Version 3.01 Software for Akai's DD8 and DD8 Plus

Akai Digital Products Offer New Level of File Format Compatibility

DD8 Plus

October 3, 1999 -- Akai Digital showed their new DD Version 3.01 Software at the AES Convention in New York City. The upgrade offers unprecedented interformat compatibility and brings new features to the range of Akai Digital Products including the DD8 Plus, DD16PB, DD1500 and DL1500.

A random-access digital film dubber, the DD8 Plus is designed as a plug and play replacement for tape-based digital recorders and analog magnetic tape playback machines. It records to and plays from magneto optical disks or removable hard drives. The Akai DD8 Plus is the first affordable digital dubber delivering the extremely low noise floor and wide dynamic range required for feature films, thanks to its 24-bit linear data format and 96K sampling rate.

The Akai DD8 Plus offers the highest level of cross-platform compatibility available. It's never been easier to work on one system and finish on another. Able to directly read and write nearly all standard DAW formats in film production without the need for OMF transfer, the DD8 Plus allows project files to be created in one format and finished in another with none of the hassle and uncertainty associated with common import/export functions.

Direct playback of nearly every other DAW format is supported, including Timeline/Tascam MMR-8; Waveframe; Fairlight MFX3plus /FAME/ DaD; BWF and SD-11 files on FAT-16 DOS disks created on Zaxcom Deva. Macintosh OMF1 files with SD-II or AIFF audio files including AVID AudioVision and Media Composer are also directly supported. The DD8 and DD8 Plus also support direct playback and recording of ProTools Session files to and from Macintosh disks.

New features enhancements include unlimited crossfade length between two cues on a single track, level triggered recording, and the ability to separate machine settings from project specific settings. File conversion between supported formats is a snap and instant response from the jog wheel during TRIM functions means no more waiting for your machines to catch up with your hands. Additionally the new DD-PLUS disk format supersedes Normal and Extended formats.

Designed as a truly modular system, the DD8 and DD8 Plus offer a wide range of options allowing each application to dictate the required components. This design approach not only allows users a multitude of configuration options, but is a very cost-effective solution to an often financially prohibitive upgrade path. Whether a facility currently uses mag-film dubbers, analog multitracks or digital tape-based recorders, the DD8's I/O options allow it to be configured for easy plug and play integration.

For applications requiring more than 8 channels of playback, up to sixteen DD8 units can be handled by a single remote control surface, offering the ability to control 128 tracks individually. Alternatively, the Akai DD16PB Plus and the DD16-Kit for the DD8 offer 16 discreet playback tracks in either' analog or digital.

The 24-bit data format, 96K sampling options and enhanced compatibility support is available to users of versions earlier than 2.0 as a CPU upgrade (DD8 Version 2.0 Kit).

Software version 3.01 is now available for the DD8 and DD8 Plus. The update can be downloaded free of charge from Akai Digital's Post-Production Software Updates page at http://www.akaipro.com/.

For more information, visit Akai at www.akai.com.