Alexander University Picks MIDIMan and Premio PC to OEM GigaStudio Computers
July 31, 2000Working with MIDIMan and Premio PC (the #5 computer in US schools K-12),
Alexander University is OEM'ing its own series of digital audio workstations
built specifically for Nemesys Technology's GigaStudio 160 and 96 programs,
built to ISO 9002 quality control standards directly at the Premio factory
in Los Angeles. "These are the only factory direct DAWs with the ISO9002
rating in the music industry," said CEO Peter Alexander.
Shipped factory direct, the Premio/AU 768 contains a PIII 800, 768 MB of
RAM, 7200 RPM Ultrad DMA applications 20GB drive, the newest 18.9 GB Cheetah
SCSI Ultra 160 running at 10000RPM, a MIDIMan Delta 1010 and WinMan 4x4,
Windows 98 SE (tweaked for digital audio), mouse and keyboard in a mid-tower
case for $3995.00 complete plus shipping and applicable sales tax. A 17"
monitor is available for $225, 19" for $395. 4U rack boxes also available.
CEO Peter Alexander said that two basic models had been created, one with
SCSI and one with EIDE. "The one we use everyday in our own studio is the
768 with SCSI which was built to the optimum spec level suggested to us by
Nemesys," commented Alexander. Alexander said that the 768 version is
suggested for those planning to heavily use the NFX professional effects for
recording or live applications. In comparisons with a 7200RPM audio drive to
the Cheetah Ultra 160 found that loading time was significantly faster.
Based on usage at Media Ventures (Lion King, Gladiator) in Los Angeles,
there's a Premio/AU 256 PIII 600, 256MB of RAM, EIDE Ultra DMA Hard drive
version for $2795 complete, shipped factory direct with the MIDIMan
hardware. "This unit is the exact opposite of the 768 SCSI in that it's
*only* used as a sample playback unit *without* using the NFX effects,"
explained Alexander. Upper end versions with 512MB and 768MB are also
available for those wanting to implement the NFX effects.
Configurations with RAM at 256 and 512 are also available for the EIDE and
SCSI models. Alexander said that customers could either install GigaStudio themselves, or
provide the software and pay a moderate installation fee for setup.
In charge of this side of Alexander University is Bruce M. Williams (author,
Windows 98/ME for Musicians, published by Hal Leonard for Fall 2000).
Williams, who works for a major aerospace firm in Los Angeles, is daily
responsible for quality control in putting $150 million satellites into
space. "Bruce tests the software specs with the hardware for GigaStudio,
plus Cakewalk, Cubase and Emagic. So he knows what works and what doesn't.
That's why we can OEM these units direct from Premio," explained Alexander.
To support the Premio/AU GigaStudio units, Alexander University is posting
an installation and basic operations online tutorial for customers only.
"With this guide, it should only take about 10-15 minutes to install
GigaStudio. After that, he's productively making music with the steps Peter
created," said Williams who co-wrote the installation tutorial with
Alexander. For more information, visit their web site at www.alexuniv.com. |
