Los Angeles, Calif., December 15, 2000 -- The new Linda Ronstadt Christmas album, A Merry Little Christmas, was recorded on Alesis M20 digital multitrack recorders, according to audio professional John Boylan, who co-produced the album.

The Alesis M20, now available with version 3.0 software, is a professional digital multitrack that records 20-bit data to eight discrete tracks using 24-bit A/D and D/A converters for excellent sonic fidelity and dynamic range. With quality performance, effortless portability and competitive pricing, the Alesis M20 is fast becoming the unit of choice for professional recording artists and engineers across the country.

"We chose the M20 for many reasons, but primarily for its tape format," Boylan reports. "I find tape is still the best way to go when tracking a project. Although I always end up going to hard disk at the end, utilizing tape at the beginning is the easiest way to do a series of takes and keep track of them. When you record lots of takes on hard disk you end up using too many hard drives. It becomes problematic. Tape is by far the cheapest and most robust medium for tracking, so we tracked everything on the Alesis M20."

Boylan went on to say, "The only competition for the M20 is the Sony 3348 HR. That unit costs you $1350 per day to rent, and an additional $250 per reel of tape. Crunch the numbers and you'll come up with the answer. It becomes silly. Not to mention that you have to have the Sony 3348 with you at all times, which can pose a problem. You've got to have the unit in Los Angeles, you've got to have it in Tucson, you have to have it in Nashville, you have to have it whenever you need it. Performance is paramount but logistics play a large part as well. Who wants to cart a Sony 3348 all over the place? The M20 was the logical answer. M20's performance is superior to any regular digital format that I've used, including Mitsubishi 880s, Atari 900s, and the Sony 3324. I'll go even further to say that I think its better than a Sony 3348, which is only 16-bit. The 24-bit M20 simply sounds better."

Boylan relates, "We took the M20's on location to a little recital hall called Holsclaw Hall at the University of Arizona Music School and did a half-dozen choir recordings for the album. George Massenburg and I brought in four or five M20's and recorded straight to the units. We just put some mics up in the room and what followed was just sensational. If we had tried to record in Hosclaw Hall on a big digital format, we would have had to get a truck and drive the stuff in. I mean, it would have been ridiculous! The portability of the M20 was a huge asset for us."

"We chose the M20 above all other tape-based formats because it offers professional sound in a portable package, at an affordable price. The final result was phenomenal. We couldn't have asked for more than that."

Alesis Corporation manufactures a full line of professional audio and musical instrument products capitalizing on its strengths in digital, analog, vacuum tube and transducer technologies. From groundbreaking ADAT digital recording technology to innovations in keyboard technology, Alesis delivers revolutionary product solutions to the music and audio production industries.


Source: Alesis Corporation
Web: www.alesis.com