Creation Station Goes Dual-Core

Sweetwater's Creation Station series of pro audio computers has raised the bar once again with the rollout of three brand-new models, including two dual-core machines.

The company's new flagship models, the Creation Station RackDual 3.2 and RackDual 2.8, both tap the power of new Intel Pentium D dual-core processors. Dual-core CPUs split program threads between two physical processor cores, which means they can perform intensive audio processing instructions with considerably greater ease than single-core units. These powerful new Creation Station computers can achieve massive track counts while simultaneously handling multiple plug-ins.

The top-shelf Creation Station RackDual 3.2 includes three Glyph SATA hard drives: an 80GB model for system and applications, plus two 200GB drives for audio and samples. It's loaded with 2GB DDR2-533MHz RAM. The RackDual 2.8 offers an 80GB system drive and a second 200GB Glyph SATA audio drive, with 1GB DDR2 RAM.

Both machines include additional high-performance features. The Radeon X300 SE PCI-Express dual-head graphics cards have double the bandwidth of AGP-8X cards, to provide outstanding performance when mixing audio while streaming video. RackDual computers also offer on-board Gigabit Ethernet, which makes them ideal for use with Waves' APA hardware accelerators and the new Glyph LAN-enabled backup drives.

Sweetwater also announced a new "in-between" PC, the Creation Station Tower Plus. With an 80GB system drive, a 120GB SATA audio hard drive, and an Intel Pentium 4 3.0GHz CPU, it fits the needs of many project studios.

The entry-level Creation Station Tower model has also been beefed up, with an upgraded Pentium 4 3.0GHz CPU and faster-access DDR400 RAM -- all while maintaining a price under $1,000.

The Creation Station Rack and Pro computers both feature Pentium 4 3.2GHz processors, 1GB of DDR-400 RAM, an 80GB SATA system drive, and a 200GB SATA audio drive. With two FireWire ports, seven USB 2.0 ports, five open PCI slots, and Gigabit Ethernet, they can handle your peripherals with ease.

Creation Station PCs all feature whisper-quiet designs: Auralex Sheet-Blok-Plus case lining, QuietFeet isolation feet, Zalman CPU coolers (all except Tower LE), hand-tied interior cabling to optimize airflow, and precision-tuned fans. In addition, Creation Station operating systems have been completely optimized to provide glitch-free audio performance.