Although today we live in a largely digital world, the vinyl phonograph record continues to occupy a solid niche in the realm of recorded sound. Favored by club DJ's for its versatility and by audiophiles for its warm, natural sound, sales of vinyl records have actually increased in recent years. Disk Mastering facilities, specializing in the art of cutting the master lacquers used as the basis for the production of these disks, remain busy and rely upon Zuma Disk Mastering Computers to achieve the highest quality sound obtainable.

The Zuma 2000 Disk Mastering Computer takes the production of master lacquers for vinyl phonograph records into the 21st century. The successor to the original Zuma Disk Mastering Computer introduced in 1979, the Zuma 2000's hardware and software has been completely redesigned in order to provide the control required for today's hotter sounds and recording technology. The Zuma 2000 samples the incoming audio with 16 bits of resolution and constructs, in its memory, a numerical picture of the groove being cut. Using this data and the data constructed from the groove cut during the previous revolution, it computes the additional space and increased depth necessary to accommodate the current groove geometry. It does this by taking into consideration such factors as the amplitude, phase, and polarity of the signals, as well as the current distance from the previous groove. The numerical results of these computations are converted by 16 bit DACs to control voltages which are used to operate the lathe's pitch/depth servos.

Compared to its predecessor, the Zuma 2000 offers several advantages. The pitch control range of the original Zuma computer is insufficient to handle today's synthesized or digitally recorded low end signals. The Zuma 2000 nearly doubles the groove excursion which can be accommodated, and, thanks to the 16 bit data converters, it does this while increasing overall control precision. Further space savings result from combining the lateral and vertical pitch requirements into a single pitch value, improved computational algorithms, and greater internal calculation precision

The Zuma 2000 Disk Mastering Computer is available for any disk recording lathe and is completely customized to the client's needs. Prices start at $10,000 US.