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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/4631
I can honestly say that of all the rewards technology brought me this year, this has been the most satisfying, the most life- enhancing — along with the separate microphones I have been using: Not many years ago, SE Electronics jumped into the pro audio microphone market, and immediately became one of the most successful. Its microphones are used in top studios and by top musicians the world over — and, for their quality, there is no better value in audio. We reviewed SE's USB2200a in the summer issue of MacDirectory. This microphone's main claim to fame is that in addition to XLR connectors, you can plug it into any computer with a USB port and get professional sound at once. No sound card required, no nothing. But . . . you still can't easily record stereo, due to limitations in the USB spec itself. So if you want to record in stereo with a pair of USB2200a's you need a sound card that will connect via XLR. You could buy a sound card, get a mixer, plug it all into a Mac, and learn how to use them with the help of a very patient audio engineer friend. But there's a much, much easier way: The 2200s are the perfect partner for the Tascam DR-100. The DR-100's microphones are good, but plug in SE's 2200s to the Tascam, and it becomes not just life-enhancing, but life-changing. With no fuss whatsoever, I was able to make recordings in my living room that are indistinguishable from the best professional recordings available today. If music is important to you, and if you have ever dreamed there is something you could perform well, go ahead and realize your dreams with SE's microphones and Tascam's DR-100. A world-famous tenor once told me, 'Every amateur has at least one thing they can perform better than any professional in the world.' It's true! Go for it! The $30 gizmo every computer user needs Newer Technology bills its USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter as the Swiss Army Knife of disk connectivity. For once the analogy is no exaggeration. This compact gizmo attaches any hard drive or optical drive made during the past 10 years to a USB port. Whether you need to get data off a bare drive, or you want to turn a bare drive into external storage, this is the device to have. Sooner or later, every one of us will need it. It works exactly as advertised. It's probably the most useful technology product you can buy for $30. There are some similar products on the market. Insiders know that Newer Technology's is the faster one, due to its superior chipset. Wacom's Intuos 4 Series Wacom's Intuos 4 sees the company improving its products in ways that continue to stretch what ought to be possible for such a product. Wacom's problem is that it has been stuck with an essentially perfect product for a good 20 years. If there had never been digital tablets before, and Wacom came out with its version 1 today, it would seem like a flawless product. The four tablets in the Intuos 4 series represent the most accurate, the most convenient, and the most stylish iteration of this celebrated product, and earn our enthusiastic award. If you've never tried one, now is the time. You'll never use a mouse again. COVER STORY MacDirectory 137