News Details


Super Audio Center established to meet growing demand for SA-CD production
October 26, 2004
San Francisco, October 28, 2004 —On the eve of the 117th Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention, a new company has been formed to meet the growing demand for SA-CD music production.

The Super Audio Center, LLC (SAC) will be directed by Gus Skinas, formerly head of Field Operations for the Super Audio Project at Sony Corporation of America. During his tenure at Sony, Mr. Skinas launched the first production center in the U.S. dedicated to providing a comprehensive array of support services for SA-CD clientele, including recording and tape transfer, mixing, editing, mastering and authoring for SA-CD projects.

The new Super Audio Center will be based in Boulder, Colorado and will work closely with field engineers in both Los Angeles and New York to support remote recording and mix sessions wherever they may occur.

SA-CD Momentum

“As the Super Audio CD format continues to gather momentum, a number of new businesses have been spawned,” said David Kawakami, Director of the Super Audio CD Project for Sony Corporation of America. “Under Gus’s guidance, this new SA-CD facility will enable us to better address the needs of those artists, producers and music labels who want to issue their music on this exciting, high resolution multi-channel format.”

SA-CD compatible products are currently being offered by more than 26 manufacturers, with nearly 120 different models available. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), more than 1.3 million SA-CD albums were shipped in the U.S. in 2003 alone, bringing the total installed base of SA-CD software to over 12 million discs life-to-date. There are now more than 2,500 SA-CD titles in release worldwide, with almost half of them available in multi-channel surround.

Sonoma Workstation Support

The new Super Audio Center will also assume the responsibility for the management and support of the Sonoma Workstation—a standard tool used for recording and editing SA-CD projects in their native Direct Stream Digital (DSD) domain.

Utilizing converters designed by Ed Meitner of EMM Labs, the Sonoma is widely regarded as one of the most transparent recording systems marketed today. The new SAC organization will be chartered to not only lease Sonoma products, but distribute them as well, making it a critical factor to ensure SA-CD’s continued growth.

According to Tom Jung, president and chief engineer of DMP Records, “The Sonoma System, when optically interfaced with Ed Meitner’s DSD converters, is the most musically accurate recording and editing system available today at any price, period.”

New Sonoma Model

During the 117th AES Convention, SAC will be demonstrating a Sonoma Workstation capable of recording and editing 24 tracks of DSD audio.

“Many of our clients have expressed a need to record and edit more DSD channels in order to handle more complex pop music projects,” said SAC director Gus Skinas. “The new Sonoma’s added capacity makes it possible for us to offer up to 24 channels of high quality DSD audio in a package that behaves much like a standard multi-track recorder but delivers powerful editing as well.” “With DSD, we are much closer to achieving the true capability of digital recording,” said producer Michael Beinhorn. “The Sonoma machines are, in my opinion, sonically unsurpassed and have become a staple for my mixdowns. I can only imagine how remarkable the new 24-track Sonoma is.”

The new Sonoma Workstation will be shown in the Philips-sponsored Super Audio CD Booth #536 and in demonstrations sponsored by ATC Loudspeaker Technology in room 224.

For more information, contact:

Gus Skinas
Super Audio Center, LLC
(303) 530-7069
gus@ix.netcom.com
http://www.superaudiocenter.com/