Just in case you thought the computer conquest of the audio world had run its course, think again. After nearly 30 years of duplicator manufacturing, Telex has found a way to tie the computer into the previously rather “low-tech” world of cassette duplication.

Thanks to the Telex Zing and EDAT computer cards, you can now transfer audio into the computer at high speed and back out to a duplicator at the same brisk pace. Audio masters reside on the computer where they’re easy to catalog and find, easy to edit and never lose their audio quality. Once you cover the price of admission, all the Telex system requires is a PC computer with a reasonably fast hard drive and at least one duplicator.

Signal Chain
The Telex system we’re testing is made up of four components: the Zing audio digitizer ($2,395), the EDAT high-speed audio output card and DI-100 data interface module ($3,925 as tested) and the new XGEN four-bay high-speed cassette duplicator ($2,840 as tested).

The Zing input card allows you to digitize audio into your computer at 1x, 2x, 4x or 8x normal playback speed. This allows past sermons or other cassette program to be loaded into the computer quickly, provided you have the means to play back your audio masters at these higher speeds. If you don’t have high-speed playback capability, you can use your computer’s sound card to turn your audio programs into standard Wave (.WAV) files in the computer.

The EDAT output card and accompanying DI-100 interface turn your computer into the “master” in your cassette duplication system. The EDAT card will control (and feed audio to) up to 16 slave duplicator machines. It will send four channels of audio at the same time, allowing duplication of both sides of the cassettes in a single pass. Most importantly, the card outputs audio at speeds up to 16x regular playback speed.

Between the EDAT card and your duplicator(s) sits the DI-100 interface. This interface connects to the EDAT card with a husky DB-25 cable, and to the duplicator slaves with a one-inch wide ribbon cable. The DI-100 is available in several different varieties to work with Telex XGEN, Telex 6120, KABA, ACC, Sony and Otari slaves.

The last link in the chain is the Telex XGEN slave unit, which records four cassettes at 8x or 16x speeds depending on configuration. The XGEN is available in several varieties: 8x or 16x speed, slave only or combo master/slave, stereo or mono, and three different types of heads. Mono configurations are priced at $1,945 for standard heads, $2,825 for XL (long-life) heads and $2910 for Ferrite heads. Stereo configurations cost roughly $1,000 more; stereo XL- and Ferrite-head versions are offered in 8x as well as 16x speeds.

Where Computers Cards meet Cassettes
Installation of the Telex system was painless on our Micron Millennia 933 MHz PC running Windows ME. Telex recommends installing the EDAT, Zing and Fast Edit software and drivers before installing the cards. Two adjacent PCI slots were used for the cards, and the system immediately recognized them and located the supplied drivers.

The first step in the computer-based duplication process is to digitize audio masters into the computer through the Zing card. The card has four RCA-style audio inputs that accept a relatively wide range of signal levels, thanks to the software’s input gain control. An audio file name is then given for each input being used, and the input speed is selected (1x, 2x, 4x or 8x). The Zing software offers very good metering for setting input levels, including a peak hold feature that displays the number of clipped samples. Once digitizing commences, the software shows the elapsed time of recording as well as the time remaining on the hard drive.

The Zing card records standard Wave (.WAV) files to the directory of your choosing. At normal speed, the Zing card is performing no magic whatsoever—your computer’s standard sound card will accomplish the same thing. It’s when you engage the higher-speed modes that the Zing card begins doing something special, which is turning a high-speed audio stream into a normal audio file.

You only reap this benefit, however, when you have the means to play back your original master tapes at high speed. There are really only two ways to do this—with a reel-to-reel recording played back at a higher speed, or a Telex XGEN 8x master (playback) machine attached to the new Telex DI-200 interface. Without one of these at your disposal, the Zing card will be of no advantage.

Once your audio masters are in the computer in .WAV format, it’s time to fire up the EDAT software. This software lets you specify the files used for all four record tracks, saving this information as a “Master” file for easy recall. The Master file also stores information about duplication speed, tape type and length, etc. Multiple Master files can be combined into a “Project” file for large duplication jobs.

The EDAT software displays level meters for all four audio tracks, as well as various file details and the elapsed time/remaining time for the master. In automatic mode, EDAT rewinds all slave cassettes before and after recording. In manual mode, recording can be stopped and started without rewinding.

If you need to do some editing of your audio files between digitizing and output, Telex provides a copy of Minnetonka Software’s Fast Edit 4.0 audio editing software. With Fast Edit, you can easily rearrange audio clips, eliminate unwanted sections, combine multiple files, do fades, apply effects and more. When you’re finished editing a wave file, you just save it back as a new file and import it into your EDAT Master.

Impressions
Anyone having experience with the truly dreadful-sounding duplication systems found in most churches is probably keenly interested in how the system sounds. The scoop on the Telex is that it sounds very, very good. Considering that the test system cranked out cassettes at a whopping 16x, the copies had an impressive amount of high-frequency clarity and a very low noise floor.

The stated high-frequency response of the XGEN is between 10 kHz and 12.5 kHz depending on tape formulation. Multiply this by the duplication speed, and the Telex system is churning out frequencies upwards of 200 kHz. Not too shabby!

The only significant artifact of the duplication was a quick pitch warble or vibrato (called “flutter”) apparent in the audio. While not noticeable during speaking, it was audible during musical programs. Flutter, which is the result of small speed variations during duplication, is better controlled with the 8x XGEN models. Churches planning on duplicating music will get better results with the slower duplication speeds.
Clearly designed for high-volume duplication, the XGEN is built like a tank. It’s heavy, solid and confidence-inspiring. For everything but the inevitable head wear, Telex stands behind the XGEN with a 2-year warranty.

In operation, the Telex system should be simple. Unfortunately, a somewhat poorly designed software interface makes things more complicated than they need to be. Users have to understand masters, projects and configurations to really make the Telex system purr, and they won’t get much help from the software. Zing and EDAT both create “project” files, for example, but they’re not the same thing. Save a configuration in the Zing software, and the pop-up box says you’re saving a “profile.”

Making matters worse is a serious lack of documentation. No printed manual is included, and the online help files are skimpy at best. Certain key concepts (like the relationships between projects, masters and configurations) aren’t explained very clearly. The EDAT’s help file never once mentions the word “project,” and the word “profile” appears nowhere in the Zing help file. Clearly, some more resources need to be put towards polishing and integrating the software, as well as documenting it properly.

Once you learn your way around the Telex’s software, it becomes a very efficient system for managing duplication jobs. The speed at which the XGEN and EDAT combo can turn out finished cassettes is a beauty to behold. That they sound extremely good is just the icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, the Telex system does have one more significant strike against it—price. Many small- and medium-sized churches will likely find the Telex system priced out of their grasp. As tested here, the system rings up a list price of over $9,000. Add in the least expensive XGEN master unit for high-speed digitizing into the computer, and this total jumps to nearly $12,000. Expand the system with more slave units—at $2,000 to $3,000 a pop—and things really add up. Considering how much processing power can be had on a $500 card in other sections of the audio market, the pricing of Telex’s Zing and EDAT cards seems especially steep.

Eliminating the Zing card and sticking with real-time digitizing brings the entry-level price down to a more reasonable $6,800. To cut down on digitizing time, some churches may choose to record their audio directly into a computer (and a tape, just in case) during the service. The Telex system’s computer requirements aren’t all that strenuous, and an affordable 40 GB hard drive will hold nearly 250 hours of good-quality mono audio.

For larger churches that have the budget and technical staff, switching to the Telex computer-based duplication system will add a new level of efficiency and speed to their duplication efforts. Sound quality will likely improve as well, and the ability to edit their audio will make for more professional productions overall. These advantages very well may justify the somewhat steep price of admission.