Overview
Magix Sequoia is a professional-grade digital audio workstation (DAW) designed to cater to the needs of audio engineers, broadcasters, post-production specialists, and mastering engineers. Here is a comprehensive overview of what the product does and its key features:
Core Functionality
Sequoia Pro is an all-in-one solution for recording, mixing, and mastering audio. It is renowned for its stability, seamless processing, and innovative editing features, making it a staple in renowned studios around the globe. The software supports a wide range of audio formats and is versatile enough to handle projects from simple stereo radio commentaries to complex music productions and movie scores in various multichannel formats.
Recording and Sound Quality
Sequoia Pro boasts native 32-bit float recording, which offers ultra-clear sound and a massive dynamic range, eliminating the need for adjusting gain or levels. It supports sampling rates up to 384 kHz, ensuring pristine quality for field recordings, interviews, and live broadcasts.
Mixing and Routing
The software provides highly flexible mixing capabilities, including the ability to integrate external hardware effects as plug-ins, which can be managed through the plug-in browser. This feature enhances creativity and flexibility in routing. Users can add or remove multiple outputs, assign different tap points for mixing, and utilize automation lanes to control track parameters such as volume, panorama, and VST effect parameters.
Automation and Editing
Sequoia Pro supports standard automation modes (touch, latch, trim, and overwrite) and allows for the automation of VST instrument parameters and plug-ins at both track and object levels. The object-oriented editing feature enables users to split audio material into multiple objects, edit them with custom fades and effects, and send them to individual AUX channels or the Surround bus. Macro functionality is also available, allowing users to record and run custom command sequences, streamlining complex workflows.
Surround Sound and Multi-Channel Support
The software supports any number of Surround masters in a single project, with up to 32 channels per track. It includes features for Surround downmixing, allowing users to route Surround buses to stereo buses and adjust the Downmix Matrix for stereo master bounces.
Mastering Suite
Sequoia Pro’s Mastering Suite is equipped with versatile plug-ins such as linear EQ, true-peak limiter, stereo enhancing, and multi-band compression. It offers streamlined workflows and data exchange in accordance with industry standards, including DDP export, making it a trusted tool among top mastering engineers worldwide.
Additional Features
- Marker Track: Allows for efficient project organization with markers displayed on multiple lines, which can be assigned to dedicated tracks such as video tracks.
- Spectral Editing: Includes a variety of VST and native plug-ins for dynamics, EQ, distortion, delay, reverb, and other filters, as well as audio restoration plug-ins and VSTi instruments.
- Hardware Integration: Supports the use of hardware effects as latency-compensated plug-ins in the mixer, enhancing the overall workflow.
- Auto-Conforming: Streamlines synchronization between video and audio post-production by taking over video EDL in the Sequoia multitrack project.
- ARA2 Support: Enables seamless integration of ARA2 plug-ins directly on tracks for optimized workflow.
User Interface and Customization
Sequoia Pro offers a customizable interface with selectable workspaces (e.g., Power User view, Mastering view, Reporter view) and the ability to change the look of the program using different “skins.” This flexibility allows users to tailor the interface to their specific needs.
Conclusion
In summary, Magix Sequoia Pro is a robust DAW that combines advanced recording, mixing, and mastering capabilities with a user-friendly and highly customizable interface, making it an indispensable tool for professionals in the audio production industry.