Announcing Sierra from Frontier Design Group

January 28, 1999 -- Some people just can't get enough! While the new Dakota(TM) PCI card from Frontier Design Group has lots of digital audio and sync I/O, they need more than the 2-in/2-out MIDI it provides. Multiple keyboards, various sound modules, and other MIDI gear add up quickly. They want more! And now they can get it with Sierra(TM) from Frontier Design Group.

Sierra is an expansion box for Dakota, featuring 8 MIDI input ports, 8 MIDI output ports, and a SMPTE input and output on 1/4" jacks. By itself, Dakota provides 2 MIDI inputs and outputs, and provides SMPTE I/O on any audio channel. Connecting a Sierra to Dakota quadruples the number of available MIDI ports, and adds dedicated SMPTE jacks so you can have timecode I/O without losing any audio channels.

Using inputs from a Sierra, Dakota's hardware can directly support SMPTE and MIDI timecode chase-lock. This is a great advantage over software-based approaches that rely on real-time audio resampling or repositioning. Hardware-based chase-lock eliminates these sources of audio distortion and frees the CPU for other tasks.

Sierra is housed in a rugged 1U 19" rackmount enclosure, and comes with a 15-foot cable for connecting to a Dakota soundcard. Sierra's front panel has activity indicators for each MIDI and SMPTE input and output, and shows the lock status of the SMPTE input. The SMPTE output level is controlled by Dakota's control panel software.

Sierra has an MSRP of $399 (estimated USA street price is $299).

For more information, visit Frontier Design Group at http://www.FrontierDesign.com