CompuServe Messages

John: I didn't know that you were so knowledgeable about sound. I have a very basic question for you: Background: As you may know I have a video post operation here and have primarily involved myself in simple projects like industrials and other low end work. But, recently since acquiring betacam editing I've taken on some more broadcast level productions for ESPN, PPV, and possible other networks like Discovery etc. On a recent project I found the audio editing quite over my head and we sent the audio clips out to a sound studio for the music, sweatening of voices and effects. The work was done on a MAC and transfer was done via a small DAT recorder I rented for the job. I got the tape back and lip synced it back up to the master and while very well done creatively I discovered some of the voice overs were laid down out of phase and the job must now be sent back for corrective action. Now for my question: What type of equipment ( boards, DAT, software ) would I need to look into to be able to do this type of thing on the PC? What type of costs are involved? Would I need a multitrack DAT or is a two track good enough. I have a 4 track TASCAM that works fair but not as good as the DAT. What are the differences between the portable DAT machines and the front loaders like the Alesis as far as quality is concerned. Do you see a need for time code capability if I am going to use the DAT just to dump to the PC from field recordings and not use it as a source feeder in edit. How long a musical run can one sustain at one playing off the computer, practically speaking ie minutes per megabyte at CD quality? Is there software that can effect up the sound like echo, reverb, waveform slicing and EQ? How many tracks does one get to work with? How difficult is it to maintain phase integrety between the left and right channels? Many questions, I know, but take your time. I just wanted to get a brief general overview of the state of the art as it relates to my business. As you might gather, dealing with outside service bureaus always makes me nervous.