Tascam's SX-1 Digital Production Station

The TASCAM SX-1 is an entire professional-caliber music and audio production studio in an integrated package. Designed to meet all the needs of serious project studios, commercial recording facilities and sound for picture post-production, the SX-1 combines hard disk recording, digital mixing, MIDI sequencing, plug-in effects, advanced DAW-style editing and mastering capabilities. It's easy to understand why the feature set of the SX1 is unmatched by any other system available, at any price.

The SX-1's audio quality is superb, with 24-bit resolution and state-of-the-art 24-bit ADCs and DACs. Like the MX-2424 Hard Disk Recorder, the SX1 can use high sampling rates including 96kHz/88.2kHz with half the track and mixer channel count of its standard 48kHz/44.1kHz modes. Its plug-in effects architecture ensures that in addition to its built-in effects by TASCAM, TC Works and Antares, recordists will be able to access a wide variety of third-party effects by other manufacturers. Its wide variety of interfaces allows users to easily interface the SX-1 with other gear in their studios, and its XVGA output means that you can plug a monitor into it and get all the information you need, including sample-level waveform editing of audio tracks, plug-in effects control and much more. Plus, an optional cascade module allows for it to be connected to TASCAM's DM-24 for more digital mixing channels.

• Extremely flexible 40 input, 32 x 8 digital mixing console with 100mm, touch sensitive faders, advanced built-in dynamic automation, and 16 high-quality phantom-powered mic preamps.

• Full-function, 48kHz, 24-bit, 16-track hard disk recorder that uses an internal IDE disk drive. 8 tracks of 96khz recording will be possible with a software upgrade following soon after release (converters are 96k). Additional IDE and ultrawide SCSI drives may be connected to the SX-1 via a front-panel slot or a rear panel SCSI interface.

• Highly integrated and intuitive waveform, MIDI, and automation data editing via an internal recording/editing engine that uses the fast, reliable, multimedia-optimized BeIA operating system and an extremely powerful graphics engine.

• Complete surround mixing capabilities with the ability to record a full 5.1 mix to the internal HD in addition to the original 16 audio tracks.

• 128-track MIDI sequencer with advanced editing modes that are available on the fly, with standard and step record modes and highly accurate timing derived from the internal sample clock. Each of the 64 MIDI outputs can be mapped to channel strips on the console, and channel strip faders and knobs can then be assigned to output MIDI channel or custom, user-defined MIDI messages.

• Built-in CD-RW drive for printing stereo mixes, data backup and archiving, and importing sounds from audio or data CDs.

• DSP plug-in technology that offers built-in effects by TASCAM, TC Works and Antares as standard features as well as the ability to add new effects as required.

• Extensive analog, digital, MIDI and computer interfacing that includes (16) balanced XLR inputs, (16) 1/4" TRS line inputs, TRS inserts on each analog input, an onboard speaker switcher, eight channels of ADAT Optical digital interface, two stereo S/PDIF inputs (with sample rate conversion) and outputs, wordclock In/Out/Thru, two MIDI inputs (for MIDI controllers and MIDI Time Code), four MIDI outputs, a SCSI port, two USB ports, a 100Mbits Ethernet jack for FTP capabilities, separate studio and control room monitoring and more.

• Built-in timecode/sync support via SMPTE/LTC, video sync, and Sony P2.

• Expansion slots for 24 more channels of digital I/O (including optional multichannel interfaces for AES/EBU, TDIF, ADAT Optical) or additional analog I/O.

• Onboard LCD screen that offers a wide variety of editing and automation information (including waveforms)

• XVGA output that acts as a complete, stand-alone DAW interface for total control of the machine with no external computer required

• Authors MP3 files

• Jog/shuttle wheel for scrubbing audio and MIDI data simultaneously

• Cascadable with TASCAM's DM-24 Digital Mixing Console to add input channels and interfaces