Section11a PHOTO - VIDEO - PRO AUDIO Computer Audio Hardware Computer Audio Peripherals Aardvark ...................................792-799 Apogee Digital..........................800-807 Edirol.........................................808-819 ESI..............................................820-825 Event Electronics .....................826-827 Lynx ..........................................828-831 M-Audio ....................................832-841 Mackie.......................................842-845 Mixed Logic..............................846-847 Presonus ...........................................850 Radikal Technologies...............848-849 Roland.......................................851-854 Tascam ......................................854-857 Terratec .....................................858-861 Yamaha ....................................862--863 Computers/Monitors & Storage Apple Computers .....................864-771 Carillon Audio..........................872-875 Sony...........................................876-877 Glyph Technologies .................878-882 ADS/Medea ......................................883 LaCie .........................................884-887 Pinnacle Systems.............................888 Roxio ................................................889 AARDVARK DIRECT PRO Q10 10-in/10-out Audio Interface with 8 XLR Mic Preamps Looks great. Sounds even better. You’ve never heard mic preamps sound this good. Aardvark’s unique Q10 brings a new approach to computer recording. Its 8 studio quality XLR mic preamps have an ultra quiet .002% THD+N so you can professionally record an entire band direct to the computer without a mixer. Any of the 8 inputs can also be used as high quality 1/4˝ line inputs and take advantage of Aardvark’s legendary sound quality and low-jitter performance. 1 The Q10 has tons of studio-friendly features like 4 ⁄4˝ analog effects inserts for easy integration with outboard processors, phantom power, 2 EFR guitar Hi-Z inputs, front mounted headphone & line monitor out level controls, S/PDIF, MIDI, a shielded PCI card and comes with a full version of Cakewalk’s Pro Audio 9.0 recording software. The Q10 is compatible with almost all audio recording software, and is often used with Steinberg Cubase & Nuendo, COMPUTER HARDWARE Cakewalk Sonar, Emagic Logic Audio Platinum, Syntrillium Cool Edit Pro 2000 and gets ultra low-latency performance with software synths & samplers like Native Instruments, GigaStudio and Propellerheads Reason. FEATURES The Q10 embodies all of Aardvark’s great hardware technologies to bring to you one of the highest 4 Inserts for Outboard Effects 792 quality systems available. It offers great mic preamps and converters, plus all the appropriate The Q10 has four 1/4˝ TRS inserts that work I/O’s of an analog mixer. This means that with one unit, you can record direct to you computer just like those of an analog mixer. They con- without having to go through a mixer, noisy mic preamps and all the extra noisy cables just to nect directly to outboard signal processing record audio on your computer. gear so you can ‘insert’ the processed analog signal between the mic preamps and the A/D converter. This means you can integrate your classic analog signal processing gear such as EQs, compressors, and limiters with the Q10s ◆ 8 flexible and high quality inputs. The XLR ◆ Unlike other soundcards that use standard crystal clear mic preamps, when you record inputs go directly to the discrete mic pre- “mic-pre-on-a-chip” solutions, which are direct to the computer. amp circuitry , the 1/4˝ inputs go directly not discrete and can lack the clarity and to the line level inputs. definition needed for professional use, the 2 EFR Hi-Z Guitar Inputs ◆ Software controllable analog input gain, Q10’s mic-pre’s are a hand crafted, discrete The selectable front panel Hi-Z inputs (7+8) applied before the A/D converter, maxi- transistor design that yield outstanding feature EFR (Enhanced Frequency Response) mizes headroom and gives you clean gain noise specs and pristine sound quality. input circuitry specifically tailored for just like an analog mixer. There's even ◆ The mic preamps are shielded in the break- recording electric and bass guitars with a Aardvark's proprietary EFR™ Hi-Z guitar out box and combine with top of the line unique warmth and clarity. If you disliked input circuitry to warm up any guitar you converters to deliver professional audio the sound of a cheap DI box, then you’ll love connect directly into the Q10. quality from your mics to your computer. the warm, rich sound the EFR provides. The true brilliance of the Q10 is the combination of great sounding but flexible hardware & Headphone & Monitor Output brilliant DSP-powered software. Discrete transistor mic preamps, 24-bit A/D-D/A, shielded There is a headphone output on the front PCI card and Aardvark’s legendary digital clocking technology combine to deliver audio quality and stereo Monitor outputs on the back to that is second to none. The flexibility of the hardware completely replaces an outboard mixer, connect directly to your speakers. Both out- so you can record directly to computer without sacrificing audio quality or studio functionality. puts have individual level controls to give you The software-based DSP Control Panel uses the powerful DSP processor on the PCI card, so mixer-like monitoring capability. Combine your computer keeps running lightning fast and in real-time. It’s laid out much like an analog that with the 20 channel real-time DSP mixer, and leaves native power for you to run more plug-ins and other processing. Mixer, and you have an incredibly flexible and professional system. PHOTO - VIDEO - PRO AUDIO AARDVARK DIRECT PRO Q10 Shielded PCI Card COMPUTER HARDWARE With custom shielding on the PCI card, both Q10 Software Features the breakout box and the card are noise free, keeping harmful computer noise and EMI The Q10 also sets itself out of your precious audio. apart from other interfaces by having a fully DSP Expandable powered software control panel. This control panel is You can run up to 4 Q10's in the same com- packed with user friendly puter for a maximum of 32 analog inputs features, and is laid out just and 8 channels of digital I/O. (In fact, all like an analog mixer with Aardvark audio interfaces can be expanded stereo monitor outputs. up to 4 units…mix and match!) Just connect The hardware & software the word clock in & outs on the Q10's to combination of the Q10 each of the devices and your running sample truly replaces every aspect accurate with an unprecedented 40 channels of traditional analog mixers, of great sounding I/O. This is perfect for except you get better sound and tons more flexibility with digital presets and routing. portable rigs that need tons of I/O and great sounding mic preamps. Q10 Control Panel: — The brain of the Q10, the DSP powered Control Panel replaces an external hardware mixer, while still providing the real-time mixing and easy monitoring that you get with an analog mixer. And since it’s powered by the powerful DSP processor Aardvark Low Jitter Clock on the PCI Card, mixing, monitoring and metering won’t slow down your computer. 793 Every Aardvark computer audio card uses Works in combination with the Q10 hardware to provide a total digital mixing solution clocking technology similar to the legendary that includes flexible routing, zero-latency monitoring, snapshot preset recall, input level AardSync II master clock generator. The trim, digital peak metering and is +4/-10 selectable. AardSync II is the industry standard master The Control Panel can be seen as a 20 channel mixer with a 2 channel monitor output that clock, used to sync Pro Tools, digital mixers, is routed to 1/4˝ stereo line outs on the back panel, and a 1/4˝ front panel headphone out. A/D converters and other devices, improving Ten of the channels are from the physical 10 inputs of the box (8 analog and stereo digital), their sound via its low-jitter clock. This pro- and the other 10 channels are from the software. Any combination of previously recorded prietary clocking technology gives our com- audio tracks can be played back, mixed and monitored individually or in subgroups, while puter audio interfaces improved stereo imag- simultaneously recording additional audio tracks. The control panel even comes in 4 cool ing and better resolution on extended high colors that you can change as often as you’d like. This lets you match it to your studio, or and low frequency audio tracks. make life easy on the eyes during an all night recording session. Output Routing (Patch Bay) 3-Stage Input Gain: The input trim (found at the top of each mixer strip on the Control Panel) provides up to 75dB gain on mic inputs. This gain is done in the analog stage (pre Dealing with the software routing of audio A/D conversion), just like an analog mixer. In contrast, most other audio cards provide the interfaces can sometimes be a big hassle. So gain after the A/D, which dramatically increases the noise. The Q10 software avoids this by Aardvark took a photo of the back panel, and sending commands to the analog circuitry in the breakout box to get the best sound possi- gave easy to use drop down menus to select ble. Actually has 3 separate gain stages; m2 (Mic 2), m1 (mic 1), and L (Line level), which what you want routed. This includes analog are each optimized for that particular gain range for the best possible sound. through to the outputs (Analog 1-8), any of the playback tracks (Playback 1-10), generat- ASIO Turbo Mode: Enhanced ASIO 2 driver provides some of the best latency performance ing a tone and using the stereo output of the in the industry. Down to 4ms or less with some applications such as software synths and Control Panel's Monitor Bus (MONITOR). VST instruments. Great for real-time performance. ASIO Buffer Slider: Not only is the ASIO driver really efficient, but it has a unique 31-step Logo Brightness Control ASIO Buffer Slider which lets the user dial in the exact buffer size that is optimal for the One of the coolest features of the Q10 is that computer.