. If you absolutely promise to keep a secret, I can also tell you that there are some other premium guitar lines from top (and I mean top ) manufacturers that Sweetwater will be carrying. But because of certain legal restrictions that only lawyers understand, I cant name names. If you scan the list above and know your guitars, you can probably put two and two together. Go ahead, its easy. Need a bass guitar or two? How about one of the superb instruments built by Tobias, G&L or Epiphone? You also might need an amp to go with that guitar, and Sweetwater will be offering the legendary tone machines from Marshall and Vox, as well as new digital amps from Roland, Line 6 and Johnson. Plus there might just be one or two others we cant mention here (wink, wink). Sweetwater will also be carrying the finest effects units from manufacturers like Roland/Boss, Digitech, ART, Eventide, TC Electronic and. whoa, my space is just about gone. So pick up the phone right now and give your Sales Engineer a call for up-to-theminute information and incredible Sweetwater pricing on your next acoustic or Jim Miller electric guitar, amp or effects unit.

Page 4

KLARK-TEKNIK 24-BIT PRO TOOLS |24 SYSTEM

SIGNAL PROCESSING

BY DEFINITION
Back when records were popular (was that back in the stone age?), there was no such thing as digital recording except in theory and even analog technology hadnt evolved to todays level. So when it came to signal processing, good equipment was, well. good enough. No so these days. Even many analog recordings can reveal the inadequacy of certain equipment used in the audio chain. And with digital recordings particularly now that 20-bit and 24-bit recorders are becoming available sonic accuracy is an absolute must. This is no time for second best. When it comes to signal processing thats engineered for the digital age, the studio professionals of today have many choices. And here at Sweetwater, we believe theres no such thing as too many choices. Allow us to introduce you to one of the newest additions to our stellar line of processing gear, the outstanding Klark-Teknik line. Sporting such features as metal shafted pots for extended life and durability and three year warranties (five years on some EQ products), this is ex-
Digital delays from Klark-Teknik
actly the type of equipment needed when flawless sonics are required. These are no do-everything effects boxes; they are among the best studio tools available at any price There are actually so many items in the full Klark-Teknik line that theres just no way we could ever tell you about all of them. Essentially, there are eight types of processors available: graphic equalizers, parametric equalizers, dynamics processors, an audio spectrum analyzer, two digital delays, active direct box, active crossover and loudspeaker processors. Equalizers start with the DN330 Single Channel EQ ($820 list) and go from there up to the DN3600 Dual Channel 1/3 Octave Programmable Graphic EQ ($3300 list) with optional Remote. There are also parametric units including the DN405, DN410 and DN4000 starting at $924 retail. For digital delay needs, there are two models to choose from, the DN7103 ($1980 retail) and the Dual Input, Four Output 2.7 Second DN7204 ($2460). If you need to get control over dynamics, Klark-Teknik offers three in the 500 Series starting at $1144). Add the LBB100 Active Direct Box ($196), DN800 Active Crossover ($2028) and DN8000 Loudspeaker Processor, plus the astonishingly versatile DN6000 Real Time Audio Spectrum Analyzer ($4420) and you can see that Klark-Teknik has built products that every pro studio needs. Since space restrictions prevent us from telling you everything you need to know about this outstanding line of signal processors, wed like to suggest that you call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer right now for accurate, detailed information and our special pricing on these exceptional KlarkTeknik products.

than 24 channels of I/O, the Pro Tools|24 Core Sys Continued from page 1 tem can be expanded simply by adding an additional Pro Tools|24. And certainly none of them offer a better Pro Tools|24 Expansion Kit (which includes the price-to-performance value. d24 and DSP Farm cards at $4495 list). You can Pro Tools|24 provides digital recording, editing, and add more DSP Farms to increase the number of mixing with true 24-bit audio performance and up to simultaneously active TDM 24 discrete tracks per audio card, plus 24 Plug-Ins. By adding more audio tracks of I/O capability with your Core Sysinterfaces, you can have up to tem. Add powerful real-time DSP effects, 72 channels of discrete input/ advanced automation, integration with output channels. MIDI and digital If you want all the mixing video, plus support and editing power of the Pro for a host of TDM Tools|24 System, and 16 to 48 and AudioSuite Plugtracks of 16-bit audio meets Ins and youve got your needs (hey, thats CDthe makings of a quality), then Pro Tools true, world class reIII is probably right for cording suite. you, particularly You begin with a Core Syssince Digidesign has tem which includes a d24 aulowered the list price dio card. This is a PCI-bus card to a surprisingly afwhich connects to your choice of Pro Tools|24 with Mackie HUI Human Interface fordable $4995. Just Digidesign Audio Interfaces, eilike Pro Tools|24, a Pro Tools III core system also ther the 888|24 I/O ($3495 list) or 882 I/O ($995 includes a DSP Farm, a selection of bundled TDM list). Next theres the DSP Farm card, which is used Plug-Ins, and of course, the same critically acfor Pro Tools real-time mixing and signal processing claimed Pro Tools software. features. You also get a selection of incredibly If you happen to own a NuBus Mac and want useful TDM Plug-Ins, bundled at no extra charge, Pro Tools quality, call us immediately! We have a including multi-band parametric EQ, dynamics few factory-refurbished Pro Tools III NuBus Sys(compressor, gate, peak limiter, and more), detems remaining with full factory warranty at a lay, and others. Finally, you also get Digis awardprice you wont believe (yes, its that low)! winning Pro Tools software. Before you spend your hard-earned dollars on To run Pro Tools|24, youll also need at least any digital system, talk to your friendly Sales Engione Audio Interface and one or more Digidesignneer about Pro Tools|24. Whatever your needs, qualified disk drives for storing your audio data. whatever your budget, call us at Sweetwater for Youll need a computer, of course a Digidesignthe Pro Tools system thats right for you. [Editors qualified Macintosh or Mac OS-compatible. Track note: Certain manufacturers restrictions apply to count, digital processing, and I/O are all completely Pro Tools ask your Sales Engineer for details] expandable. If you need higher track count and/or more

ORAM OCTASONIC: MULTI-MIC MARVEL
If you work with multiple microphones and need a mic toast most other mic preamps, but even the other channels preamp that delivers absolutely unrivaled audio quality, then you can handle super-hot levels of up to +22dBu. In my case I should probably take a serious look at the Oram Octasonic was taking a direct out from the keyboardists mixer, as well ($1795 list). I personally worked with this terrific-sounding 8- as a line out from the bass players amp. The Octasonic handled channel mic preamp recently, and I can tell you from first-hand it all beautifully, without the slightest hint of distortion. Each of the Octasonics eight channels features +48V experience that this is the premier multi-mic preamp for situations where a full console is impractical (or maybe even impossible). I happened to be recording a Latin jazz group recently with tons of percussion, keyboard, bass and a three-piece brass section, and there was no way all these people could fit into my studio. Fortunately they practiced in a small warehouse, so I brought over all my mics, an ADAT and one single rackspace Octasonic. Orams affordable Octasonic sports eight true studio quality mic preamps Knowing this unit has exactly the same precision mic preamps as the top-of-the-line Oram BEQ24 con- phantom power and a balanced output. Oram will also be sole, I was absolutely confident that it could handle the extreme releasing a neat little module called an Octamix which, when SPLs produced when close-miking these instruments. In fact, the used in tandem with the Octasonic, becomes a stereo outOctasonic has designated channels 7 and 8 as hot channels, put, 8-channel mixer thats perfect for live sound, broadcast meaning they provide an additional 12dB of attenuation to de- and theater work. It would have also been perfect for my Continued on page 10 liver an input headroom of +34dBu. That would pretty much
FACTORY AUTHORIZED! WE FIX YOUR GEAR RIGHT AND ON TIME WITH NO EXCUSES!
Sweet Notes Fall 1997 By Chuck and Brenda Surack Owners, Sweetwater Sound Sometimes it must feel like youre reading the same Inside Sweetwater column over and over again. In each issue we tell you there are a lot of exciting things in the works. Well one of the most exciting has just taken place and it is really big news, particularly to all you hundreds of thousands of guitar players out there. Effective right now, Sweetwater will be selling a full range of acoustic and electric guitars! Not just any guitars, mind you, but the very best in the business. Names like Gibson, Paul Reed Smith, Martin, G&L, Jackson, Washburn, Epiphone and even Tobias basses! Of course well still be offering the outstanding line of guitars from Godin. There are even a few other lines that, because of various (and complex) agreements with specific manufacturers, we just cant mention, but if you look at that list and see who is missing, you can probably guess who they are. If you want guitar amps, we have them. Included are the outstanding classic Marshall and Vox amps, as well as cutting-edge digital amps like the Johnson Millenium and AxSys 212. Again, there are some amps well be carrying that we just cant list here. Many details are being finalized just

Q: How come after I create and save a VIP in Samplitude, it doesn't show up as a Table Of Contents within Point CDaudio? A: Samplitude is Hohner Midias audio recording editing program, and Point CDaudio is Points CD burning program. These are bundled as Red Roaster. Samplitude allows you to record and edit audio, and its also equipped with automatic and manual CD mastering software that creates a Table Of Contents which can then be imported into Points CDaudio. A problem between these two programs has to do with file names. When naming a file in Samplitude, it is possible to use more than 8 characters, however Point CDaudio cant read more than 8 characters (a DOS limitation), so any VIP saved from Samplitude with more than 8 characters won't show up in CDaudio as a TOC. CD audio will simply report that there is no TOC. Just make sure to save using less than 8 characters within Samplitude. Q: I need to to send digital information from my ADATs lightpipe output to an S/PDIF digital in. How do I do this? A: We probably average 3-5 calls and e-mails a week from ADAT users looking to pick up an Alesis AI-1 digital format converter. Unfortunately, AI-1's are extremely hard to come by, having been discontinued for some time. To get from ADAT lightpipe to S/PDIF, one inSync reader offers the following solution: Korg's 168RC digital mixer. The 168RC has 8channels of ADAT lightpipe I/O, and can send and return stereo S/PDIF signals. The really cool thing about this is that unlike an AI-1, the 168RC allows you to change levels, EQ, mix multiple channels, add effects and more while outputting to S/PDIF from lightpipe inputs. Not bad considering that, at the new Sweetwater price of only $999, the 168RC is literally only a few dollars more than the AI-1 was! Q: How do I approach the Kurzweil 2500 Operating System Update? I have a Mac and the download and Kurzweil are DOS formats. What do I do? A : Any Mac with a Superdrive floppy drive (pretty much every model since the Mac II) can read and write to DOS formatted disks. First, download the files to your Mac's hard drive. Then, copy the files from your Mac's drive to a floppy formatted in your Kurzweil. Insert the floppy into your Kurzweil, and you're ready to rock! This also works for transferring AIFF sample data and standard MIDI files. Note that the latest version of the K2500 OS is always available online on our ftp sserver at ftp:// ftp.sweetwater.com/pub/k2000/yca/K25V252/. Q: Does the ADAT Interface work with Pro Tools |24? A: No. Pro Tools | 24 uses a 24-bit word data system. It is therefore incompatable with the 16 bit word in the ADAT interface.
as we are going to press, but for more on this late-breaking story, youll want to check out page 3 of this issue or log onto our web site (www.sweetwater.com/guitars). If you need more immediate gratification, just call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for all the up-to-the-minute information. Speaking of big events, were all still catching our collective breaths around here after returning from New York City where Sweetwater was an exhibitor at the 103rd Audio Engineering Society (better known as AES) Convention. Though we have exhibited in regional

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Page 6

TASCAM DA-98: SIGNIFICANT FEATURES AND ENHANCEMENTS
Another great function of the digital patchbay is the digital track copy feature that allows you to easily assemble multiple takes from various tracks into one virtual perfect performance entirely within the digital domain (hey, we told you this was an awesome recorder). With its new system parameters, its only logical that the you get visual feedback compliments of a new, comprehensive LCD display. This easy-on-the-eyes display, when used in tandem with the units dedicated function/numeric keys, make navigating the operating system easier than ever. Of course, what most post production houses are interested in is synchronization, and we are happy to report that sync is not only robust and rock-solid on the DA-98, but its inNow arriving at Sweetwater: TASCAMs newest Modular Digital Multitrack, the DA-98 cluded as a stanhere at Sweetwater. So when TASCAM announced it was indard feature! Thats right: No pricey add-ons that troducing a new, updated version of this phenomenal machine, seem to always come as a surprise just when you then revealed its new feature set, we had only one response think youre ready to roll. The DA-98s sync capafor the company: Get us as many of these things as you can! bilities include full support for MIDI Machine ConIntroducing the TASCAM DA-98 ($5999 list). Just whats trol (MMC) and Sony P2 protocols. Plus, as an so special about this recorder? Got a few minutes? First of added benefit when integrating the DA-98 with other all, this is the first digital multitrack with confidence monitorequipment, the unit also sports a 37-pin D-sub connector for ing capability, meaning you can verify the integrity of the establishing a parallel interface with an external device. material you print to tape during the actual mastering proWith all these amazing new features, the DA-98 doesnt cess. This virtually eliminates the possibility of encountering forget where it comes from. Users will find full compatibility mistakes after the fact. Youll also find the DA-98s Input with both the DA-88 and the DA-38, so you can exchange Monitoring switches to be a very useful addition for critical tapes, interconnect any combination of machines and, as exlistening requirements (and arent they all?). Positioned right pected, expand the DA-98 by adding any of the optional acunder each tracks record select switch, they allow convenient cessories, such as the RC-848 remote controller, the MUchecking of Source/Tape levels. 8824 24-channel meter bridge or the IF-88AE or IF-88SD digital interfaces (remember these numbers as there will be a test!). The DA-98 also has a cool new electronic patchbay feature, so you can route any input to any track at the touch of a We cant wait to tell you more about this superb machine. button. Now you can leave a mic preamp permanently attached All you have to do is give us a call. Your Sweetwater Sales to (as an example) input one, yet route that signal to any track Engineer will be happy to give you all the details, specs and you want. You can just imagine what a time-saver this is. (of course) your exclusive low Sweetwater pricing. A few years ago, TASCAM introduced the world to its longawaited modular digital multitrack, the DA-88 and it became a runaway best-seller, particularly among the thousands of post production houses around the world. With its Hi-8mm tape format, rugged dependability and full complement of synchronization options, this was no surprise to any of us

SWEETWATER SOUND 5335 BASS RD. FT. WAYNE, IN 46808
FAX: (219) 432-1758 sales@sweetwater.com http://www.sweetwater.com

(219) 432-8176

Page 9
A SPECIAL DO-IT-YOURSELF ACOUSTIC CHALLENGE FROM SWEETWATER AND RPG
For the past 14 years, no other acoustical company has introduced more acoustic innovation or been involved in more state-of-the-art recording studio projects than RPG Diffusor Systems. And Sweetwater is extremely proud to offer this remarkable acoustic technology to its customers. We have a lot of detailed product information that you need to check out in the RPG home page on our web site (www.sweetwater.com/products/rpg). Our relationship with the company and its founder, Dr. Pelooked in most semi-pro and project studios. Acoustic interference is caused by interference between the direct sound and the early and late reflections in any room. This interference results in a variety of distortions, including room modes, speaker boundary interference, comb filtering and non-uniform diffusion. You may have heard all these terms before and Dr. D'Antonio has written numerous articles on the subject, but we wanted to present this information
By Daniel Fisher, Chief Soundware Engineer Nothing feels quite as satisfying (to me, at least) as finishing off a large Soundware project. Last week marked the release of our newest Power Translator for the K2000/K2500: Orchestral Percussion ($199 retail; Roland Orchestral Percussion CD-ROM sold separately). This was created in response to numerous requests from our professional composers, theater musicians and film score clients to provide them with orchestral percussion that offered the same dynamic response and realtime flexibility found in a real orchestra. For those of you who are new to the Soundware Scene, our Power Translators are specially designed floppies that contain all of the data necessary to gather the professionally recorded samples from a specific Roland CD-ROM and convert them into extremely musical K2000/K2500 performance instruments which take full advantage of Kurzweils amazing V.A.S.T. processing. Imagine having a library full of Stereo and Mono Orchestral Bass Drums, Snares, Tympanies, Cymbals, Triangles, Blocks, and Gongs that all feature Rolls (both real-time and sampled). Now add Wind Chimes, Bell Trees, Mark Trees and a cabinet full of additional Per-
Figure 1: Youll need a setup similar to this to complete our experiment.
ter D'Antonio has convinced us that once musicians are made aware of the negative effects of poor acoustics on their recording projects, they will make the modest investment to upgrade the acoustics of their own studios. True, acoustic treatments dont have the sizzle of a new synth and you dont get that heady rush when opening a box of diffusors, but heres the reality: There is no more cost-effective addition to any studio than room treatment packages. Thanks to RPG, such treatments no longer cost an arm and a leg. To drive home the point, we are preparing a set of articles that will run over the course of the next several issues that illustrate why top audio professionals around the world pay so much attention to the sound of their control room. The key issue here is RPGs Bass Traps are designed to transferability. help control modal distortion If you never want anyone outside your studio to hear your music, acoustics arent an issue. But if you send a DAT or CD off to a friend, a record company, a mastering house, etc., each of these rooms are going to have a different acoustical signature and your music will sound different in each of them. The Problem: Were all familiar with electronic distortion and the need to control it. However, the effects of acoustic distortion are too often over-

in our own unique way, so that each of you can experience the effects in your own studio. To help with this, Dr. D'Antonio has devised a series of equivalent circuits, using hardware that you probably already have in your studio, to simulate the effects of acoustic distortion. The Experiment: In Figure 1 we show an equivalent circuit consisting of a source (DAW, ADAT/console, etc.), a graphic equalizer, a multitap delay, amp and speaker. This will be used to simulate a wide range of acoustic distortions in this and other subsequent articles. The circuit simulates the effects of room mode emphasis at specific frequencies. Room modes build up due to the multiple reflections between room boundaries. For this example, we will consider only axial modes, which occur between two opposing room boundaries. For simplicity, well use a room with a width, length and height equal to eight feet as an example. Axial modes will occur at multiples of the speed of sound (1,130 ft/sec) divided by twice the room dimension. So to simulate this electronically, we boost the EQ at 71, 142, 213, 284Hz, etc. Signal flow will be from the source through the equalizer to the amp and into the speaker. Heres the challenge: We challenge you to mix a project in a room with an unknown acoustic signature and not hear a completely different mix in a room without that problem. Have an assistant help you by, without your knowledge, either switching in the equalizer or not. Then go ahead and mix a project. Now listen to the final mix with the equalizer in the opposite position than it was when you mixed. As soon as you hear the difference, we think youll be calling your Sweetwater Sales Engineer for advice on all the RPG AcousticTools options available to you, like the Bass Trap and Abflector. The Solutions: RPG has addressed low fre Continued on page 10
cussion Toys. Combine this with the smooth and responsive V.A.S.T. programming that Sweetwater is famous for and youve got our latest Orchestral Percussion Power Translator. Ask your Sweetwater Sales Engineer to tell you more about entire line of Power Translators including Solo Strings, Brass Sections, Orchestral Winds, and String Sections. When combined with the huge (and still-growing) Sweetwater Sound Library, you have access to every single instrument you need to create incredibly expressive music on your Kurzweil. In other news, our Ultimate Guitars CD-ROM received another excellent review, this time in Electronic Musician (September 1997). We received 19 1/2 points out of a perfect 20 on their EM Meter, along with comments like: The programming on this disk is absolutely top notch, and for good reason: it was done by Daniel Fisher, the Kurzweil VAST synthesis expert (Editors note: Dont blame Dan for this particular quote, I included it Say Dan, werent you taking me to lunch today?). I had a blast with this CD-ROM. Having so many

KORG 168RC

SOUNDWARE SCENE
Continued from page 9 high quality, expressive guitar sounds at hand opens up a world of musical possibilities. the samples are clean and crisp, the programming is outstanding, the files are organized in an easy-to-understand fashion, and the documentation is excellent. Guess they were impressed, eh? Hey, they even liked the Ultimate Guitars Musicians Guide which ships with each CD: All in all, this is serious documentation that really enhances the product. Well, as much as the Sweetwater Team enjoys a darn good review, its our own customers satisfaction that truly makes all our efforts worthwhile. Here are just some of the comments weve received online: I just wanted to congratulate you on the great review in Keyboard Magazine. I purchased the Ultimate Guitar and Grand Piano CD-ROMs last week and could have written those accolades myself. The great touch response of your programs is a major advantage when bringing life to my work. And they cut well in the mix without having to compensate with EQ and/or processing. Steve I just received the Power Translator String Sections for my K2000, loaded some Programs and I am. there is no word for it. The sounds are simply the best I have ever heard. Please say thanks to whoever programmed those sounds! Alex I love the Young Chang Piano programs! They are the best I've ever played on a keyboard. I own a 6 foot MasonHamlin and my ears prefer the warmer tones. these files are very satisfying!. thanks again for the (excellent) support of your products. Glenda I can't really tell you how I liked all the kits on the Total Stereo Drums CD-ROM, because after I loaded Funk Kit, my friend Rob and I had to make music with it. The hi-hats are awesome, the rides are handy, and the snares cut through without being brash. This is now my default drum kit. At least, until I load and listen to the next kit. Great work! Bruce B. I have the Stratus Exotic Instrument and Synths CD-ROM. I won't waste bandwidth describing it except to say it is absolutely top notch and most extremely way cool. Scott Ive received and listened to your Stratus/RSI Demo CD, and it's terrific! Thanks to Sweetwaters efforts, the K2000 is probably the best supported synthesizer on the market. TW For more information and a list of all the currently available Sweetwater Sound Library CD-ROMs, be sure to check out our Web site at www.sweetwater.com/catalogs/k2/cdrom. See you all next issue.
ORAMpage 4 OCTASONIC ENSONIQ KEYBOARDS Continued from
needs if I had wanted to record the group direct to a DAT machine, for instance. In my case, I wanted to go back to the studio with eight discrete tracks since we would be adding three more horn parts later (to double the horn lines) and at least three or four vocal tracks, all on a second ADAT. At that point we would mix down to stereo and burn a set of CDs. Not only was the group totally impressed when we all gathered in my studio about a week later to lay down the additional tracks, but the leader even offered to trim my poodle for me should I ever get one (see, he owns a poodle parlor). Thats how good the recording was. The horns were electrifying, the bass had a fatness to it that shook the walls, the keyboard parts had a nice gloss to them and the percussion, well it kicked some serious butt! Sure, it helped that I was using some nice mics (AKG 414s and Earthworks OM1s), but it was the Octasonic that delivered the sonic transparency we all flipped over. I cannot possibly rave enough about this unit. At its almost shockingly affordable price, its one impressive box. If you are doing any kind of live work, you really need to take a close look at the Octasonic. Call your Sweetwater Sales Engineer now for your special pricing on this awesome preamp. He or she will be glad to tell you more, quote you specs, etc. If you want to learn more about any of the great Oram products, like any of the BEQ mixing consoles or any of the companys other modules, take a look on our Web site at www.sweetwater.com/products/oram. Michael Rief

(particularly nothing thats as complex as Pro Tools already being supported by all the major third party or Digital Performer) that I couldnt get technical sup- Plug-In manufacturers (upgrades are usually either port for, and I dont know anyone who has the time free or at very affordable prices). and energy to photocopy somebody elses 650 page Pro Tools 4.0 has significantly faster screen reusers manual (just think about all those poor trees!). draws and vastly improved automation. I really liked If you have copied software onto your computer the Pro Tools Dynamics plug-ins, in particular the Up(or sampler) that you dont own, the ugly fact is you ward Expander, which worked flawlessly on the maare breaking the law (though admittedly its a rather terial I was processing. If hard disk recording is your unenforceable one). If you did so and then bought your thing and you own a Power Mac, you really need to own copy of the program or set of samples, you may check this software out. You know the drill by now: feel justified because you Call your Sales Engineer for are, in some small way, more information and your expanding a rather limspecial pricing. ited market. Of course noMOTUs latest and greatbody could duplicate any est is Digital Performer 2.11 software without the con($795 list/$295 for an upsent of the person who acgrade) which incidentally tually owns the original is also a Macworld World program. That makes two Class Award winner. This guilty parties. package is the logical step up for those who, like me, owned Im sure software pubversion 1.7. Of particular inlishers would rather not terest to me was the spend the money and softwares ability to send and waste everyones time receive samples from my with copy protection, but K2500 (2.11 also works with until the mindset of every the latest Akai, E-mu and musician on the planet Roland samplers), allowing changes, its something me to use the various Digital we all have to live with. Performer plug-ins (like the For now, lets all do our excellent pitch shifting) to part and make sure noprocess them. This is a truly body ever copies any softawesome feature. ware we happen to own. Using the PowerPC chips Okay, Im way off my 32-bit floating point calculasubject, I know. Lets talk Digital Performer 2.11s eVerb plug-in interface tions gives 2.11 owners a lot about some very cool software. Pro Tools 4.0 ($795 list/upgrades available at of DSP power, so effects can actually be applied in special prices to owners of Pro Tools 3.2) is a must- real time to your tracks and they sound as good (or have for people who want to do hard disk recording in some cases better) than 16-bit outboard modules. on their Macs (sound like anyone you know?). Admit- I really liked the sound of the eVerb plug-in (see tedly, some people get a little confused because Pro screen shot above) which is included with every copy Tools is both a hardware system, as well as a soft- of Digital Performer 2.11. If you are doing sequencware package. The newest Pro Tools hardware is the ing along with hard disk recording, you absolutely Pro Tools|24 system, while Pro Tools (actually ver- have to check out this software. So contact your sion 4.1) is the software that supports it. To make friendly, knowledgeable Sales Engineer for additional things just a bit more confusing, Pro Tools 4.0 will information and pricing. Both of these packages are outstanding examples also work with other sound cards (including Digis Audiomedia III), as well as under native code on PCI of the awesome power we have at our fingertips these and NuBus Power Macs. If youre still confused, your days and depending upon your specific applications, Sweetwater Sales Engineer can answer your ques- you absolutely cannot go wrong with either of them. Learning how to get the most out of them is the real tions and get you pointed in the right direction. I have an Audiomedia III card in my Mac, and it challenge, but its a task all of us will enjoy tackling. runs great with this new software. Those of you who Arrghh! I can see the bottom of the page coming have been using Digidesign software for any length up way too fast, so I'd like to once again thank all of time (including Sound Designer) will love Pro Tools those Sweetwater customers who sent me their CDs 4.0 since you can now record from two to 16 audio and cassettes, as well as all of you who took the time tracks. Youll find its user interface quite comfortable to write even if you happened to disagree with me. and the Audio Suite Plug-In architecture (which takes I love hearing from you, so keep those cards, letters full advantage of the host processors CPU speed) is and e-mail coming!

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MUSIC TECHNOLOGY DIRECT and the Best Value Guaranteed! Do you love music technology?
Are you mad about multitracks and microphones? Do you swoon over synthesizers and sequencers? Are you delighted with delays and dynamics processors? Are you just plain crazy about consoles and computers?
Where do you want to take your career?
Tired of a job with an income ceiling? Want the opportunity to grow your income to the six figure mark? Can you do that at your present job?
Can you run the marathon?
We dont 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 best in the 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? Then take the next step in building the career youve always wanted. Its simple: Just pick up the phone and call us right now at (219) 432-8176. Ask for the Sweetwater Career Center. Maybe Sweetwater Sound is much more than just The Right Call for your music needs. Maybe its also the right call for your career. Dont let another moment go by without finding out the answer. Call us now!
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