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NAB 2000 provided audio and video professionals a sample of the industry's most exciting new products.
I keep expecting NAB, the Video Pro's Candy Store, to reach critical mass, cease expanding, and stop presenting more sparkling choices in audio production for video. Fortunately, however, the offerings just keep getting more interesting and more diverse. NAB 2000 far exceeded my anticipations. The following products are some of this year's highlights:
Digital recording systems 360 Systems' TCR8 Synchronous Master Recorder, a personal favorite from last year's show, has been updated with important new features. Employing excellent 24-bit quality, the TCR8 delivers several hours of internal hard-disk storage and complete time-code implementation, plus VTR emulation. It is the only recorder available that delivers bit-forbit reproduction of 24-bit PCM, Dolby E, and AC-3 recordings.
The TCR8 is the first professional recorder to provide a standard DVD-RAM drive for transporting and archiving needs. A 250MB zip drive permits the moving of program segments up to a half hour long. More important is the ability to upgrade the Flex-Logic programmable hardware through the use of updates delivered in zip disks, postponing obsolescence indefinitely. Also present are the powerful file interchange and editing and interfacing features for which 360 Systems has become known.
Roland's VS-1880 Digital Studio Workstation is an integrated harddisk recording studio. New 24-bit AD/DA converters, eight-track simultaneous recording, 288 virtual tracks, and non-destructive editing are complemented by digital mixing with effects and EQ. Optional multieffects boards add stereo effects processors for reverb, delay, chorus, and compression. A full range of I/O, monitoring, and control interfacing connections complete the flexibility of the system.
Denon debuted the DN-F20R portable IC-based recorder. Weighing just more than two pounds, the package eliminates moving parts by recording on CompactFlash memory cards. Multiple standard recording formats in stereo or mono, with selectable bit-rates, enable efficient use of storage. More than three hours of broadcast-quality material may be recorded using MPEG-2-Layer 2, set to 64kb/s. Mic inputs benefit from switchable low-cut filters, attenuators, and limiters. Also provided are line inputs and a parallel remote jack for external control.
Microphones and mic accessories
Azden introduced a new approach to microphone pattern flexibility. The SGM-2X Professional Shotgun Microphone System comes with two barrels. The 8.11-inch condenser...