Digidesign's Pro Tools hardware and software products have
earned a reputation among Macintosh users for intelligent design,
top-notch sound quality, a modular upgrade path, and a host of
features for audio professionals.  In many audio production and
post-production studios, Pro Tools has become the system of choice.

	With the release of its Audiomedia III hardware (hereafter "AM
III") and Session software, Digidesign is making many of those same
benefits available to users of PC-compatible computers running the
Windows operating system.

	The AM III consists of a single printed circuit card for
Windows-based Pentium computers using the PCI bus.  The system
includes Session installation diskettes for Windows 3.1 and Windows
95.  (A version of Session for Macintosh computers is also available
from Digidesign.)  Other requirements include a minimum 75 MHz clock
speed; 16 Mb RAM minimum; SVGA monitor and video card; and a fast
internal EIDE or SCSI hard drive.

	Jacks on the card's backplane provide connections for analog
stereo input and stereo output pairs, as well as S/PDIF format stereo
digital input and output, all using RCA connectors.  The unit is
capable of recording up to four audio channels at once, configured as
one stereo analog input pair and one stereo digital input pair.  It
can play back up to eight audio channels as an analog or digital
stereo output pair; the other pair functions as Effects Send/Return.

	For this review, I installed the system in a 100 MHz Pentium
with 16 Mb of RAM and a Western Digital Caviar 1.6 GB drive, running
Windows for Workgroups version 3.11.  I used the AM III and Session
software extensively on two major projects.  One involved assembling,
editing, and mastering three hours of dialog recorded on digital audio
tape (DAT).  The final product ended up as two hours of stereo dialog,
recorded to a DAT master.  The other project involved recording and
synchronizing each of sixteen MIDI sequencer tracks from the digital
outputs of a Kurzweil K2000, processing each track, and mastering them
to a stereo DAT recording.

	Installing the card and software drivers was surprisingly
easy.  The AM III is a Plug and Play device, so it does not require
setting hardware jumpers for the Interrupt Request Line (IRQ) or port
address.  Hardware jumper settings have long been the bane of the
installation process, particularly for inexperienced system
integrators, so the automatic configuration is a welcome change.
Although the manual suggests that it may be necessary to reserve IRQ
addresses for legacy ISA-bus devices in the system's CMOS BIOS, this
did not prove necessary, although the test computer included several
such devices.

	It is more likely that users installing an AM III will need to
disable the Advanced Power Management and PCI Burst Mode settings in
their system's CMOS setup.  Although this could prove challenging for
inexperienced users, the manual describes the process clearly.
Installing the Session software and AM III Windows device drivers
proved as easy as installing the hardware.  The software installation
uses the Windows Setup and driver installation utilities, which should
be familiar to Windows users who have installed any software and
drivers before.

	With the included driver software, the AM III can function as
a Windows sound card, capable of recording and playing back system
sounds and other WAV files.  I tested the card with several different
programs, including Microsoft's Sound Recorder applet, Cakewalk Pro
Audio version 5.0 from Cakewalk Music Software and Sonic Foundry's
Sound Forge version 3.0.  The hardware functioned effectively with
each, though the software offered varying levels of support for the AM
III.

	Sound Forge operates only on a single stereo pair, so the
program recorded either a digital or an analog source, not both at
once.  Both the analog and digital outputs were active during
playback, so that output went to both at once.  Sound Forge does not
support duplex record while playback, irrespective of the audio card.

	Cakewalk Pro Audio, on the other hand, provides software
support specifically for the AM III.  It could record and play back at
the same time, as well as play back multiple tracks of digital audio.
(The number of audio tracks depends on the hardware configuration.)

	One limitation of Digidesign's driver software is that only a
single program can use the driver at a time.  If I started Cakewalk,
then started Session, Session would report that it could not locate
the sound card.  I would need to turn off the system power and restart
in order to reset the driver.

	Otherwise, the AM III functioned smoothly as a Windows audio
card.  I did not experience any incompatibilities or problems when I
substituted the AM III for the analog Windows audio card I had been
using.  The switch was transparent and seamless, but the improvement
in sound quality was dramatic.

	The hardware came bundled with Digidesign's Session software.
(The hardware and software are also available separately from
Digidesign.)  The combination of the AM III hardware and Session
software provides tools to record, edit, mix and master digital
recordings in a single environment.

	Session stores the recording on disk as a WAV file that
remains unchanged throughout the editing process.  Instead, the user
creates audio regions based on the WAV file and edits the regions,
rather than the WAV file itself.  Thus, all editing is
non-destructive.  Region pointers retrieve portions of the WAV file as
needed rather than storing the entire file in memory, so most editing
operations are also extremely fast.

	Session has six interface windows: I/O Setup, Mix,
Input/Return, Edit, Transport toolbar, and Movie, although a given
session may require only a few of the six.

	The I/O Setup window controls the source and destination of
audio signals through the AM III, as well as such parameters as sample
rate, clock source and analog input gain.  The user may choose to
record using the digital inputs as Channels 1 and 2, in which case the
analog inputs are automatically routed to Channels 3 and 4, or vice
versa.  Similarly, selecting one output pair as the main output
automatically configures the other output pair as Session's Effects
Send/Return.

	The Mix window emulates a digital recorder and mixing console.
On-screen faders, rotary knobs and buttons control track recording and
bouncing, monitor and mixdown levels, equalization, and effect sends
and returns.  Each Session track has its own controls for level,
panning, audio and automation record-enable, equalization, effect
sends, and solo/mute.  Anyone who has used a mixing console should
have no trouble understanding the Mix window for, like all of
Session's windows, it has a simple, uncluttered, and intuitive design.

	The Input/Return window provides additional inputs to the mix
without having to record the incoming signals to the hard disk.
Signals routed to the Input/Return window are combined with Session
audio tracks at the main mix outputs, so they are useful for live
performances, MIDI instruments, or effects returns.  Each Input/Return
track has its own controls for level, panning, equalization, effect
sends, and solo/mute.

	The Edit window contains Session's digital editing functions,
with up to eight tracks of audio waveforms arranged in horizontal rows
on screen.  Tracks can be divided into regions and subsequently
rearranged in any order.  A column at the right side of the screen,
the Regions Bin, holds a list of all the regions.  Dragging a region
name to a track places the region's audio in the track at that
location.

	The user can mark the beginning and end points of audio
regions, zooming the screen view of the waveform out and in.  View
scaling ranges from an overview of several minutes to the accuracy of
a single sample.  Dragging the mouse across a waveform can play the
waveform backwards or forwards at faster or slower than normal speed,
much like the shuttle wheel on a tape recorder.

	A series of command menus or keyboard equivalents performs
many editing operations, such as creating regions from larger blocks
of audio, deleting regions.  Many other operations are performed
graphically, such as by dragging regions from the list in the Regions
Bin onto a track, or by dragging one end of a region left or right to
make the region's duration longer or shorter.

	The Transport window controls recording and playback, using
screen equivalents of a tape recorder's play, record, fast forward and
rewind buttons.  The Transport window also controls looped playback
and contains a time indicator, auto-locate controls, and shortcut
buttons for switching to other windows.

	Session can import .AVI format movie files so that the user
can create or edit soundtracks for them.  Session can also import the
mebedded audio within the movie.  (Session does not support QuickTime,
another widely used movie format.)  The Movie window is used to
display an .AVI movie once it is imported.  I do not work with .AVI
movies and did not test that portion of the program.

	Session is both easy to use and fast.  I was able to begin
creating, editing and arranging regions after reading only the Session
Quick Start Guide, a concise printed system overview.

	Setting up for recording and recording itself are easier than
their tape-based counterparts.  I connected my TASCAM DA-30 Mk II DAT
recorder's S/PDIF digital output to the AM III's digital input and
recorded from the DAT to the computer's hard disk.

	Editing the spoken-word project capitalized on the advantages
of hard-disk recording.  I used Session's tools to break half-hour
segments of audio into many regions, ranging in duration from a few
seconds to several minutes, and named each region.  I dragged names
from the Regions Bin onto an empty track, rearranging them as
necessary into a different order.

	Such editing is nondestructive.  Session maintains and uses
pointers into the WAV file on disk, rather than rewriting the WAV file
itself.  As a result, editing regions is very fast.  Furthermore, the
original WAV file remains unchanged, so it would be possible to go
back to the original file and begin the session again, if necessary.

	It was easy to set and go to autolocate points, insert silence
between regions, generate crossfades between regions, and create
fade-ins or fade-outs with a variety of amplitude curves.

	An Undo command quickly reverses the last action.  After
undoing an action, the user can redo it, then undo it again as
necessary to compare an edited version to the prior version.  Although
the command only operates one level deep, it was sufficient.

	When I finished arranging, I used Session's Mix tools to add
equalization and prepare a final stereo mixdown for recording.

	Other than equalization, Session's collection of processing
tools is sparse, in keeping with Session's apparent orientation toward
simplicity, clarity and ease.  One tool that I sorely missed, however,
was a capability to normalize a region or section, automatically
boosting the amplitude levels of the region or section to the maximum
possible without clipping.

	Other software that reads and writes WAV files can supply some
of Session's missing capabilities.  I used Sonic Foundry's Sound Forge
software to normalize the WAV files I used for the session, and
Session recognized them as if its own.

	One of my most important studio tools is a pencil, because I
have found that written notes make studio life easier.  Unfortunately,
Session does not recognize the power of print, for there is no way to
print any of the information from a session.  It would have been
extremely helpful, for example, to print a list of regions to help
plan the order of region placement, or to verify that all regions
appear in the final playlist.  In the same fashion, a printed list of
markers and their times would have helped me navigate the complex
session.  Neither is possible in Session.

	However, the combination of the AM III, Session, and Sound
Forge proved close to ideal for this particular project.  It made
fast, easy work of what might otherwise have been a long, tedious and
perhaps impossible task.

	The other project I used Session for had a different set of
requirements, and Session was able to meet them in a similarly simple,
no-frills fashion, though not without problems.  To record sixteen
synthesizer tracks from a Kurzweil K2000, one stereo pair at a time, I
had to synchronize Cakewalk Pro Audio to Session.  (In order to run
both programs at once, I had to use a different audio driver for
Cakewalk, and could not use any of Cakewalk's digital audio features.)
Session communicates with a software sequencer through Session's
Internal Port, a Windows multimedia MIDI driver.  No MIDI cables or
MIDI interfaces are involved.  Session can also communicate to
external MIDI hardware through the host computer's Windows compatible
MIDI interface, using appropriate cable connections.

	Session must act as the master and the software sequencer must
act as the slave.  It was easy to configure Session and Cakewalk (the
Session manual includes an adequate, though bare-bones description of
the settings for several popular sequencer programs).  I was then able
to record each sequencer track, using MIDI Time Code as the
synchronization clock.

	Session can also use MIDI Time Code to synchronize to an
external device through the host computer's MIDI interface.  However,
when Session slaves to an external master clock, the software
"freewheels" to the external source.  The external device and Session
both start at the same time but once running, each uses its own
internal clock (or motor speed controls).  This may easily prove
inadequate when a production requires frame-accurate synchronization
to an external master.

	Furthermore, whether due to processor speed, hard drive speed,
or some other factor, I found that even when slaving Cakewalk to
Session, synchronization was not as accurate as I would have hoped.
In some cases, tracks were out of synch by as much as 25-50
milliseconds -- enough of a difference to be audible.  Critical
applications involving multiple synchronized tracks may require better
synchronization than Session provides, but it may be adequate for many
purposes.

	Session has a maximum of eight tracks.  After using Session's
tools to equalize, pan, and automate gain levels for pairs or groups
of tracks, I bounced each pair or group to a single Session track.
Then I recorded the next group of tracks and repeaed the process until
I was ready to complete the final stereo mixdown.

	For many project studios like mine, having eight tracks to
record on is a luxury, but it is easy to see that it will soon become
a necessity.  The AM III and Session software provide eight tracks of
functional, flexible recording and editing at a cost that would have
been unthinkable low only a few years ago.

	The system's documentation consists of the Session Quick Start
Guide and the User's Guide, a more complete reference manual.  There
is precious little documentation of the system hardware.  Although
little is needed for installation and typical use, more complete
specifications and descriptions would aid more advanced users and
users with unusual needs.

	On-line documentation is completely absent.  In most cases, I
would downgrade my opinion of a program that lacked on-line help.
However, Session is so easy to use and the printed documentation is so
well written, that I can accept Digidesign's decision to minimize
Session's size, complexity and overhead by including only core
features and capabilities.

	Digidesign's technical support was likewise adequate, though
not outstanding.  Users calling for support pay for any long-distance
charges.  In five calls to the company's tech support phone lines, my
time spent on hold before talking to support personnel ranged from
five to twenty-five minutes.  The average wait around fifteen minutes.

	However, once I did reach a support technician, I was able to
get quick and useful answers to most of my questions.  When a
technician did not have an answer at hand, he offered to call me back,
and did so promptly with the information I needed.

	No audio product is perfect, and there is more I might wish
for from the AM III.  Yet at a list price of $995, the AM III proved
itself among the best designed and most capable of the sound cards in
its price range.  Even without the Session software, it is a card that
project studios and audio professionals on a budget should find
welcome.  With the software, it is an attractive package that provides
a high level of functionality with a short learning curve and a
price/performance ratio that is hard to beat.

	For additional information, contact: Digidesign Inc., 3401-A
Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, California 94304 USA, telephone (415)
842-7900, fax (415) 842-7999, automated directory (800) 333-2137.
World Wide Web support is available at http://www.digidesign.com.