WaveCenter/PCI: Frontier Design's Most Affordable Multichannel Audio/MIDI Interface

Frontier Design Group - November 1999

Frontier Design Group announces WaveCenter/PCI™, a low-cost high-performance PCI soundcard that brings the flexibility and performance of ADAT lightpipe technology to a new level of affordability. WaveCenter/PCI integrates multichannel digital audio and MIDI I/O on a single card, making it the perfect solution for those who want to incorporate a compact digital mixer into their Windows or Mac-based recording studio. WaveCenter/PCI lets you connect 10 digital audio channels in each direction to your mixer while also providing MIDI I/O for automation and sequencing, and does it all with just a single PCI slot and only one IRQ!

WaveCenter/PCI supports industry-standard interfaces, including ADAT lightpipe, S/PDIF, and MIDI, so it's already compatible with your existing studio equipment. It includes Cool Edit Pro SE (a multitrack recording application from Syntrillium Software) so you're ready for computer-based recording right out of the box. (Update: Cool Edit Pro SE is no longer included with WaveCenter/PCI.) With WaveCenter/PCI, you can easily transfer digital audio between your computer and your ADAT tape machines, DAT recorders, minidisks and CD players. The MIDI interface also lets you easily connect synthesizers, samplers, and sound modules. For a complete hard-disk recording system with both analog and digital I/O, combine WaveCenter/PCI with either of Frontier Design's A/D & D/A converters - the 4-in, 8-out Zulu™ or the 24-bit 8-in, 8-out Tango24™.

WaveCenter/PCI builds on the success of the first ADAT-optical card for computers, Frontier's WaveCenter, and adds the latest digital audio technology of Frontier's Dakota™ product line, including an ASIO 2.0 driver for low-latency performance when using WaveCenter/PCI with Steinberg's Cubase VST. WaveCenter/PCI also has a direct GigaSampler Interface driver, and supports input monitoring and digital audio format conversions (ADAT <-> S/PDIF, for example).

WaveCenter/PCI has a pair of ADAT optical ports for 8 audio inputs and 8 audio outputs, and has S/PDIF digital audio I/O on gold-plated RCA connectors for an additional 2 audio inputs and outputs. WaveCenter/PCI also includes a breakout cable with 2 MIDI inputs and 2 MIDI outputs on standard DIN-5 connectors, and an internal CD-ROM digital audio cable for direct transfers of audio CDs. WaveCenter/PCI includes Windows 95/98 drivers and a control panel for displaying the card's status and for setting options such as input lock and audio routing. Macintosh support is also provided via an ASIO driver for digital audio, and an OMS driver for MIDI. WaveCenter/PCI supports 16-bit to 24-bit resolution and sample rates of 44.1 and 48kHz, and can dynamically resample 8, 11.025, 16, 22.05, and 32kHz digital audio for playback through high-quality external converters.

WaveCenter/PCI, Dakota, Tango24 & Zulu are trademarks of Frontier Design Group, LLC. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.