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Mackie - MIXER - Digital X Bus |
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Model:
Digital X Bus(Discont.)
Digital Production Console w/ FireWire I/O
COMPUTER,
MEET CONSOLE.
It was inevitable, really. Thanks to their ever-advancing horsepower and
convenience, computers have become central to modern audio production. Yet no
affordable mixing console to date has been designed to integrate seamlessly with
today’s varied audio and music production techniques—analog, digital or hybrid.
So after more than two years of intense research and development at Mackie and
SaneWave, we proudly introduce the digital desk of the future: the Mackie
Digital X Bus High-Definition Digital Production Console. |
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A
DIGITAL DESK WITHOUT COMPROMISE.
Developed to bring you features currently unmatched by digital
consoles costing tens of thousands of dollars more, the x.200 and
x.400 offer an upgradeable 192kHz-capable mix engine; dual 15" touch
screens; 100mm Penny + Giles optical touch faders; onboard control
of a variety of DAWs, including Pro Tools, Logic, and Nuendo; VST™
plug-in support; and streaming digital audio between the Digital X
Bus and your Mac or PC via FireWire. Not to mention a full
rear-panel card cage so you can configure the Digital X Bus’s I/O to
suit your studio’s exact needs, now and in the future.
OH, BEAUTIFUL INTERFACE.
Because all the advanced technology in the world is useless if you
can’t get to it quickly, we gave the Digital X Bus dual 15” touch
screens—a first in this class of console. These touch screens put
all major features and functions at your fingertips as “virtual”
controls, with big, button-style graphics and a bare minimum of
hierarchy (watch the demo). With advanced 5-wire technology and a
proprietary tracking algorithm, the touch screens deliver incredibly
accurate response. And they’re built tough too, with an operating
life that’s rated at over 35 million finger pokes.
Of course, for fast adjustments, there are 24 rotary encoders (er,
knobs), corresponding to the graphics on the screens directly above.
And commonly used features such as mute, solo, pan, faders, and
switches remain in hardware, just the way your fingers like. There’s
also built-in USB ports so you can use your favorite mouse or PC
keyboard, a smooth weighted jog wheel, and rock-solid transport
buttons. This multi-control approach lowers the learning curve to
the point that most users can start working from the moment the
Digital X Bus boots—without the need for manual digging.
OPEN ARCHITECTURE & FULLY CONFIGURABLE I/O
The Digital X Bus’s “modular” hardware architecture provides access
to internal components simply by removing the rear panel of the
chassis. And the Digital X Bus's full rear-panel card cage allows
you to configure the console's I/O exactly as you see fit, without
having to pay for I/O connections you'll never use. So, as the need
arises, you can opt to add more RAM, swap or add I/O cards, and
basically customize the mixer to your individual tracking and mixing
applications. Importantly, the Digital X Bus platform allows all
sample-rate related components to be upgraded, so you wont be left
behind if or when new audio standards emerge.
STREAMING FIREWIRE I/O
It’s the 21st Century, so we felt it was time for a console that
could work seamlessly with FireWire-equipped Macs and PCs. When
equipped with the optional FireWire Card, the Digital X Bus can
stream digital audio between any OS X Core Audio (Mac) or ASIO/WDM
(Windows XP) compatible DAW software. FireWire has the bandwidth to
support multiple channels of audio streams going back and forth
between the console and your computer through a single cable for
recording, playback, punch in/out, effect send/returns, and even
using a laptop as a real-time sequencer. You can have multiple
FireWire Cards installed in your Digital X Bus connected to
different computers for complete versatility, as well as taking
advantage of extended processing resources for any number of
applications and projects. The FireWire Card eliminates the need to
buy computer audio interfaces, and makes using the Digital X Bus
with your computer painless, simple, and efficient.
VST PLUG-IN SUPPORT
Speaking of plug-ins, with the Digital X Bus’s extensive processing
power, it is also the first digital console able to run select VST
plug-ins internally. Currently, the Digital X Bus supports popular
plug-ins from both Waves and Universal Audio (via the UAD-1 DSP
card, included in the x.400 model). Better still, all plug-in
windows are displayed right on the Digital X Bus’s built-in screens,
just as they would be on your PC.
UNDER THE HOOD
When it came to the Digital X Bus’s internal processing, we rewrote
the book—developing a proprietary architecture with the
largest-capacity, highest-performance PCI-based Accelerator Card
ever created for the pro audio market. This Accelerator Card employs
a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip to handle the conversion
of integer to floating-point math. In simple terms, this means the
Accelerator Card does the hard work so the Digital X Bus’s processor
is free to handle the toughest of mixing applications while
simultaneously running VST plug-ins. It also provides for extremely
low total system latency from analog input to analog output.
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Features |
- Professional digital
production console with selectable operation up to 192kHz
- Dual 15 touch-screen graphic
user interfaces plus mouse control
- Fully configurable I/O via
rear-panel card cage and I/O option cards
- Firewire I/O option for
streaming audio to/from desktop or laptop computers
- Twenty-five 100mm Penny +
Giles motorized optical touch-sensitive faders
- Full channel processing
package including pre and post DSP inserts, parametric EQ and
dynamics section
- Mackie Control Universal
Layer with built-in control for Pro Tools, Logic, Final Cut
Studio 5, Nuendo, etc. See all
- Support for select VST
plug-ins, including the use of the Universal Audio UAD-1 Card
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- Full surround mixing and
monitoring capabilities
- Floating insert points for
accessing external processing equipment from any channel, aux,
or bus
- Tape-style transport with
memory location recall and weighted Jog/Shuttle wheel
- Comprehensive automation
system with event editing and dynamic/scene automation
- LTC (SMPTE), MTC, MMC, and
Word Clock sync
- Various metering options,
including VU meter, full size meter bridge, and scalable
metering ranges
- Full Control Room section
including dual Phones, Talkback, Surround Level control and
calibration to reference level
- Multiple USB 2.0 ports for
connecting CD ROM drives, Flash drives, keyboard/mouse, or other
add-ons
- Internal white & pink noise
and variable tone generator with spectrum analyzer display
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