MX51 Brings Surround Sound to Digital Audio Labs V8(tm)
 May 12, 1998Digital Audio Labs will unveil a new surround-sound workstation based on the V8 realtime studio system for the PC and the new Mx51(tm) from Minnetonka Audio Software at this year's NAB.
Mx51 performs realtime mixing on the V8 in the 5.1 surround-sound paradigm. A 5.1 bus is automatically created, and surround panners are available to all mixer channels. Input from each track can be locked to a particular speaker, or can be located anywhere in the surround-soundfield. Bass material can be fed directly into the subwoofer channel, extracted out of the 5 surround channels, or both. Controls allow for easy adjustment between true center-channel and a virtual-center-channel stereo image.
Surround panning is performed in real-time, and all panning can be recorded as automation. Panning is accomplished with Mx51's groundbreaking sensory-feedback hardware panner. This system of combined auditory and tactile feedback allows recording engineers to fully take their attention off the computer screen while reviewing and updating surround-sound panning. Visual feedback from the mixer indicates the soundfield location of all channels simultaneously.
The V8 is a set of cards and rack mount peripherals that turns a PC into a multichannel digital audio recording, editing, and mixing studio. A fully loaded V8 system is capable of up to 16 channels of disk playback, over 32 channels of realtime automated mixing, 16 channels of I/O, and dozens of simultaneous realtime effects. Software to operate the V8 is available entirely from third party application and plug-in developers. System pricing for the V8 starts at $2500 plus software. For more information, visit their web site at www.digitalaudio.com. | 
