[AV Media Matters] New technology

[Gilles St-Laurent <gilles.st-laurent@nlc-bnc.ca>]

>Maxell also manufactures a CD-R product called "CD-R Pro"
>that is unique in that it has the same Hard Coat that is
>applied to the DVD Products.

Thanks for the heads up about these discs.  I've requested information from
Maxell.  Unfortunately there is no mention of these discs on their web site
yet.

The new CD-R got me wondering about what new audio archiving/preservation
technologies have been developed the past couple of years.

I remember Jim mentioning the AudioCube by Houpert Digital Audio
(http://www.hda.de) which, as far as I can see, is a high end Digital Audio
Workstation with some noise reduction modules.  Has anyone worked with these
modules?  How do they sound?  I remember at an AES show that they were
demoing a Studer reel-to-reel tape machine connected to their system which
logged (appended as metadata to the digital file) audio problems such as
level problems, distortions, clicks etc, but I do not see any mention of it
on their site.

Other technology: Due to my frustration in finding a professional, high
quality phono-preamp with multiple playback curves (love my Owls, but...)
I've been working with Millennnia Media to custom make an analog box for us.
The design phase is complete and Millennia is making them at the moment (I
think they're making about 10 of them).  There are 6 bass boost curves
(including RIAA) and 6 roloffs (including RIAA).  Both the bass boost and
rolloff has a place inside the box to drop a capacitor to define whatever
curve you want.  There is also a separate EQ section with +/- 15 dB at 6
frequencies to fine tune the curve.  Each of the 4 eq sections can be
completely removed from the circuit.  The input can be either phono or line
in with variable gain and can be summed to mono (the phono input load can be
changed with a change of capacitor).  There is also a phase change on one
channel to play vertical cut discs.  Anyone familiar with Millennia Media
design will be aware of the unbelievable specs their products are capable.
Boy, I'm dying to hear this thing!!!   (Unfortunately probably won't be
ready till mid March.)  For the record, I have no personal stake in the
product whatsoever, I'm just excited about finally finding something of this
quality.

Which brings me back to the question of development of audio
archiving/preservation.  Anything else developed specifically for the field?

Gilles St-Laurent
Music Division
National Library of Canada

Moderators Comment:

Since I did bring up the AudioCube I would like to briefly comment on the
questions about it above. When we first got it, I sort of had the same
reaction - basically what does it do that Wavelab or Sadie or Cedar does not
do. The fact that it has the Wavelab interface made me even more
suspicious - maybe this was just all sales hype. If wavelab costs $400 is
this thing really worth about 100 times more, and with Quadrega double that?
Give me a break. We have had it now a couple of months, and no one asks
those questions anymore. Particularly with the Quadrega module - it is an
EXTREMELY powerful system. We are beginng some projects now that we could
never - repeat never - have been able to do without this system. I don't
want to go into the details because it will sound like a sales pitch. Some
equipment you open the box and in a half hour you more or less have it down,
or say - "oh, it's just like...." With this thing - you start learning and
keep going. I have not been the one doing the learning - but every now and
then I stick my head in to the sound department - nod my head like I
understand - and then go back to running the company. But believe me I know
when people are happy and productive and when they are not.

Understand that we also have a Sadie here, we also have Wavelab here, we
also have DigiDesign here (somewhere), also have Diamond Cut, also have
SoundForge, and many other products. You get the idea. There are people here
who have extensive (as in years) of experience with Sonic - and I have heard
NONE of the - "Well Sonic does this better". Now maybe they are taking pity
on their Boss but I don't think so because I hear plenty of that around here
about other gear. When it came time to ordering it - I really had some hard
discussions internally - this is by far the most expensive audio gear we
have purchased. Understand I will pay $45G for a DigiBeta and not even think
about it - but this kind of money for an AUDIO workstation????  We paid the
bill and have not looked back. This system does its work in real time - no
record to disk and then process. Everything is real time. A wide arrange of
tools that provide different functionality and are extremely accurate and
effective.

Are we totally happy? - no. There have been some issues in things that we
"took for granted" - like printing. But they have been responsive which is
more then I can say about other vendors. They are working very hard on
building out the capabilities, and this is definately a case where there is
new capability all the time. No machine is perfect - and they all get
obsolete but for my money - if you are considering a high end system and
have a reasaonable piggy bank, you must very seriously consider this system.
In summary:
We are very happy
It is expensive
It is worth it for us.
and - oh yes - did I mention that it was expensive?

No - they aren't paying me to say this.... and they can't quote me either!