mk@wroach.cactus.org (M. Khan) (10/11/90)
********************************************************* * What audio digitizing hardware is available for the * * Mac II__ or SE? * * * * Is a CD quality digitizer possible? Available? * ********************************************************* I have a MacRecorder. I am looking for something that provides audio digitizing of significantly better quality. What hardware is available for the Mac II__ or SE? (<$5000 of enhancements; good values under $1000 particularly interesting.) Is a CD quality digitizer possible? Available? If the best sound (in the above range) is to be had with the hardware of, or on, another computer, please mention that too. NeXt? Have no need, or at least no desire to pay extra, for a(n instrumental) music interface. MIDI? The extras of voice recognition capabilities (software?) and even easy interfacing with the telephone or some other telephone interface hardware would be of SOME interest however. On second thought DTMF should be trivial to handle with speech recognition capabilities...after a call is detected and answered...but again these would be frills; the primary quest is for very high quality voice digitizing. Am interested in personal experiences, published reviews, digest references, hearsay, whatever...about quality, sources, cost... Please e-mail. Will summarize to net if I get any me-too-z. ------------------------- mk@wroach.cactus.org bigtex!wroach!mk
sracer@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Andy Hong ) (10/11/90)
In article <2331@wroach.cactus.org> mk@wroach.cactus.org (M. Khan) writes: > ********************************************************* > * What audio digitizing hardware is available for the * > * Mac II__ or SE? * > * * > * Is a CD quality digitizer possible? Available? * > ********************************************************* > Check out the products from Digidesign, Inc. 1360 Willow Rd Suite 101, Menlo Park, CA 95066. (415) 327-8811. Digidesign has by far the largest installed base of CD-quality hard-disk recording systems in the world. Two products of particular interest are: AudioMedia - For about $1000, you get a plug-in card for the Mac II that can record two tracks of audio at various sampling rates up to 48 kHz. With the accompanying software, you can record and play back stereo sound files to lengths limited only by your hard-disk size. You can also perform real-time digital equalization, non-destructive editing/splicing, and a host of other neat operations. And with a software package called "Deck" (about $350), you can operate the audio-media card as a 4-track simul-sync recorder/reproducer with built-in digital effects and equalization--not to mention perfect track ping-pongs and track-collapsing with *no* degradation in sound. Sound Tools - For about $3000, you can get a full-blown system with a plug-in card (Sound Accelerator) for the Mac II or SE30, a high-quality outboard A-to-D converter (AD IN), and an AES-EBU interface (DAT-IO) (for digital dubbing of CD's and DAT's). The latest version of the souped-up software allows editing and playback with full-lockup to SMPTE timecode (for y'all audio/video dudes) and digital transfer to most digital samplers and sampling keyboards, as well as all the features of AudioMedia's software. Both systems are CD-quality and operate in real-time on a Mac II or better. Both plug-in cards are equipped with a Motorola 56001 DSP, the same chip that's in the NeXT machine. Other music-technology companies are supporting the Digidesign hardware as an industry standard. Alchemy and Opcode's Studio Vision both support the AudioMedia and Sound Tools. And Mark of the Unicorn's Performer sequencer, like Opcode's Studio Vision, will soon offer real-time sound playback in conjunction with MIDI-sequencing. I've owned a Sound Tools system for almost two years now. (In fact, one of my two AD IN's is serial number 1.) Not only do I use it for my work at MIT's Media Lab, but I've found the system is invaluable for editing promos and interviews for the radio station I moon-light. If you need a another recommendation, ask Philip Glass. He recorded his latest CD entirely on a Sound Tools system. --andy-- skate safe. andy.