New, bigger, and better things await the lucky audience of the exhibits at the 127th AES 2009. Sometimes people, especially the more skeptical ones would be asking, "How new could 'new' be?" or, "Is it really new?" Questions like this elicit thoughts of doubt in a negative perspective, or a more examining meticulous process that promises to go on forward. While the concept of "newness" and "novelty" can be questioned all the time, it is for certain that something that hasn't been seen before in something that has already existed can be called new, isn't it? Before I confuse you any further, one of the things that will be exhibited and be up for evaluation at the 127th AES convention is the Sonic Studio soundBlade 1.3.

Being at the latest version of 1.3.5, soundBlade has made leaps and bounds from its previous self named 1.2 since two years ago. This specialized audio workstation for close-in waveform audio work, has just doubled its capacity with eight channels of digital audio that can be recorded, processed, and played at an impressive 192-kHz quality. That careful attention to detail that gave soundBlade its distinguishing mark is still there with editing tools such as the unique heart and sound of soundBlade called Edit Fade Mode and Smart Fade Tool, both of which completing tasks fast that would otherwise be time consuming or impossible in other DAWs.

Freedom at soundBlade's essence, running on MacIntosh OSX and employs its realtime extended precision SSE™ audio engine with Core Audio’s native playback I/O, which gives users the liberty to choose the appropriate quality of analog conversion. Audio processing and restoration are handled with precision through onic EQ and benchmark NoNOISE II and reNOVAtor restoration modules along with the use of your very own VST and AU plugins. When coupled with a Series 300 FireWire processor, soundBlade's DSP is accelerated to real time processing. SoundBlade also enlists the same mark–up and DDP delivery technology found in all other Sonic Studio products for quick generation of client-ready CDs.

FEATURES:/p>

• Record 8 channels digital audio to 192k
• Plays 8 tracks
• Multimode Waveform/Text View
• Real time multimode editing
• Real time multimode gain adjustment
• Real time bounce/external processing
• Real time host DSP: AU + VST
• Sonic EQ le included
• 10x Red Book–compliant CD-R burning
• 12x DDP file set delivery
• 12x freeze/render to disk
• Background SRC
• Proprietary shaped TPDF redithering
• iZotope MBIT+™ redithering (Q3)
• Core Audio I/O, including Pro Tools
• Options Include:
  • Series 300 DSP Processors Interfaces
  • Sonic EQ native™ option
  • NoNOISE II™ restoration suite
  • reNOVAtor™ spectral restoration
  • Quartet DynPEQ™ Dynamic EQ
  • QuickTime™ Interlock optional
  • DDP File Open: edit existing DDPs

Even if it could be said that the freedom and power in Sonic Studio is nothing new to its familiar audience, doubling its capacity is new enough to open for a more efficient work process and other novel ideas that can be implemented with its use. Pricing for Sonic Studio soundBlade 1.3.5 is still TBA.