Well-respected analog disc-mastering veteran Stan Ricker said that the Alesis MasterLink ML-9600, a hard-disk-based digital recorder/CD burner, is "the best tool in my mastering bag...done right it can sound better than all but the absolute top drawer analog."
The cost of the TRL modification was $750.00. There's lots to read (about their mods and those of other companies, like BPT, Moon Audio, Underwood HiFi, etc ...:
http://www.tuberesearchlabs.com/digital_mods.htm
http://www.highfidelityreview.com/tube-research-labs-modified-sony-595-cd-player.html
https://www.google.com/search?q=trl+modifications&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Description of the stock ML9600:
Hard-drive recorder with OS 2.00, 20-gigabyte hard drive, 4x CD-R recorder, and analog and digital I/O. ADC & DAC: 24-bit, 128x oversampling. Sample rates supported: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96kHz. Word lengths: 16, 20, 24 bits. Analog I/O (44.1kHz/48kHz sampling rates): Frequency response: 20Hz-20kHz, +0dB, -0.3dB. THD+N: <0.002% at 1kHz, -1dBFS. Signal/noise ratio: 113dB, A-weighted. Analog I/O (88.2kHz/96kHz sampling rates): Frequency response: 20Hz-40kHz, +0dB, -0.5dB. THD+N: <0.002% at 1kHz, -1dBFS. S/N: 113dB, A-weighted. Digital I/O supported protocols: IEC 958 Type I, balanced (AES/EBU) and coaxial.
Dimensions: 17" W by 3.5" H by 12.25" D. Weight: 17 lbs.
Price: $1699. Approximate number of dealers: not disclosed. Warranty: 1 year, parts & labor.
Manufacturer: Alesis, 12509 Beatrice Street, Los Angeles, CA 90066. Tel: (800) 525-3747, (310) 301-9563. Fax: (310) 574-1740. Web: www.alesis.com.
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What can you do with an Alesis ML9600 Masterlink Recorder?
Perhaps the question should be: what can't you do with one? From transferring vinyl LPs to digital audio to bouncing a final two-track mix-down for mastering to cataloging your entire master recordings, the Alesis ML9600 Masterlink has the high fidelity and component quality to shine in a wide variety of critical audio applications ... mastering engineer, a recording semi-pro, a singer-songwriter, or a vinyl freak ....
Burning Your Final Mix
The Alesis ML9600 offers not only the critical fidelity necessary for preserving your musical creation, it offers a full suite of tools for track-listing, cropping, and arranging the songs the way you want to them to be arranged. On the fidelity side, the ML9600 is capable of rock-solid analog-to-digital conversion at the standard "Red Book" CD resolution (16-bit, 44.1kHz) all the way up to pristine 24-bit, 96kHz "HD" audio. You can also burn AIFF-compatible audio CDs, so no matter what system your mastering house uses, you can be sure your sonic vision gets to them fully intact. The easy-to-use track arranging tools put even more control in your hands. Because the Masterlink records to a 40GB hard-drive before burning to CD, you have plenty of freedom to set fade-ins, trim tracks, and audition multiple song orders before committing to a final burn. No more frustrating conversations with the mastering engineer to try and get him to understand what you had in mind for the way your album should sound--dictate track order yourself with the Masterlink.
Archiving Vinyl
The top-notch conversion quality and track flexibility also lend themselves to vinyl archiving. Preserve the sonic integrity of your prized collection of LPs and keep them perfectly organized with the ML9600. The unit's high-resolution recording stays true to the original analog sound of the vinyl, and the range of professional inputs and gain-adjustment options mean that no matter what phonographic equipment you have, the Alesis will match it for proper recording. The track-listing tools let you dictate track start and stop times, and the hard-drive recording allows for flexibility after the fact. You won't have to babysit the transfer while it's happening -- just set a side to record and come back and insert track breaks after the fact. If you're a record collecting fanatic, you'll appreciate this level of convenience; if archiving vinyl is part of your job, this feature is a near-necessity. Creating compilations is just as easy. Save up to 16 different track-lists at once with 99 tracks per list.
Live Recording
The ability to record-and-forget and set track divisions later is also perfect for making high-quality live performance recordings. Plus, the ML9600 has a 40GB hard drive that can record up to five hours of stereo audio. You'll never have to worry about changing DAT tapes or CD-Rs, and you'll easily be able to integrate the Masterlink into your live rig. Balanced I/O connections give you flexibility for routing, and the included ears let you plug it right into your rack. An infrared remote control (included) lets you make adjustments even when you're nowhere near the rack.
Create Your Own Masters
Even if you're just creating a demo recording, or if you want to try your hand at mastering yourself, the Alesis ML9600 Masterlink has a suite of built-in DSP tools for creating your own finished CDs. In addition to the disc authoring tools, the Masterlink has compression, EQ, limiting, and normalization processes that are the foundation of any proper mastering procedure.
Mixing, mastering, live recording, vinyl transfers, archiving. . . no matter what niche of the audio world you occupy, you'll find many uses for the Alesis ML9600 Masterlink Recorder.
(descriptive language courtesy of zzsounds.com)
Paypal add 3%, please.
