|
Church Production Review
Telex
High-Speed Duplication Systems
by Kurt Gibson |
1 2 3
|
|
| |
Just in case you thought the computer conquest of the audio world had run its
course, think again. After nearly 30 years of duplicator manufacturing, Telex
has found a way to tie the computer into the previously rather “low-tech”
world of cassette duplication.
Thanks to the Telex
Zing and EDAT computer cards, you can now transfer audio into the computer at
high speed and back out to a duplicator at the same brisk pace. Audio masters
reside on the computer where they’re easy to catalog and find, easy to edit
and never lose their audio quality. | Once you cover the
price of admission, all the Telex system requires is a PC computer with a reasonably
fast hard drive and at least one duplicator.
Signal Chain
The
Telex system we’re testing is made up of four components: the Zing audio
digitizer ($2,395), the EDAT high-speed audio output card and DI-100 data interface
module ($3,925 as tested) and the new XGEN four-bay high-speed cassette duplicator
($2,840 as tested).
| 
EDAT Zing card
| |
The Zing input card allows you to digitize audio into your computer at 1x,
2x, 4x or 8x normal playback speed. This allows past sermons or other cassette
program to be loaded into the computer quickly, provided you have the means to
play back your audio masters at these higher speeds. If you don’t have high-speed
playback capability, you can use your computer’s sound card to turn your
audio programs into standard Wave (.WAV) files in the computer. |
The EDAT output card and accompanying DI-100 interface turn your computer
into the “master” in your cassette duplication system. The EDAT card
will control (and feed audio to) up to 16 slave duplicator machines. It will send
four channels of audio at the same time, allowing duplication of both sides of
the cassettes in a single pass. Most importantly, the card outputs audio at speeds
up to 16x regular playback speed.
Between the EDAT card and your duplicator(s)
sits the DI-100 interface. This interface connects to the EDAT card with a husky
DB-25 cable, and to the duplicator slaves with a one-inch wide ribbon cable. The
DI-100 is available in several different varieties to work with Telex XGEN, Telex
6120, KABA, ACC, Sony and Otari slaves.
| 
New XGEN four-bay duplicator
| |
The last link in the chain is the Telex XGEN slave unit, which records four
cassettes at 8x or 16x speeds depending on configuration. The XGEN is available
in several varieties: 8x or 16x speed, slave only or combo master/slave, stereo
or mono, and three different types of heads. Mono configurations are priced at
$1,945 for standard heads, $2,825 for XL (long-life) heads and $2910 for Ferrite
heads. Stereo configurations cost roughly $1,000 more; stereo XL- and Ferrite-head
versions are offered in 8x as well as 16x speeds. |
|
